Bus 554 M2A2

M2A1: Green Mountain Case Study

BUS 554 Change Management

Excelsior College

Dr. J. Tucker

Summary

The Green Mountain case concerns a small resort property with several challenges. The resort was a buying incentive for property buyers. The artificial demand would end with the real estate market in the area. Management set out to increase the quality of the resort. The main impediment to improvement was a skilled workforce. Green Mountain rebranded itself as a training and proving ground for hospitality professionals yielding a ready supply of quality employees to contribute to the development and maintenance of the desired high-quality resort.

Challenge

The Green Mountain Resort is a small resort offering golf, tennis, and skiing. The resort is in the Appalachian Mountains, remote from most population centers. The intent of the original development of the property was intended to attract prospective home-buyers. Membership to the resort and access to its amenities was a perquisite of ownership.

The future of the resort was threatened by the continued sale of resort community homes. The resort's customer base was property owners, not tourists. As such, when the inventory of property to sell was exhausted, the resort would need to develop its demand solely as a resort, not as a purchase incentive. The resort's management, recognizing the likely eventuality of failure, sold the resort.

Gunter, the resort's new manager and part owner, was charged with meeting one goal: ensure the viability of the resort and the community when the land sold out. Not only did the resort facilitate home sales, but also the existence of the resort supported property values and a desirable lifestyle. Gunter envisioned a "first-class mountain resort."

The greatest impediment to achieving a first-class operation was the high turnover rate that the resort experienced. The location of the resort, poor and rural, didn't afford the resort a large skilled labor pool....