Case Study Questions

Case Questions:

A: Specific Case Questions – worth up to 17.5%

1. How would you characterize the US hotel industry in early 2005?

2. What is the current competitive positioning for Astor lodges & Suites, Inc?

3. How would you characterize the operational (e.g. occupancy rates, prices, costs per room, etc) and financial performance (e.g. EDITDA – Earnings before interest and taxes and direct admin expenses) of Astor lodges & Suites Inc. You need to be able to link sales and marketing expenditure to corporate financial metrics.

4. Given Mr James charge to the senior vice president, how would you portray and assess sales and marketing initiatives, expenditures, and outcomes for fiscal 2004 and 2005?

5. What should Kelly Elizabeth propose in her fiscal 2006 sales and marketing plan and budget?

Criteria for Part A

- Maximum length 10 pages excluding appendices; cover page and table of contents. Your write-up can be a mixture of bullet point form and essay style [Times Roman, 12 point font single spacing, 2.5cm margins]. Answer each question separately.

- Use headings to highlight which questions you are answering. Structure your answers using sub-headings if necessary to make it clear that you have used an analytical approach to reach your answers. The grader will be treating (apparently) random lists of issues with caution.

B: Competitive Strategy Questions – worth up to 17.5%

In Australia the hotel industry is in the mature growth phase of its life cycle (IBISWorld (2014) – H4401 Hotels and Resorts in Australia Industry Report_IBISWorld July 2014). In this part you are required to study the Australian Hotel industry and then develop and justify an alternative viable blue ocean strategy approach(s) for Astor Lodges if it were to set up business in Australia. To successfully complete this component you must be able to demonstrate at least a clear understanding of the application of Blue Ocean principles and methods to the Astor Lodge context. To achieve...