Controls at Bellagio Casino Resort

WCN #3 - Controls at Bellagio Casino Resort

Bellagio Casino resort is one of the properties of MGM Mirage, which is a world leading company in the hotel and gaming industry. The following issues in their Management Control Systems are presented in the case.

- In order to accomplish their objectives Bellagio Casino follows a combination of action, people and result control. However the management could not establish tight result control in a few instances. For example, the management didn’t track the drop data or the hold percentage for each table at the end of each shift; drop is one of the gaming revenue indicators for Blackjack. They experienced difficulty in to find the cause in a situation where there is any deviation because they checked the data at the end of the day.

- The case shows that the management is too lenient to establish the customer centric performance oriented culture. In this industry customer satisfaction is the key for success in the gaming business. However as the management is too lenient they didn’t take any harsh decision against dealers who perform consistently poor despite giving sufficient training and chances.

- The system of tips distribution isn’t tied to motivating employees/ dealers, as the tips are equally distributed amongst the dealers. This is an issue, as the dealers won’t perform equally well. This would demotivate the dealers who get more tips because of their professional and customer centric behaviour and discourage the non-performers to perform better.

- Bonuses were only paid to the management and other casino employees weren’t entitled to receive the cash bonus except tips.

Recommendation

- The drop and hold percentage of the table should be tracked for each table at the end of each shift. In order to facilitate that a pilot project with RFID chips may be introduced. A money scanner can be installed with the drop box to ensure the record of customers’ money deposit. These data will also help to...