Global Communication & Knowledge Management
(3 Projects)
Professor Eric Munshower
Group 6
Angie Hoi-Chu Chan
Student ID # 48760
&
Peter Chung-Man Cheng
Student ID # 48754
Due date:
11 March 2005
China adopted the open door policy
in 1978, together with the economic reform in the Mainland that
provided an enormous production hinterland and market outlet for Hong Kong's
manufacturers. Over the past 20 years or so, the manufacturing sector in Hong
Kong has gradually moved from one concentrating on simple, labour-intensive
products to one focusing on sophisticated, high value-added products.
Taking advantage of the abundant
supply of land and labour in the Mainland, most industrialists have expanded
their production bases across the boundary while maintaining headquarters
operations in Hong Kong. This mode of operation has also created lots of
business opportunities for a wide range of service activities. These include
specifically transportation, tourism, telecommunications, banking, insurance,
real estate, and professional services such as financial, legal, accounting and
consultancy services. In consequence, the Hong Kong economy has become
increasingly service-oriented since the 1980s.
Strong economic ties with the
Mainland in the past two decades, especially with the Pearl River Delta (PRD),
now form one of Hong Kong's fundamental strengths. The branching out of
production processes to the Mainland has triggered a remarkable structural
transformation in the economy of both Hong Kong and the PRD and brought about
the development of Hong Kong into an international financial and trading
centre, and services hub.
Hong Kong is now ranked the 11th
largest trading entity in the world. The Mainland is Hong Kong's largest
trading partner, accounting for 43 per cent of its total trade in 2003. Hong
Kong accounted for nearly half of the Mainland's foreign direct investment as
at the end of June 2003. Of the 3200 regional headquarters and offices
established in Hong Kong in mid-year, more than 80 per cent are responsible for
overseeing their Mainland businesses.[1]
Since the financial services
sector is one of the pillars of Hong Kong's economy, it encompasses some key
services such as banking, securities, insurance, fund management and other
related services. Being a high value-added sector, its activities account for a
disproportionately high, around 12 per cent share of GDP.[2]
With continuing reform and
liberalisation of the Mainland economy, particularly after China's entry into
the World Trade Organization in late 2001,
Hong Kong has been serving as a
major funding centre for the Mainland. Besides being a direct source of funds,
it also provides a window through which foreign funds can be channelled
efficiently into the Mainland for financing development projects there. While
syndicated loans remain the most important means for Mainland-related
enterprises to raise funds in Hong Kong, issuance of securities has become
increasingly popular in recent years.
With a trusted legal system, an
independent judiciary and the absence of any restrictions on capital flow in
and out of the Hong Kong, it attracts heavy overseas and local investment. It is
the second largest stock market, in terms of capitalisation, in Asia behind
Japan as at February 2004. At the end of February 2004, its stock market
capitalisation was US$793 billion. [3]
With the advent of a global
knowledge economy, Hong Kong is going through a process of economic
restructuring. Strong expansion was also observed in information technology in
the more recent years, especially those pertaining to telecommunications
services and Internet applications, in line with the shift in economic
structure more towards knowledge-based activities.
The signing of the Closer Economic
Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the Mainland and Hong Kong in 2003, and
the various policy initiatives, like the freedom of travel for the Chinese
citizens from major provinces to Hong Kong, also enhance economic cooperation
between Guangdong and Hong Kong. By enlarging the scope for
cross-boundary trade, service and investment flows, it should
help strengthen further the economic relations between the two places.
Moreover, through increased
outward processing arrangements in the Mainland, which has helped Hong Kong uphold
the price competitiveness of its products. Concurrently, productive efficiency
and product quality have been continuously upgraded by incorporating more
advanced skills and technology so as to build up their own brands, especially
the “ Made in Hong Kong” status. Generally speaking, the local manufacturing
operations still remaining in Hong Kong are more knowledge-based with a higher
value added and greater technology content.
While the transformation holds
promises of new opportunities, it also poses challenges for the workforce.
Employees therefore have to be more inclined and continually upgrade their
skills, like the learning of Mandarin, in order to remain competitive in the
labour market.
In addition, major challenges
include a low birth rate, an ageing population and longer life expectancies
also cause critical changes in demographics characteristics. Thus health care,
education and housing policies will be the important issues in the coming
future.
Another important indicator of market potential is income. With the sharp wage differential between Hong Kong and China, there is not much inflationary pressure on wages.
If the labor market remains weak and with no promise of wage increase
anywhere in the near future, then what is supposed to support HK’s reinflated
property market?
Together with the external environment is still overshadowed by surging
oil prices, rising US interest rates, and the macroeconomic adjustment in the
Mainland, highly adaptable policies should be planned ahead by all sectors in
order to suit the changing and unexpected environment.
Project 2
FIRM’S MODEL: MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC.
MARRIOTT
INTERNATIONAL, INC. is a leading worldwide hospitality company headquartered
in Washington, D.C. It has approximately 128,000 employees and
over 2,800 lodging properties throughout the world.
Marriott’s vision is to be the
world’s leading provider of hospitality services. By providing extensive operational knowledge and the development
of a highly skilled and diverse workforce, they offer the best portfolio of
lodging brands in the industry.
One of the most essential core
values: “Associates are their greatest assets.” which has established over 75
years ago drives the culture. The founder, John Willard Marriott believed:
“Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers.” That
personal philosophy leads to be the driving force behind
its success and is also reflecting on the significance of the company’s
extraordinary growth curve.
As Ikujiro Nonaka
mentioned, “ Competitive success increasingly depends on learning.”[4]
Marriott International frequently provides internal training to all levels of
staffs, especially holds short courses for senior executive, and together with
good rewarding to motivate its employees. Marriott International believes
employees who are being recognized for a well-done job often have the loyalty
towards the organization.
The market segments for the hotel
industry generally correspond to broad price or quality bands and can be
classified into Luxury, Upper Upscale, Upscale, Midscale and Economy/Budget. Demand
growth is driven by two key factors: the performance of domestic economies; and
the volume of the international guests’ attitudes to travel and global economic
performance.
Marriott
International which captures the international guests’ demand mostly to the
Luxury and the Upper Upscale market segments, in
which having a network of hotels in attractive locations around the world,
since these guests tend to have a circuit of key cities they frequent travel.
With comparison to Marriott International Inc., InterContinental Group captures the Upper Upscale and the Upscale segments for those predominantly business, often with a high proportion of international guests. Its positioning in the market segment is not as successful as Marriott international, especially during the 80s.
Other than owning lodging
properties, Marriott International also operates and franchises hotels. These can diversify its
business, build up its own brand and secure its global status.
In order to be
competitive, Marriott International Inc. also
realizes the high costs associated with staff turnover, and makes the
connection between how they might contribute unintentionally to that turnover
by how they expose “their most important asset” to the hotel and company.
Project 3
MARRIOTT
INTERNATIONAL INC.
HISTORY
MARRIOTT
INTERNATIONAL, INC. is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 2,800
lodging properties in the United States and 69 in other countries and
territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under
the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn,
Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Ramada
International and Bulgari brand names.
Marriott
International also develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the
Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and
Marriott Grand Residence Club brands. Moreover, it provides furnished corporate
housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division as well as operates conference
centres while Marriott Executive Apartments offers residential accommodations
with hotel-like amenities to business executives.
Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington DC, in 1927 by John Willard Marriott and his wife, Alice Sheets Marriott. The company is now headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 128,000 employees throughout the world. In fiscal year 2003, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of US$9 billion.
Regarded as a lodging
innovator, the founder’s son, J.W. Marriott, Jr. began shifting the company in
the late 1970s from hotel ownership to property management and franchising. His
strategic decision allowed the company to accelerate its growth and broaden its
leadership position.
Corporate
culture is viewed as an integral part of the governance mentality of a company.
Instilling the appropriate corporate culture is generally the stuff of
management bestsellers but the effects can be wide ranging.
Marriott’s vision for the company
is to be the world’s leading provider of hospitality services. By providing extensive operational knowledge
and the development of a highly skilled and diverse workforce, they offer the
best portfolio of lodging brands in the industry.
The core values established by the
Marriott family over 75 years ago drive the culture. One of these is the
enduring belief that “ Associates are their greatest assets.” They believe
their culture influences the way they treat associates, customers, and the
community that impacts all their successes.
John Willard Marriott summed up
the personal philosophy: “A man should keep on being constructive, and do
constructive things.” He believed: “Take care of your employees and they’ll
take care of your customers.”[5]
These emphasize the importance of Marriott’s people and recognize the value
they bring to the organization and remain the keystone of the company’s
culture.
Their philosophy inspires them to
be good corporate citizens whereas they are committed to getting involved in
the communities. They believe that
strong neighbourhoods, towns and cities are vital to the well being of the
society and economy. They should have special responsibility and play an
important role in helping the communities thrive.
Its hiring policy
is aggressively non-discriminatory, and favours ability over experience. The way culture is taught
is an important component of how companies are managed.
Competitive success increasingly
depends on learning. Effective learning is not a matter of the right attitudes or
motivation, but rather the product of the way people reason about their own
behaviour.
By
providing professional development programs that target many specific outcomes,
including increasing knowledge about operations and the industry, use of
effective strategies for improving operational performance, and enhancing
relationships among staff members in the organizations. Many professional
development initiatives focus both on operational performance as well as
individual performance in order to improve overall performance.
People at all levels of the
organization must combine the mastery of some highly specialized expertise with
the ability to work effectively in teams. Then form productive relationships
with clients and customers and change their own organizational practices.
Marriott
believes one of the best ways to develop professionally is to give back to the
hospitality community by participating in the educational process of others. They
provide numerous educational programs for the senior staffs to attend.
As John Willard Marriott said,
“Good personnel will work for a competent manager. Go to every length to find,
hire and train the good employees and treat them like your family. This is the
crux of your whole operation.”[6]
Marriott
International which captures the international guests’ demand mostly to the
Luxury and the Upper Upscale market segments, in
which having a network of hotels in attractive locations around the world,
since these guests tend to have a circuit of key cities they frequent travel. In order
to maintain their prestige status, they would not include facilities like
saunas or nightclubs in their properties.
Marriott
also knows the crowd: A powerful theme reinforces
your market position & keeps patrons coming back. Restaurants that designed for Marriott, in
Newport, Rhode Island and Springfield, Massachusetts, illustrate how strong
design themes clearly position the eateries by capitalizing on their
locale. For example, at the Springfield
Marriott, which caters to a more modest market, they incorporated themes based
on the Connecticut River and its heritage as a ribbon of commercial shipping as
important to New England as the Mississippi is to America. At the Marriott’s
River Café, they thus employed water themes
everywhere throughout the décor and the art.
Marriott always has a high profile
on its hiring policy that is aggressively non-discriminatory, and favours
ability over experience. They believe all manpower should be treated equally.
"Spirit to Serve
Our Communities®"
reflects the genuine desire of Marriott’s facilities and associates to give
resources, time, and energy to help make a difference in the lives of others
and the communities.[7] Marriott
believes to have a special responsibility and role to play in helping the
communities thrive. For example, in 2004, they had their staff to work as
social workers and contributed to the tsunami relief efforts.
To show a personal interest in its people is an investment that will pay high dividends in building teamwork and increasingly productivity whereas communicating with employees is essential. Thus Marriott’s top executives and managers make every effort to communicate through property visits, memos, rap sessions, and regularly scheduled meetings. This communication through participation will result in its employees being more motivated, more enthusiastic about their jobs, happier in their work, and much more effective.
Good managers develop employees for tomorrow’s opportunities by encouraging them to work towards their full potential today. A manager’s character can be a powerful influence on employees. The best managers know and like themselves and by their very actions and ideals, provide guidance and direction to their employees. Those are what the Marriott’s managers’ practice.
Inside
Marriott, all managers and supervisors have the responsibility of training
employees. All employees, from those just hired to those with more experience,
can benefit from effective on-the-job training. The delivery of service and the
hospitality product including: lodging, food, or entertainment, is only as good
as the employees who do it making training critical to the task of meeting the
property's and organization’s goals. Trainees also receive specific and
immediate feedback about their performance, and training progresses at a
speedbest for the trainee. In addition, the trainer has an opportunity to
develop a more personal working and trustworthy relationship with the person
being trained.
Marriott’s concern for employees starts with its “Guarantee of Fair Treatment”[8] policy, an internal, decentralized means for all employees to express problems and have them resolved in a timely manner.
Moreover, the internal promotion differs from their competitor. For example, senior executive, like assistant controller, will be promoted from other property of the Group so as to bring its own management concept and improve division ranking. This kind of replacement is superior in management and more persuasive in the new team.
Although pay is an important
component of employee satisfaction, being recognized for a job well done is
often more rewarding and motivating to employees. Timing and sincerity are the
keys to meaningful recognition.
For those senior executives of
Marriott, there is an option for them to buy corporate shares at a reasonable
price at no risk, for example, once the price drops to the buying price, it
will automatically cease and the staffs can sell at the no-loss option.
Every year, there is a hygiene
audit done by some pest control consultancy firms, like Equal Lab in order to
evaluate the internal hygiene for some outlets, for example, the Food and
Beverage Department.
Other internal surveys are held
annually by internal surprise audits and hotels’ guests. The outcome not only
to vote the best performance of the internal property ranking, but to keep the
high service standard as well.
All major decision-makings should
follow the policies and procedures of the corporate office in Washington. This
can unify the policies and avoid any differentiation occurred.
COMPETITOR
The origins of InterContinental Hotels Group can be traced back to 1777 when William Bass established a brewery in Burton-on-Trent, trading under his own name. Bass already owned a small chain of hotels, which had been acquired in 1987. But the first significant international move into the hotel industry came in 1988, with the purchase of Holiday Inns International, followed by the acquisition of the remaining North American business of Holiday Inn in 1990. A further significant advance for the hotels division came in March 1998, with the acquisition of InterContinental.
In this situation, they have purchased the company,
but do not have the hospitality experience. They come from an environment where
decisions are made immediately based on entrepreneurial skills.
CONCLUSION
Recent years have
seen a tremendous acceleration in world travel, in both business and leisure
markets. With increasing experience and frequency, travellers become
progressively more demanding in their needs, and the service and comfort
levels.
Marriott
International Inc., one of the most progressive,
realistic hoteliers realizes that while technology plays a growing role in the
hospitality industry, the “people”, personal-touch side of the business
inevitably determines the long-term success.
Next to comfort comes wellness and peak performance. The driving force
behind its success is reflecting on the significance of the company’s
extraordinary growth curve. It is this quality of service that is so critically
important to its guests, and the degree to which Marriott provide and evolve it
worldwide. It is also the degree to which Marriott International can
differentiate themselves and stay ahead of the rest.”
In order to be
competitive, Marriott International Inc. also
realizes the high costs associated with staff turnover, and makes the connection
between how they might contribute unintentionally to that turnover by how they
expose “their most important asset” to the hotel and company.
Marriott International knows the essential of capturing the international guests’ demand mostly to the Luxury and the Upper Upscale market segments. Especially shifting the company in the late 1970s from hotel ownership to property management and franchising also allows the organization to accelerate its growth and broaden its leadership position in the lodging industry.
The key success
factors for a global hotel group, like Marriott International Inc. include:
strong international brands; a network of attractive international locations
for the upscale guest; ability to leverage scale benefits in marketing, sales
and other services, integrated technology systems and the most important
assets, quantifiable manpower.
END
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nonaka I., Harvard Business Review: The Knowledge-Creating
Company., 1991, USA.