Marketing Ethics of Holiday Inn - Case Study Example

Case Study: The Pizza Puzzle Case Study: The Pizza Puzzle The dilemma at Holiday Inn Hind wants to improve the sales of guest rooms. The manager has associated the low room sales because of the pizza deliveries made by deliveries in Amman. Hind and the entire management of Holiday Inn must find a connection between the expectations of the stakeholders with the pizza in order to boost the sales of the room. The restaurant kicks off with a low sale volume of pizza and fails to succeed in boosting the sale of the guest rooms. The low sale of rooms has been attributed to the perceived low quality of the pizza with respect to what the pizza delivery competitors bring to the hotel. Hind proposes a boost in the quality of pizza offered in the restaurant, but it does not succeed in increasing the overall sale of the rooms. Hind and the entire management of Holiday Inn must find a connection between the pizza, and the how it affects the sale of the rooms in the hotel. Room sales contributed the highest margin of profit to the hotel and lost it because of prevailing pizza deliveries in the guest rooms would offset the profit margin of the hotel. The quality of the pizza has been improved, but the reception by guests is low because they believe that Holiday Inn is best in making traditional steak and seafood other than high-quality pizza. The management must retain room sales and offset the prevailing pizza deliveries from the competitors that are derailing the operations of the hotel. Ethical Issues from the Case The management wants to disassociate the Holiday Inn name from the pizza business and operate under the Napoli pizza to compete for the ready pizza market. Napoli Pizza will boost the image of the pizza business during guest room delivery service. A new line of business will have a different phone number. The phone reception will be connected to a special phone that does not have any links to the Holiday Inn room operations. The service personnel will wear new hats and jackets when making room delivery. The idea of the room service personnel under Napoli Pizza changing uniforms when making regular deliveries is an ethical issue. Hind proposes that the hotel should invest in new garments for pizza delivery and boost the reception of the pizza based on old family recipes in order to offer competition. The change is meant to boost the image of the hotel and create an impression to customers in the guest rooms that there is a new alternative from what they get from the pizza delivery competitors. Stakeholders and Their Viewpoints The stakeholders supposed to be involved in the decision-making process include the room service personnel, customers, Hind and Terek. The stakeholders have vital perspectives about the proposed business idea to boost the sale of guest rooms and a new pizza business. The restaurant also aims at offsetting the competition from the pizza deliveries to their hotel rooms. The room service personnel charged with making Napoli Pizza deliveries in the guest rooms should express how the guests perceive their new outlook. The employees have a stake in expressing the tedious process of changing their uniform every time they are making pizza deliveries. The process of changing uniforms to the regular uniform may upset the flow of work in the restaurant. The move may also upset the overall productivity of the restaurant that the customers trust with traditional steak and seafood. Customers are responsible for determining the quality of the pizza the restaurant will offer. Their reception to the old and new pizza prepared by the hotel has disturbed the sales of the guest rooms. The hotel must get first-hand information from customers on how to design their guest rooms with respect to the pizza sales from the competitors. Incorporating the voice of the guests will give vital information and increase the probability of Holiday Inn adjusting the status of room sales and the pizza. The customers will reassure the managers if indeed there is an inconsistency between the image of the business and their expectations with all the pizza makers. Hind and Terek represent the management body of the organization but Terek has the last word on whether the Holiday Inn restaurant should disassociate itself from the new line of business. The manager must determine the impact a name has on the strategic goals set for Holiday Inn. He must ensure that the room service charged with delivering the pizza is doing so within the limits of the new Napoli Pizza business. Alternatives and Consequences With Respect To All Stakeholders The hotel can lower the room rates to persuade more guests to book with Holiday Inn. The hotel may end up selling a few rooms and fail to reach the normal profit margin. New pricing of rooms will enable Terek to add value to rooms instead on relying on the possibility that the pizza deliveries are offsetting the number of rooms sold to guests. Adding value to guest rooms is one of the best ways of increasing room sales. Value is added through creation and promotion of special packages in order to mask the room rates (Siguaw & Bojanic, 2004). The hotel can offer free pizza deliveries to lure the guests who are loyal to that the pizza as opposed to the Napoli Pizza. The management should consider getting separate room service team to service the Napoli Pizza business. The process of changing from one uniform to another reduces the productivity of the service personnel. The new duties will prompt them to work in the restaurant and room service. The workers might get overworked during peak hours. Getting new employees would offset the labor cost which Hind and Terek should consider when making new financial plans for an outlet. Hind should consider proposing the new Italian pizza as a new option in the restaurant option. Including the pizza in the restaurant menu will capture guests in the restaurant and those who check in for accommodation. Sustaining Napoli Pizza might offset the financial status of the restaurant because an integral part of its profit comes from room sales that have lowered. Adding the cost of Napoli Pizza and the production cost involved will take Hind time to recover. The Best Action and Its Potential Effects Hind should consider retaining the name of the restaurant instead of selling pizza under Napoli Pizza brand. The move will retain the trust of the customers and stakeholders instead of hiding behind a new name as opposed to the effect of changing sudden name change (Publications, 2011). Customers might decide to try the new service of pizza and abandon that of the competitor altogether. The process can be boosted with a proper product launch because Holiday Inn is an established brand. References Publications, S. (2011). SAGE Brief Guide to Business Ethics. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Siguaw, J., & Bojanic, D. (2004). Hospitality sales. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning. Read More