HELP: Case study!!

[poorstudent]

Hi! I am new here. I am hoping you can help me. I have just started my undergraduate degree in Management and have been assigned a case study. I am finding it very hard! I have never answered a case study before and so I really have no idea how to go about answering these type of questions.

A.K.F.
[FONT=&quot]Consultant Keith Houck strode into the conference room in Bill Collins's wake. Bill, the president of A.K.F., had hired Keith to help the hotel company's management team with their strategic planning. Wasting no time, Bill introduced Keith to human resources director Karen Setz, marketing head Tony Briggs, hotel operations chief Dave King, and accoun*tant Art Johnson. Already written in large block letters on an easel in the front of the room was the com*pany's 10-year-old mission statement: "A.K.F. strives to exceed the expectations of our guests by provid*ing excellent value in well-run hotels located off the beaten track. In this way, we will meet our profit, quality, and growth goals."[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keith, of course, had digested all of the back*ground materials the president had sent him, so he knew the company currently owned 21 properties: the original 10 Holiday Inns and 2 Quality Inns, all in Georgia, plus 8 hotels in Canada and a property in the Caribbean, acquired since Bill assumed the presi*dency five years ago. Keith was also well aware that even though A.K.F. was a reasonably profitable com*pany, Bill wasn't satisfied.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The consultant started the ball rolling by asking each person in the room to describe his or her vision for domestic operations over the next 10 years. How many hotels should A.K.F. own? Where should they be located, and what should the target market be? As the managers shared their views, Keith summarized their answers on the flip chart.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The consultant wasn't at all surprised that Bill's goals were the most ambitious. He advocated for an intermediate goal of adding 27 properties in five years and a long-term goal of 50 in 10 years. The other managers didn't come close, calling for only 15 hotels to be added in five years and no more than 20 over a decade. The A.K.F. senior managers just sat and stared at the figures.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keith asked for reactions. After an uncomfort-able silence, Dave was the first to jump into the fray. "We can't build something like five hotels a year. We would outpace our income. And we couldn't run them, certainly not given our current staffing. I don't see how we could afford to hire the people we'd need." Art nodded in agreement.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"You know, we've always concentrated on medium-priced hotels in smaller towns where we don't have much competition," pointed out Tony.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Karen jumped in. "Well, do we need to think about moving to bigger towns now, like maybe Jacksonville? We've got one property in Atlanta already. Maybe we should look into building another one there."[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"Why stick so close to home?" asked Bill. "You know, we're already looking at the possibility of going to Jacksonville. But why stop there? We've got an interesting opportunity out in California, and we might have another one in New Jersey."[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keith was beginning to fully appreciate the breadth and depth of the job he had on his hands. He looked at the mission statement, reviewed the list of current properties, and realized as he listened to the managers that nothing really matched up. So, now what should he do?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
Questions
[FONT=&quot]1.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot]What are the causes of the confusion confronting Keith Houck? Is A.K.F. ready to formulate a strate*gic plan? Why or why not?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot]If you were Keith Houck, what questions would you ask the managers? What steps would you rec*ommend in your effort to help A.K.F. successfully formulate strategic goals and plans?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot]If you were Bill Collins, what might you have done differently during your tenure as A.K.F. president?[/FONT]


Note: This is a fictionalised story.

Really looking forward to your replies!!!
Thanks.

 

[poorstudent]

Anyone? Anything would help.

Some of the members on here must have done a business degree/MBA and came across these types of questions before?

PM me if you can really help me (i.e. you answered these type of questions before and know what answers are expected) and I would be very glad to pay for your help.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

If he shoots Kareh and Bill,then gets promoted,he will have other people to worry about these trivial matters.

I know this is of no use,but it puts me in mind of school work."If it takes three men two days to dig a trench,3 feet wide,4 four feeet deep.What was the foreman's dog called"?

 

[poorstudent]

Yes I hate these questions too. The company is fake so I can't really do any research on that company to see what actually happened.

 

[ethical PR]

If you don't know how to approach the task the best person to ask for help is your tutor. Offering to pay someone to work the answers out for you isn't going to help you develop your skills,

 

[poorstudent]

I know but I have to hand this in this week and my tutor advised the class to just write down our opinions. But because it will be marked and I want to go well I don't mind getting a little help. I don't really want anyone to 'do it' for me but their mature opinion would be greatly appreciated. It isn't very common (at least at my university) to ask the tutor for help regarding something that she will be marking.

Also I have just started university after finishing school whereas the other few students that presented their question (a different one) last week were exchange students from a USA university (in their second year) and now I have really tough competition to go by because their answers were so professional. =(

 

[cjd]

We don't react well to homework questions I'm afraid. The normal reaction is 'bog-off and do your own work'.

You get a better response if you provide your answer and ask us to citicise it - at least that shows you've made an attempt.

Anyway, here's something for free - How does anyone know what to say?

Basically you don't just ask for opinion, you do analysis and move towards a strategy; they'll want you to do SWOT analysis, Porter analysis etc etc

 

[poorstudent]

I thought of doing a SWOT analysis even though it's in the next chapter of the book and still hasn't been lectured (but I read on it). I also thought the mission statement is 10 years old and maybe it's time to change it? Or do you guys think they should stick to whats been safe and good for the past 10 years? Also ever since Bill came to the company it has been doing well (even though he hasn't been following the mission statement exactly). But in my mind his expectations for the next 5 years are extreme. Does he have the confidence to back what he says?

 

[cjd]

The mission statement is fine - ie it says nothing much of any use.

[FONT=&quot]"A.K.F. strives to exceed the expectations of our guests by provid*ing excellent value in well-run hotels located off the beaten track. In this way, we will meet our profit, quality, and growth goals."

The only specific in that that's of any help is 'off the beaten track'. That could mean 10 hotels or 10,000
[/FONT]

 

[poorstudent]

Thank you SO much cjd!

Yes that’s the part that I am thinking might need to go; 'off the beaten track'. Maybe it’s time they start building hotels in busier areas? California, as Bill suggests. Or should they just keep to what has been safe so far which is basically building hotels where there aren't many an hence having ‘guaranteed’ profit. Does Bill really have the knowledge though to succeed in bigger cities?

 

[cjd]

If you remove that - you have nothing but a string of platitudes that mean everything and nothing.

Don't you think you might need to know something about the profitability or otherwise of each of their hotels?

 

[poorstudent]

Exactly! The case study just mentions that it is 'a reasonably profitable company'. But how profitable? Does not say.

 

[cjd]

More importantly it doesn't say what is profitable.

 

[poorstudent]

Thanks!
Do you believe needs to continue playing it safe (i.e. continue to built in off the beaten track areas as the mission supports) or should it take the risk (that Bill wants) and expand in big cities (and consequently disregard the 10yo mission statement)? There’s no in between is there? It’s one or the other.

 

Why don't you go get a job and then you can stop calling yourself a poor student.?

And do your own work as said.

No wonder we get such a bunch of thicko's coming out of universities when they use the web to get there answers from other people.?

Earl

 

[poorstudent]

Sirearl, there is no need to be rude and take your frustrations out on me. All I wanted to do was discuss it with people who have years of knowledge more than me on the subject. In fact I think I am doing a bit more than the average student who just throws their opinions on paper and has them marked. I am bumping and grinding my answers by seeing what other people have to say in order to develop my ideas even further. It isn't like I posted my question on Yahoo Answers.

Oh and one more thing, the reason why we have such a bunch of thickos coming out of universities and causing all these problems to the economy is because (as you advice me to do) they believe theirs and no one else's opinion counts.

 

[Gord]

You already have the answers in the thread.
There isn't enough information in the case to make an informed decision & SWOT analysis etc. is the next chapter.
So the answer is a list of things you would need to know, why they would help and the possible dangers of each future growth strategy.

 

[poorstudent]

Thanks for your reply. I think it would be a cool idea to split it into two and then describe what would happen if either decision is taken.

 

[Stephen Berry]

Ok - I guess this is one for me .... I lecture in Business Strategy on MBA programmes in 4 countries.

key issue - I would want to understand what you think. Whatever you come up with, I would argue against it - not to be cantankerous (which I am), but to understand how well you have thought it through and respond to challenge. I would not be overconcerned with your actual answer - more about the thinking behind it - which is why I would not just take the answers of others and pass them off as your own.

top tips:
1. put your self in the situation - pretend it is real - difficult at times I realise.
2. Concentrate on the information you DO have and work with that - note what additional information you would need, but don't let it paralyse you into inaction or not answering the question. Case studies are deliberately simplifications of reality to reduce complexity.
3. I agree with CJD - the 'vision/mission/purpose' is 'pants' - that should be the driver of any business, it gives a yardstick to measure what you do, how you do it, the appropriateness of your structure, culture etc. criticise it - maybe recreate it but note it as inadequate as it does not do its job - namely driving the business and helping the business weigh/make decisions etc.
4. regrettably, not on many MBA courses, but get an understanding of Jungian psychology and so realise how to treat people, and understand what motivates them - the people in your case study (pretending they are real) are very different and need to be approached differently.

In academia, anyone can take facts, or the thoughts of others and regurgitate them. What I would look for is what you think and even more importantly how you think. That is why in the classic Oxford/Cambridge interview questions, they do not ask you about what you know, but ensure that they ask you about things you do not know so they can gain an insight into your thinking potential.

 

[poorstudent]

Thank you so much Stephen!!!
Your opinions are really helpful as well as CJDs opinions.
I am working hard to make a really good presentation so hearing your opinions is really helpful because as you can imagine being a 1st year undergraduate all these are very new to me. Surely the professor only wants to see our way of thinking but also showing that we did a little extra reading wont hurt.
Thanks again!

 

[Techy]

Answers in a nutshell (in my crazy head)

1. As there are different answers from the managers, this subject has never been discussed in any detail before. A fully costed / risk assessed assessment should be undertaken on possible growth. Potential locations should be identified and researched. The accountant should be shot for not knowing the ball-park figures, so should the president

2. Identify how much money the company has to spend obtaining extra hotels / staff / facilities etc, or can be secured by funding. What is the risk of funding

3. Have looked in to the above two questions, befire hiring a consultant and wasting money

 

[poorstudent]

Thanks Techy! I really like your opinions. I agree with what you are saying. This is one of the worst case studies I have seen (though I haven't seen many yet) compared to what others in my class had to present (theirs were real companies too). But we can only work with what we get so I will try to make the best of it.