Ramada, Case Study Example

Since Ramada is considered to be a middle tier hotel chain, it is continuing its downward trend. Therefore, management is aiming to determine ways that it could increase business and perception of satisfactory customer service. Thus, the first management-research question that should be asked is whether the hotel management can look at higher tier hotel chains to serve as a model for the customer service options that are available. Although the funding for middle and high tier hotels will not be equivalent, there are many cost effective services that can be offered to convince costumers that staying at Ramada will be a positive experience. Furthermore, an additional question that should be asked is if there is a more effective way for employees to be trained. Since customer service feedback has a direct relationship with the individuals that provide these services, increasing the quality of the employees’ work will improve the overall image of the hotel. A third question that should be asked is if trainable employees are being hired. Ultimately, employees should be hired if they have previous experience in the hotel industry. If this is lacking, they must demonstrate an ability to coherently follow directions and the ability to learn new skills.

The role and process of exploration in Ramada’s research dealt primarily with determining whether conventional business models could be reasonable applied, successfully, to the operations of the hotel chain. To do so, the company examined the most successful hotel and service chains, such as Disney, to determine what the companies did to become widely respected. Ultimately, Ramada’s goal was to rebrand itself in order to remain competitive. Therefore, it conducted this research as if it were a new hotel opening for the first time. In order to adequately restructure all policies and customer service standards, the research attempted to determine what the hotel would need to do to survive if it were new to the industry and needed to remain competitive. In addition to researching and applying some of the customer service techniques from leading companies, Ramada welcomed employee opinions, as those who work with customers on a daily basis are likely to know the most about areas that could be improved.

The research process undertaken by Ramada closely matched the process model because the first step was to determine which generic concepts could likely be successfully applied to a new business model for the company. This involved researching several successful companies and pulling successful ideas from them. Next, they developed these into a process that would be relevant for Ramada’s goals. Lastly, the team attempted to determine whether these processes would enhance the hotel’s business, which required development runs. Ultimately, this step allowed Ramada to determine whether the new business model was effective in practice.

The research decisions that were made focused on enhancing the effectiveness of employees. Therefore, new training programs were initiated in a manner that would precisely direct workers as to what is and what is not acceptable work practice. Furthermore, employees were incentivized to reward effective employees. More importantly, the hotel chain learned the value of utilizing the Predictive Index to screen for the employees that would be the best fit for its new image. This will allow the incentive programs to be more influential on work ethic. Based on the quantitative data generated by the company, these policy changes were effective overall. Its rank compared to other hotels in the customer service performance category improved significantly. Furthermore, these success stories have contributed to the success of Ramada’s ability to market itself.

The sampling methodology used in this study appears to be random surveys of both customers and employees. This was appropriate for this particular study because it aimed to determine how increasing the effectiveness of employees would contribute to customer perception of customer service. Therefore, it was necessary to interview the employees to determine which aspects of training could make them perform to higher standards. To determine if these modifications were causing the chain to make progress, it was necessary to interview the customer perception of service to determine if it was increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same in terms of standards.

The owners and managers played a large role in controlling the way that the research was designed, but left room for employee input. Therefore, although a large portion of the project was designated by the management, it was largely a collaboration from all members of the Ramada family. Customer feedback played an important role in these study findings as well. Ultimately, the research design was strong because it provided for input from a large quantity of Ramada stakeholders. Furthermore, it utilized successful business models as primary examples for business plans that should be mimicked. This research plan was weak, however, because it was possible that many of the business plans mimicked during the initial research is not applicable to the hotel industry. Even though Disney is involved in hospitality management to some extent, this is not the majority of the business that it conducts. Therefore, it is not an ideal model for this setting.

Ramada chose to conduct this study in a party-like atmosphere because it values the input of many parties. This is an advantage because it allows the company to consider many different, unique ideas in developing its business plan. However, it is also important to consider that this is a disadvantage because it is difficult to consider all of this information at the same time in a way that will be meaningful or effective to the company.

The research findings are reflected in the final managerial decisions, because management decided that a major change that needed to occur in their business was the decision concerning how individuals are hired, trained, and potentially fired. It recognized that good customer service starts first with the employees that are providing the service and that it is the responsibility of the hotel chain to ensure that all workers understand how the best customer service can be delivered. Therefore, this included an overhaul of the operations conducted by the human resources department, as greater care was needed to ensure that trainable and intelligent employees were hired and that individuals that do not have the capacity to learn and adapt would not be hired.

Ultimately, Ramada recognized that its business was primarily that of customer service. Individuals do not select hotels based on price alone, but the services and treatments that they are offered during their stay. Ramada participated in this strategic reorganization in order to stay competitive with other middle line hotels. As a consequence of its ability to do so, it appears that it will continue to be in business for a long time.