ANSWERS TO OPENING CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are some of the challenges and opportunities of competing in the hotel
industry? How do you think the hotel industry (or travel industry more generally)
has changed over time?
The instructor could do a complete Porter’s 5-force analysis of the hotel industry with
students in class, or simply encourage students to summarize the challenges and
opportunities if time is limited. In general, some of the factors that should emerge as
prominent are:
2. Can you identify di erent customer groups in the hotel industry? What are
some of the ways that hotels attract these di erent groups?
Students will likely differentiate between leisure and business travelers, and may further
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of targeting a narrower niche of
customers rather than trying to appeal to a wide range of hotel customers?
Encourage the students to recognize that when a hotel targets a large customer segment, it
will a) tend to be less differentiated because it must be acceptable to a wide audience, and
b) compete against more competitors. This means that in general, there will be the most
4. What are some of the ways that citizenM has substituted technology for labor?
What are some of the bene&ts/risks of this approach?
CitizenM uses:
self-check in kiosks instead of receptions desks
self-service kitchen rather than a sta%ed restaurant and bar
tablet computers in rooms rather than concierge services
5. Can you think of other ways to dramatically re-envision how a hotel might
operate and attract guests? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your
approach?
Students will typically have diverse ideas in response to this question. It can be a fun exercise to
give the students 15-20 minutes to work in teams coming up with their own ideas that they then
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between a strength, a competitive advantage, and a sustainable
competitive advantage?
If two competitors share the same strength then that strength does not afford either firm a
2. What makes an ability (or set of abilities) a core competency?
A core competency differentiates a company strategically from its competitors and is most often
3. Why is it necessary to perform an external and internal analysis before the firm can
identify its true core competencies?
An internal analysis enables a firm to identify and evaluate its capabilities. Constructing an
inventory of capabilities as suggested by Gallon, et al. enables a firm to group capabilities by
4 Pick a company you are familiar with. Can you identify some of its
core competencies?
In evaluating students answers to this question you will want to see that the core competencies
identified 1) differentiate the company from its competitors in terms of the value created for
4. How is the idea of “strategic intent” different from models of strategy that emphasize
achieving a fit between the firm’s strategies and its current strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT)?
Strategic intent is distinguished by its forward-looking orientation. Models of strategy that
emphasize fit between a firm’s strategies and its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
6 Can a strategic intent be too ambitious?