Individual Business Report: Four Seasons Hotel Strategic Analysis

This individual business report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Four Seasons Hotel, examining its internal and external environments. The report begins with an overview of the hotel chain, followed by a Porter’s Five Forces analysis to assess its competitive landscape, including threats from substitutes, new entrants, and competitors, as well as the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. A PESTLE analysis is then conducted to evaluate the political, economic, social, technological, legislative, and environmental factors affecting the hotel. The report further delves into the hotel's value chain, analyzing inbound and outbound logistics, operations management, marketing, sales, and service strategies. The report concludes with a summary of the marketing and sales strategies used by the hotel chain and the services offered, providing insights into the company’s overall business process and the factors that influence its performance. The report uses information from the Four Seasons official website, Forbes, and academic sources to support its findings.

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Individual Business Report
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Executive Summary
This report intends to shed light on the various aspects of the concept of effective management.
It is to be noted that for this particular purpose the report will take into consideration the hotel
chain “The Four Seasons”. The report will begin by providing an overview of the hotel chain.
The report will also provide an overview of the internal as well as the external environment of
the hotel chain. In addition to this, the report will also shed light on the various aspects of the
hotel chain like the inbound and outbound logistics, value chain, operation management. Finally
the report will conclude with an overview of the marketing and sales strategies used by the hotel
chain and also the services offered by them.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
The Four Seasons Hotel Limited.....................................................................................................4
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis..........................................................................................................5
Threat of substitute products and services...................................................................................6
Threat of new entrants.................................................................................................................7
Rivalry among competitors..........................................................................................................7
Bargaining power of buyers.........................................................................................................7
Bargaining power of suppliers.....................................................................................................8
PESTLE Analysis............................................................................................................................8
Political Factors...........................................................................................................................9
Economic Factors......................................................................................................................10
Social Factors.............................................................................................................................10
Technological Factors................................................................................................................10
Legislative Factors.....................................................................................................................11
Environmental Factors...............................................................................................................11
Value Chain Analysis....................................................................................................................11
Inbound Logistics..........................................................................................................................12
Operations Management................................................................................................................12
Outbound Logistics........................................................................................................................12
Marketing and Sales......................................................................................................................13
Services..........................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The global business market has become much more competitive in the present times and
therefore the various companies as well as business organization often perform a thorough
analysis of the market before the launch of any products or services (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson
2012). Therefore, it would not be too far-fetched to say that operations management forms an
important aspect of the entire process of the management of the various companies as well as
business organizations (Schermerhorn et al 2014). This report intends to shed light on the overall
business process of “The Four Seasons Hotel” and will analyze the various aspects of their
business and the factors which affect the hotel chain.
The Four Seasons Hotel Limited
The “Four Seasons Hotel Limited” is a Canadian Hotel, founded in the year 1960 by
Isadore Sharp (Fourseasons.com. 2018). It is to be noted that although the hotel based in Ontario,
Canada but it has more than 100 hotels worldwide (Fourseasons.com. 2018). Another interesting
fact to be noted that since the year 2007 the franchise has been owned by Bill Gates and Prince
Al-Waleed bin Talal (Fourseasons.com. 2018). It is to be noted that the hotel chain “is a tale of
continual innovation, remarkable expansion and a single-minded dedication to the highest of
standards”. In the recent times, the hotel has emerged as one of the leaders in the hospitality
sector and provides many modern day as well as innovative services to the customers. An
interesting fact to note about the company is that the company does not any property but it takes
the help of the various real estate service providers. The hotel stands at the 178th position among
the top best companies of the world (Forbes 2018). The hotel seeks to provide state of the art
infrastructure to the customers and in the year 1997 became “the first hotel to have a high-speed

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wireless Internet network after Wayport, Inc” (Fourseasons.com. 2018). The main area of
operation of the company is in the hospitality sector. The following figure provides an overview
of the ranking of the various Canadian hotels-
Figure 1: Ranking of the Canadian Hotels
Source: The Four Seasons Hotel Official Website
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
Porter’s Five Factors is a frame work which is used to analyze the competition which a
particular company or business organization is facing (Dobbs 2014). The various components of
this framework are given below-

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Figure 2: Components of the Porter’s Five Forces
Source: (Created by the Author)
A Porter’s Five Forces analysis is often used by the various companies as well as the
business organizations to analyze the competition faced by them. An analysis of the hotel “The
Four Seasons Hotel” under this framework would reveal the following facts-
Threat of substitute products and services
The hotel “The Four Seasons” provides quality services to the customers at very
affordable prices. In addition to this, the hotel is one of the leaders in the genre of hotels which
uses latest innovations as well as technology in a bid to cater to the needs as well as the
requirements of the customers in the best possible manner. Therefore, the threat of substitute
products and services is very low for the hotel “The Four Seasons Hotel”.

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Threat of new entrants
The hospitality industry is a very dynamic one and new companies or business
organizations enter the market on a regular basis. However, it is to be noted that the international
market has already been monopolized by the companies like “The Four Seasons Hotel”, Marriott
International, Bulgari Spa and others. Therefore, to make a significant impact on the business of
these hotel chains the new entrants need a substantial amount of capital investment as well as
time which many new companies often lack. Therefore, it would not be too far-fetched to say
that the “The Four Seasons Hotel” faces very low amount of threat from the entry of new
companies in the market.
Rivalry among competitors
The hotel “The Four Seasons” faces a considerable amount of threat on the score of
rivalry from its various competitors. It is to be noted that the primary competitors of the
company “The Four Seasons” Hotel are Marriott International, Alibaba Group, Bulgari Spa and
others. Another interesting fact to note is that almost all the competitors of the hotel “The Four
Season” have been in business for decades and are the preferred choice of many customers
(Fourseasons.com. 2018). Therefore, it would not be too far-fetched to say that the company
faces a considerable amount of stress from its various reputed competitors.
Bargaining power of buyers
The present recession which the world is facing at the present has greatly influenced the
buying patterns of the customers. Therefore, the customers often compare and contrast the
various products as well as services available in the market and go for the best offer that is

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available to them (Barney 2014). It is to be noted that this particular behavior is likely to affect
the hotel chain “The Four Seasons” as well. A common trend seen among the customers is that
the often compare and contrast the services offered by the various hotel chains like Marriott
International, Alibaba Group, Bulgari Spa, The Four Seasons and others. It is to be noted that a
common effect of this behavior is that the customer loyalty has significantly diminished and this
is adversely affecting the hospitality industry.
Bargaining power of suppliers
In the opinion of Barney (2014), if the bargaining power of the various suppliers related
to a particular business organization or company is high then that is likely to adversely affect the
company or the business organization concerned. Therefore, the hotel chain “The Four Seasons”
in a bid to reduce the bargaining power of its suppliers uses multiple supplier system.
PESTLE Analysis
PESTLE analysis is a framework which is used to analyze the external environment of a
business. An analysis of the hotel chain “The Four Seasons” under this framework would reveal
the following facts-

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Figure 3: Components of the PESTLE analysis framework
Source: (Created by the Author)
Political Factors
The political climate of Canada is a very stable one very congenial for trade and
commerce. The Government of Canada in a bid to facilitate trade and commerce has passed
various stipulations like the Canadian Merchandise Trade Act of 2015 in addition to the various
other legislations related to free trade and others (GAC 2018). The political climate of Canada
actually acts an opportunity to the hotel chain “The Four Seasons”. The free trade policies as
well as the various legislations passed by the government of the nation actually help the hotel
chain in the conduct of their business.

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Economic Factors
The present economic recession which the world is facing at the moment is adversely
affecting the hotel chain. The company also needs to take into consideration the various
economic legislations passed by the government of Canada. These legislations as well as the
present economic condition of the world act as a threat to the current business of the hotel chains.
The current economic climate has altered the buying patterns of the customers and because of
this the hotel chains are facing the heat.
Social Factors
The society of Canada is a very liberal one and the people like to go on frequent
vacations (Brake 2013). The hotel chain has its targeted customer base, the people of the younger
age who like to live a free life. It is to be noted that the majority of the population of the nation is
in the younger age group. The present social as well as the cultural climate of the nation of
Canada actually acts an opportunity to the hotel chain. The hotel chain can take the help of this
social as well as cultural environment to further improve their prospects in the nation of Canada.
Technological Factors
The nation of Canada is a fairly developed one in terms of latest technology as well as
innovations. The hotel chain takes the help of the latest innovations as well as technology to
cater to the various needs and the requirements of the customers. A typical example of this is the
online booking and reservation facilities which they offer to the customers. The present
technological climate of the nation of Canada actually acts an opportunity to the hotel chain. The
hotel chain can take the help of the latest innovations as well as technology in a bid to cater to
the various needs and the requirements of the customers.

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Legislative Factors
The hotel chain needs to take into consideration the various legislation of the nation of
Canada like “Fait Wage”, “Equal Wage” and others. The hotel chain also needs to follow the
various tax and other economic legislations of the country. This actually acts as a threat to the
company as it is seen that if the hotel chain goes on to follow all the employment legislations
then it is likely to miss out on the other skilled professionals who might have contributed in a
much better manner to the company.
Environmental Factors
The hotel chain needs to follow the various environmental legislations passed by the
nation. This actually acts as a threat to the company as it is seen that if the company goes on to
follow all the environmental legislations then that is likely to affect the performance of the hotel
chain.
Value Chain Analysis
In his book “Competitive Analysis” Porter articulated the concept of the value chain and
its analysis. It can be defined as the strategic tool which is used to analyze the internal activities
of a company or business organization which provides it an edge over the other companies or
business organizations (Gereffi and Fernandez-Stark 2016). Therefore, according to Porter
(1980), “its goal is to recognize, which activities are the most valuable (i.e. are the source of cost
or differentiation advantage) to the firm and which ones could be improved to provide
competitive advantage”. The hotel chain “The Four Seasons” conducts regular sessions of
internal analysis in a bid to develop strategies which is likely to give it an edge over the other
companies or business organizations in the hospitality sector.

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Inbound Logistics
Logistics can be defined as the “detailed organization and implementation of a complex
operation” (Christopher 2016). It is to be noted that the inbound logistics forms an important part
of any business organization or company. The hotel chain “The Four Seasons” therefore has
evolved a complex inbound logistics system which ensures that the hotel chain timely delivery of
the raw materials necessary for the transaction of their business through their various suppliers. It
is to be noted that the system also concerns itself with the maintenance of its various hotels in
different parts of the world.
Operations Management
The hotel chain “The Four Seasons” has evolved a complex system for the effective
management of its diverse hotels in the different parts of the world. It is to be noted that the
company constantly keeps on investing in their various hotels in various parts of the world in a
bid to improve the quality of services provided by them to the customers(Jacobs, Chase and
Lummus 2014). It is a reflection of the effective operation management techniques followed by
the hotel chain that the hotel chain at the moment is one of the largest hotel chains in the world.
Outbound Logistics
The process of outbound logistics can be defined as “the storage and movement of the
final product and the related information flows from the end of the production line to the end
user” (Christopher 2016). It is to be noted that with the view to become the largest hotel chain in
the world the hotel chain conveys regular information to its customers in a bid to keep them
updated about the various services offered by them.