Holiday Inn: Analysis of Management and Strategic Direction

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the hospitality industry, specifically focusing on Holiday Inn's management practices and strategic direction. The report begins with an executive summary and an introduction to the hospitality sector, highlighting its economic contributions. It then delves into the organizational structure, culture, and goals of Holiday Inn, followed by an examination of recent change initiatives, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and contributions to CSR practices such as environmental safety and community development through education. The report also explores Holiday Inn's strategic directions, including market penetration, product development, and diversification, along with an analysis of its current business performance using Ansoff and Porter's generic strategies. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the importance of effective change management and strategic planning in the hospitality industry. The report provides valuable insights into how Holiday Inn manages its operations and adapts to industry challenges.

Hospitality industry

Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
Main Findings........................................................................................................................................4
Organisation structure, culture and goals.........................................................................................4
Recent change initiatives, their impact and how well these were managed.....................................5
The organisation’s strategic direction and current business performance........................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides a detail information related to hospitality management and
development. Hospitality industry provides its direct contribution in economy development
and society welfare. Thus, this report determines changes initiatives of Holiday Inn as well as
its impact over the business. Furthermore, an analysis over the available strategic directions
for firm and its implementation.

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industry that contribute directly in the
economy development practices at the level of local, national and international (Al-Ababneh,
2017). The practices of this industry includes services quality in order to provide maximum
satisfaction to customer after analysing their need and requirements. This report is based on
hospitality management practices of Holiday Inn which is subsidiary of InterContinental
Hotel group. This report is going to include the organisational structure, culture and goal of
Holiday Inn as well as recent change initiatives of firm. Furthermore, it will include
organisation’s strategic directions as well as their current business performance.
MAIN FINDINGS
Organisation structure, culture and goals
Holiday inn is an American brand of hotels which was founded by Kemmons Wilson
in the year of 1952. The headquarters of the firm are in Denham, Buckinghamshire, United
Kingdom. In a very authentic manner, the Holiday Inn organizes its management. The
organizational structure of firm is a vertical where the organization's primary head is the
general manager and the executive secretary is in charge at the time they are absent. These
kind of practices help them in taking important decision in the favour of firm by allocating
responsibility to the heads. A centralized authority and control structure is seen in the table of
Holiday Inn. This basically means that each department has a regular mission and specifically
stresses its laws and regulations. These kind of practices helps to smooth the organization's
activity, and specifically determines the responsibility to everyone after analysing their skills
and capabilities. It also serves to have a consultation about what the essence and ethos of the
company is about and how to continue to meet those needs with the operational
infrastructure.
Organisational culture of Holiday Inn is respectful and diverse because they operating
their operational and functional activities in more than 100 countries in which around
400,000 employees who belongs to different culture provides their services to customers.
Company basically concentrates to recognize the value and benefit of ensuring that the
cultures in which they are working are represented by their workforce (Boella and Goss-
Turner, 2019). Thus, their policies and values set the position on matters of global,
environmental and ethical significance. These kind of practices helps them in developing a

positive working environment for the workers that impacts positively upon customer services.
In context of their employees, shareholders, customers or vendors of Holiday Inn, they ensure
that their standards are transparent to all with whom they are collaborate or are going to align.
This type of business culture which are run by Holiday Inn is a reasonable and rigorous in
each manner.
The goals of Holiday Inn determines to being the prime choice of customers and
earning revenue for the establishment of a better company. On the other side, the long-term
goal of firm is to gain interest from many services users by serving them desired qualities on
the basis of their requirements and needs. In order to address all the objectives and goals they
acknowledge the obligation to concentrate on ensuring that company's growth leads to the
priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals in future. For this, they agreed that they will
make the greatest contribution to seven of the goals by leveraging their strength of scale and
global scope. All these goals of firm helps them in managing growth sustainability by leading
a great firm.
Recent change initiatives, their impact and how well these were managed
Holiday Inn is one largest chain of hotel that serves in different countries in order to
develop a strong customer base easily. In order to manage such, organisation implements
some change initiatives that help them in managing suitability in business for a long run
duration. The recent change initiatives of firm are determined below as:
Change Initiatives against COVID-19: The impact of COVID-19 has directly upon
several businesses and each industry. In this, hospitality industry have a direct impact of such
practices (Bowen and Morosan, 2018). Thus, in order to manage the impact of such, Holiday
Inn respond rapidly and cautiously every day by making sure that they do the best thing for
their employees, guests, hotel, its owners, as well as for the many local communities. Thus, in
order to opening up their hotels in the condition of pandemic, they act careful of their options
as well as make responsible decisions both for now and for the long term. These decisions
includes, safety and hygiene measures for employees and guest, employment and
empowerment, employee retention and so on. All these change initiatives of firm will help
them to manage sustainability for a long run duration in the market.
Contribution in CSR practices:

 Environment safety and security: The production of green hotel goes hand-in-hand
with caring for the atmosphere and the neighbourhoods where they work and doing
the right things in the right way. These kind of initiatives will help an organisation to
provide their contribution in the environment safety and security. The initiatives says
that it's about making a good difference while developing the company on the planet
around their business. The goal of firm towards such CSR practices is to dreaming
about healthier societies, a better climate and a better life which provides effective
contribution in community welfare.
 Community development by promoting education: The IHG Academy is a
partnership in which firm collaborate with education partners and community
organisations around the world by offering the ability for local people in one of the
world's largest leading hospitality companies to learn skills and boost their job
opportunities. These kind of practices helps in managing business sustainability by
providing opportunities to individual in the context of employment.
The organisation’s strategic direction and current business performance
In order to implement new changes, Holiday Inn believes in considering new strategic
directions (Jones, Hillier and Comfort, 2016). These kind of practices will help them in
analysing new opportunities for desired growth and sustainability. The analysis of such
direction are determined below:
Ansoff Matrix
Market Penetration: The organisation uses its products on the current market in a
market expansion approach. In other words, through a market expansion plan, a business is
looking at growing its market share. The plan to enter markets can be applied, for example,
by cutting costs, increasing advertising and distribution activities and gaining a rival on the
same market, in a variety of ways.
Product Development: The business introduces a new product for the current market
through a product growth plan. Usually, substantial research and development and extension
of the product line of the business are included. The product marketing approach is used
where businesses have a good awareness of their current market and are willing to provide
new ideas to fulfil the current market needs.

Market Development: The Company reaches a new market for its current product in
a market growth plan. Expanding to other markets will also entail expanding to new regional
areas, client groups, etc. In this sense.
Diversification: The organisation is targeting a new market with a new commodity in
a diversification approach. While such a plan is the riskiest, since it involves both consumer
and product growth, the risk can be somewhat mitigated by associated diversification.
The change initiative of firm is based on its strategy towards market development
through which organisation can maximise its market share. Market development strategy of
Holiday Inn aid them in developing a large market share in the developing and developed
countries.
Porter’s generic strategy
Cost leadership: This plan seeks to become the industry's lowest-cost manufacturer.
The conventional approach to accomplish this purpose is large-scale manufacturing that helps
the businesses to take advantage of economies of scale.
Differentiation leadership: The organisation targets even wider markets with
differentiation leadership and finds competitive edge through differentiation across the entire
industry (Konovalova and et.al., 2018). This technique includes the identification, and
consequently placement, of one or more parameters used by consumers in a market.
Focus:
 Cost focus: An organisation with either one or a limited number of business segments
wants a reduced cost advantage. It would be a simple commodity - maybe a product
close to the higher-priced, but appropriate to a reasonable number of customers.
 Differentiation focus: An organisation tries to distinguish from a handful or only a
limited range of consumer markets under its differentiation-oriented plan
(Konovalova and et.al., 2018). The segment's unique consumer demands enable users
to deliver clearly different offerings from rivals targeting a larger community of
customers.
In context of managing the business practices, firm implements diversification policies
that help them in providing suitability for a long run duration.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been summarised that hospitality industry implements
effective changes which are all based on society welfare and development. In order to do so,
firm manages its managerial decisions in order to develop effective policies. The contribution
of such also includes job creation, innovation implementation and so on. The main objective
of such are based on servings desired services to customers after analysing their needs and
requirements.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Al-Ababneh, M., 2017. Service quality in the hospitality industry. Available at SSRN
3633089.
Boella, M.J. and Goss-Turner, S., 2019. Human resource management in the hospitality
industry: A guide to best practice. Routledge.
Bowen, J. and Morosan, C., 2018. Beware hospitality industry: the robots are
coming. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D., 2016. Sustainability in the hospitality
industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Konovalova, E.E. and et.al., 2018. Methodological approaches to development strategies for
the tourism and hospitality industry enterprises. International Journal of
Engineering and Technology (UAE). 7(4.38). pp.277-280.
Konovalova, E.E., and et.al., 2018. Forming approaches to strategic management and
development of tourism and hospitality industry in the regions. Journal of
Environmental Management & Tourism. 9(2 (26)). pp.241-247.