MG627 Coursework: White Water Change and Jumeirah Group Strategies

This report examines the white water changes experienced by the Jumeirah Group, a luxury hotel chain based in Dubai. It analyzes the extent of these changes, exploring whether they were planned or unplanned, and their impact on the organization. The report delves into the role of business strategy and external factors, such as the slowdown in tourism and increased competition, in driving these changes. It discusses the adoption of emergent strategies, like workforce restructuring, in response to challenging market conditions. The analysis highlights the importance of effective communication and employee engagement during periods of significant organizational change. Furthermore, it contrasts deliberate and emergent strategies, demonstrating how the Jumeirah Group has adapted its approach to maintain its leading position in the competitive hospitality industry. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for proactive change management to mitigate the negative implications of white water events and ensure long-term profitability.

Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................2
The extent of white-water changes in Jumeirah Group............................................................................2
The extent which this resulted from a planned or an unplanned approach to change...............................3
The role of business strategy and external factors in the shift from calm to white waters.......................4
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................5
References...............................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction
Jumeirah Group is a Dubai based luxury hotel chain that has been internationally acclaimed with
various travel awards. After its establishment in 1997, the company became a member of Dubai
holding in 2004. The aesthetics and supreme hospitality at its various properties have established
as a leader in luxury hotel chains of UAE. Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is one of the most lavish
properties of the group. The operations are led by the executive team of highly qualified
professionals. Over the years the company has successfully established many luxe properties in
UAE and many other foreign countries. By following Arab ways of hospitality and providing
exhilarating experience to their guests the company has established a brand name and has a loyal
customer base. The competitive advantage enables the company to stand out in the tough
competition of the hospitality industry in UAE which is one of the most popular luxury travel
destination (Jumeirah, 2019). The company has succeeded to sustain in the competition through
being a leader in bringing changes thus meeting expectations of the guests. In this report, we
will study types of changes in the organization and strategic responses suitable to different
situations.
The extent of white-water changes in Jumeirah Group
Every organization is bound to adapt to changes in order to remain relevant and survive in the
dynamic industry. An organizational change requires its leaders to manage the effort of
improvement of the operational flow of the organization. An effective change management
strategy is required to manage such changes as the intensity of change can result in a varied level
of response from the internal as well as external stakeholders of the organization. Two types of
metaphor are used in describing the changes in calms waters and white waters. Under white
waters the changes come drastically and may have negative impact on the organization during
the transition phase. The complexity of a problem and response time required often leads to a
white-water change (Palus & Horth, 2018). The white water change often proves to be beneficial
for the company and its stakeholders but the changes are observed later on. It may hamper the
reputation of the organization if not managed properly. Thus, effective communication to ensure
that the intent of bringing in the change is communicated properly is highly needed.
Due to recent slow-down in emirates tourism, the Jumeirah Group had to cut down 500 jobs
from its properties in different countries. It had a negative impact on the 13,500 employees of the
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group. The third quarter of 2019 recorded the lowest occupancy level of the decade which led to
such a harsh decision (Parasie & Pacheco, 2019). It has caused much resentment among the staff.
Thus, the transition period required gaining the employee’s trust, removing their doubts and
insecurities.
Such change must have been big news for the employees in the organization. Insecurity among
employees may lead to sudden high attrition and low motivation among existing employees.
Such lay off should be planned beforehand and done in a phased manner so that the impact does
not appear to be sudden. Incentives to laid-off workers and outplacement assistance will be a
sign of compassionate behaviour of the management. Sudden lay off and the restructuring of the
manpower often leads to major resentment among the employees. It conveys the negative image
of the organization in the industry. The survivors of a lay off should be made a participant in
rebuilding a strong and competent workforce. Employee engagement and profitability falls down
due to low morale and negative work atmosphere (Sucher & Gupta, 2018).
The extent which this resulted from a planned or an unplanned approach to change
The white-water change that has taken place in Jumeriah Group in the recent time was a planned
change as the slowdown in the technology was being observed since the beginning of the year.
The slowdown observed by the sector compelled the organization to take measures in order to
ensure profitability of the operations. The Mintzberg and Waters model of deliberate (planned)
and emergent (unplanned) strategy can be applied in this situation to understand whether the
white-water change made in the form of layoff of 500 employees was a planned or an unplanned
change.
The strategic planning in an organization always involves the possibility of contingency that may
occur in the course of execution of such a plan. Unexpected opportunities or threats arise as an
impact of external market forces which often reciprocated by strengths or weaknesses of the
organization. The responding strategy is often driven by the time limitation, situation and
possible impact of the problem. A strategy is a certain pattern that forms part of a stream of
various decisions taken for the organization.
According to Mintzberg and Waters, emergent strategies are developed as a result of unexpected
opportunities or negative situations that imposes a threat. An emergent strategy is a responsive
strategy that matches up the organization with the environment and help in maintaining
competitiveness. Emergent strategies arise from the decisions made by the managers at the
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middle level that deals with a situation directly. Emergent strategies often have a white-water
impact on the organization as they happen to occur all of a sudden and there is not enough time
to communicate with the stakeholders. Thus, the lack of preparedness for the change driven by
strategy often causes disturbance in the organization. However, such strategies when putting in
place at the right time lead to tremendous success (THE EXECUTIVE'S & ENTREPRENEUR'S
MAGAZINE, 2013).
However, the deliberate strategy is a well-planned and controlled strategy which is executed after
much analysis. These strategies are made keeping in mind the long-term plan of the organization.
The organization hopes to execute this strategy and gain planned results. They are often termed
as a business plan and is made after many efforts. The resources dedicated to such strategies are
more than allocated to any other plan (Bozkurt & Kalkan, 2013).
The lay off a strategy that was adopted by the company to curb operational incompetence in the
scenario of slow down faced by the industry can be categorized as an emergent strategy. The
immediate lay off keeping in view the recent downward trend was taken to restore the
company’s operational profitability.
The role of business strategy and external factors in the shift from calm to white waters
a) Role of business strategies
The Jumeriah group has over the time maintained their undeniable leading position in the
group through their well-planned strategy of giving excellent hospitality services to the
customers. Elevating dining experience and positioning the F & B department has created
a market differentiation for the company. The rich dining experience provided at the
properties makes Jumeriah group a leader in luxury hotel chains of UAE. An excellent
and highly personalized guest experience and unique aesthetics of the properties are the
results of constant deliberate strategy made over the years. However, when an obstacle
arises such deliberate plans are sustained through emergent plans. These emergent plans
have goals that support in achieving the goal of the deliberate plans in the long term.
They control the situation and ensures that the deliberate plan can be brought back on
track soon. The company has announced leadership positions and introduced the person
appointed so. This effort was made to have leaders that would take the company in the
right direction and protect against threats (hotel news resource, 2019).
b) Role of external factors
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The players of highly dynamic hotel industry of Dubai need to adapt and evolve over
time to remain relevant and demanded in the market. The maintaining of profit margin
becomes more difficult looking at the Average Daily Rate trends and the number of new
hotels that are entering the market. The Expo Dubai 2020 will create numerous
opportunities and intensify the competition for the Jumeriah Group (Harnisch, 2019). The
current trends also suggest that the hotel industry of the UAE will soon have to shift from
luxury pricing to cost-driven pricing. It makes require Jumeriah to make modifications in
their revenue model (Bridge, 2019).
Conclusion
In this study, we viewed different situations and what response can be appropriate for such
circumstances. It can be said that having a white-water approach or a calm water approach for a
change depends on whether the situation calls for an emergent strategy or can be handled under
the deliberate strategy. The current economic conditions, the latest industry trends require a
suitable approach that would maintain the ultimate long-term profitability motive of the Jumeriah
group. However, the impact of white-water change should be controlled by the management in
order to avoid a negative implication.
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References
Bozkurt, O. C. & Kalkan, A., 2013. Strategic Focus in Turkish SMEs: Emergent or Deliberate
Strategies?. Burdur, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences .
Bridge, S., 2019. Dubai hotel sector 'needs rethink', luxury rates to hit new normal. [Online]
Available at: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/434268-dubai-hotel-sector-needs-
overhaul-as-luxury-rates-to-hit-new-normal
[Accessed 2 Feb 2020].
Harnisch, O., 2019. Opinion: Dubai's hospitality industry must adapt and evolve. [Online]
Available at: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/417422-opinion-dubais-hospitality-
industry-must-adapt-evolve
[Accessed 10 January 2020].
hotel news resource, 2019. Jumeirah Group Announces New Appointments Across Dubai, Europe and the
Maldives. [Online]
Available at: https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article107079.html
[Accessed 16 September 2020].
Jumeirah, 2019. About Jumeirah. [Online]
Available at: https://www.jumeirah.com/en/jumeirah-group/about-jumeirah
[Accessed 2 Feb 2020].
Palus, C. J. & Horth, D. M., 2018. Leadership in permanent whitewater: Playing with the metaphor
(VIDEO). [Online]
Available at: http://www.ccl-explorer.org/leadership-in-permanent-whitewater-playing-with-the-
metaphor/
[Accessed 2 Feb 2020].
Parasie, N. & Pacheco, F., 2019. Dubai's Jumeirah Cuts 500 Jobs as Tourism Industry Struggles.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/dubai-s-jumeirah-cuts-500-jobs-as-
tourism-industry-struggles
[Accessed 2 February 2020].
Sucher, S. J. & Gupta, S., 2018. Layoffs That Don’t Break Your Company. Harvard Business Review,
Issue May-June 2018.
THE EXECUTIVE'S & ENTREPRENEUR'S MAGAZINE, 2013. Deliberate VS Emergent Strategy.
[Online]
Available at: https://businessleadershipmanagement.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/deliberate-vs-emergent-
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strategy/
[Accessed 2 Feb 2020].
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