Queensland Resort: Case Study on Innovation and Strategy

This case study analyzes Island Leisure Resort, a 4-star hotel in Queensland, Australia, focusing on its innovation strategy to secure a government grant. The study begins with an introduction to innovation and then delves into the internal and external environmental factors affecting the resort, utilizing SWOT and PESTEL analyses. It identifies opportunities for innovation, such as facial recognition, mobile room keys, and smart amenities. The case study then explores the implementation of smart amenities, including financial planning, staff training, and building support for innovation. A detailed process for monitoring and reviewing the innovation strategy is also presented, including identifying returns, budget monitoring, and comparison with competitors. The study concludes with recommendations for the resort to proceed with smart amenities and maximize its profitability and potential for securing a government grant. The analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities faced by the resort and the strategic approaches to overcome them.

Case Study

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................................3
Internal and external environment factors..............................................................................................3
Opportunities available for innovation....................................................................................................4
Implementation of innovative opportunity.............................................................................................5
Process of monitoring and review of innovation strategy.......................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Innovation refers to an action or a process in which something new is created primarily
using a creative idea (Adner and Kapoor, 2016). This case study will focus on Island Leisure
Resort which is a 4-star hotel located in Nelly Bay, Queensland, Australia. The resort wants to
use an innovative strategy to get a grant from the Queensland Government. In this case study,
focus will be made on factors which affect the organization, opportunities and strategies
available for innovation, evaluation of opportunity available. Additionally, development of
process to review and monitor the progress of the innovative strategy selected will be analyzed
as a part of this report.
MAIN BODY
Internal and external environment factors
The internal environment of an organization refers to intrinsic factors (Azar and
Ciabuschi, 2017). These factors can put their impact on the overall profitability level of the
organization. The internal environment can be analyzed using SWOT analysis.
SWOT analysis- SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
(What Is a SWOT Analysis, and How to Do It Right (With Examples), 2018).
SWOT analysis of Island Leisure Resort
Strengths Weaknesses
 The hotel has a massive client base
which serves as its biggest strength.
 Island Leisure Resort is quick in
adopting the changes as required by a
dynamic business environment which
gives it an advantage over its rivals.
 The Island Leisure Resort’s marketing
strategies leave a lot to be desired. Its
marketing strategies are behind that of
its competitors.
 Some of its staff members are reported
to have behaved rudely with the clients
impacting the business and its revenue.
Opportunities Threats
 Growing GDP Rate of Australia and
excellent economic growth in the
country offers it an opportunity to
capitalize and maximize its level of
profits easily.
 Hospitality industry is likely to witness
a boom due to large influx of tourists
which offers an excellent opportunity
for Island Leisure Resort.
 Increasing competition in hotel industry
in Australia is a threat for Island
Leisure Resort because it will lead to
decrease in its prices and thus can
decrease the level of profits.
 Increase in tax rates by the government
can lead to increased costs for the resort
which in turn can decrease the overall
profits.

PESTEL analysis- PESTEL analysis is used in order to evaluate the macro-environment
factors which affect an organization in the long-run (Bossle and et.al., 2016). In the context of
Island Leisure Resort, it can be explained as follows-
 Political factors- These are government policy, political stability, corruption and foreign
trade policy. For Island Leisure Resort, these factors hold importance because of the
impact which they put as political conditions of a country are relevant for a business.
 Economic factors- These are economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates and
inflation rates (Camagni and Capello, 2017). In the context of Island Leisure Resort,
these factors are important due to the fact that economic conditions of a country play an
important role in influencing the level of profits.
 Social factors- These are population growth rate, age distribution, safety emphasis and
lifestyle attitudes of the customer. In the context of Island Leisure Resort, these factors
play quite an important role as considering them is essential for the resort to get ahead of
competitors.
 Technology factors- These are technology incentives, level of innovation, automation,
R&D activity and technological changes. For Island Leisure Resort, these factors play an
important role because new technology has to be adopted to succeed in the market.
 Environmental factors- These are weather, climate and environmental policies. In a
country where both government and citizens are environment-conscious they play an
important role. Thus they are important for Island Leisure Resort.
 Legal factors- These are discrimination laws, antitrust laws and employment laws. For
Island Leisure Resort, these factors hold importance because it has to follow the legal
rules and regulations.
Opportunities available for innovation
Plenty of options and opportunities are available for innovation in the hospitality
industry. Some of them are discussed as follows-
Facial recognition- The guests in a hotel have to check-in at the reception counter again
and again whenever they get inside the hotel to get their room keys or card (Kittner, Lill and
Kammen, 2017). Thus the innovative technology of facial recognition can be used so that the
check-in time of guests is reduced so that they can get to their rooms faster without having to
wait at the reception. This is an innovation which Island Leisure Resort can bring in its
operations so that it can get ahead of its competitors easily. Using it can also increase its chances
of getting a government grant as this technology can convince the government about the
efficiency of the resort.
Mobile room keys- The guests in a hotel need to collect their room keys or card for
entering into their respective rooms. Thus, here the innovative technology of mobile room keys
can be very much useful for the guests as well as hotel. This is so because it will provide ease
and convenience to the guests by checking-in their room easily using their smartphones. Island

Leisure Resort can bring this innovation in their processes and operations which will allow them
to gain sustainable advantage over the competitors and also they can use it to get government
grant.
Smart Amenities- Smart Amenities provide convenience to the guests in the room. They
also make the guests comfortable. These amenities like MoodPad tablet, TV, window blinds,
alarm and lighting in one place can provide the best experience to the guests and clients visiting
the resort. In the context of Island Leisure Resort, these amenities can be quite helpful for getting
ahead of the competition and getting the government grant.
Justification- Island Leisure Resort should choose Smart amenities for providing the best
facilities and facilitating the ultimate convenience for the guests. Also providing these amenities
in the rooms will give them the strategic advantage over rivals. They can also convince the
Queensland Government to give them the grant which will further help them in developing best
facilities for the guests and maximizing the level of profits of the resort.
Implementation of innovative opportunity
Innovative opportunity needs to be applied in the context of the organization by taking
appropriate measures. The evaluation and implementation plan for Smart Amenities in rooms of
Island Leisure Resort is as follows-
Evaluation of the opportunity- Providing of smart amenities in the rooms is an
excellent opportunity available for innovation for Island Leisure Resort. This is so because by
using this opportunity the satisfaction level of the different guests and clients which visit the
resort can be increased. Ease and convenience for the clients will increase and thus this will lead
to positive reviews. Positive reviews will mean more business and thus the profits of the resort
can be increased effectively without any problems.
Plan to implement innovative opportunity-
 Identification of sources of finance- It is very important to identify the potential sources
of finance to implement an innovative opportunity (Lynd and et.al., 2017). This is so
because implementation of innovation is a process which involves huge expenditures.
Therefore Island Leisure Resort needs to make a plan for procuring funds for
implementing this innovative opportunity.
 Preparation of budget- A budget refers to an estimate of expenditures and revenues
over a particular period of time. The budget of Island Leisure Resort for implementing
the innovative idea is as follows-
Particulars Amount
Admin Exp. 25000
Implementation
Exp. 10000

Innovation Exp. 5000
Other Exp. 10000
Total 50000
 Training of staff- Training needs to be provided to the staff so that they become well-
trained in using the new and innovative technology. Thus, Island Leisure Resort needs to
provide extensive training to its staff so that it can deal with the new technology and can
easily handle the queries of clients regarding the technology.
 Building of support for innovation- Support is required to be built for implementing
innovative ideas (Lyytinen, Yoo and Boland Jr, 2016). As the idea of Island Leisure
Resort is innovative in nature it needs to build a lot of support before practically
implementing it. In this way, it would be able to build the required support for innovation
and would be able to implement its idea effectively without any problems.
 Implementing the opportunity- After all the above steps have been completed the
innovative opportunity needs to be turned into a reality by implementing the budget
which has been framed for it. The implementation of opportunity gives a chance to Island
Leisure Resort to boost up its business and get the grant from the government. In this
way, it can easily convert it into reality.
Process of monitoring and review of innovation strategy
There is a process through which the innovative strategies can be monitored and
reviewed by the firms. The process in the context of Island Leisure Resort is explained as
follows-
 Identification of returns- The returns which can be generated through the innovative
strategies need to be monitored (Mazzucato, 2016). This will ensure that the funds which
are invested in the technology are being used in an appropriate manner and there is a
significant return on investment i.e. ROI being received. Thus Island Leisure Resort
needs to identify the returns which are being generated through innovative strategies.
This will help the organization as it can check whether the funds invested by it in
innovation are providing significant returns or not.
 Monitoring of budget- Budget for the innovative strategy needs to be monitored
effectively. This is to ensure that the expenditures being done on the strategy do not
increase the threshold of the budget limit. In the context of Island Leisure Resort,
constant monitoring of budget is very much necessary because this will allow the resort
to manage its funds accordingly.
 Ensuring compliance- It has to be seen that after the staff has been provided training,
whether they are compiling with the use of innovative technology or not. If the staff is
not compliant then instructions need to be given to them in order to ensure compliance.
For Island Leisure Resort, it is necessary because it will ensure that the staff is efficient
and effective enough.

 Comparison- Comparison is necessary because it will ensure that the firm regularly stays
up to date about the innovative strategies which are being used by their competitors (Yun,
Won and Park, 2016). If the organization feels that it should make improvements in its
strategy then they should be made effectively. In the context of Island Leisure Resort, it
is highly necessary that it is able to compare its innovative strategy with those of
competitors and if it finds that it needs to make improvements then the management
should take the necessary action for it so that the company is able to progress.
 Analysis & Interpretation- Analysis & Interpretation needs to be done so that it can be
analyzed that the work which has been done on the innovative technology is paying off
(Bogers, Chesbrough and Moedas, 2018). In the context of Island Leisure Resort, it is
highly necessary so that it can check whether it needs to improve its processes more by
bringing efficiency and effectiveness so that the innovation strategy is successful.
Recommendations
From the above discussion, it is recommended that Island Leisure Resort must proceed
with its innovation of bringing smart amenities. If the resort is able to do so, then it would help in
attracting more customers and clients leading to an increase in its profitability level. Also,
through the display of efficient services it can hope to secure a grant from the Queensland
Government which would help it to further develop the hotel by adding more facilities for the
guests.
CONCLUSION
From the above case study, it can be concluded that innovation is highly necessary for the
organizations so that they can obtain a strategic advantage over their competitors. Internal and
external environment analysis helps in studying the factors which can influence the working of
an organization. There are various opportunities which can be used for innovation purposes. A
firm can select any of these opportunities to facilitate innovation. Also, it needs to evaluate the
opportunity and develop plan for implementing it. Furthermore, it has to monitor the progress of
the innovation strategy which is being used by it.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Adner, R. and Kapoor, R., 2016. Innovation ecosystems and the pace of substitution: Re‐
examining technology S‐curves. Strategic management journal. 37(4). pp.625-648.
Azar, G. and Ciabuschi, F., 2017. Organizational innovation, technological innovation, and
export performance: The effects of innovation radicalness and extensiveness. International
Business Review. 26(2). pp.324-336.
Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H. and Moedas, C., 2018. Open innovation: research, practices, and
policies. California management review. 60(2). pp.5-16.
Bossle, M. B. and et.al., 2016. The drivers for adoption of eco-innovation. Journal of Cleaner
production. 113. pp.861-872.
Camagni, R. and Capello, R., 2017. Regional innovation patterns and the EU regional policy
reform: towards smart innovation policies. In Seminal Studies in Regional and Urban
Economics. (pp. 313-343). Springer, Cham.
Kittner, N., Lill, F. and Kammen, D.M., 2017. Energy storage deployment and innovation for the
clean energy transition. Nature Energy. 2(9). p.17125.
Lynd, L. R. and et.al., 2017. Cellulosic ethanol: status and innovation. Current opinion in
biotechnology. 45. pp.202-211.
Lyytinen, K., Yoo, Y. and Boland Jr, R. J., 2016. Digital product innovation within four classes
of innovation networks. Information Systems Journal. 26(1). pp.47-75.
Mazzucato, M., 2016. From market fixing to market-creating: a new framework for innovation
policy. Industry and Innovation. 23(2). pp.140-156.
Yun, J. J., Won, D. and Park, K., 2016. Dynamics from open innovation to evolutionary
change. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity. 2(2). p.7.
Online
What Is a SWOT Analysis, and How to Do It Right (With Examples). 2018. [Online]. Available
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