CORPORATE STRATEGY

Claudiaverver(a)gmail.com

Hospitality industry
Real Estate investment group, private equity firms, hedge funds, insurance
companies, international business venturists.
Innovation ideas facility to be copied
Strategy , alignment and adding value
Strategy is not a process, it is a way of thinking
Coalignment principle
Environment events -> Strategy choice -> Firm structure -> Firm performance
= Coalignment

Thinking Strategically
Relationship among Corporate, Business and functional strategies
Macro-environmental scanning
Synergies
Remote

Task

Industry

Firm

Functional

Dimensions
Uncertainy

Complexity

Munificence : calculate if the trend is short or on decline

- Value drivers : smtg gives value to your company

Environmental classification

Remote Task environment Industry Firm environment Functional

environment (Porter) environment/ environment
(pestel) segment Major Competitors
Economic Customer Luxury Finance
Politicial Supplier Upscale Marketing
Socio/cultural Competitor Mid-price HR
Technological Regulator Budget Administration,
Ecological Economy operation, research
& development

Dimensions examples

Uncertainly
Prices charged by suppliers & competitors
Labor force supply & cost
Demand curve for products & services
Cost of capital & k availability
Financing opportunities
Competitive methods used by competitors
Regulatory activity in the market area
Nex product introductions
Nex entrants in the market
Taxation
Product quality expection
Technology
Safety and security
Complexity
Number and variety of suppliers
Geographic concentration of suppliers
Dispensions of the labor force
Number of brands in competition
Environment Number of political bodies affecting market
Economic variables creating risk
Concentratien of customers
Number of potential target markets
Potential substitues for products and
services

Competitive advantage
- A business system is the configuration of resources (inputs), activities (throughput) and product /
service offerings (output) intended to create VALUE for customers.
- Competitive advantage : create superior value for customers
o How ? product or service more closely fitted to client needs than rival firm
o Right positioning : price, features, bundling (packages), quality, avaibility

Critical success factors

- Bundles of products and services that are absolutely necessary for the firm to invest if it expects to
compete in the sector.
- Examples for the hospitality industry : Loyalty program, location, revenue management system,
technology utilization in room amenities, brand strength, market presence.
A way to order everything? PESTEL METHOD
- Five forces analysis : politics, economy, social, technology, legal and environment.
Strategic business areasSBA and internal analysis
- Defined if the participate in several industries or only one, it is important to take into account there is
always a BIG/ HOLISTIC industry with different branches
- Criteria

INTERNAL EXTERNAL
Customer base Forces Technology
Market Competences
Distribution Weaknesses (CSF & CM)
Channels Synergies
Competitors Structures

Strategic segmentation

- It’s a subdivision of the company and/ or organization according to the different

communications (combinations) of specific markets, competitors, technologies

Marketing segmentation

- It consists into a subdivision of the customer base with the purpose of defining
affinities/ links between products/ clients; the aim result is to obtained specific
market segments.
What is going on in our industry ?
- Supply
o Competitors
 Direct, indirect and possible new entries
- Demand
o Clients

PORTER’S MODEL – Five Forces Analysis

Information is Gold
- Analyse all aspects of competitors
- To understand which are the main critical success factors, competitive
methods and competitive advantages; and how we are standing there.
 Financial analysis
- Main objective is to calculate historical performance, in order to understand +
analysis = possible financial opportunities
- Strategies guided by profitability (terms)
- Important to use ratio and variance between different periods

Main Ratios

Profit ratios – The more efficient the company, the greater is its profitability

Gross profit margin: the gross profit margin simply gives the percentage of sales avaible to
cover general and administrative expenses and other operating costs.

= (sales revenue – cost of good sold)/ sales revenue

Net profit margin: Net profit margin is the percentage of profit earned on sales. This ratio is
important because businesses need to make a profit to survive in the long run.

= Net income/ sales revenue

Return on total Assets. This ratio measures the profit earned on the employment of assets
= Net income available to Common stockholders/ total assets
Return on stockholder’s equity. This ratio measures the % of profit earned on common
stockholder’s investment in the company.
= Net income available to Common stockholders/ Equity

Liquidity Ratios
Liquidity is a measure of its ability to meet short-term obligations
- Liquid asset = If it can be readily converted into cash
Current ratio (working capital) claims of short-term creditors are covered by assets that can
be quickly converted into cash. Most companies should have a ratio
Activity ratios
Inventory turnover
= Cost of goods sold/inventory
Days sales outstanding DSO
= Accounts receivable/ (total sales/360)
LEVERAGE RATIOS
A company is said to be highly leveraged if it uses more debt than equity, including stock and
retained earnings.
The balance between debt and equity is called the capital structure
Debt-to-assets ratio
= Total debit/ total assets
Debt to equity ratio
=Total Debit/total equity
Times covered ratio
= Profit before interest and tax/ total interest charges

Shareholder – return ratios

The measure the return earned by shareholders from holding stock in the company
Given the goal of maximizing stockholders’ wealth, providing shareholders with an adequate
rate of return is a primary objective of most companies.
Total shareholder returns measure the returns earned by time +1 on an investement in a
company4’s stock made at time t.
= (stock price (t+1)- Stock price (t) + Sum of annual dividends per Share/ Stock price (t)) *100
to obtained a %;
MARKET SHARE / DIVIDENDS – GROW DECISIONS
Market price per share can be calculated for the first of the year, in which case the dividend
yield refers to the return on an investement made at the beginning of the year.
A company must decide how much of its profits to pay to stockholders and how much to
reinvest in the company.
Companies with strong growth prospects should have a lower dividend payout
Mixing Things

Strengths SWOT Opportunities

advantages
Weaknesses Treats
Areas to improve

TAKE INTO ACCOUNT

- Targets + objectifs – products
- Marketing strategie + strategic segmentation = positioning
- Life cycle
- Analysis (feedback – example SWOT)
- Financial forecast
- Operational implementation forecast (structures, actors)
EXERCICE: Orient Express Hotels
1) Environmental scanning (models/tools)
PESTEL/ PORTER macro
2) Competitor set (analysis) => direct competitors, indirect, new entries
Direct competitor = same rate, same experience, same location
3) Segmentations
4) Positioning and differentiation with the aim of identifying possible competitive
advantage
Luxury with personality
Culturally interactive experience

5) Personal conclusion => financial point of view

6) How to operate and manage a high-end service and offer, an unconventional
approach achieving high-end quality?

Exercise: Four Seasons goes to Paris

Multicultural,
Human resources strategy
Competitive method :
- Uniform (Own signature adapt in every country)
- Pro active
- Empathy : happy employees makes happy clients
FCS : location, implantation, high quality service : FB, Spa
 1. This case shows that Four Seasons Corporate Culture is a mix of flexibility and consistency.
Explain which aspects of this culture suffer no change and which ones could accept modest or
considerable change

Standards were often written to allow local flexibility

No change Changes
- Smiling culture - Uniforms are adapted
- The golden rule - Laying out of the property
- Savoir-etre - Employee experience and
- Well-being expertise
- The way to manage

2. Analyze the Four Seasons marketing strategy in Paris. Is it relevant? (4P)

- Renovating and operating the Hotel George V, a historic Parisian Landmark

- Preserve the soul of the legendary hotel. 2 year renovation for 125 M dollar
- Universal standards, American safety standards
- Cultivate external communication with the press : very open and responsive
- Hiring a famous chef
- The key strengts is diversity
- Image of a modern France
- Canadian culture un France
- Adapt luxury customer

3. Make a detailed list of items on which Four Seasons Service Quality is based. How do you feel
about the way Service Quality is considered in this Group?

Seven standards :

- Employees who are very professional, not pretentious, detail oriented and interested in
people.
- “Just for you” customized service is the most important element of their success
- Employees are going to adapt, to be empathic and anticipate guest needs
- Distance between employee and guest should be small