STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF HOSPITALITY COMPANIES - 2024/5

Module Overview

The module is intended to provide an opportunity to review current trends and strategic issues in the international hospitality industry and their impact on managing international hospitality organisations. It will consider the influence of current and future global issues on strategic management of businesses including geo-dynamics, technological advances, sustainability concerns and resilience of key stakeholders through socio cultural and economic challenges. The content of the module will therefore review several theoretical concepts and case studies from the hospitality industry delivered by industry experts and lectures/tutors to develop students’ strategic thinking and management skills.

Module provider

Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

RAMAKRISHNAN Sumeetra (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

JACs code: N210

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• The content of the module is driven solely by the two assessment tasks.


• Mission and Purpose Strategic Options- Managing and Monitoring


• External and Internal Environment


• Organisational Culture


• Strategic evaluation and resourcing 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Group presentation to be revised to an individual presentation  

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate: 

• ability to relate the theories of strategy to practice in international hotel companies 


• ability to critically analyse and evaluate the theories and disciplines that underpin strategy in international hotel companies. 

 

There are two summative assessment tasks for this module. 

1. Group Presentation (pre-recorded) and Group Reflection [40%]- Undertake a strategic evaluation of the performance of an international hotel company and provide an assessment of its future prospects. A 1000 word group reflection on the process- how was the assessment carried out, key positives and challenges and how they were handled by the group, and what were the key learnings from the process.   


2. Individual Essay Assignment (60%)- You are required to choose 1 out of 6 topics looked at in the first 6 weeks and write an essay of up to 1500 words each.  

  

Formative Assessment

Feedback on student performance during the module includes:

• Use of review questions and case studies 


• Review of mini-presentations on the group assignment 


• Verbal feedback in workshops 


• Scheduled series of exam preparation clinics prior to the end of semester. 

 

Module aims

• To provide students with a range of perspectives for reviewing the strategic decisions taken by hospitality companies.
• To highlight how the nature of the industry means that the industry is largely driven and influenced by the actions of global and large companies across cultures
• To consolidate student's knowledge and understanding of business strategy and, in particular, to apply this to hospitality companies.
• To enable students to critique and apply theoretical frameworks to companies operating in different sectors of the hospitality industry.
• To consider the implications of a critical evaluation of a company's strategies and how this determines the attractiveness of the company to investment
• To appreciate the impact of digital advances, sustainability concerns and other factors on strategic thinking and management of global hospitality organisations

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to encourage students to think critically about the strategic management of international hotel companies, independently analyse hospitality organisations for their strategic performance and provide useful solutions to identified challenges. The principal teaching and learning method include weekly lectures,  seminars and independent plus guided learning. These workshops will generally comprise:

• Online and classroom based lectures delivered by the module tutors designed to develop an understanding of the underpinning theory.


• A series of student activities and discussions working in groups to explore and apply the lecture materials.

 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. 
 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN3113

Other information

Digital Capabilities: This module aims to enhance students’ capabilities in evaluating and critiquing data and capturing business insights to develop strategic thinking and management practices. Students will become familiar with comparing organisational level data using descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics and data visualisation. Students will use the virtual learning environment (VLE),¿SurreyLearn, video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to facilitate learning. Module assessments require students to work in groups to evaluate the strategic performance of a Hospitality company with regards to their finances, strategy, growth, historic performance to provide viable recommendations to potential investors.   

 

Employability: The assessments are designed to develop key professional leadership skills desired by the sector. Students are required to individually apply strategic thinking skills, whilst recognising the challenges of a dynamic environmental context to critique theories of strategy and evaluate their application across international Hospitality companies. The group assessment intends students to work with their peers to develop a consultant’s mindset of evaluating organisations across a range of ever-changing factors to consider their long term viability and success.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: The module has a global outlook both in terms of the international nature of Hospitality companies, as well as the diversity across ethnicities within organisations. Students will look at a range of international Hospitality companies with headquarters across continents. Strategic management will be discussed through examples across gender, ethnicity, age and other aspects of inclusion, and how national and organisational cultures intertwine to influence strategic thinking. 

Students will learn how to compare organisational performance between global Hospitality corporations by extracting, comparing, and contrasting individual and group behaviours, as well as sectoral, national, and regional differences.

 

Sustainability: Students will learn how CSR and Ethics influence international Hospitality businesses, and the different approaches to sustainability practices within the sector. They will become familiar with the practical challenges to achieve long term sustainability when managing the needs of diverse stakeholders, role of key supra national organisations like the UNWTO and evaluate innovative sustainability approaches adopted by Hospitality projects across the world.

 

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students will be required to use a range of sources to identify relevant datasets, conduct independent research, network with relevant companies/organisations, and work collaboratively with peers to extract patterns and critical insights from datasets. Finding solutions through unstructured problems is the key learning aspect of this module that will develop students’ resourcefulness and resilience.   

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2024/5 academic year.