STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INT'NL HOTEL COMPANIES - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module examines a strategic approach to the management of international hotel companies. International hotels are key drivers of the hospitality and tourism sectors around the world and because they do business across borders, they are complex operations to manage. The numerous challenges for international hotels in the coming decade need dynamic strategic thinking, global cultural awareness and innovative management approaches. It is critical that management of such operations takes place within a guiding strategy. The contemporary strategic dilemmas facing international hotel companies will be the focus of this module, underpinned by current academic research, practice and debates. The module aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills and opportunities needed to become future leaders and managers of international hotel companies. The strategy theory covered in this module will also have relevance to management of other parts of the hospitality sector.

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

RAMAKRISHNAN Sumeetra (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:
 

Context relating to international hotel companies

 

• Mission, vision, strategic aims and objectives


• Strategic analysis


• Strategic choice


• Strategic implementation


• Strategic thinking


• Current issues and future challenge

Embedded within the content will be coverage of characteristics relating specifically to international hotel companies such as affiliation choices, ownership options, multi-brands and locations.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual presentation instead of Group 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- Undertake a strategic evaluation of the performance of an international hotel company and provide an assessment of its future prospects. 


2.  Individual Assignment- You are required to choose 1 out of 6 topics and write a 2000 word assignment on it  

Formative Assessment and Feedback:

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

• Examine and critically evaluate strategic management theories and concepts relevant to managing international hotel companies
• Apply theoretical frameworks and current research to analyse the strategies of global hotel companies
• Advance strategic thinking in managing international hotel businesses across cultures through experience of current research and innovation
• Demonstrate an understanding of the key factors that can contribute to develop globally relevant, digitally competent, sustainable and culturally cognisant hotel management strategies
• Engage with a multitude of viewpoints and to develop strategic solutions that appreciate the world around them
• Develop a collaborative learning approach that aligns strategic management with key stakeholders' needs, innovations and future challenges for international hotels

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

• Independent Learning Hours


• Seminar Hours


• Lectures


• Guided Learning


• Captured Content

 

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to encourage students to think critically about the strategic management of international hotel companies. 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. 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: MANM042

Other information

This module adopts the University curriculum framework, which aims to develop learners with strong capabilities in Digital Capabilities, Employability, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module contributes to the development of the following capabilities: 

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 hotel 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 hotel 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 hotel companies, as well as the diversity across ethnicities within organisations. Students will look at a range of international hotel 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 hotel 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 hotel 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 hotel companies 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 2025/6 academic year.