Singing Valley Resort is a top-end 50 unit resort located high in the colorado m
ID: 408737 • Letter: S
Question
Singing Valley Resort is a top-end 50 unit resort located high in the colorado mountains, Rooms rent for $400 to $4500 per night. depending on the season and the type of accommodations. Singing valley's clientele are well to do; many are famous entertainers, sports figures, and business executives. They are accustomed to, and demand, superior service. Singing Valley resides in a gorgeous mountain valley and is situated a few hundred yards from a serene mountain lake. it prides itself on superior accommodations; tip-top service; delicious, healthy, organic meals; and exceptional wines. Because it has been so successful, Singing Valley is 90 percent occupied except during the "shoulder seasons" ( November, after the leaves change and before the snow arrives, and late april when winter sports are finished but the snow is still on the ground. Singing Valley's owners want to increase revenue, but because the resort is nearly always full and because its rates are already at the top of the scale, it cannot do so via occupancy revenue. Thus, over the past several years it has focused on up-selling to it clientele activities such as flyfishing, river rafting, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, art lessons, yoga, and other excercise classes, spa service, and the like. To increase the sales of these optional activities, Singing valley prepared in-room marketing materials to advertise their availability. Additionally, they trained all registration personnel on techniques of casually and appropriately suggesting such activities to guest on arrival. The response to these promotions was only mediocre, so Singing Valley's management stepped up its promotions. The first step was to send an email to its clientele advising them of the activities available during their stay. an automated system produced emails personalized with names and personal data.
Unfortunately, the automated email system backfired. Immediately, upon its execution , Singing Valley Management recieved numerous complaints. one long term customer objected that she had been coming to Singing Valley for 7 years and asked if they has yet noticed that she was confined to a wheelchair. If they has noticed, she said why did they send her a personalized invitation for a hiking trip? the agent of another famous client complained that the personalized email was sent to her client and her husband, when anyone who has turned on a TV in the past 6 months knew the two of them were involved in an exceedingly acrimonious divorce. Yet another customer complained that, indeed, he and his wife has vactioned at Singing valley 3 years ago. but he had not been there since. To his knowledge, his wife had not been there, either, so he was puzzled as to why the email referred ti their visit last winter. He wanted to know if, indeed, his wife has recently been to the resort without him. Of course, Singing Valley had no way of knowing about customers it had insulted who never compained. During the time the automated email system was operational, sales of extra activities were up 15 percent. However, the strong customer complaints conflicted with it competitive strategy so, in spite of the extra revenue, Singing Valley Stopped the automated email system, sacked the vendor who had developed it, and demoted the singing valley employee who had brokered the system. Singing Valley was left with the problem of how to increase revenue.
1-5. Analyze Singing Valley’s strategy and it problem. At the minimum, include the following in your response:
An analysis of the five forces of the Singing Valley Market. Make an justify any necessary assumptions about its market.
A statement of Singing’s Valley’s competitive strategy.
A statement of the problem.
Develop two innovative ideas for solving the Singing Valley Problem. For each idea, provide:
A brief description of the idea.
A process diagram (like figure 1-15) of the idea. Figure 1-15 was produced using Microsoft Visio; if you have access to that product, you’ll save time and have a better result if you also use it.
A description of the information system needed to implement the idea.
1-6. Explain how each of the four nonroutine skills—
Abstract reasoning, systems thinking, collaboration, and experimentation—can be used by an employee at Singing Valley to develop solutions for Singing Valley’s problem.
Explanation / Answer
Answer ;-
Products—Singing Valley’s location enables it to provide a unique product. However, to attract customers, Singing Valley needs to enhance its product with extensive service offerings and with excellent food and wine. Unique cuisine offered by exclusive chefs helps to differentiate Singing Valley from other luxury resort options.
Barriers—Cultivating a close personal relationship with customers will help encourage repeat business. In addition, carefully tailoring each customer’s stay at the resort to match his/her personal preferences will encourage loyalty and repeat visits. Establishing a good network of wine and food suppliers will help provide unique offerings in the dining room.
Costs—Singing Valley could form alliances with local businesses to provide unique recreational offerings to its clients (skiing packages, hiking packages, white water rafting, hang gliding, mountain flying, etc.).
An information system would be very useful in recording each customer’s personal preferences (food, wine, recreational choices, etc.) so that when the customer returns, his/her stay can be tailored to meet those preferences. This system could also keep track of various personal characteristics (profession, children, grandchildren, etc.) so that staff can treat the client as an old friend. An information system could help communicate with food and wine suppliers. A Web site could provide information and links to partner businesses providing recreational options for Singing Valley’s guests.
One interpretation of the problem statement is that Singing Valley is unable to keep track of its current guests and their plans during their stay at Singing Valley. This implies that dining room reservations, services in the spa, etc. are not kept track of effectively.
Another interpretation of the problem statement is that Singing Valley is unable to recall a guest’s personal preferences on return visits to Singing Valley. This implies that Singing Valley cannot keep track of the fact that, for example, a particular guest is a vegetarian, prefers dry white wine, and enjoys mountain trekking.
A meal planning information system could be used to calculate food requirements given the menu choices and the number of guests registered at the resort.
A staffing system could help determine the need for additional temporary staff based on projected guest registrations at the resort for the holiday season.
A spreadsheet or financial modeling tool could help prepare and analyze financial projections for a new resort. Email surveys could help assess customer interest and preferences in a new resort.