Case Study: Hilton Hotel

...

Alternative Analysis

- Alternative 1

If the Blackstone reinvest the same CRM, in near future, the development of Helton will keep the same speed. But Other competitor will defiantly develop other system to improve their user experience. And the demand of customers probably will be different, and the previous one can not adopt the change of environment. In this case, Helton fall behind in lodging market.

- Alternative 2

If the Blackstone develop another one, and give up the exist CRM. The cost will be huge, and all the employee have to get used to a new system. It will slow down the efficiency of the entire company. Besides, CRM seems competitive now. If the company use a new one, the performance is unknown. It is possible fatal for the company.

- Alternative 3.

Blackstone also reinvest the same CRM, but at meantime, it should develop the derivative system. On the one hand, it could help Hilton keep the current advantage in market; On the other hand, due to the development of technology, it can be more accurate for improving the the user experience.

Using Strategic Impact Grid theory to measure what is the situation of Hilton. According to the case, the Hilton need the reliable information system like CRM to help the company keep high customer service and brand reputation. But there is no strong need for a new information system. Because Hilton’s problem is just without method to measure the effectiveness the company, and there isn’t any obvious and big problem with the current operation systems. There is no high need for new information system. So in the strategic impact grid, Hilton is in the factory quadrant. The current technology infrastructure that enables the business to operate with the needed degree of efficient and effectiveness. However, as Subramanian said, how to consistently delivery the CRM service and how to control the unknown risks is not that clear. So maybe in the future, even the small disruption can endanger the firm’s viability. But if the current state of information systems affairs is maintained, the firm will be in good shape.

Recommendations

The recommendation for a company in the factory quadrant, it should fund the upgrade and maintenance to keep the operational systems works well right now. which means the company can consider to reinvest the CRM to maintain the high effect on the hotel, and to find out the potential development of OnQ. But because the rapid development of technology, the CRM may be suitable to the present development. It is hard to say

whether the system will suit for the future situation. So the risk of only focusing on CRM is not a long-term strategy. Hilton may also gradually find other way to improve the competitive, like what mentioned in alternative 3.

Action and Implementation Plan

Hilton should reinvest the CRM in the short term to let the system works put more efficient. The investment should focus on how to measure the significant savings, and differentiate its brand from the competitors. The numerical digit can illustrate the effectiveness. The reinvested CRM1 can record all the information of customers in the hotel, to data mining potential business opportunity or the needed service in advance. In addition, the reinvested CRM should enhance the connection with OnQ to better share the information.

As for the derivative system, it means it should also use the same platform as CRM and on the OnQ in order to improve the consistency. But the derivative system can focus on the user experience, and more on the targeted issues the system has. And it can also contain the tactical decision support functions. For example, clear showed dashboards for the managers to take actions quickly to provide faster and better service for the customer2. Those functions do not invest all on the CRM.

Conclusion

This case shows us the general IT infrastructure in Hilton Hotel Corporation. It describes the history of the hotel and how the internal systems work well with each other. Hilton Hotels offers more than picturesque vistas from its thousands of international properties—the chain also is working to build up its global efforts in all CRM-related channels3.

But their problem is don’t know how to measure the effectiveness of the CRM, the company is to consider to reinvest it or to develop the new one. The suggestion in the article is to reinvest the CRM and meanwhile, to develop derivative system, which contain the some of the advantage of the CRM and focus on the area that the CRM doesn’t include.

Reference

[1] Marin, Carmen, Asist. univ. drd. (2010). "Customer Relationship Management". Analele Universității Ovidius. Seria Ștințe Economice (1582-9383), (1), p. 1002

[2] Ruchi (05/01/2014). "CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: A CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGY". International journal of management research and reviews, 4 (5), p. 624.

[3] Bell, Lauren. DM News 15 June 2009: 13. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 11 June 2016.