JHTC, Teaching and Case Notes, Volume 8, Issue 4
| Table of Contents, Abstracts |
|
|
|
Customer Segmentation in the Charter Bus Industry
(de Larrea, Gregory)
This case study introduces students to the implementation of a specific revenue management initiative (customer segmentation), based on the charter bus services industry. ESCOT Bus Lines is trying to optimize the utilization of its buses and to maximize its revenues. As the first step to achieving these goals, the company must analyze its current business to better understand its customers and its revenue sources with the use of business analytics and descriptive statistics.
Key words: revenue management, customer segmentation, business analytics
|
|
Lines at the Hotel Front Desk: A case for effective capacity management
(Nalley, Bufquin)
This case study focuses on capacity management and the problems that hotel service providers experience while managing the wait times for guests during high demand periods. Guests’ patience and willingness to wait in line are changing, and hoteliers should focus on minimizing the actual wait time and the perceived wait time for the guest. Topics of discussion include capacity management tactics, queuing theory, managing wait perceptions, industry best practices and the options available through technology to effectively manage the guest wait.
Key words: Capacity management, demand management, queuing theory, wait perceptions
|
|
Quality Service Starts with a Reservation: Setting and applying standards
(Ribustello, O’Halloran)
Quality service may differ between a quick service restaurant and a fine dining establishment, but the assessment of service should be matched against style, brand and intent of the business. Is the service provided at a hospitality business aligned with the goals and objectives of the business? Quality has a relationship with price and value, and a business can frame its service structure with that relationship. Good service is efficient, friendly and directly correlated to the style of the restaurant. This case study assesses the definition of good service, and how to describe quality service. The case focuses on an upscale independent restaurant with the business dilemma of how to best engage employees with service quality standards and delivery.
Key Words: service, quality, customer satisfaction, hospitality
|
|
Proactive Waste Management Solutions: Implementing reusable and biodegradable food packaging at food festivals
(Su, Tsai, Bias)
Food festivals are a major tourist attraction that creates a unique social setting in which consumers taste, experience, and learn about diverse cuisines and cultures. These festivals tend to generate substantial waste, and today’s consumers expect festival planners to entertain expanding populations while simultaneously dematerializing the event. After examining current waste management practices within the festival industry, two solutions appear viable. Reusable dishware programs and biodegradable and compostable food packaging products are sustainable alternatives to the typical polystyrene or polypropylene tableware products distributed at festivals. These proactive waste management solutions also have the potential to create a cost benefit and competitive advantage for food festivals.
Key Words: food festivals; biodegradable; compostable; food packaging; sustainability; waste management
|
Ivar’s Tipping Point: A Case Study
(Beattie, Umbreit, Murray)
In April 2015, as the Seattle Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect, Ivar’s restaurants eliminated tips at the Salmon House, the first major restaurant company in the Seattle area to do so. Several other restaurant chains have experimented with alternatives for tipping while enhancing the compensation packages of employees. Over time, these experiments have yielded a variety of results. The ambiguity and uncertainty were affecting the entire restaurant sector in Seattle. Many hospitality leaders were caught in a dilemma between how to meet the intent of the new law, implement fair and equitable tipping polices and satisfy customers all while remaining viable. The purpose of this study is to recount Ivar’s experiences since the transition to the no-tipping policy. Ivar’s leadership team wrestled with each of these dilemmas as described in this case study. Specific to the study are the leadership decisions that informed Ivar’s policy in light of the new municipal minimum wage law. The case allows reader’s insight into the challenges and initial results of the implementation.
Key Words: minimum wage, tipping, leadership, human resources, corporate culture, decision-making
|
|
|
|
