You have been assigned the task of preparing a Briefing Report for your new General Manager (GM) addressing the business’s macro-environmental elements.
Task Summary You are working in a CBD 4- or 5-star hotel in the City of Sydney. Scenario The long-term General Manager (GM) has retired and been replaced last minute, by a senior executive from your sister property. Context The assessment has been prescribed to develop the students’ ability to identify and evaluate factors that can affect marketing planning and business operations. The following should assist your understanding of Assessment requirements. Task You have been assigned the task of preparing a Briefing Report for your new General Manager (GM) addressing the business’s macro environmental elements. These comprise 8 elements: o Political & Legal o Economic o Social & Cultural o Technology o Environmental o Competitive Analysis o Commercial Partners o Market & Consumer Trends. What is a Briefing Report A briefing paper outlines a particular topic (in this case, the macro environmental factors for your hotel). The purpose of your report is to brief your new GM, to bring the key issues to your GM’s attention and alerting him/her as to what they need to know about the environment in which your business operates. In this case the unique characteristics of operating in your City. A persuasive an effective briefing paper is concise, well-organized and covers the most important and relevant facts. Remember all reports are written for a purpose. So clearly state the purpose of your Report in the introduction. You have 8 elements to research and consider in preparing this report and you need to show you know where to go to determine this market intelligence, while being clear and succinct in your writing. Macro environmental Factors to be addressed in this Briefing Report: o Political & Legal – visas, taxes, government support for tourism. o Economic – interest rates, CPI, exchange rates. o Social & Cultural – lifestyles, cultural diversity o Technology – new technologies affecting business marketing and operations. o Environmental – Importance of sustainability initiatives in your city and your customers. o Competitive Analysis – number of rooms in the CBD. Range of accommodation and new builds. o Commercial Partners – organisations or brands that you can work with in your marketing endeavours. o Market & Consumer Research -who is visiting your city? where are the travellers coming from? What do arrival statistics look like? Task Instructions Please review the Suggested Report Format presented after the marking rubrics in this Assessment Brief. It will assist you to get started with this Assessment. 1. Your submission needs to be ‘business ready’ i.e. professional enough to hand to your GM. 2. Watch word count be clear and succinct. 3. Consider the task from the perspective of what your GM need to know. This is normally a process of identifying the opportunities or threats to operations within your location. 4. You have been provided with a list of suggested subscriptions, weekly academic text and a range of articles you need to read, research and interpret the key information for your GM’s better understanding of the local business environment. 5. Use headings, subheadings and diagrams, infographics and charts to support your evidence/discussion. Cite sources and remember to interpret information you present. 6. Do not use dated information it needs to be current. You are doing an environmental analysis for this month and this year. SUGGESTED REPORT STRUCTURE Remember all reports are written for a purpose. So clearly state the purpose of your Report in the introduction. You have 8 elements to research and consider in preparing this report and you need to show you know where to go to determine accurate and specific marketing intelligence. Format and content of this report should be as follows: o Cover o Introduction should state the purpose of your report (to brief management on the business environment for your hotel). You should foreshadow the elements you are about to cover in your report and state why a situation analysis is important to business and marketing planning. o External Environment o Environmental Scanning (situation analysis) is about maintaining a watching brief on factors that may be issues that lay outside of the organisations direct control however, you need to be aware of them and the potential impacts. The opportunities or threats to your business. o Political & Legal visas, taxes, government support for tourism o Economic – interest rates, CPI, exchange rates o Social & Cultural – lifestyles, cultural diversity o Technology- new technologies affecting business and marketing. o Environmental – more attention is being paid to environmental issues-efficient use of resources, energy management or pollution control; can have a direct impact on the organisations bottom-line and its reputation. o Competitive Analysis – How many rooms are available in your city, how many of a similar grading? Is there any direct or indirect competition e.g. AirBnb, what is average occupancy across the city? What is the present state of the hospitality industry in your city? Are there any new properties under construction? o Commercial Partners – brands or organisations you could work with in your marketing efforts. suppliers and distributors of the business – things like additional government funding for say Tourism Australia or Destination NSW or Tourism Victoria may result in more funds for cooperative campaigns. o Market & Consumer Research – market segmentation- what visitor segments are visiting your city– where are the travellers coming from? What do arrival statistics look like? What new products or experiences are emerging in the destination and what are the key market segments you are focusing on and what do you know about them. o Conclusion- summary of key information presented in your report. o References