Case Study Description of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars
Hilton Hotels regards the frequent guest program as the industry's most important marketing tool, directing marketing efforts at the heavy user. What is Hilton to do then, when a competitor ups the ante? This case illustrates the economics of frequency marketing in industries with a very distinct "heavy half" to their customer base, and lets students debate what to do when Sheraton and Westin seemingly overdo a good thing.
Swot Analysis of "Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars" written by John Deighton, Stowe Shoemaker includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hilton Heavy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Customers, Government, Strategy execution and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hilton Heavy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hilton Heavy operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hilton Heavy
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Hilton Heavy
Strengths Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hilton Heavy in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hilton Heavy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hilton Heavy has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Strong track record of project management
– Hilton Heavy is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hilton Heavy has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Hilton Heavy is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by John Deighton, Stowe Shoemaker can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hilton Heavy are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Training and development
– Hilton Heavy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Learning organization
- Hilton Heavy is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Hilton Heavy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Hilton Heavy is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Hilton Heavy in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hilton Heavy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hilton Heavy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Hilton Heavy is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hilton Heavy has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Hilton Heavy 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hilton Heavy products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hilton Heavy needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Need for greater diversity
– Hilton Heavy has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars, is just above the industry average. Hilton Heavy needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hilton Heavy, firm in the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Hilton Heavy supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hilton Heavy vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars HBR case study mentions - Hilton Heavy takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John Deighton, Stowe Shoemaker suggests that, Hilton Heavy is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hilton Heavy has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hilton Heavy has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hilton Heavy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hilton Heavy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hilton Heavy can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hilton Heavy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hilton Heavy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars case study. Hilton Heavy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hilton Heavy can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hilton Heavy can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hilton Heavy in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hilton Heavy can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hilton Heavy to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hilton Heavy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Hilton Heavy can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Hilton Heavy can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hilton Heavy to increase its market reach. Hilton Heavy will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hilton Heavy has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hilton Heavy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hilton Heavy to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Hilton Heavy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hilton Heavy can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Environmental challenges
– Hilton Heavy needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Hilton Heavy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Hilton Heavy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Hilton Heavy
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Hilton Heavy.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Hilton Heavy in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Hilton Heavy will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hilton Heavy demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hilton Heavy is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Hilton Heavy.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hilton Heavy can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Hilton Heavy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Hilton HHonors Worldwide: Loyalty Wars is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Hilton Heavy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
