Question

2. Get ready         Read the following description of a problem and possible solutions. Problem: One of the subproblems for Quest Specialty Travel is that their educational tours are not very popular. Possible solutions: ·      Create a partnership with established educational tour company ·      Focus on one type of educational travel, such as cooking ·      Add class or workshop to every cultural and adventure tour ·      Coordinate with on-site schools

3. Now you try it         In the following space, review the list of possible solutions to the problem of unpopular educational tours and then complete Table 1 or Table 2 according to the guidelines in the “Evaluating Options” chapter. Table 1: Comparing options Options for improving educational tours A B C D Row Sum Rank A. Create a partnership B. Focus on one type C. Add classes to each tour D. Coordinate with schools 1 = This option is better than the other option 0 = This option is not better than the other option Table 2: Ranking and weighting options Improving educational tours Each alternative = 25% Easy to do Popular with customers Compared to competition Amount of revenue Points Score Points Score Points Score Points Score Total Score Partnership One type Each tour On-site schools Points: Rank each option by assigning 1-5 points for each criterion Score: Multiply the points by 25 for each option

Answer 1

Options for improving educational tours
	A	B	C	D	Row Sum	Rank
A. Create a partnership	1	1	1	1	4	1st
B. Focus on one type	0	1	0	0	1	4th
C. Add classes to each tour	0	1	1	0	2	3rd
D. Coordinate with schools	0	1	1	1	3	2nd

Improving educational tours Each alternative = 25% Easy to do Popular with customers Compared to competition Amount of revenue Points Score Points Score Points Score Points Score Total Score Partnership 4 100 3 75 5 125 3 75 375 One type 5 125 1 25 2 50 2 50 250 Each tour 3 75 5 125 3 75 3 75 350 On-site schools 4 100 3 75 4 100 4 100 375

As per my concern there should be a column of reasons also that means why is the reason for giving such high score or low to these alternatives. As you see that I gave last position to "Focus on one type of educational travel, such as cooking" and given least to score to this because I do not know the circumstances of area where Quest Specialty Travel working. If it is working in a less populated area than why it ithought to focus on a particular area coz there are already limited students to target and let it take by a example that if you are running a multi cuisine restura and not much customers are coming in it and you made it a only one dish restura then there is more chances that your no's of customers decrease instead of increase. on the other hand if it is on a busy street and you made the same decision than might be possible that coz of speciality your shop runs more. i hope you get my point.

ALTERNATIVELY:

The reasons why the solution was not successful are enumerated below:

1. Sharon had not taken Keisha into confidence about her plan before starting it.
2. If she had told Keisha that the Projected Cash Flow for the next few months would be so-and-so, and that in the beginning there would be additional expenditure,but later this would transform into income, Keisha might have approved the extra funds.
3. Further, there should have been a meeting organised by Sharon - between Sharon, Keisha & the Tour developers - so that all the facts would have been laid on the table beforehand.
4. In this meeting, the tour developers would have asked for more funds for the classes and Sharon would have appraised Keisha about the need for such expenditure , which would ultimately result into higher sales in future.
5. Sharon' s plan was very good but without proper authorisation, it became a failure.
6. If Keisha had any reservations about the plan, she would have raised the same at the meeting, and the same could have been sorted out amicably.
7. Sharon did not do any of the above points & the request for additional funds by tour developers came as a complete surprise to Keisha, who declined approval.

This does not highlight the inefficacy of the program but is more of a management information problem.

Some of the reasons the solution was not successful are as follows:

1) Sharon didn't inform Keisha. Implementing an educational workshop/class prior to each tour/trip is a business decision and involves expenses for which prior approval from the concerned members of the management is required. Sharon cannot simply take a decision and ask the vendors to implement the same on her own. In simple words, there was no formal communication made by Sharon to Keisha regarding the proposed change. There was no policy document or business plan (relating to the proposed change) approved by the management. Everything was done in an informal manner.

2) Sharon didn't inform the vendors the benefits of the educational workshop/class. She should have made them understand the objective behind conducting the workshop/class and how it can help in increasing the business/customer satisfaction. She could have supported her reasoning with some numbers/data that she had found while evaluating the alternatives. Again lack of proper communication can be considered as a reason for the non-acceptance/resistance of/to the proposed solution.

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