Question

Movement restrictions imposed by various governments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the form of social distancing and closure of national and international borders and airports has brought a number of business organisations to a standstill, leading to the decline in growth and market share, especially the hard hit tourism and hospitality industries. Assume that you are the manager of IDISAM Hotel LTD, which holds the largest market share in the hospitality industry, but now on the verge of collapsing due to COVID-19 pandemic. Required: Supporting your answers with specific examples and justifications, propose corporate or grand strategies that the company can use to deal with the situation at hand.

Answer 1

One of the primary things which the hospitality industry needs to do in this COVID 19 pandemic is to buy time and patience as well as support from the primary stakeholders and investors. This will help in solving the panic situation in the organization. Secondly the company will be required to strategically revise the salary structure of employees. A certain pay cut of 15-20% will help the company as well as its employees, easily sustain the pandemic situation. The company will also be required to analyze the business expenditures and segregate them into essential and non-essential. The non-essential expenditure can be done away with. This way, the company will be able to control its expenses and cash flow in this crucial situation. The company will also be required to come up with a COVID aligned business proposition under which the hotel can run with 30-40% capacity. This way, the business can be run steadily. The staff can be asked to come in shifts and turns. Different interventions will be required to be taken so as to maintain hygiene at the organization. A part of the hotel can be turned into COVID support center. The staff of the hotel can be trained to offer support to COVID patients. This way, the hotel organization can sustain the COVID 19 pandemic without collapsing.