A hotel chain wanted to learn about the level of experience of its general managers. A random sample of 14 general managers was taken, and these managers had a mean of 11.72 years of experience. Suppose that the standard deviation of years of experience for all general managers in the chain is known to be 3.2 years. What is the lower limit of a 95% confidence interval for the mean experience of all general managers in this hotel chain?

In regards to modern operating systems If you are asked to design a hotel check-in system that has three steps, what would you like to propose? If you are asked to detail your previous design so that it has five steps, how would you update it and why? If you are asked to propose a hotel check-in system without any limitation in steps, what would it be and why?

You are part of a Design and Construct team for a conference centre and 300 bed hotel accommodation in Darwin, Northern Territory. The site is 10 hectares on the oceanfront. The developer wants the project to be environmentally friendly and to minimise energy consumption and water usage while maintaining a luxury hotel feel. List the factors and strategies that you would consider most important in the design of this building, i.e. the design adaptations for the building.

You are part of a Design and Construct team for a conference centre and 300 bed hotel accommodation in Darwin, Northern Territory. The site is 10 hectares on the oceanfront. The developer wants the project to be environmentally friendly and to minimise energy consumption and water usage while maintaining a luxury hotel feel. List the factors and strategies that you would consider most important in the design of this building, i.e. the design adaptations for the building.

Serial Case

1. C6-72Calculate and compare cost estimates using high-low and regression methods (Learning Objectives 4 & 5)

This case is a continuation of the Caesars Entertainment Corporation serial case that began in Chapter 1. Refer to the introductory story in Chapter 1, here for additional background. (The components of the Caesars serial case can be completed in any order.)

Caesar Entertainment Corporation’s Form 10-K contains a variety of data in addition to financial statements. Below is a list that contains Caesars’ food and beverage costs (adapted) taken from its Statements of Operations for the past 22 years. In addition, the number of hotel rooms and suites owned by Caesars at the end of each of those 22 years has been gathered from other information provided in the Form 10-Ks.

Requirements (use excel)

1. Using the high-low method, find the following cost estimates:
   1. Variable food and beverage cost per hotel room/suite
   2. Fixed food and beverage cost per hotel room/suite
2. Perform a regression analysis using Excel. Use # of hotel rooms & suites as the X and the Food and beverage costs as the Y in your regression analysis.
   1. What is the estimated variable food and beverage cost per hotel room/suite?
   2. What is the estimated fixed food and beverage cost per hotel room/suite?
   3. In your opinion, is the number of hotel rooms and suites a good predictor of Caesars’ food and beverage costs? Why or why not?

Case Vignette: Which Trauma based disorder (Posttramatic stress disorder (PTSD), Acute stres disorder (ASD) or adjusment disorder is Bethany and Charles each suffering from and why? Dignosis Bethany and Charles and use symptoms from the case vignette (story below) to supportthe dignosis.

Bethany Pinsky, age 23, has gone to a theater to see the local premiere of a big-budget movie. As she settles into her seat, waiting for the show to begin, a young man in a ski mask suddenly appeared in front of the screen. Brandishing an assault rifle, he fired directly into the audience. She saw many people get shot, including the woman sitting next to her. People all around began screening, and there was a confused stampede for the exit door. Terrified, she somehow fought her way to the exit and escaped, uninjured, to the parking lot, where police cars were just arriving.

Charles Quigley, age 25, went to the same movie theater at the same time. He too feared for his life. Hiding behind a row of seats, he was able to crawl to the aisle and quickly sprint to the exit.   Although covered in blood, he escaped without physical injury.

Bethany, Two Weeks Later

Bethany comes to see you. She has not recovered 2 weeks later. She feels emotionally constricted, and unable to experience pleasant or positive feelings. She jumps at the slightest sound, she is unable to focus on her work and her sleep has been fitful and marked by traumatic nightmares. She has tried to avoid any reminders of the shooting but nevertheless relentlessly recalls the sounds of gunfire, the screams, and the sticky feel of the blood pouring out of her neighbor's chest in the movie theater. She feels the experience has changed her life forever.

Charles, Two Months Later

Charles comes to see you as he has been having a difficult time sleeping and concentrating. He feels like he wasn't impacted as much as others by the event but continues to think about the shooting. He finds himself sad at times and easily cries. He feels his heart rate increase and becomes slightly nervous at a loud sound. He feels anger towards others who tell him that they understand how he feels. When asked about his job and personal relationships, he states that he has been able to keep his job. However, he is afraid he may get fired soon as his performance at work has been poor due to his inability to concentrate. His girlfriend tries to help him but he feels she can't understand his pain since she wasn't there. She has noticed his low energy and feeling of hopelessness lately and suggested that he see someone.

Tesbury International

When Tesbury started to expand internationally in the early 1990s, the company set up an international division to oversee the process. The international division was based in Bentonville, Arkansas, at the company headquarters in the United States. Today, the international division oversees operations for Tesbury as the largest global retailer in the world with 11,695 stores under 63 banners in 28 countries that collectively generate almost $500 billion in sales per annum. Some 2.2 million Tesbury employees work in these international positions to serve more than 100 million customers weekly. 40% of the company’s customers are outside the United States.

In terms of reporting structure, the international division is divided into three regions – Europe, Asia and America with the CEO of each region reporting to the CEO of the international division, who in turn reports to the CEO of Tesbury.

Initially, the senior management of the international division exerted tight control over merchandising strategy and operations in different countries. They also made almost all decisions for the representative managers in the different countries. This means that the managers in the various countries had limited flexibility to respond to issues concerning their particular area.

The reason for the tight control was straightforward; Tesbury’s senior managers wanted to make sure that international stores copied the format for stores, merchandising and operations that had served the company so well in the United States. They believed naively perhaps that topmost control over merchandising strategy and operations was the way to make sure this was the case.

By the late 1990s, with the international division approaching $20 billion in sales, Tesbury’s managers concluded that this approach was not serving them well. Country managers has to get permission from their superiors in Bentonville before changing strategy and operations and this was slowing decision making. There was information overload at the headquarters and this led to some poor decisions. Tesbury found that managers in Bentonville were not necessarily the best ones to decide on store layout in Mexico, merchandising strategy in Argentina, or compensation policy in the United Kingdom.

At a point in its international expansion, Tesbury decided to acquire Britain’s Bestfresh supermarket chain. It is estimated that this acquisition will some $14 billion to Tesbury’s international divisions. With this acquisition in mind, Tesbury managers realise that it was not appropriate for managers in Bentonville in America to be making all important decisions for Bestfresh in the United Kingdom. As one manager puts it, “you cannot run the world from one place.”

As a practical matter, given the product mix in Tesbury stores, products and services have to be tailored to conditions prevailing in the local market. Currently, significant responsibility for sourcing remains at the country and regional level, however, Tesbury would like to have a better and more efficient merchandising and operating strategy.

1. Identify the organisational structure that Tesbury used in its international expansion strategy and explain two reasons why the company used this structure.

2. Explain two problems that the use of this structure created for the company that hindered its smooth operations.

3. Recommend an alternative structure for the international expansion into the United Kingdom and explain three reasons why this structure might work well for the company.

4. Changing the structure would involve organizational change. Explain organizational change and examine three steps that can be used to change the structure

4-2 Short Paper: Major Contributions of Minority Groups Assignment Task: Submit to complete this assignment Trace some of the major contributions of an ethnic or "minority" group to U.S. culture, for example, to music, the arts, dance, or theater. There are many other possibilities! Develop your composition based on an area of interest to you in the arts.

A Theater has n numbered seats, and n tickets are distributed among n persons. Compute the probability that

(a) exactly two persons will be seated at seats corresponding to their ticket numbers if all the seats are occupied at random.

(b) at least two persons will be seated at seats corresponding to their ticket numbers if all the seats are occupied at random.

Red Carpet LLC is a national hospitality and entertainment company with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA with national operations in the US. Historically, the company has had 3 divisions: hotels, food service, and cruise lines. However, it recently completed the acquisition of Sparkstar theaters, a movie theater company, that it is slated to become its 4th division. Red Carpet now owns 200 hotels in 48 states, 4 brands of restaurants with 1776 locations, 4 Buoy Bay branded cruise ships, and 300 Sparkstar theaters.

Its matrix organizational structure consists of a central HR, accounting, business development, sales, marketing, and research and development departments located at the headquarters in Philadelphia that serve each division. Each division is located in a different part of the US and lead by a VP that reports to the President and CEO. The company is privately owned by a consortium of investors and investor groups.

Red Carpet has 16,000 employees, 1000 of which work at its corporate headquarters. The organizational culture of the headquarters is informal and organic and there are few policies and processes that guide employee behavior. The company, as a whole, does not value HR so employees struggle with many employee relations and employment law concerns. The company outsources all of its training to one of the investor group companies, however this training is commonly not customized to the needs of Red Carpet.

As a whole, Red Carpet struggles with its business to business partners and suppliers because of its reputation for being nonnegotiable. Red Carpet would rather disrupt the quality and availability of its only products and services rather than partner for the supply chain resources that it needs. Likewise, Red Carpet does not hold many of the General Managers in its hotels, restaurants, and its cruise ships accountable for performance, opting instead for a weaker political strategy of blaming and gotcha games.

Being aware of these challenges, Red Carpet acquired Sparkstar for their strong industry reputation and financial performance in the hopes that merging the structure and culture of Sparkstar into Red Carpet would change the organization for the better. Historically, Red Carpet has been a highly successful company, however in recent years, its mismanagement has created noticeable effectives in product and service quality and its bottom line.

Divisions

Hotels: Red Carpet branded hotels are mid-price semi-luxury hotels known for high quality. Each customer is given a red velvet cupcake upon checking in. Red Carpet relies on its General Managers to micromanage the hotel. Despite its corporate parent owning a restaurant division, no Red Carpet hotels have restaurants. The Red Carpet division headquarters are in Sedona AZ. Many of the hotels are in need of refurbishment.

Food Service: Chicken Heaven is a fast-food chain with a long tradition of quality, large customer base, and 1000 locations. It is a solid overall performer for Red Carpet with high employee satisfaction. Burger Blast is another fast-food chain recently launched to cater to upscale customers who seek customized, gourmet-style burgers. It has 200 locations, however General Managers are struggling with budget and supplies causing a poor customer experience and high employee turnover. Food Park is a buffet-style restaurant with 500 locations that has been recently struggling because of high competition and poor marketing. Delicacy is a high-end restaurant with an urban theme. It has 76 locations, is the oldest of Red Carpet's food service operations, and provides a unique dining experience for customers. However, General Managers have a high turnover at Delicacy because of the grueling schedule. The food service division is located in Burke, ID.

Cruise Ships: Buoy Bay cruise ships offer low-cost, short-term cruises from Port Canaveral, FL only to the US Virgin Islands. Buoy Bay offers customers average quality staterooms and food from Chicken Heaven, Burger Blast, and Food Park. However, it does not offer a non-buffet formal dining option such as Delicacy. Although they are known for their over-the-top entertainment, employee turnover is very high relying primary on seasonal employees who are poorly trained. Buoy Bay has had much controversy. Just 5 years ago, the Buoy Bay cruise ship, Garland of the Sails, hit a reef, partially sank, and had to be salvaged in a 1.5 billion dollar operation. This resulted in a Federal investigation that is still pending. The Buoy Bay division is located in Lapsowanne, OR.

Movie Theaters: Sparkstar theaters were recently purchased from the Vegamega group for 2.3 billion dollars. Sparkstar is the highest rated movie theater chain the US. It has high customer and employee satisfaction, an efficient organizational structure, and solid financial results. Sparkstar's culture is one of high HR involvement including a strong training and development department, Sparkstar Institute. Sparkstar has a customer rewards program that provides a free movie rental of the film that the customer saw in the theater which has been very popular and has increased its strong customer base. Sparkstar has its divisional headquarters in Pasadena, CA.

The Issues

With the purchase of Sparkstar theaters, Red Carpet is hoping to redefine its operations in the next 5 years. It sees opportunities to integrate its divisions, products, and services to better serve its customers and employees. Here is a summary of some of the issues that Red Carpet must address in its strategic plan:

Internal politics and communication
Improved HR and training
Employee relations issues
Federal investigations
Product and service quality
Marketing support
Performance issues
Redefining the organizational structure
Improving its organizational culture
Integrating products and services
Resource and supply chain issues

Your Role

Leroy Banks, the Director of Change management at Red Carpet is seeking an Organization Development Consultant to address Red Carpet's need for change. You've just received a consulting contract from him to help prepare a plan to assist Red Carpet. You're excited about the opportunity and are motivated to work on this project. You know that your insight will assist Red Carpet with managing organizational change.

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 300-400 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Additional Information:

The VP of HR reviewed the executive summary and decided that your recommendation was a strong course of action for the change process. In her discussions with Leroy, she mentioned that it would be good to have you participate in a focus group to discuss your experiences with the change process. She was interested in discovering some best practices for change and felt that your experiences would be very valuable to Red Carpet’s approach to change. To guide the discussion, she recommended addressing a few points that should be covered in the focus group. Leroy will gather the results of the focus group and share it with the VP of HR.

Review the Red Carpet scenario for this course and with your classmates; discuss the following questions that will provide insight into your own change experiences:

Describe a successful change initiative from your own experiences and why it worked well.
Describe an unsuccessful change initiative from your own experiences and why it did not achieve its intended objectives.
From your own experiences, summarize the key success factors for change at Red Carpet that you would recommend to Leroy.