Marriott's Customer - Focused E- Business Strategy

Abstract

This case discusses the customer-focused e-business strategy of Marriott International (Marriott), a world leader in the hospitality industry. It examines the way in which Marriott focused on providing better customer service by using IT proactively and through the facilities on offer through its website. The case describes in detail the e-business strategy of Marriott that aimed at transforming it from a property-centric to customer-centric company. The benefits Marriott derived from launching its website and other IT initiatives are also highlighted.

"Marriott International is focused on leveraging eBusiness systems to drive customer service, profitability and growth. We need to be able to service our customers consistently, regardless of which channel they use to reach us."

- Mike Dalton, Senior VP of Marriott Lodging Systems.

"We don't want to just satisfy our customers - we want to delight them."

- Stephen P. Weisz, Senior Vice-president of Sales and Marketing, Marriott International.

Headquartered at Washington in the US, Marriott International (Marriott) is a world leader in the hospitality industry. In year 2003, it had a network in excess of 2,600 operating units in the US and a workforce of 145,000 employees, spread over 65 countries across the world. Marriott's diverse portfolio of popular hotel brands included leading brands such as Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Ramada International, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and The Ritz-Carlton, among others.

It had introduced several innovative technologies and implemented them even before its competitors did. For instance, in the 1980's, the company launched Marriott Automated Reservation System for Hotel Accommodation (MARSHA), a totally new concept of hotel reservation in the hospitality industry at that time.

Marriott made continuous improvements in its business processes in its efforts to 'delight' its customers. In 1998, the company adopted an e-business strategy to re-orient itself to serve its customers better. The company was operationalizing a strategy to switch over from a decentralized property-orientation to a centralized customer-orientation in its services. The company invested $70 million (mn) over a two-year period to implement a variety of IT applications in diverse functional disciplines such as sales, accounting and personnel. A key component of Marriott's e-business system was its CRM applications, developed in association with the leading CRM software company - Siebel Systems.

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        Case Code   ITSY035
   Case Length    10 Pages
              Period    1998 - 2004
 Organization     Marriott International
        Pub Date     2004
Teaching Note    Not Available
     Countries    USA
      Industry    Hospitality

Issues

• The importance of a customer-focused e-business strategy in the hospitality industry.

• The role of IT in integrating different business processes to make them more customer-oriented.

Customer-focused, e-business, strategy, Marriott International, world leader, hospitality industry, IT, website, property-centric, customer-centric company.

Please note:

This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.