Read the following case carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Just a few years ago, David Scott, the Chief Executive of Hyatt Chain, was struggling to differentiate among the variety of facilities offered to clients under the Hyatt flagship-the Hyatt Regency Select designed for business travelers, the Hyatt Place Express used by penny pinchers, and the Grand Hyatt Hotels, the luxurious hotels meant for the big spenders. Scott felt that revenues could be challenged if only clients could recognize the differences among these. Keep in mind that there was no loyalty for Hyatt Chain, which suffered from brand confusion. David Scott conducted a customer survey of those who had used each type of facility, and found the following results. Many complained that the buildings were old and not properly maintained, and the quality ratings of service and other factors were also poor. Furthermore, when word spread that one of the contemplated strategies of Scott was a name change to differentiate the three facilities, irate franchises balked. Their mixed messages did not help consumers to understand the differences, either. Scott thought that he first needed to understand how the different classifications would be important to the several classes of clients, and then he could market the hotels out of them and greatly enhance the revenues. Simultaneously, he recognized that unless the franchise owners fully cooperated with him in all his plans, mere face lifting and improvement of customer service would not bring added revenues.
Questions:
a. Discuss the major problem identified in this case.
b. Develop a theoretical framework by identifying dependent and independent variables.
c. Develop at least four hypotheses on the basis of above case.
d. Suggest the most important research design to precede this research problem. Sonnet 4.5
