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Chapter 3 Strategy and Information Systems
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Coll abora tion exerCiSe 3

Using the collaboration IS you built in Chapter 2 (page 110), col- other customer complained that, indeed, he and his wife had
laborate with a group of students to answer the following questions. vacationed at Singing Valley 3 years ago, but he had not been
Singing Valley Resort is a top-end 50-unit resort located there since. To his knowledge, his wife had not been there, ei-
high in the Colorado mountains. Rooms rent for $400 to $4,500 ther, so he was puzzled as to why the email referred to their
per night, depending on the season and the type of accommoda- visit last winter. He wanted to know if, indeed, his wife had
tions. Singing Valley’s clientele are well-to-do; many are famous recently been to the resort, without him. Of course, Singing
entertainers, sports figures, and business executives. They are Valley had no way of knowing about customers it had insulted
accustomed to, and demand, superior service. who never complained.
Singing Valley resides in a gorgeous mountain valley and During the time the automated email system was opera-
is situated a few hundred yards from a serene mountain lake. It tional, sales of extra activities were up 15 percent. However, the
prides itself on superior accommodations; tip-top service; deli- strong customer complaints conflicted with its competitive strat-
cious, healthful, organic meals; and exceptional wines. Because egy so, in spite of the extra revenue, Singing Valley stopped the
it has been so successful, Singing Valley is 90 percent occupied automated email system, sacked the vendor who had developed
except during the “shoulder seasons” (November, after the leaves it, and demoted the Singing Valley employee who had brokered
change and before the snow arrives, and late April, when winter the system. Singing Valley was left with the problem of how to
sports are finished but the snow is still on the ground). increase its revenue.
Singing Valley’s owners want to increase revenue, but be- Your team’s task is to develop two innovative ideas for solv-
cause the resort is nearly always full and because its rates are ing Singing Valley’s problem. At the minimum, include the fol-
already at the top of the scale, it cannot do so via occupancy lowing in your response:
revenue. Thus, over the past several years it has focused on up-
selling to its clientele activities such as fly-fishing, river rafting, a. An analysis of the five forces of the Singing Valley market.
cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, art lessons, yoga and other Make and justify any necessary assumptions about their
exercise classes, spa services, and the like. market.
To increase the sales of these optional activities, Singing b. A statement of Singing Valley’s competitive strategy.
Valley prepared in-room marketing materials to advertise their c. A statement of the problem. Recall from Chapter 2 that a
availability. Additionally, it trained all registration personnel on problem is a perceived difference between what is and what
techniques of casually and appropriately suggesting such activi- ought to be. If the members of your group have different
ties to guests on arrival. perceptions of the problem, all the better. Use a collabora-
The response to these promotions was only mediocre, so tive process to obtain the best possible problem description to
Singing Valley’s management stepped up its promotions. The which all can agree.
first step was to send email to its clientele advising them of the d. Document in a general way (like the top row of Figure 3-10)
activities available during their stay. An automated system pro- the process of up-selling an activity.
duced emails personalized with names and personal data. e. Develop two innovative ideas for solving the Singing Valley
Unfortunately, the automated email system backfired. problem. For each idea, provide:
Immediately upon its execution, Singing Valley management • A brief description of the idea.
received numerous complaints. One long-term customer ob- • A process diagram (like Figure 3-11) of the idea. Figure 3-11
jected that she had been coming to Singing Valley for 7 years was produced using Microsoft Visio; if you have access to that
and asked if they had yet noticed that she was confined to a product, you’ll save time and have a better result if you also
wheelchair. If they had noticed, she said, why did they send use it.
her a personalized invitation for a hiking trip? The agent of • A description of the information system needed to imple-
another famous client complained that the personalized email ment the idea.
was sent to her client and her husband, when anyone who had f. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of your
turned on a TV in the past 6 months knew the two of them alternatives in part e and recommend one of them for
were involved in an exceedingly acrimonious divorce. Yet an- implementation.