respond to discussion post:

I am going to use Hilton Hotels for this weeks discussion question. I find the hospitality industry interesting and always changing to keep up with the times.  Vision- To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality –by delivering exceptional experiences – every hotel, every guest, every time (1)  Mission- To be the most hospitable company in the world – by creating heartfelt experiences for Guests, meaningful opportunities for Team Members, high value for Owners and a positive impact in our Communities. (1)  As you can read from the Mission statement meaningful opportunities for team members is number two on the list. According to the Executive statements found on the Hilton web page they “awarded more than $320.000 to intrapreneurs across their brand to create innovative solutions to local issues.” (2)  Another way that Hilton meets is vision and mission is through the Hilton Honors program where once enrolled a “guest can set up their preferences and have it available for any property they are staying at.” This allows for the property to better understand the guest and deliver on expectations before, during and after the stay. (3)  These two examples demonstrate how Hilton goes out of its way to create an environment of being part of the team and valued for it employees. By creating the value it allows the guest to be better taken care of and meet the expectations. The rewards program helps the employees understand the guest and creates the “warmth of hospitality” for the stay.

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response 2:

Walmart’s secret sauce is really no secret. It’s the basic economic principles of supply and demand and elasticity (Frakt & Piper, 2014). Meaning, Walmart sales more by selling those items for less than its competitor (About Us, 2017).  Operating within the margins is critical to the company’s success and from its nascent beginning, Sam Walton required the company to have the lowest operating cost (Walton, 1992).  The model for maintaining the ability to price lower is found in the company’s operating cycle (About Us, 2017):  -Buy for less:  The company buys larger quantities at lower cost. The more it buys the lower the cost and then the company transfers that savings to the customer in the form of lower prices.  -Sell for less: The company sells for less, now though dynamic pricing applications like Savings Catcher. While there is some special pricing, consistent low pricing has helped to capture a market of price conscious shoppers (About Us, 2017).  -Operate for less: By keeping operational cost down the company does not have to have higher marginal pricing that would cause it to pass that cost onto the customers.  Walmart’s distribution network has been able to reduce waste and inefficiencies in the supply chain and has been a bedrock foundation for the ability to operate for less (Alyea, 2012).  -Expand Sales: By keeping cost down, prices low, Walmart has expanded its sales to the largest revenue generating company in the world (Fortune 500, 2017). Global sales exceed $1.25 billion per day and continues to grow with the recent, although late to the game, strong expansion into online sales. 250,000,000 million customers physically visit a Walmart store each week. 140,000,000 customers buy their groceries each week in a store (About Us, 2017).  The excellent execution of this cycle has provided the company a significant competitive advantage (Rothaermel, 2017). Shareholder value is found in the quarterly dividends that the company has paid for 44 consecutive years (About Us, 2017).  So how does this strategy add value? “By saving customers money; they can live better (About Us, 2017).” Expanding the power of disposable income for every family was Sam’s goal. Wrapped up in that vision/idea, you will find our goals, our mission and our values (Rothaermel, 2017).