SIFEB

1. A Case Study review
Group
Charles Edwards
Simon Cousins
Owen Biggs
Minesh Pandya
Scott Rowson
Joseph Christopher

2. An introduction to Wyndham Group
• Founded in 1981 by Trammel Crow,
President of Trammel Crow Company (TCC)
as Wyndham Hotels Cooperation.
• The first hotel was opened in Dallas in 1982
• Bought out by Patriot American Hospitality
with rebranding Wyndham to Wyndham
International.
• Resulting in IPO In 1996
• In 1999 a change of CEO (Kleisner)
• In 2000 a new CTO (Headley) was
appointment

3. The Wyndham Strategy relating to customer
satisfaction.
• CEO – “I wasn’t hired because I am a great
investment banker or deals guru. I was hired
because I have spent my life creating
profitable hotels and groups of branded
properties.”
• The move to personalised customer service

4. Wyndham Business Environment SWOT
Analysis - Internal
Internal
Strengths Weakness
Customisable Customer Experiences Additional Management overhead
Integrated and Centralised IS Lack of brand awareness
Application Server Provider approach to software Internal IS management- key personal
distribution dependencies
Franchising allowing for low Capital Lack of control over Franchise’s (Individual
requirements allowing easy expansion Hotels)
Board Members (CTO) with Strong Industry
Experience
Nationwide franchise coverage
Multiple Access Channels for booking capabilities
Franchise business model introduces lower
financial risk

5. Wyndham Business Environment SWOT
Analysis - External
External
Opportunities Threats
International expansion, Europe and continent Customer (Traveller) personal details accessed
maliciously
Cross industry partnerships through EDI. ByRequest initiative model copied and utilised
by competitors
Lodging industry referral initiatives Government DPA compliance change
Increase value of customer data obtained Travel industry organisations removing
Customer interaction with Wyndham.
Franchise Hotels move to competitors

6. Wyndham IT infrastructure
• Prior to making Mark Hedley as CTO
• Lack of IT standardisation
• Outsourced IT
• IT cost considered as capital expenditure
• Legacy Systems
• Mark Hedley as CTO in 2000
• Centralised IT systems to support its new
IS strategy

7. Wyndham IT infrastructure

8. Wyndham ByRequest initiative
• A way to store personalised data
• Customers will feel more valued and
comfortable
• Increased likelihood of customer retention and
improving reviews

9. Suggested future growth Strategies
for Wyndham.
• Strategic Partnerships
• E.g. Airline and car rental service providers,
local events
• Improve brand awareness
• Continue emphasising their initiative
differentiator
• Develop more value from Customer Data
• Future international expansion?

10. Questions?