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Jennifer Trika
Origin and Early History of JNR Incorporated
Introduction
JNR Incorporated is a service-based organization consisting of dedicated professionals
and industry experts in the hospitality, travel, marketing, entertainment, and debit & gift cards.
It is renowned as the leader in the industry which is highly driven by the quality and
effectiveness of its service. JNR’s distinctive goal is to provide its clients with a higher return on
investment by providing customized incentive programs. Each program is designed to be well-
suited to effectively meet the clients’ needs and goals in marketing, management, and sales. For
the last 30 years, JNR has successfully proven to be one of the best companies in the industry,
merely because its programs have been able to increase motivation, engagement, and inspiration
in the client’s workplace by approximately 44% (JNR website, 2016).
The following are my observations about the JNR Incorporated.
Culture. Based on my research, interview, and visitation to the JNR’s office, I can
conclude that the company puts a great emphasis on creating the best memory in each program
produced. It stresses on putting some extra work to ensure that every little detail is always in its
finest state. This is called providing a “7 Star Service” (JNR website, 2016). They always put
some extra efforts in stretching themselves over the limit to bring efficiency and find innovations
for the program to be uniquely different than the previous one.
Philosophy. The philosophy that JNR holds as a foundation in successfully building a
great teamwork is that it has to highly uphold respect, integrity, and confidence. With these

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attributes, the company has received an international recognition with a phenomenal reputation
in leading programs with the objective of enhancing the client’s overall performance.
Service Line. To achieve client’s goals, JNR offers a variety of service lines such as
incentive travels, meetings and conferences, special entertainment events, websites, and rewards
such as promotional products, prepaid reward cards, and awards.
Clients. JNR serves various companies in a wide range of sizes i.e. from a small startups
to Fortune 500 companies. Based in Irvine, California, JNR has the advantage to be easily
accessed by companies such as, BMW, Honda, Mitsubishi, Ford, Toshiba, etc. While JNR has
mostly served an automotive industry, other industries served include the healthcare, insurance,
hospitality, technology, media & communication, biotech, and construction & mining.
History and Origins of JNR Incorporated
JNR Incorporated was established in 1980 in Las Vegas, started with three men that made
up the initial of J, N, and R. One of their strengths in starting the company was their insiders’
knowledge in the hospitality industry. J, James G. Jalet, III, has excellent connections in the
business and is the majority stockholder, while N specializes in the food and beverages, and R,
who funded the business, focuses on the entertainment side. N left the company around 20 years
ago and R had unfortunately passed away. Today, James G. Jalet, III and his wife, LuAnn Jalet
are the main owners of the company.
What started out as a consulting firm, it grew rapidly in just around 90 days and was
already able to fund itself. In 1983, JNR opened an office in Irvine, California and in 1990, they
closed down its initial office in Las Vegas and moved entirely to Irvine. At the start, JNR only
offered travel reward programs. However, since 14 years ago, after being able to continuously

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strive for new innovations, it has expanded its divisions. Now, the company divides the staff
roughly into 50-50, that is, 50% from its 115 employees are allocated in the prepaid reward cards
(Mastercard/debit card) division, and the other half continue focusing on the events/travel reward
incentives programs.
The secret to success of JNR Incorporated is customer loyalty. Throughout the years,
because of the trust, professionalism, and mutual respect, JNR has been able to maintain a great
friendship with clients. These clients only want the best from JNR and have mutually been
assisting each other to improve. Clients’ feedbacks, inputs, and suggestions are the major
contributors to JNR growth and success.
James G. Jalet, III. Through my interview with the President and CEO of JNR
Incorporated, I have learned so much about his experiences in starting up this business. Mr. Jalet
graduated from UNLV with a degree in hotel management. His first job after college was as the
Director of Tour and Travel at Walt Disney World Hotels in Orlando. After 2 years, he moved
back to Las Vegas to open up the MGM hotel and stayed there for 2 years. In the last 5 years of
his career in the hotel industry, he acted as the Vice President at the Aladdin hotel, which is
currently called Planet Hollywood. Since then, he decided to do something on his own. He was
able to gather a few professionals that had some complementary expertise in the entertainment
industry to start JNR Incorporated as a consulting firm. At that time, JNR’s competitors in the
nation were, and still are, Maritz Travel and Carlson. The reason Mr. Jalet wanted to do this
business was because he saw great opportunities; the competitors did not have enough
competencies and the insiders’ industry knowledge about the best hotels, food and beverages,
and entertainment business like he believes his team members did. Some earlier clients were big
automotive companies such as Honda and Ford Motor. In the beginning, JNR did not run the

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events fully like they do now. They would consult and help them on finding the best hotel,
managing the schedule of their events, setting up menus, and reserving their plane tickets.
Subsequently, JNR received great feedback from clients; they came back and wished JNR would
do more integrated activities. That was how the company expanded and developed their
business. After 7 years, JNR became fully integrated as an incentive meeting company.
Company challenges. One of the challenges that JNR Incorporated faced today is in
sales, where most big corporations would sometimes prefer to choose a lower price rather than
the quality of the service. It is challenging for the company to balance it out by giving a
reasonable price but yet at the same time not sacrificing the quality. Another challenge is the
unforeseen event such as a virus outbreak. Virus outbreak hurts the business because it makes
some destinations unavailable for the company to travel, and with time constraints, they have to
come up with an alternative location, and sometimes it may need to completely redesign the
entire program; the recent case is the Zika virus outbreak that currently happens in South
America. Terrorism is also a big problem for the company. Terrorism creates fear for the clients
to send out their employees or customers to certain areas; the most recent terrorist attacks were in
Paris and Brussels. Natural disasters are also unforeseen events that JNR has to take into
consideration. JNR puts its client’s safety as the highest priority, therefore even in the busiest
month during the Spring and Winter, the company will work optimally to be flexible to change
plans and still offers the 7 stars service simultaneously. Furthermore, there are also little
unforeseen challenges, for example when a client forgets to bring his passport, JNR will try to
ship it overnight. Even when an unexpected circumstance occurs such as when a client dies on
the trip, JNR will help and handle it swiftly and professionally.

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Departments. JNR Incorporated manages everything that is needed for a travel incentive
program. During the tour to its headquarters, I was fortunate to be able to acquire first-hand
information and example on how JNR produces the travel incentive program from the scratch.
Each trip that JNR designed is very creatively and uniquely proposed. It generates customized
graphics for each program and creates necessary products that are in line with the theme, such as
the menus, schedule booklets, name tags, luggage tags, party hats, etc. The process starts with
the Request for Proposal (RFP) from the client. In the RFP, it is included the goal and purpose
that the client wants to achieve from the program. Next, a few travel incentive companies are
invited to bid for managing that program. This is where JNR will compete against the
competitors. Once a company is appointed, the RFP will then be handed over to its planning
department, in which they will work together with the finance department to set up a budget,
research for sourcing, and negotiate a contract. Finally, the operation department will take over
and work with the creative team and travel service to produce a program. This department will
be the one that is responsible for the smoothness of the on-going program. Hence, the operation
manager will have to be present when the event is being performed. A representative from the
sales department needs also to be there to observe and learn the goal and culture of the client’s
organization.
Corporate Social Responsibility
With the success that JNR has today, it does not forget about giving back to the society.
Involvements in community service inspire the employees and create strong awareness that what
they produce contributes to a positive change to make the world a better place. Therefore, charity
work is highly encouraged at JNR. JNR believes that it is imperative to use the time and efforts
to give back to the community. In fact, they have been participating and helping various non-

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profit organizations, among others, including Orange County Heart Walk, Coin Collection and
Donations for Hurricane Sandy, Socks of Love, Foster Souls Charity Event, Toys for Tots,
Canned Food Drives, and Blood Drives.
Industry Outlook
A tremendous growth is expected to happen in the future in the event industry. As
globalization increases, meetings, events, and conventions will play a big role in businesses
(BLS, 2015). In the future, there will be more organizations that have separate offices. Although
internet and skype will help with the online meeting, face-to-face communication is still much
more preferred. Therefore, employment in this industry is projected to increase by 10% in the
next 10 years. This growth is faster than the average. As for the type of events, the demand for
more spectacular and luxurious events will accelerate (Vogel, 2014). People want more creative
events that require complex set ups and programs. Innovative entertainments involving advanced
technology in the staging and fine dining are highly requested. Mobile apps, social media
invitation, skype, website, and online registration and planning related to the event are essential.
Technology development at JNR. With the substantial increase of people using
smartphone and internet technology, JNR must leap competitors by integrating technology into
its business. Since 2013, JNR has established its technology team. They utilize various
programming skills such as HTML5, Bootstrap, CSS3, WP, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, AJAX,
Javascript, JSON, and many more.

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References
Meeting Convention, and Event Planners (2015, December 17). Occupational outlook handbook
(2016-2017 Edition). Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, & U.S. Department of
Labor. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/meeting-
convention-and-event-planners.htm
Orange-County Based JNR Incorporated Celebrates Thirty Years of Success (2010, January 27).
Business wire. Retrieved from
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100127005647/en/Orange-County-Based-
JNR-Incorporated-Celebrates-Years-Success
About US (2016). JNR incorporated. Retrieved from JNR Incorporations website.
https://www.jnrcorp.com/about-us
JNR expands technology and web services team (June 28, 2013). JNR incorporated. Retrieved
from JNR Incorporations blog. http://blog.jnrcorp.com/jnr-expands-technology-and-web-
services-team/
Vogel, H. (2014, December 31). Entertainment industry economics: A guide for financial
analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Appendix A: Departments at JNR Incorporations
Department Functionality
Planning Program Sourcing, Development, and Contract Negotiation
Creative Services Marketing, Graphic Design, Copywriting, and Promotional Products

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Operations Program Management and Administration
Sales Account management, Client Interface, and Negotiation
Debit Card Services Card Design, Program Development, Fulfillment, and Customer
Service
Web Services Web Design, Online Tracking and Reporting
Travel Services Transportation Management, Airline Ticketing, and Registration
Services
Financial Services Budget Management and Billing
Appendix B