Hotel grim situation analysis project objectivethe report is t

1. Hotel Grim Situation Analysis
Project Objective:
The report is to be a situation analysis of the Hotel Grim in
downtown Texarkana, TX. Our specific interest for this project
is in assessing the Grim restoration project at this point in time.
Restoration of the Grim has been in the local news for the past
decade. Most recently, a call for construction proposals has
been posted with a due date before the end of this course. Our
class does not have a client this time; we are doing this
situation analysis to see if there is anything that would increase
the Grim's chances for a positive outcome in its latest attempt to
renovate it. Remember that the external environment is
dynamic; the local environment has changed since the Grim was
built in 1925, it has changed since it was used for cheap
apartments, it has changed since it was closed several decades
ago, and it has changed in the last decade since someone
showed interest in renovating it a decade ago. One class
targeted the Grim in a situation analysis a few years ago, but the
Grim has always had a prominent place in our several analyses
of the downtown area.
Some Important Rules:
Please take special precautions if you discuss this project with
anyone outside of the class. Some information that is
distributed or discussed in class might be confidential. Equally
important, we do not want anyone outside of the class to be
misled by our activities. We must be especially careful that
anyone outside of our class understands that this is a learning
exercise for the class and that this is not otherwise an official
undertaking of the university. Please exercise restraint when
expressing personal opinions about project issues outside of our
class discussions.
For a variety of reasons, you are prohibited from conducting
primary research excepting some kinds of observational
research that would not reveal the nature of our project. This

2. has caused serious enough problems in the past that I will
immediately drop you from the course if I have reason to
suspect that you have interviewed or surveyed people in this or
other organizations, business leaders, prospective customers,
etc. Engaging in these activities could, for example, jeopardize
our relationships with university clients, could jeopardize
relationships with university donors, and if running surveys,
could jeopardize federal funding that our institution receives.
You are, however, expected to do outside secondary research
for this project. This could include, for example, finding
demographic information that is related to estimating the size
and location of potential target markets, finding information
regarding industry trends, finding scholarly articles that assess
issues of a particular industry, etc. Keep copies of all
information that you find because you will be required to cite
all sources of information in your final report.
Generic Report Structure:
The attached generic outline might provide some guidance with
regard to writing an environmental analysis in general, but strict
adherence to this outline is not expected where not appropriate
for our client's project. This is not a creative writing
assignment; it is a technical writing assignment. Length is
expected to be no more than about 25 printed pages of text
(exclusive of appendices).
All reports must have some sort of introduction that explains
the nature, focus, and objective of the report to the reader. The
body of all reports must in some way
address opportunities andthreats in the environment and address
the strengths and weaknesses of our client, client resources, or
client product. All reports must also end with some sort
of recommendation. That is, the report should lead to some
speculation regarding the outlook for our client organization or
product, the strategic direction that should be set for the
organization or product, and some suggestions regarding how it
is that the organization could go about heading in this direction.
Although some sort of strategic recommendation is

3. required, most of the text of the report will be associated with a
scan and assessment of the current environment that logically
leads to a strategic recommendation. You should suggest some
elements of tactical implementation, but this must be very
limited and absolutely must follow from logical development in
the report. A report that focuses on a list of tactical
recommendations in absence of an environmental analysis that
leads to a singular strategic recommendation is a candidate for a
failing grade; without taking this course, anyone can "shoot
from the hip" to create a laundry list of suggestions in absence
of analysis.
The Assignment:
1. Students will work in teams of four or five members.
2. This is a real world assignment. The report will be scored in
large part on the professor's perception of the usefulne ss and
acceptability of the report to the real client within the
framework that this is to be a situation analysis. A common
problem is that students tend to include irrelevant and
inappropriate material in a report to show evidence that some
particular concept has been learned in the course. Note that
a minimal requirement is that reports be relatively free of
problems of grammar, spelling, typing, and such. Do not
fabricate material for the sake of creating a report. Remember
that this is not a creative writing assignment but is a technical
writing assignment.
3. The exact format of the finished report is of the team's own
choosing. Although a general format for a situation analysis is
attached for guidance, it is unlikely that you could follow this
exactly. HOWEVER, the attached outline does cover the major
issues that are often important in a marketing situation analysis;
whatever format that you choose must be appropriate for this
assignment. Other published report formats commonly called
"situation analysis," "market analysis," "environmental
analysis," "business plan," and such might or might not be
appropriate and acceptable. (Note that your orientation must be
associated with discussions from our classes; many software

4. applications and online examples are dangerously bad and
would receive a failing grade in this course.) Although
elements of the SWOT idea must be in your analysis, avoid
using it as a way to format your final report; reports written in a
linear SWOT format are generally confusi ng at best,
nonsensical and unpersuasive at worst. No two finished reports
would be the same, and it is unlikely that a report could ever be
constructed to exactly fit an imposed outline.
4. ALL facts in the report must be substantiated except those
that are obviously common knowledge. This necessarily
requires that the source of information be cited (footnoted).
Watch for statements that lend themselves to red-ink comments
such as, "says who" or "I disagree." For example, if a statement
is made that the local economy is likely to get better or worse
over the next five years, then the report MUST indicate the
source of this expectation. Additionally, related questions
associated with substantiating this statement might have to be
answered, e.g., Who expects this? How did this person or
organization or publication arrive at this expectation? How
many others agree with this expectation? How many others
disagree? If the speculation is your own, be sure that it is
substantiated with charts, graphs, tables, or figures that indicate
the source of the information contained therein.
5. Information sources must be as close to the original source as
possible. For example, reporting population statistics that you
found on a Chamber of Commerce or real estate agency Web
site is not appropriate in a professional report and these third-
party compilations are very often in error. Such demographics,
for example, are easily obtained directly from Census Bureau
and you have absolutely no excuses for not citing directl y to an
exact page at this original source.
6. You are required to cite all sources of information. A less
obtrusive method of citing in a business report is to list the
references at the end of the report in a numbered list: List all
sources at the end of the report in alphabetical order. Number
them in this order, starting the list with number 1. Whenever a

5. statement is made that must reference that source, indicate the
source by a number in parentheses after the statement, like this
(12). Note that the first time in a report that a source is
referenced, the number is not necessarily (1), the second is not
necessarily (2), etc. Also note that the same source may appear
multiple times in the same report, like this (23). If several
sources support the same statement, they should all be included
like this (4, 7, 12, 15); a greater number of sources often
strengthens an assertion. If several statements are made in the
same paragraph that use the same source, list that source only
once after all such statements within a single paragraph. That
is, do not source this (8) and this again (8) for two separate
issues that are included in the same statement.
7. If you cite information that was obtained from a Web site,
your reference list must provide a complete URL to
the exact page that you cite. Since Web pages sometimes
disappear, you must also indicate the date on which you
accessed the page. (Assume that I WILL look up those
references to verify information and that I will seek out cached
and archived pages if I cannot find them. The more work you
make for me, the lower your grade.) For more information on
citing Web sources, see a recent style manual such as APA -
this information can be found online.
SUGGESTED COMPONENTS OF A SITUATION ANALYSIS
1. Introduction and Overview
· focus of the report
· objective of the client
· objective of the report
· brief summary of the report
2. Assessment of Organizational Resources, Strengths, and
Weaknesses
· mission and objectives
· portfolio analysis
· resources and competencies

6. · organizational weaknesses
3. Assessment of External Environmental Opportunities and
Threats
· demographic
· sociocultural
· economic
· technological
· competitive
· political
· legal and regulatory
· etc.
4. Product-level Assessment
· Consumer/customer Assessment
· who buys?
· why do buyers buy?
· how do buyers make choices?
· what are bases for market segmentation?
· what are potential target markets?
· Competitor Assessment
· who are direct competitors?
· who are indirect competitors?
· what is the likelihood of new competition?
· what is the intensity of competition?
· what are competitors' advantages and disadvantages?
· Market measurement
· estimate market potential
· determine potential of each geographic area
· assess trends
· make forecasts
5. Summary and Recommendations
· define opportunities and threats
· define strengths and weaknesses
· suggest objectives or future direction
· suggest strategy for reaching objectives
· suggest tactics to implement strategy