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INTRODUCTION
Welch (2001:390) postulated that business success is less a function of grandiose predictions than it is a result of being able to respond rapidly to real changes as they occur and that is why strategy has to be dynamic and anticipatory. Edgar and Nisbet (1996:6) also acknowledged the challenges brought about by a changing environment in which businesses operate, stating that businesses are operating in complex and turbulent environments with pressure to adapt and change in order to survive.
One such industry that is facing constant change and challenges is the hotel industry. Tourists and business travellers’ needs across the globe are constantly evolving alongside changes in international markets as new travel destinations open up, improvements of telecommunication and advances in IT, and a conversion of different cultures in a more globalised environment.
Wong and Kwan (2001:386), who made an analysis of the competitive strategies of hotels and travel agents in Hong Kong and Singapore, acknowledged this state of affairs. Hotels and travel agents struggle constantly to innovate and conceive new business strategies to meet the everchanging travelling needs and diversity of demands from the increasingly discerning traveller. Results from a study conducted by Lu and Chaing (2003:343) of hotels in Ontario, Canada, showed that one of the most concerned issues by the hotels was changing customer needs and the increasing purchasing power of customers through the Internet.
Ballaira (2007) gave a further example of shifting consumer expectations on the website www.travelwires.com. Ballaira (2007) notes that ‘no-frill chic’ is a Chapter 1 Introduction and new consumer trend that is going to deeply affect the hotel industry, by shifting consumer expectations and changing the traditional segmentations that marketers use. Ballaira (2007) argues that when it comes to hospitality, the concept is very well represented by a wave of new hotel companies that
promise to (finally) bring some real innovation to the industry by combining style with budget, mixing the chic with affordable rates. ‘No-frill chic’ hotels is positioned to appeal to both budget consumers who will love to experience some extra chic at no extra costs, and to the more demanding travellers who are ready to welcome a non-traditional concept of luxury and service.
The changes evident in the examples mentioned above is reminiscent of two important parts of today’s business environment, firstly the ever increasing acceleration of change in the business environment and secondly the ability to implement strategy successfully within this dynamic environment. To meet the demands of sustainability and challenges of demand in a changing environment, the strategy of a firm becomes the match between its internal capabilities and its external relationships (Kay, 1995:4). From the perspective of classical strategic management theory strategy is considered a deliberate or formal planning process, initiated by top management, based on an elaborate and rational industry analysis and aimed at designing a cohesive grand strategy for the organisation (Dincer, Tatoglu and Glaister, 2006:206).
Mintzberg (1994), as cited by Pun (2004:904), defined strategy as ‘a plan, or something equivalent – a direction, a guide or course of action into the future, a path to get from here to there’, and as ‘a pattern, that is, consistency in behaviour over time’.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 FORMULATING THE PROBLEM
1.3 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.5 THE RESEARCH APPROACH
1.6 DELIMITATIONS AND DELINEATION OF THE STUDY
1.7 THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
2.4 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
2.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 THE DATA GATHERING PROCESSES
3.3 INSTRUMENTS FOR DATA COLLECTION
3.4 SAMPLING
3.5 DATA PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS
3.6 RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND GENERALISATION
3.7 LIMITATIONS
3.8 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 SAMPLE DESCRIPTION
4.3 RESULTS REGARDING THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
4.4 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
CHAPTER 6: PRESENTATION OF THE MODEL, SUMMARY AND
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
