Revenue Management (HOSP2006)

In this part, you are expected to prepare a 3,000-word reflection after Round 2 simulation results are released.

While the hotel operations are based on your team's decision, the focus of this reflection is on developing your own narratives of the performance that your hotel has shown in the past two rounds (excluding Practice round) based on key performance indices (KPIs). These KPIs include, but are not limited to, information in Key Figures in the simulation and indices discussed in the lecture on performance analysis.

The narrative of your hotel performance requires you to identify and explain the areas where your hotel outperformed competitors and the areas that require improvement. Avoid simply presenting the raw data in your narratives; you are expected to interpret the KPIs and provide insights into the data and numbers. Additionally, you should propose actionable measures that can be taken to achieve sustainable and profitable growth in the upcoming rounds, considering the strengths and weaknesses of your hotel's performance.  

In this reflection, you are also expected to reflect on the knowledge acquired from the lecture and how it contributed to your completion of the simulation activities. Your reflection should reference relevant lecture topics, such as Lecture topic 1 from Week 3 materials, highlighting the specific learning points that influenced your understanding and decision-making throughout the simulation.

Therefore, the key elements of this reflection include:

• Identification of the strengths of your hotel compared to other teams, aiming to sustain competitiveness.
• Recognition of the weaknesses of your hotel compared to other teams, emphasising the areas that require improvement.
• Development of strategies to uphold competitiveness and address the identified weaknesses in the upcoming simulation rounds.
• Reflection on the acquired knowledge and its application throughout the simulation activities and course materials

AI statement

Please be reminded that the use of any AI tools for completing this assignment is strictly prohibited. Any violations or indications of AI usages will result in severe penalties.

In the simulation, you and your team members will manage a hotel together for five (5) rounds. Each round presents a unique scenario that requires you to make business decisions aligned with the given circumstances. While the simulation runs based on teams' decisions, you (as a team member) need to come up with the "best" estimations (which deliver sustainable, profitable growth) to inform your team's decision-making process.

While your primary goal is to maximise hotel profit, there will be many other areas that you need to consider. Prior to your team's weekly meeting during tutorial sessions to finalise group decisions, it is crucial for each individual member to complete each round as you will convene with your team. Each team member may then bring forth diverse decisions pertaining to different areas. Following these discussions, your team is required to suggest the "optimum decisions" for the current round before it closes. Each round stays open for a week before it is subsequently closed. In this simulation, there isn't a definitive correct answer; rather, a multitude of preferable answers exist.

To complete this assessment, you, as an individual team member, must complete each round before the team's weekly meeting and take a screenshot of your decision checklist (instructions on how to locate it will be provided during the lecture). You will be requested to submit the screenshots of your decisions for the current round to Blackboard before the current round closes. Each round will remain open for a week after its launch - details of closing dates and related information will be explained in the lecture and the course Blackboard. Please be reminded that this assessment is irreversible once the round is closed. Each member is required to spend a minimum of 50 minutes on the simulation per round. Failing to do so will incur a 100% penalty for that round.

AI Statement

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

When all scheduled simulation rounds are completed, each team is required to present how they have managed their hotel for the five rounds. Given the mixed learning mode, each team is required to create a 25-minute video presentation. Please be reminded that any decisions made by you or your team after the round is closed will not affect the performance of past, present, or future rounds. Missing a round is irreversible and will significantly affect completing this assignment. Therefore, please ensure that you and your team finish each round before it closes. 

What to Present

Your team's performance is evaluated based on cumulative earnings, which can be located under 'Key Figures' in the 'Results' tab within the simulation. It's mandatory for your team to elucidate the strategies implemented (e.g., causes) and how they contributed to these cumulative earnings (e.g., effects). Your team should scrutinise the scenarios (as seen in 'Outlook' in the situation) to validate the strategies employed in each round. Given that the decisions made in one round impact the performance in subsequent rounds, your team is expected to examine how these decisions influence cumulative earnings and other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) over time.

Please consider this presentation scenario; a presentation to the Board Members of the parent company. In real life, a good presentation can elevate the perception of a team's performance.

Format

• This presentation does not require a presentation in class. Instead, your team will create a 25-minute video presentation (as you would present it to a ‘live’ audience). 
• Each team member is required to be present in the video presentation. When you are presenting, you are required to record your physical appearance and voice (narration). 
• MS PowerPoint file format (i.e., pptx) is recommended for the video presentation. While your team is allowed to use different applications to create the presentation, it is your team's responsibility to ensure proper file submission, especially if it is not in PPTX format.
• Each team needs to submit a file via the course Blackboard site. Each team appoints a team representative to submit the file on behalf of all members. Only one submission per team is required; it is unnecessary for each member to submit the file. 
• Please check the submission history and confirm your assignment was successfully submitted. The teaching team will mark the file submitted to the system, regardless of whether it is incomplete or incorrect. Since the marks for this assignment will not be available to you/your team before the semester grade release date, it is essential to ensure that your team submits the correct file on time to avoid any unnecessary penalties.

Peer Evaluation

A peer evaluation is required for this group assignment. Your mark will be moderated based on your individual contribution to the assessment task as indicated by your peers through a Peer Assessment tool. Individual grades will be calculated as the team score weighted by the peer evaluation score.

AI statement

Please be reminded that the use of any AI tools for completing this assignment is strictly prohibited. Any violations or indications of AI usages will result in severe penalties.