Sweetest Dreams Inn Case Analysis #1

1) Mr. Phan, owner of the Sweetest Dreams Inn, is extremely production-oriented. This is probably due to the fact that he has held a job as a production manager for a company producing industrial machinery for many years. Production orientation can be defined as: making whatever products are easy to produce and then trying to sell them. Customers are viewed by managers like as Mr. Phan, as purchasers of their product instead of people with needs that must be filled (Perreault, Cannon, McCarthy 16-17). By assuming that all customers want what he himself wants when traveling, he created a product (a plain but modern room with a comfortable bed, standard bath facilities, and free cable TV) without any research done to either support or deny his ideas. He took the easy route when deciding on whether or not to include additions such as a pool and a restaurant, deeming them “unnecessary”. David Bowie and Francis Buttle (14) stated that “to achieve superior business performance companies need to identify what customer needs and wants are, and to satisfy them better than competitors”, that is adopt a market orientation. This way of doing business focuses on creating relationships with customers and striving to maintain them long-term. It also avoids price competition because it is believed that cost is a secondary concern to level of service.
2) Operating without set objectives can be like traveling without a destination. Similarly, “Unless the end product is very well understood, as it is in highly technical engineering projects such as building an airplane, it’s almost inevitable that some things will be left off the plan. And even if all the right activities have been anticipated, they may turn out to be difficult, or even impossible, to knit together once they’re completed.” (Matta, Ashkenas)