1. Build the management-research question hierarchy for Ramada.
The management dilemma in this case is the difference in number of employees hired at each Ramada franchise that could potentially affect customer service ratings. The management question is how can customer satisfaction be influenced throughout each property and Ramada franchise? Some research questions that can be considered are: what about hiring the best people to help continue the brand of Ramada’s quality of service? What about providing a training program to help portray the kind of quality service employees should be demonstrating to customers? Also how can management help motivate the employees to serve customers better?
The investigative question to evaluate is if new employees as well as old employees and management will be committed to change during this process? The measurement questions would consist of what customer service models can we imitate or refer to? What program can we develop similar to what we have observed among other customer service models? The management decision is Ramada now hires employees by screening for characteristics revealed by Predictive Index. Ramada now trains employees through CD-based multi-media training where employees can self-learn at their own pace due to the training programs flexibility. Lastly, the motivation program focuses more on rewarding employees for various reasons other than exceptional performance.
2. Apply the research process model to the Ramada research initiative.
A. Explain the role and process of exploration in Ramada’s research.
The role and process of exploration in Ramada’s research allowed for the company to see what other successful companies were doing so that they can observe and slowly develop and imitate their own program, and it also allowed room for new ideas and for employees to be hands on with the process as well.
B. What role did secondary data play in the exploration phase of the research?
The secondary data helped coincide and identify with the areas that could be influenced by customer service and also guide the measurement questions and management decisions.
C. What steps and phases in the process model can you match to the Ramada research?
The steps and phases from the process model that can be matched to the Ramada research is phase one and the first six steps all apply to the Ramada research case.
D. What research process decisions were made? (Remember to include research by outside suppliers.)
The research process decisions that were made were: the screening of characteristics which were gathered from Predictive Index. Also the information researched from the hospitality industry’s stellar examples demonstrated that employees prefer a more
