ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

ACCOR HOTELS

The ultimate goal of this essay is to portray the gist of key points in finance, marketing,
HR practices and organizational structures followed by the management team of Accor
Hotels. Accor is the brand name for hotels like Novotel, Sofitel, Motel 6, Studio 6, Red
Roof Inn, Ibis, Etap and Formula 1 (UK Essays, 2013). Founded in 1983 and
headquarters in France, Accor Hotel Group have 3800 hotels under their management
with more than 500,000 rooms in 92 countries spanning across the world. The
traditional hotel industry is becoming complex each passing year and it is difficult to
build a business and is extremely costly.
Accor Hotels helps you start and manage your hotel business and it is better to have the
administrative support and management of one of the largest hotel operator in Europe,
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Middle East for over 45 years. Accor Hotels
provides an array of brands from economy to luxury. The main benefit of Accor Hotels is
that their network is present in travel friendly cities throughout the world to gain the
advantage of market dynamics and hotel bookings. The group believes in forming a
compelling relationship and a win-win relationship with their associates. Let us take an
overview on the organizational structure of the company, its Human Resource, Finance
and Marketing procedures.

Organizational Structure
An Ideal organization is one which is homogenous, hierarchical, stable, simple and
fragmented in such a way that it radiates knowledge to the ones who need it (Ogilvy,
1989) and Accor group possesses all these characteristics. Accor has a great corporate
culture signified by L esprit Accor, which is expressed by five key values of the
company like trust, responsibility, innovation, professionalism and transparency
(ACCOR, Accor.com Human Resources, 2008).
From 2013, Accor started a new brand based organizational structure of operations in
Europe to strengthen brands (ACCOR, hotelnewresource.com, 2012). Accor is the first
company to allocate each brand in the group of brands to be lead by the Chief
Operating Officer Europe in assistance with a support team reporting directly to him in
areas like marketing, management, human resources and technical expertise (ACCOR,
hotelnewresource.com, 2012). This organizational structure helped Accor to develop
experts in each segment and have abundant knowledge of their competitors and
customers alike (Covey, 2012).

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

During that time, it was important to strengthen the relationships with partners and even
offer development opportunities to their employees (Covey, 2012).

Human Resources
Human resources in Accor starts with Workforce analytics where in digital based
analytics and planning for workforce is done considering the job specification and
description. (Bovee and thill, chapter 11) Then the job requirements are displayed and
posted using mediums like company website and brochures, besides this the HR
department also has a blog (working@accor) which gives candidates more knowledge
about the upcoming jobs and also makes a candidate familiar with the workplace.
Human resource marketing is compassed in forums and trade shows. The great place
to work is an institute that repeatedly carries out surveys in companies over the world
and reward companies providing work life balance with a label Best place to work. The
survey consists of various criteria such as employees appreciation, pride of belonging,
trust, working in groups, managerial partiality etc. Accordingly the institute announces
ratings in which Accor frequently appears in a sterling position throughout the year. This
helps the company in motivating employees to keep up to the bench mark, employee
retention, and attracting potential candidates (Bovee and Thill, Ch. 10). For example in
2008, approximately 140000 job applications were received on the site for 14000 jobs
offered which were advertised to 4800 recruiters around the world. Accor also builds
relations with school and partnership, where in it educates students in the secondary
school in different languages the advantages of working with Accor and also explains
the panoramic view of hotel and service industry. Discovering professions at school
level, this basically enhances the brand image of Accor and increases the potentiality to
pick the best recruits in future, Accor also has a hotel line school where it had a policy of
recruiting students. The company also has partnerships such as employment center.
(Human resource corporate department, 2009).
The Accor academy, the groups university include 16 academies in 5 continents each
with its private team committed in training employees which has 70 permanent trainers
and 90 certified temporary trainers worldwide. The new technologies have made the
training process easier, such as online training, e-learning software etc. Accor believes
training the employees is the key to success. They follow a get fit act different theme
where in the employees are motivated and trained to make decisions quickly and then
explain them to the group members. The employees are educated with Accor
management ethics such as smile at customers, rules of the company, company
belonging, respecting people, respecting laws and integrity policy. (Bovee and Thill,

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

2015, Ch. 10 and 11). The HR managers have an access to employee appraisal on the
intranet, where a performance of the employee is appraised and rewarded, this rewards
enhance the capabilities and tend to motivate the employees. (Human resource
corporate department, 2009).
Human resources department in Accor also touches upon the social factors such as
health and safety in which employees are insured with 100% coverage when
hospitalized etc. Accor being in tourism industry also supports ECPAT which is end of
child prostitution, pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purpose. Besides
this Act- HIV is an initiative by Accor which is channelized to fight against eradication of
HIV- AIDS. (Human resource corporate department, 2009).

Marketing Practices
Recognizing market needs is the first and foremost step for a company to focus in order
to operate globally by gauging what customer actually demands (Keegan, 1995). Accor
Group unveiled a $320 Million strategy plan on how it will use the digital medium to
engage more customers, improve customer service etc. Mobile First is the result of
customers migration to smartphones and tablets and they have planned on having a
single app for customers to engage before, during and after hotel stay (Wilkinson,
2014). Seamless Journey is aimed at better customer service through each phase of
the journey like easy payment solutions, on-click booking, online check-in and virtual
card. A makeover of hotel images and videos online was done with the approx. 2,500
shoots simultaneously and increase of personalization to the customers for e-mail
campaigns through SMART, which is an email tool to create more than 14,000 e-mail
campaigns in over 16 languages (Wilkinson, 2014).
Business ethics plays an important role in building trust and long lasting relationship
with the customers and do not hinder business practices (Bovee and Thill, 2015, Ch.
13). Laws are designed to govern business practices specifically to protect consumers
and stake holders. These include laws like: prohibiting anti-competitive practices by
businesses, curb criminal activities like bribery to public officials etc. (Sutton, 2014).
Accor Groups Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Marketing, Vivek Badrinath believes
that all stakeholders including employees, partners and customers will benefit from
digital transformation to provide excellent personalized service and seamless customer
journey (Wilkinson, 2014). Accor uses the fundamental of Differentiated Marketing to
target different groups with various products (Bovee and Thill, 2015, Ch.13). In this
case, Accor targets various segments with different offerings like Ibis Hotels, Ibis Styles
and Ibis Budget Hotels.

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

Financial Practices
Two types of financing namely Debt financing and Equity financing both have their pros
and cons which is determined by capital costs, opportunity and length of term (Bovee
and Thill, 2015, Ch.18). Due to international recognition of Accor Group, the company is
able to raise finance in multiple ways like: loans from banks or through issues of billets
de tresorerie which is a commercial paper in France, also through bonds in Europe and
internationally (ACCOR, Accor.com, 2012).
The best alternative to secure funds and reduce the debt Accor made strategic decision
of liquidating some shares of ownership through a public offering and through this form
of Equity financing many major corporations in the world have achieved tremendous
growth and success (Bovee and Thill, 2015, Ch.18). As an owner of shares of Accor
Group, you are also entitled to the companys net profit paid annually in the form of
dividend and you are asked to express your opinions on key issues pertaining to the
company at the Annual General Meeting by obtaining information regarding the same
through company website (ACCOR, Accor.com, 2012).
By the end of December 2010, the company reported the revenue of 5,693 million which
was a 98% increase possible only by the hard work and dedication of more than
145,000 employees (Rodrigo, 2012). Accor accounted maximum profits during the
period between 2006 and 2012 in their chain hotels is expected to rise by 5.7% a year
as compared to a 3.7% increase per year for the entire market (Rodrigo, 2012). The
financial report of Accor Group states that the earning objective is really good
throughout the year.

Inter-relation
In every organization there are direct or indirect relations between core organizational
functions which leads to achieve the operational and strategic goals. These functions
work with one or more functions for particular set objectives. One of the ways have
been analyzed in ACCOR Group is the corporate culture L esprit Accor which is based
on five key values has cultivated a strong beliefs in the organizations structure that
encourages right employment practices to hire best suited people who can carry the
same organizational beliefs in all the brands. These engraved values in all the level of
hierarchy is also displayed in external environments through marketing practices which
has attracted, fulfilled and satisfied the expectations of the customers. Increased
customer satisfaction has built other stakeholders faith in the brand and its objectives

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

which helps Accor to grow at faster pace using investors and lenders to add properties
under each brand.
Accors five key values - trust, responsibility, innovation, professionalism and
transparency have been the core of each organizational functions. These key values as
also brings the core functions together to work with each other to produce desired
results. The dedicated skilled employees to satisfy the needs of the customers
structuring strategical market intelligence through understanding the needs of the
customer in a particular market, this helps Accor to make financial decisions on
introducing the best suitable brand from its many brands by investing the money by
borrowing from investors through selling equity, profit sharing or getting loan from the
banks.

Conclusion
According to the analysis of Accor Group, we have discovered that there is a shortage
of valuable employees. Hence, the company has taken steps using various mediums
where they can get potential employees. Accor Group is now careful of the pricing
system and advertising reacting to the competition of the market. Also have improved in
organizational structure wherein they follow divisional structure. In marketing the new
technologies used have created a big impact on the ongoing process and in finance,
debt and equity finance are used in an improved manner. The inter-relation of the four
segments creates creativity, opportunities for Accor.
By improving their business strategy, Accor Hotels were able to improve their overall
revenue.

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

References:

Bovee, CL and Thill, JV. 2015, Business in Action, 7th edition, Pearson, New
Jersey.
UK Essays. November 2013. Global Marketing For Hospitality And Tourism
Marketing Essay. [online]. Available from:
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/global-marketing-for-hospitality-andtourism-marketing-essay.php?cref=1 [Accessed 22 November 2015].
Wilkinson, J., 2014, Accor unveils $320 million technology strategy, accessed on
22 November, 2015, available from:
http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2014/10/31/accor-unveils-320-milliontechnology-strategy/
Sutton, F., 2014, Accor Hotel Group, accessed on 23 November, 2015, available
from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/209866552/ACCOR-Hotel-Group#scribd
Ogilvy, J. 1989, This Postmodern business. The Deeper News, 1, 5, 2-23.
ACCOR, 2012, Accor Introduces New Brand-based Organizational Structure for
Europe, accessed 24 November, 2015, available from:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article68235.html
Covey, C., 2012, Accor Introduces New Brand-based Organizational Structure
for Europe, accessed 24 November, 2015, available from:
http://www.travelpulse.com/news/hotels-and-resorts/accor-introduces-newbrandbased-organizational-structure-in-europe.html
Accor Hotels, 2012, Financing Policy, accessed on 25 November, 2015, available
from: http://www.accorhotels-group.com/en/finance/debt-financing/financingpolicy.html
Accor Hotels, 2012, Shareholders, accessed on 25 November 2015, available
from: http://www.accorhotels-group.com/en/finance/shareholders.html
Rodrigo, 2012, Strategic, PESTEL and Financial Analysis of Accor Hotels,
accessed on 26 November, 2015, available from:
writepass.com/journal/2012/12/strategic-pestel-and-financial-analysis-of-accorhotels/
Accor Human resource corporate department, August, 2009, highlights human
resource, Available from: http://www.accorhotels-

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION

ASSESMENT 2- ACCOR GROUP

DHRUVIL PANDYA-18317158
DHEERAJ DATWANI18237489
RAUNAK FALLARY-18481293

group.com/uploads/static/accorbook/media/3914_ACCOR-FM2009_GB.pdf
(accessed on 25 November 2015).

UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATION