Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging

Green Hoteling as Core

Competency Case Study
Analysis & Solution
Case Study Description
Vithal Kamat (CMD, Kamat Hotels India Ltd.) is a second generation entrepreneur who has taken the
Kamat Hotels brand to new heights. A small restaurant chain was transformed into a full-fledged
hospitality services group under his leadership. Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. included five major verticals from
five-star luxury hotels (The Orchid Ecotel) to economy restaurants (namely Kamat Restaurants) that
catered to the different customer segments. Kamat had ambitious plans for the expansion of every vertical
using alternative growth strategies. However, the recent economic slump had caused a sudden setback
due to the fall in average room occupancy and competing room-tariff rates offered by other hotels. In
such a tumultuous situation, Kamat planned to use the core competency of the hotel as an 'ecotel,' that
is, an environment friendly hotel, to go in for corporate branding and lever its position in the market. The
case illustrates the challenges faced by Kamat in extending the core competency of 'The Orchid' to its
other verticals. The Orchid had performed better than the industry average until 2008. However, in 2009,
the performance dipped, partly because of the economic recession. This prompted the board members
of the company to decide on extending the core competency of the ecologically sustainable hotel into
other verticals. However, this decision had to be considered carefully in the light of its impact on 'The
Orchid' as well as on the other verticals. What are the challenges that will be faced while extending the
core competency of 'ecoteling' to the other verticals? There were numerous related issues that needed
to be addressed strategically as well as tactically, in order to maintain a balance between extending the
core competencies across the verticals while extending the brand per se.

Step 1 - Reading up Harvard Business Review

Fundamentals on the Strategy & Execution

Even before you start reading a business case study just make sure that you have brushed up the Harvard
Business Review (HBR) fundamentals on the Strategy & Execution. Brushing up HBR fundamentals will
provide a strong base for investigative reading. Often readers scan through the business case study
without having a clear map in mind. This leads to unstructured learning process resulting in missed details
 and at worse wrong conclusions. Reading up the HBR fundamentals helps in sketching out business case
study analysis and solution roadmap even before you start reading the case study. It also provides starting
ideas as fundamentals often provide insight into some of the aspects that may not be covered in the
business case study itself.

Step 2 - Reading the Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green

Hoteling as Core Competency HBR Case Study
To write an emphatic case study analysis and provide pragmatic and actionable solutions, you must have
a strong grasps of the facts and the central problem of the HBR case study. Begin slowly - underline the
details and sketch out the business case study description map. In some cases you will able to find the
central problem in the beginning itself while in others it may be in the end in form of questions. Business
case study paragraph by paragraph mapping will help you in organizing the information correctly and
provide a clear guide to go back to the case study if you need further information.

 Marking out the protagonist and key players in the case study from the very start.
 Drawing a motivation chart of the key players and their priorities from the case study description.
 Refine the central problem the protagonist is facing in the case and how it relates to the HBR fundamentals on
the topic.
 Evaluate each detail in the case study in light of the HBR case study analysis core ideas.

Step 3 - Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core

Competency Case Study Analysis
Once you are comfortable with the details and objective of the business case study proceed forward to
put some details into the analysis template. You can do business case study analysis by following Fern Fort
University step by step instructions -

 Company history is provided in the first half of the case. You can use this history to draw a growth path and
illustrate vision, mission and strategic objectives of the organization. Often history is provided in the case not only
to provide a background to the problem but also provide the scope of the solution that you can write for the case
study.
 HBR case studies provide anecdotal instances from managers and employees in the organization to give a feel of
real situation on the ground. Use these instances and opinions to mark out the organization's culture, its people
priorities & inhibitions.
 Make a time line of the events and issues in the case study. Time line can provide the clue for the next step in
organization's journey. Time line also provides an insight into the progressive challenges the company is facing in
the case study.
 Step 4 - SWOT Analysis of Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green
Hoteling as Core Competency
Once you finished the case analysis, time line of the events and other critical details. Focus on the
following -

 Zero down on the central problem and two to five related problems in the case study.
 Do the SWOT analysis of the Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency . SWOT analysis is a
strategic tool to map out the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that a firm is facing.
 SWOT analysis and SWOT Matrix will help you to clearly mark out - Strengths Weakness Opportunities & Threats
that the organization or manager is facing in the Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency
 SWOT analysis will also provide a priority list of problem to be solved.
 You can also do a weighted SWOT analysis of Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency HBR
case study.

Step 5 - Porter 5 Forces / Strategic Analysis of Industry

Analysis Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core
Competency
In our live classes we often come across business managers who pinpoint one problem in the case and
build a case study analysis and solution around that singular point. Business environments are often
complex and require holistic solutions. You should try to understand not only the organization but also
the industry which the business operates in. Porter Five Forces is a strategic analysis tool that will help
you in understanding the relative powers of the key players in the business case study and what sort of
pragmatic and actionable case study solution is viable in the light of given facts.

Step 6 - PESTEL, PEST / STEP Analysis of Orchid Ecotel:

Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency
Another way of understanding the external environment of the firm in Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green
Hoteling as Core Competency is to do a PESTEL - Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental
& Legal analysis of the environment the firm operates in. You should make a list of factors that have
significant impact on the organization and factors that drive growth in the industry. You can even identify
the source of firm's competitive advantage based on PESTEL analysis and Organization's Core
Competencies.
 Step 7 - Organizing & Prioritizing the Analysis into Orchid
Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency
Case Study Solution
Once you have developed multipronged approach and work out various suggestions based on the
strategic tools. The next step is organizing the solution based on the requirement of the case. You can use
the following strategy to organize the findings and suggestions.

 Build a corporate level strategy - organizing your findings and recommendations in a way to answer the larger
strategic objective of the firm. It include using the analysis to answer the company's vision, mission and key
objectives , and how your suggestions will take the company to next level in achieving those goals.
 Business Unit Level Solution - The case study may put you in a position of a marketing manager of a small brand.
So instead of providing recommendations for overall company you need to specify the marketing objectives of
that particular brand. You have to recommend business unit level recommendations. The scope of the
recommendations will be limited to the particular unit but you have to take care of the fact that your
recommendations are don't directly contradict the company's overall strategy. For example you can recommend
a low cost strategy but the company core competency is design differentiation.
 Case study solutions can also provide recommendation for the business manager or leader described in the
business case study.
Step 8 -Implementation Framework
The goal of the business case study is not only to identify problems and recommend solutions but also to
provide a framework to implement those case study solutions. Implementation framework differentiates
good case study solutions from great case study solutions. If you able to provide a detailed
implementation framework then you have successfully achieved the following objectives.

 Detailed understanding of the case,

 Clarity of HBR case study fundamentals,
 Analyzed case details based on those fundamentals and
 Developed an ability to prioritize recommendations based on probability of their successful implementation.
Implementation framework helps in weeding out non actionable recommendations, resulting in awesome
Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency case study solution.

Step 9 - Take a Break

Once you finished the case study implementation framework. Take a small break, grab a cup of coffee or
whatever you like, go for a walk or just shoot some hoops.

Step 10 - Critically Examine Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging

Green Hoteling as Core Competency case study solution
After refreshing your mind, read your case study solution critically. When we are writing case study
solution we often have details on our screen as well as in our head. This leads to either missing details or
poor sentence structures. Once refreshed go through the case solution again - improve sentence
structures and grammar, double check the numbers provided in your analysis and question your
recommendations. Be very slow with this process as rushing through it leads to missing key details. Once
done it is time to hit the attach button

This step involves reading the case all over again, and its solution too. This is required as when one is
reading, analyzing and writing solutions for the first time; one may overlook minor detail that is
important. These missing details can be incorporated into the solutions in order to make them better.
The evaluation also involves looking at the sentence structure and grammar of the writing. This is
important as the presentation of solutions play an important role. The solution may be interpreted
differently by one and differently by the audience. It is, therefore, important that the meaning of the
solution is clearly communicated through proper English; sentence structure and grammar. One must
also recheck the numbers, if any, in the case study. The solutions in themselves should be questioned
as to if they are the best. Any limitations to the solutions or any place that they lack within should be
identified. These solutions should then be modified to make them better. An important suggestion
here is that one must not rush through this process. People think that the case study has been solved,
and therefore, devote less time to this final stage. However, this last stage is equally important, and
one must devote equal time and effort to it.
After completing these 10 essential steps, the Orchid Ecotel Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core
Competency case study analysis and solution would be completely analyzed and solved.