Running Head: RAMADA DEMOSTRATES ITS PERSONAL BEST 1

Case Study 3: Ramada Demonstrates Its Personal Best

Abodunrin Oluwafikayo Damilola

Anderson Kelsey

Bunting Alexandra

Maier Elizabeth

Nguyen Minh

Liberty University

February 12, 2019

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1. The management-research question hierarchy for Ramada.

 Management questions

 How can Ramada increase its overall customer satisfaction?

 How can Ramada provide exceptional customer service at all properties?

 How does Ramada keep its low employee turnover at all properties?

 Research questions

 Should Ramada conduct a new hiring process for all properties to employ the

most talented and motivated people in order to deliver exceptional service?

 What can be done to enhance Ramada’s training efficiency and increase employee

loyalty?

 What reasonable courses of action can be immediately applied to change

Ramada’s current employee attitudes in providing customer service?

 Investigative questions

 What opinion does the public hold of Ramada and its competitors?

 How do Ramada’s in-depth guest surveys reflect its performance in comparison to

other entities in hospitality industry?

 How attractive is Ramada to its customers?

 Measurement questions

 What should be asked to obtain the information that management needs for

Ramada’s improvement?

 What result data should a researcher select in consideration of manager’s useful

information for decision making?

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 What should be concretely observed to obtain the information that manager needs

to make decisions in streamlining Ramada’s human resources?

2. Applying the research process model to the Ramada research initiative

a). The role and process of exploration in Ramada’s research.

The role of exploration was an important one to Ramada’s research. The company wanted

to learn from and borrow ideas from other companies who were doing well. By studying Disney,

Southwest Airlines, and TGI Friday’s, Ramada Franchise Systems were able to explore how

others were succeeding and what factors heavily influenced their success. In doing this, Ramada

was able to form and conduct their own study, focusing specifically on the main factors they

studied during exploration.

The process of exploration was not overly complex. Ramada noticed on a survey of

customer satisfaction, their industry was not doing well. The company figured they would

eventually be impacted by the survey results and decided to conduct research to determine what

changes they could make to avoid this problem and satisfy more customers. The company began

with exploration, looking to other companies in and outside of the same industry. Ramada looked

to and explored Disney, discovering they have the best customer service because they hire the

best people. Ramada then explored Southwest Airlines. The company determined Southwest

Airlines makes an activity that can be a hassle a fun activity, attracting more customers. Finally,

Ramada explored TGI Friday’s. This restaurant has low employee turnover, high employee

loyalty, and high employee commitment. Ramada Franchise Systems wanted to explore why the

restaurant was able to achieve this.

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b). The role that secondary data played in the exploration phase of the research

Secondary data is defined as, “data that contain at least one level of interpretation (e.g.,

results of studies done by others and for different purposes than the one for which the data are

being reviewed)” (Schindler, 2019, p. 588). The secondary data used by Ramada was the

information gathered from the most recent D.K. Shifflet survey. This survey of customer

satisfaction showed a downward trend with mid-tier hotels. Even though Ramada was not

experiencing this decline, their director of operations figured it would only be a matter of time,

which is why Ramada carried out its own research to improve in customer satisfaction. Shifflet

research found three crucial areas that impact customer satisfaction to be hiring, training, and

motivation. As a result, of this secondary research, the goal of Ramada’s research was to get

input from employees in each of these three areas. Essentially, the secondary research showed

the need for the research to be conducted and directed the focus of the research.

Secondary research was used from Disney, Southwest, and Carlson Hospitality. Specifics

concerning the use of this secondary data was not included in the case study, but it can be

inferred. This information may have helped Ramada to gather general insight into successful

hiring approaches and employee satisfaction. It may have also given them insight into ideas for

how to appeal to employees in the set-up of their research study. Ramada also used research from

the firm Predictive Index which helped them to know what characteristics to look for to identify

people as self-motivated performers. Lastly, they used information from American Hotel and

Motel Educational Institute to find out what other companies were doing well to identify and hire

the right people, so that they could do likewise.

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c). The steps and phases in the process model that can be matched to Ramada research

The following steps and phases can be matched to Ramada research

1. Clarifying the research question. Ramada identified its management dilemma which

shaped the focus of the research process. They were able to identify that it was only a

matter of time before their steady customer satisfaction ratings begins to drop and they

needed to do something to solve the problem. Explorative study of companies with great

records of exceptional customer service and low employee turnover were carried out with

Disney, Southwest Airlines and TGI Friday’s.

2. Research design strategy: Ramada has a totally franchised system with 31,000 employees

across 900 properties. To cover their target population and carry out their preferred direct

face-face interviews in the research process, twenty-four researchers were recruited to

cover ramada franchise 900 properties within a six-month period. Data collection was

done in an unconventional way, instead of employees ticking off questions in a typical

questionnaire, ramada created a festive atmosphere, a grand opening like, complete with

full entertainment in all their facilities to collect information from their employees. Data

from employee and management was recorded by an information collection team.

3. Data analysis and interpretation: A detailed summary of the data recorded by the

information collection team was generated for each of ramada’s property and interpreted.

4. Report insights and recommendations: The research findings were reported, and it

showed that the current training program was boring and ineffective and motivation

programs took too much effort and time to achieve limited rewards. Recommendations

were made on incorporating employee involvement in fun training programs and improve

employee motivation by incorporating numerous award that affects their everyday lives.
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5. Management decision: Ramada launched their “Personal Best Program” to enhance

selection process of hiring new employees, establish a new innovative training program

and devised a new motivation program that focused on rewarding employees in different

ways.

d). Research process decisions that were made.

1. Ramada employed the services of external research firms. Through predictive index

research firm, they were able to develop a predictive index that identified characteristics

that were indicative of self-motivated performers. They also brought in American Hotel

and Motel Educational institute to learn how other companies hired the right people.

2. They designed their data collection method in an unconventional way that enhanced

quality and quantity of information gathered from management and employees.

3. Ramada studied and learnt from companies with great and exceptional record of their

management problem. They studied Disney and Southwest Airlines for their exceptional

customer service and TGI Friday’s for their low employee turnover, high employee

loyalty and commitment.

e). Sampling Methodology and why it was appropriate for the study

The type of sampling method used was a non-probability sample. All the locations were

visited to carry out the study. From there, the information was not gathered at random, but

instead, information was gathered from management and then from employees. Individuals could

share information as they pleased, so in a sense they were able to select themselves, as is the case

in some types of non-probability samples.

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This was effective for this type of study because they were not looking for quantitative

data, they were not trying to measure the level of satisfaction of employees, and the sample did

not necessarily need to fully reflect the population. Rather, they were looking to gather valuable

qualitative data which would include suggestions from employees based on their needs and

wants. From here they would make improvements based on the best ideas for change rather than

the most common ideas or opinions. With the study being conducted in a party atmosphere, it

would be difficult to perform a probability sample. Due to the informal nature of the study, a

non-probability sample would be most appropriate.

f). Description of the strengths and weaknesses of the research design

A research initiative can be conducted by using either data collection design or sampling

design to obtain the information needed for improving the company’s overall operation, Data

collection design is to collect the detailed information of the research which essentially answers

the questions of what, when, where, and how. Applying data collection design helps managers

answer their management questions. Data collection design also helps executives start forming

ideas of improvement which is combined with researcher’s recommendation once the research is

completed. Unlike data collection design, sampling design is the method of recording groups of

time or event as samples for testing. The application for sampling design is unique because it

usually requires event or time samples to report and process the data.

As operating in hospitality industry, Ramada specifically used sampling design in its

business research by studying Disney, Southwest Airlines, and TGI Friday’s to learn their

benchmark for exceptional customer service as well as effective employee trainings. To

streamline hiring and training procedures at nearly 900 properties, Ramada offered American

Hotel and Motel Educational Institute to employees to learn customer service from other
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companies and timely identify any issues in people development process. Ramada also had

researchers and headquarters staff arrive at each property to obtain employee and management

inputs on a detailed summary form customized for each property. Finally, to keep employees’

daily motivation at work, Ramada Franchise Systems initiated numerous awards for its nearly

31,000 employees.

Strengths of sampling design in Ramada’s researching are easily learning from other

entities in hospitality industry, conveniently accessing to the sampling data, and quickly adapting

to its operation. Besides strengths, Ramada’s sampling design has some weaknesses such as high

cost on researching, and long-time commitment to the research project.

g). The role that property owners/managers played in the research design

Property owners and managers play a large role in overseeing each individual Ramada

Hotel location. When it came to their role in the research design specifically, they were limited

to only hosting the event for data collection at their location and providing information alongside

their staff. At the beginning of the day managers and owners were asked to discuss issues with

the headquarters staff. Past that, their role was largely to give input, suggestions, and list needs

along with their employees. However, their leadership role throughout the process hinged on

their commit to change and their genuine buy in into the new program.

h). Why Ramada choose to conduct the research in a nontraditional, party-like atmosphere and

some advantages and disadvantages of the approach.

Ramada chose to conduct their research in a nontraditional, party-like atmosphere for three

great reasons. First, the relaxed atmosphere would put the employees being interviewed at ease

which would in turn change their disposition and encourage then to be more open and honest
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when answering questions. Second, the party-like atmosphere, entertainment, and drinks would

send the message to each employee that they are valued, and that Ramada is willing to spend this

kind of money on them, in turn encouraging higher employee buy-in and commitment to

changes. Lastly, the party-like atmosphere was reflective of a new hotel launch, generating the

idea that this was indeed a ‘new hotel’ with a complete re-brand and restructure that would

encourage employees to want to be a part of developing and later implementing the changes.

An advantage to this approach is that employees are given an opportunity to share their ideas

for the company in an environment that is relaxed and promotes free flowing ideas. With this

comes real ownership for the employees who participated in these interviews because their ideas

helped develop the changes. A disadvantage to this approach is that it is a costly way to collect

data. Also, the data collected is not statistical and could not be replicated repeatedly because of

the unique atmosphere at each location. Lastly, it is possible that the employees could become

distracted during the data collection process because of all the activity around them.

3. How the research findings reflected in the ultimate management decisions.

The management decisions following this study include screening prospective employees for

certain characteristics. Management also decided to change the former traditional style training,

opting instead for an interactive, CD-based, multimedia style of training. The employees can

train at their own pace. Management also implemented a motivation program that goes beyond

being rewarded from customer satisfaction. Supervisors and other employees now nominated

employees for rewards. Employees are also rewarded for completing training and focusing on

personal development. The rewards given to employees are focused on the way employees spend

time, not on the company’s chosen reward.

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These ultimate management decisions are reflections of the research findings. When

conducting research, Ramada found that employees felt the current training program was both

boring and ineffective. For this reason, Ramada opted to ultimately change their training

program, making it self-paced, interactive, and multimedia style. Ramada discovered that

employees had a hard time being enthusiastic about a motivation program that took too much

effort to achieve or only benefitted a limited number of people over a long period of time. The

company then changed their reward and motivation system, offering more rewards, as well as

offering rewards tailored to the employee. For hiring, Ramada recognized that because property

managers at each hotel are responsible for their own hiring, the process differed at each hotel.

Management decided to implement the screening of perspective employees to ensure certain

characteristics were present in each.