The problem that provides the focus of this case analysis is identified in the following section. Once this problem has been identified, it is subjected to analysis and evaluation. The analysis and evaluation of the problem then is followed by the presentation of conclusions drawn from the analysis and evaluation of the problem. Lastly, recommendations for Novotel management based on the conclusions drawn are presented.
In the early 1990s, the senior management at Novotel recognized that the business environment within which the company operated was in a state of transition. A further recognition by top management at the firm was that the organization needed to change if it was going to remain competitive in the future. After much sole searching and analysis, the company adopted a plan called Les Recontres de Futur. This plan provided for the reconstitution of the firm into a virtually new company that will be prepared to function competitively in the emerging environment within which the company must operate.
Les Recontres de Futur incorporated many important elements. Among the more important of these elements are (1) decentralized authority and responsibility, (2) a customer-centered focus, (3) employee empowerment, (4) a renewed and more open organizational culture, (5) a reengineering of how the firms conducts its business, (6) a restructuring of the firm's organization to better reflect how the firm will function in the future, (7) a redesign of both public areas and guest rooms in the firm's properties, (8) the linking of properties through intraorganizational networking, (10) the creation of Clubs de Reflexion to stimulate employees to innovate, and (10) the creation of Groupes de Progress to monitor the status of the firm in relation to Les Recontres de Futur.
Each of the 10 major elements of Les Recontres de Futur are of equal importance to the future of the firm. Some of these elements, however, are more co...