Internal Analysis on Hilton Hotel

    Order Description       3. INTERNAL ANALYSIS (Firm resources, capabilities, and competitive advantage). Firm is Hilton Hotel. What are the firm's resources and capabilities? Any distinctive competencies? Is the firm entrepreneurial? Are the firm's strengths emerging from tangible or intangible resources? Does the firm have sustainable competitive advantages? What is the firm doing to sustain its advantages? Identify what factors are critical for competition in the industry and assess the firm's strengths in that context. The following checklist should help: 1. Profitability Comparisons For industry (industry is Lodging) average profitability, refer to Baruch Library resources. 2. Operational Efficiency Compute gross margin and compare it to rivals’. Significantly higher gross margin than the industry average indicates relatively higher efficiency in operations. 3. R&D Strengths Number of patents issued in a given period, industry awards received for technological excellence, and R&D personnel qualifications and experiential background are also indicators of R&D strengths. 4. Innovativeness Number of new products introduced in a given period, relative to competition, indicates innovativeness/speed in innovation. 5. Marketing Strengths Divide marketing expenditure by sales and compare to rivals. A higher ratio is a rough indicator of pricing power, distribution reach, and ability to launch new products as line extensions. 6. Human Resource Strengths: Qualitatively assess HR practices of the firm (employee selection, training and development, rewards, job satisfaction levels) vis-à-vis competition. Examine how strongly the firm has stated its policies for developing human capital. 7. Financial Strengths Credit ratings by Moody’s, Fitch and S & P would indicate the financial strengths of the firm as well as analysts’ recommendations: buy, sell, hold. 8. Organizational Culture: Categorize the firm’s culture and examine whether it fits with the firm’s strategy.