Under the mentorship of Professor Laura D’Antonio, Teaching Assistant Professor of International Business, four student teams developed recommendations for how Marriott International can increase their competitive advantage in the Asia Pacific region. The initial report focused on market segmentation, growth areas, and Marriott International’s current position in Asia Pacific. Once students developed an understanding of opportunities and strategies, each team developed an in-depth analysis of various segments.
When the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry became evident the class quickly worked to better understand how the market will likely evolve. Nicole Fitchett, ’21 MBA candidate said of her experience, “My team pivoted our focus from analyzing expansion opportunities to predicting new opportunities arising from changes in post-COVID consumer behavior. We analyzed similar shifts in consumer behavior following other global crises such as the 2003 SARS pandemic and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and our findings were able to inform our recommendations as well as our classmates’ projects.”
The virtual project was hosted by leadership in the Marriott International Asia Pacific Hong Kong office including GWSB alumni Ken Rehmann, CFO, Asia Pacific (MBA ’96) and Matthew Howcroft, Senior Director, Strategy Management Office. Dr. D’Antonio acknowledged their commitment to the partnership despite the unexpected challenges, “Ken and Matt were extremely gracious about access and interaction with the class especially given the mid-project COVID-19 crisis severely impacting their industry.”
Nicole Fitchett underscored the key takeaways from this unique learning experience, “The pandemic’s evolution certainly threw a wrench into the planned course of this engagement. Fortunately, we knew from the beginning that we needed to be adaptable when working with a live client and Professor D’Antonio had prepared us to succeed amid ambiguity from Day 1.”
GWSB faculty interested in incorporating projects into their classes can contact Sarah LaRosa, assistant director of Global & Experiential Education, at [email protected] to discuss learning objectives and potential structures.