Marriott Value Chain

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Howard Johnson, Sr., spent his life making Howard Johnson hotels a success. The bright orange roofs were a well known symbol of Americana. In 1960, Howard Johnson walked away from the hotel chain leaving it to Howard Johnson, Jr. During the same period of time, J. Willard Marriott, Jr. inherited the Marriott hotel chain from his father. Marriot, Jr. made the statement he hoped the company could one day be as successful as Howard Johnson (Porras, 1997). By 1985, Marriott, Jr. had realized that dream seven times over. Marriott, Jr.’s philosophy of leadership espoused continuous improvement strategies. Johnson, Jr. said of his company, “We are a reacting company. We don’t try to anticipate the future. In this business, you can’t look too far ahead, maybe two years.” (Porras, 1997). Johnson, Jr.’s business philosophy was not forward thinking. It would be hard to find anyone in business today that would see things this way. The profound difference in the ideology of the two CEOs guided the course that the two companies would take. Although Marriott, Jr. did not have Porter’s Value Chain to use a guide, many of Marriott’s operations reflect the use of Porter’s ideas. Porter’s Value Chain was designed to address production manufacturing. Bart Nooteboom generalized Porter’s notion of the value chain for the analysis of service industries. The flow and physical transformation of an assembled good are compared to the flow of data and services in service industries (Nooteboom, 2006). Nooteboom categorizes central features of the value chain in service industries. However, he did not completely follow the chain. Porter’s Value Chain includes inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing, sales, and service (NetMBA, 2010). The final result of the value chain is to increase the margin of profit for the company. Nooteboom gives function, activities, and
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