Contents

• Introduction 3
• Evaluating the levels of strategy 4
• Analysing the generic position 4
• An evaluation of the key stakeholders 6
• Critically analysing the external factors 7
• PESTLE analysis 7
• Political factor that drive the merging strategy 7
• Economic factors that drive the merging strategy 8
• Social factors that drive the merging strategy 8
• Technological factors that drive the merging strategy 9
• Environmental factors that drive the merging strategy 9
• Legal factors that drive the merging strategy 9
• A critical analysis of the industry factors 10
• Porter five forces analysis 10
• Threat of new entrants (Low) 10
• Bargaining power of suppliers (Medium) 10
• Bargaining power of customers (High) 10
• Threat of substitutes (High) 10
• Threat of competition (High) 10
• Analysis of the key themes 10
• Competitive advantage analysis with group mapping 11
• Conclusion 12
• References 13

Description

In the present era of competition and globalisation, merger and acquisition has become one of the crucial components in the strategic management process of an organisation. For hospitality industry, diligence, superiority, involvement, and procedure of strategic planning procedure are the important parts of strategic positioning process. To attain the competitive advantage, two prominent hotels, namely, Marriot International and Starwood Hotels and Resort have agreed to join together through a merger deal. The merger between these two hotels groups can create world’s leading lodging organisation and can deliver strongest loyalty program in the hospitality industry. Marriott International, Inc is one of the leading lodging organisations all over the world. It possesses almost 4200 properties and it has presence in more than 79 nations (Marriott International, 2015). The headquarters of the company is located in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is also a world’s leading luxurious hotel company with more than 1300 properties. The organization has its presence in more almost 100 countries (Starwood hotels and resorts, 2016). It has a huge network worldwide and it has award winning loyalty programs. During the middle of 2016, the merger deal between Marriot and Starwood has been finalized after taking the approval of shareholders of both the organisations. Marriot has acquired the Starwood hotel. Initially, the group was not very interested about the deal. However, with the passage of time, Marriot group has realized that it can gain potential benefits from the acquisition deal. The questions regarding the Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriot Rewards were raised. After the merger deal, the hotel groups stated that the best solution will be offered combining SPG and Marriott Rewards. The present study is prepared to critically analyse the effectiveness of the merger deal between these two hotel groups. The analysis will be conducted corresponding to the external market as well as industry of both the hotel groups with the help of various strategic models and frameworks. The factors that will influence on the competitive position of Marriot will also be evaluated in this study.