Hallmark Hotels must renovate several of its hotel properties. In preparation, Hall- mark Hotels hired your consulting firm to conduct a QFD analysis to determine what changes, if any, Hallmark should make to the lobby area and check-in/reception desk of each hotel under renovation. This QFD analysis was motivated by recent feedback from Hallmark customers indicating that some of its hotels "are better than others" upon arrival and check-in. This is most puzzling to Hallmark. Most of its existing hotel properties have very similar layouts and check-in areas, so Hallmark expects the same customer experience in each. Your firm gathered data from several customer focus groups on what they liked and valued in hotel lobbies and arrival areas, and how a group of existing hotels compared with one another concerning those features. Your firm also interviewed the Hallmark architect and the engineering firm supervis- ing the renovations, to determine what features actually do vary among the hotels, and by how much. This second round of information gathering revealed that, while all of Hallmark's hotels are similar in overall layout, they do vary somewhat in the size of the lobby area (square feet) and the distance of the check-in desk from the front doors that the customer arrives through (measured as "distance to front"). Other differences included the fact that some properties featured large glass windows, while others did not; the interior design of some lobbies relied on low-level lighting while others were lit quite brightly; and some Hallmark hotels are equipped with one or more self- service check-in kiosks, while others relied solely on the traditional check-in process conducted by a hotel employee at the check-in desk. When your consulting firm presented the QFD analysis to Hallmark Hotels, it looked like this:

a. Which of customer attributes (or "customer value features") do Hallmark cus- tomers consider the most valuable?

b. Consider the following five values: -3.21, -0.85, 0.02, 0.93 and 8.30. Which of these five values is most likely to have been the value of the original correlation coefficient calculated between Friendly Surroundings and Kiosk Check-in within the QFD relationship matrix?

c. This QFD Analysis suggests which of the following recommendations should be made to Hallmark Hotels? i. Increase the light level in the lobby, because an arriving customer will per- ceive the hotel surroundings as friendlier. ii. Install more self-service kiosks in the lobby to increase an arriving customer's sense of convenience. iii. Locate the check-in desk closer to the front of the lobby and the front doors (minimize the distance) to strengthen an arriving customer's impression of fast service.

d. Which of the following statements are supported by your firm's QFD analysis? i. There is a strong positive correlation between the presence of self-service kiosks and the customer's perception of Relaxing Atmosphere. ii. The amount of glass in the lobby doesn't appear to influence the arriving customer's perception of those attributes he or she considers valuable. iii. If the size of a lobby (Lobby Square Feet) is to be increased, some increase in the distance between the check-in desk and the front doors (Distance to Front) is probably unavoidable.

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= Strong positive correlation Some positive correlation =Strong negative correlation X = Some negative correlation 0 Relative Importance (Out of 100) Lobby Square Feet Glass in Lobby Kiosk Check-in Distance to Front Light Levels Fast Service Relaxing Atmosphere Convenience of Check-in Friendly Surroundings 35 1.5 15 X 35 X C