Case Study: The Pizza Puzzle

Topic: Deceptive Advertising

Involved Parties:

George Hansen, General Manager of Augusta Marigold Inn, aSubsidiary of Hospitality Enterprises

Sharon Coombs, Food Services Manager, Augusta Marigold Inn

George Hansen is General Manager for the Marigold Inn inAugusta, Georgia. Sharon Coombs is Restaurant and Food ServicesManager for the Inn. She reports to George. Two years ago, Sharonnoticed a decline in room service business, the highest marginportion of her operation. This decline coincided with an increasein the national sales of pizza delivery and carryout firms as wellas an increase in the number of empty pizza boxes from these firmsbeing left in guest rooms in the Inn. Her immediate response was toinstall a pizza oven in the kitchen and offer room service pizza toguests. The effort met with modest success, though it was wellbelow her expectations. Questionnaires completed by departingguests revealed a problem of product quality.

Focusing on this problem, Sharon improved the Inn’spizza until blind taste tests judged it at least equal in qualityto the products of the two major pizza delivery competitors inAugusta. Sales did not improve, convincing Sharon that the problemwas a perceived mismatch between the hotel’s image and guests’expectations of pizza makers. Guests simply did not seem to believethat the traditional steak and seafood restaurant at the Inn couldmake a high-quality, authentic pizza. Based on this conclusion,Sharon presented the following proposal to George:

Sales of room service pizza are stagnant due toguests’ misperception that our product is lower in quality thanthat of competitors. This misperception is based on the belief thatuntil we disassociate our pizza from the Marigold Inn name.Therefore, to capture more room service pizza business, we shouldcreate a ‘Napoli Pizza’ image for our guest room delivery serviceby:

Preparing ‘Napoli Pizza’ brochures for each guestroom, complete with a phone number with a prefix different fromthat of Marigold Inn.

The number will reach a special phone in roomservice, which will be answered, Napoli Pizza, authentic Italianpizza from old, family recipes.”

Using special ‘Napoli Pizza’ boxes for deliveringroom service pizza to guests.

Issuing ‘Napoli Pizza’ hats and jackets to roomservice personnel for use in pizza delivery. Room service waitersand waitresses will wear these garments to deliver pizza. They willchange to their regular uniforms for otherdeliveries.

How should George respond to this proposal?

_______________________________________________

Use the Instructions for Case Analyses to craft aresponse to this case, articulating the main issues and ethicaldilemma. Review the assessment criteria below before youbegin writing.

Submit a written paper which is 2-3 pages in length exclusive ofreference page and that is double-spaced. You should citerelevant resources in APA format.

Papers will be assessed using the followingcriteria:

The Written assignment:

identifies all the relevant facts of the case

articulates overarching ethical issues including the extent ofGeorge's responsibility to take action

identifies the various stakeholders, and what is at stake foreach one.

poses possible alternatives and ethics of each alternative. Paper should explore the possible alternatives and ethicsfrom the Utilitarian Perspective, the RightsPerspective, or the JusticePerspective

identifies all practical constraints

recommends a specific George should take, directly answers thequestion "how should George respond?"

is of high quality, writing is clear and professional, paper isorganized and flows in a logical way

conforms to the structural requirements including APA styleguidelines for References.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Case Analysis The Pizza Puzzle Identification of Relevant Facts 1 Room service pizza business at Augusta Marigold Inn has declined despite efforts to introduce a pizza oven 2 Guest questionnaires indi... View the full answer