On the afternoon of March 24^th, a group a UIC DBM students from the Strategic Management course led by Dr. Bing Chan, Miss Yi Sun and Dr. Youssef ELHAOUSSINE went to the 41^st floor of the St. Regis hotel in Zhuhai to meet with different company executives. After being welcomed by Mr. Alexander Chalk General Manager of the St. Regis Zhuhai, the students met with the Human Resources Director Ms. Nancy Tan and her Assistant Ms. Katty Liu, the Finance Director Ms. Jane Zhang, and the Sales and Marketing Director Ms. Krystal Huang. The purpose of the meeting was for the students to collect firsthand information from the hotel management in order to use them in their Strategic Management group report. This semester, DBM has opened one of its course to the idea of incorporating a real company case for its group project. The purpose is to offer real case studies and allow students practicing on real business situations.

The meeting took place in the hotel boardroom, where each executives came one after another for about one hour each to explain their main activities and strategies. Each session was followed by a Q&A period where students were able to ask further information. Most students were attentive and taking notes during the three-hour meeting. Besides, the content of the meeting was not limited to St. Regis Hotel or Marriott Group, students were also able to learn more about the logic of a successful manager.

Dr. Youssef presents souvenirs to Directors of St. Regis

From the Human Resources Director and her assistant, students learned that in the process of recruiting new talents and training staff, the Marriott Group has a very thorough and customized mentor training program for each level of management. She explained Marriott's training model and their employee selection concept, which pays attention to the employee's attitude, and passion for a career in the hotel industry. In addition, she shared with the students many ideas about their Human Resources management during the Covid-19. The most impressive thing was that Marriott did not layoff employees during that hard period. She mentioned that the Marriott and the St. Regis consider this as a fundamental corporate value and the cornerstone of their success.

Human Resources Director Ms. Nancy Tan

From the Finance Director, students learned, about the St. Regis integrated system, which processes many daily financial operations. She mentioned about the expenses on the environmental protection, for example their efforts in changing from plastic straws to paper ones. She also described the impact of COVID-19 on the hotel industry and talked about many financial measures to implement cost savings.

Finance Director Ms. Jane Zhang

From the Sales and Marketing Director, they learned a lot about the luxury hotel promotion of their service and products. She emphasized on the hotel business on-site operation, explaining that the experience of a consumer will determine their loyalty to the company. As for the OTA (Online Travel Agent), she also mentioned that Marriott Group negotiates with all the OTAs as a whole, she said it is easier to be a portfolio of brands than a single one. She also told the students that Marriott's other brands have also done a lot of crossover co-branding, such as the aromatherapy launched with Minisuo, which has also brought a lot of revenues.

Sales and Marketing Director Ms. Krystal Huang

This meeting was judged as very meaningful, students learned a lot of practical knowledge and had better understanding of the hotel operation. Many believes that having the feedback from a real manager has provided them with knowledge different from the textbooks.