Executive communication and strategic messaging to leadership

Marketing Memorandum

CEO

Potential Acquisition

The potential acquisition presents considerable opportunities as well as significant possible risks that could impact the decision. On the positive side, the brand would obviously benefit from having a hotel in Italy. On the negative side, it may be impossible or at least highly impractical to impose American customs, social policy, and values into a foreign society with very different cultural norms, customs, and expectations. An initial consideration of the issues would seem to suggest that a particular choice must be made and then evaluated for economic feasibility. Specifically, since Italy does not recognize concepts of employment law that are considered fundamental to the American workplace, it does not appear advisable to consider staffing the Italian hotel with American workers, mainly because U.S. legal standards would still apply to the employer-employee relationship and the organization would be liable according to U.S. legal definitions and standards rather than those indigenous to the Italian workplace environment.

However, it may still be perfectly viable to consider the acquisition, particularly in light of the value of a well-designed marketing strategy. It is conceivable that the hotel in Italy would be more marketable as a way to experience a foreign culture than as an outpost of American life transplanted in Italy. Americans visiting Italy would want to experience Italian culture and local tourists in Italy and from elsewhere in Europe would presumably appreciate a hotel that mirrored the local culture and customs rather than a slice of Americana in Italy. Therefore, it is recommended that we acquire the hotel and staff it with locals to provide the services expected in Italy and to avoid the liability potential of staffing it with American citizens who will be subject to local customs and simultaneously protected by American legal standards at great potential expense to the organization. From the perspective of the Marketing department, the venture would be promoted as an authentic Italian experience for Americans visiting Italy. In Italy, the local marketing approach would also emphasize the authentic nature of the environment except that local marketing would be less explicit and devoid of specific references in that regard. Instead, it would attempt to present services, menus, and other accoutrements in a manner that would allow local customers to come to their own conclusion that the hotel provides a highly authentic Italian experience.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

This exercise was extremely valuable to the study of Human Resource Management issues. Prior to this exercise, it would not have occurred to me how important local customs in a foreign country might be from the perspective of human resource management and the potential for civil liability to American employees working abroad. The exercise also provided an opportunity to make an important decision based on the comparative potential risks and rewards of two alternate courses of action.