Decision-Making Strategies for Business Launch in Kava

Introduction: The Kava Challenge

Nik and his team face a significant series of challenges in launching a new business for Hilton Worldwide on Kava, yet there are also many opportunities to do well by doing good in this island nation. Nik can build a stable, profitable business on Kava and excel for his employer while simultaneously increasing the quality of life for the island nation's citizens. With that mission in mind, this case is analyzed below.

Nik immediately finds that the Kava economy is unorganized, lacking infrastructure, with a young and inexperienced workforce and an overall lack of stability. Given how challenging it will be to build a business here for Hilton, Nik needs to choose his team's vision, objectives, and core values very carefully — they must be ones to which everyone can be completely committed. The vision, mission, and goals must be so compelling that the team he leads is willing to make the major sacrifices that will be necessary for the mission to succeed.

While the vision, mission, and objectives need to be strong enough to gain complete team commitment, the structure or framework for attaining them must remain flexible. In devising a vision, mission, and core set of values to support a new venture, it is critical not to overlook the need for agility and contingency planning as well (Pandelica, Pandelica, & Dabu, 2010). This will be a very important aspect of Nik's plans going forward, as the underlying infrastructure and operations of the island will, with certainty, be interrupted by extreme weather, the threat of natural disasters, and the many other hazards to keeping the infrastructure — and, once built, the hotel — in operation over time.

Building a Shared Vision, Mission, and Core Values

Nik must deliberately involve each member of his team in the vision-setting process to ensure that all of them own the vision, mission, and objectives. He will also have to work hard at making decision-making more decentralized going forward, as this is a proven best practice in managing teams (Müller & Turner, 2010). Ultimately, each member of the team will need a very strong sense of ownership — including the willingness to be accountable, transparent, and completely committed to the objectives — for the group to succeed (Alstyne, Brynjolfsson, & Madnick, 1997).

The vision, mission, and goals must be crafted so that they are not only internally motivating for the team but also durable enough to withstand the disruptions inherent to operating on Kava. Agility must be built into the operational framework from the outset so that the team can adapt quickly when circumstances change without losing sight of their core purpose.

Decision-Making Techniques for a Complex Environment

In addition to defining and committing to a shared mission, values, and objectives, Nik needs to bring decision-making tools, techniques, frameworks, and strategies into his group. These decision-making techniques must take into account the varying experience, insights, and perspectives of each team member while capturing risks and defining opportunities early (Müller & Turner, 2010).

Of the many approaches to decision-making Nik and his team should concentrate on, the most important and relevant to their situation is the use of reflective and logic-reasoning approaches, as these encourage participation and ownership of outcomes by all participants (Paul & Elder, 2001). The frameworks and structures of these decision-making approaches will also need to be applied when defining the current and emerging strengths of Hilton Worldwide as they begin constructing a resort on the island.

Using reflective and logic-reasoning approaches will also allow Nik, over time, to gather feedback and insights from local government leaders and earn their support for the resort development. These two techniques are very effective in creating consensus and generating insight from multiple decision-makers over time (Müller & Turner, 2010). In the long term, this inclusive style of decision-making and the involvement of Kava's leaders can potentially reduce resistance to the development as well.

Conclusion: Nik as Catalyst for Growth

In short, Nik must think like a policymaker and define how the resort can be the catalyst of growth throughout Kava while attaining a positive return on investment. By grounding the project in a compelling and flexible shared vision, applying reflective and logic-reasoning decision-making techniques, and keeping social responsibility at the center of every strategic choice, Nik and his team can build something that benefits both Hilton Worldwide and the people of Kava. The resort, if conceived correctly, will not merely be a profitable venture — it will be a lasting contribution to the island nation's future.

References

Alstyne, M. van, Brynjolfsson, E., & Madnick, S. (1997). The matrix of change: A tool for business process reengineering. MIT Sloan School. http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/CCSWP189/ccswp189.html

Müller, R., & Turner, R. (2010). Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), 437.

Pandelica, I., Pandelica, A., & Dabu, B. (2010). The response of organizations in crisis conditions. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 15(2), 151–160.

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2001). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life. Prentice Hall.