School of Tourism Assignment 1 Cover Sheet for Report STRATEGIC ANALYSIS of a COMPANY (Group Work) Group Number and Name of Comp

School of Tourism

Assignment 1 Cover Sheet For Report

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF A COMPANY (Group work)

Group Number and Name of Company: Group 29: Marriott International, Inc.

Student names:

Chanunya Boontosang i7673216 Ming Huo i7636217 Rattikan Sangthong i7692532 Yao Zhang i7637008 Programme: Masters Framework Level: M

Unit Name: Business Finance and Strategy Unit Tutors: NR, JS, MDC

Assignment Marker: SB/MDC/NR

Date Due: 13/1/2015 Date Submitted: 12/1/2015

Declaration:

I have read and understand the University’s regulations on assessment offences.

I confirm that the piece of work submitted is to be regarded as the final and complete version of this assignment.

The work submitted is entirely my own work or, where I have referred to the work of others, it is fully and appropriately referenced.

Signed: Date:

12 January 2015

Please note:

Students are expected to keep a copy of all written or electronic coursework which is submitted for assessment.

The University uses a range of methods for detecting breaches of the Assessment Regulations, including the use of electronic plagiarism detection software.

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11 Executive Summary

Marriott International, Inc. was founded by J.W. Marriott in 1927 which is now a running family business. The report focuses on the analysis of Marriott in terms of recommending the future investment for potential shareholders. Internal factors which consists of core competence, value chain, visionary management policy, stakeholders, and strong economies of scales. Also, external factors have been monitored in various areas such as market share, market g rowth, competitor analysis and competitive advantage. Marriott has been a global a leader in the hospitality industry and in a strong financial position in terms of control over a balance sheet. Although the liquidity ratios are not as high compared to competitors, they have been able to generate the highest revenue. This was due to Marriott focus on asset light strategy and driving incremental revenue by cutting costs at the property level and extend their expansion into the mid level hotel segments to take advantage of the industry’s fastest growing population. With the positive company performance, investors will be assured they will achieve profitable return on their investment at the end of each period.

11 Table of Contents

Page

List of Figures 4 List of Tables 5 List of Equations 6 List of Abbreviations 7 List of Limitations 8 Strategic Analysis of Marriott International, Inc. 1. Business Overview 1.1 Company Overview (Yao) 9 1.2 Leadership Style (Ming and Chanunya) 9

2. Internal Analysis 2.1 SWOT Analysis (Ming , Chanunya, and Rattikan) 10 2.2 Core Competence: Value Chain (Ming) 11 2.3 BCG Matrix (Ming, Chanunya and Rattikan) 11 2.4 Economies of Scale (Chanunya) 13 2.5 Stakeholder (Ming and Chanunya) 14 2.6 Corporate Social Responsibility (Chanunya) 15

3. External Analysis 3.1 PEST Analysis (Chanunya) 16 3.2 Porter Five Forces Analysis (Chanunya) 17 3.3 Market Analysis (Yao) 3.3.1 Target Market 20 3.3.2 Market Share 21 3.3.3 Market Growth 22 3.3.4 Key Successful Factors 23 3.4 Competitor Analysis (Yao) 23 3.4.1 Competitor Comparison 24 3.5 Competitive Advantage (Chanunya) 26

4. Financial (Rattikan and Yao) 4.1. Marriott & Hilton Revenue 26

4.1.1. Marriott Revenue for Segments 5 Years 27 4.2. Net Income 4.2.1. Net Income EBIT and EBT 28 Table of Contents

Page

11 4.2.2. Earning Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) 28 4.3. Available Daily Rate, RevPAR and Occupancy 29 4.4. Asset Management 31 4.4.1. Cash and Cash Equivalent 32 4.5. Liquidity 34 4.5.1. Current Ratio 4.5.2. Quick Ratio 4.6. Debt to Equity 36 4.7. Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) 37 4.8. Earning per share 38 4.9. Dividend per share 38 4.10. Marriott International Share Performance 39

5. Recommendation (Yao, Rattikan and Chanunya) 40

References 41

Group Meeting Action Plan and Progress 47

11 List of Figures

Figure 1: Marriott International, Inc 18 Brands. Figure 2: SWOT Analysis of Marriott International, Inc. Figure 3: Marriott in BCG matrix in comparison with competitors Figure 4: Marriott in BCG matrix in comparison of four business segments Figure 5: Segment Revenue from Year 2011 – 2013 Figure 6: The table of PEST Analysis of Marriott International, Inc Figure 7: Porter’s Five Forces Figure 8: Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide Holdings five years revenue. Figure 9: Marriott International five years revenue in five segments Figure 10: Marriott International Net Income, EBIT and EBT Figure 11: Marriott International Available Daily Rate and RevPAR 2009-2013. Figure 12: Marriott International Hotel’s Occupancy rates. Figure 13: Marriott International Total Assets Figure 14: Marriott International Asset Turnover and ROTA Figure 15: Marriott International Cash and Cash Equivalent in comparison to competitors. Figure 16: Marriott International Current Asset in comparison with competitors. Figure 17: Marriott International Current Ratio in comparison with competitors. Figure 18: Marriott International Quick Ratio Figure 19: Marriott International Debt to Equity Ratio in comparison to competitors. Figure 20: Marriott in comparison with competitorROCE Figure 21: Marriott in comparison with competitor Earnings Per Shares Figure 22: Marriott International Share prices 2010-2015 (US Dollars)

11 List of Tables

Table 1: Main markets across continents of Marriott International, Inc. in 2013 Table 2: Market share of Marriott from 2009 to 2013 Table 3: Regional presence of Marriott from 2012 to 2013 Table 4: Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International – Competitive Differentiation

11 List of Equation

Financial Calculation Equations

Asset Turnover Revenue/Average total assets

Average Total Assets Total Assets (Current year) + Total Assets (previous year) / 2

Capital Employed (Capital Employed= equity + non current liabilities

Current Assets Current Assets / Current Liabilities (%)

Debt to Equity Total Liabilities / Shareholders Equity

Sum of dividends – Special, one time dividends / Share outstanding for Dividend Per Share the period

Earning Per Share Net Income – Dividends on Preferred Stock / Average Outstanding Shares

EBIT Revenue – Operating Expenses + Non Operating Income

EBT Revenue – Expenses (excluding tax)

Gross Profit Sales Revenue – cost of goods sold

Net Profit Gross profit – Expenses, Interests, Taxes

Net Profit Margin Net Profit / Total Revenue x 100( %)

Occupancy Rate Units Rented Out/ Total Units (%)

Quick Ratio (Current Assets – Inventories) / Current Liabilities

Return On Capital Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) / Capital Employed x 100 Employed (ROCE)

Return On Total Assets Net Income/ Average Total Assets

Revenue Price x Quantity Sold

Revenue Per Available Total Revenue + Net of discounts + Sales tax / Available rooms or Room Average Daily Room Rate x Occupancy Rate

ROTA EBIT / Total Net Assets

11 List of Abbreviation

Abbreviation Meaning

ADR Average Daily Rate

BCG Matrix Boston Consulting Group Matrix

DPS Dividend Per Shares

EBIT Earning Before Income and Tax

EBITA Earning Before Interest, Taxs, Depreciation and Amortization

EBITDA Earning Before Interest, Taxs and Amortization

EBT Earning Before Tax

EPS Earning Per Share

GDP Growth Domestic Product

IMF International Monetary Fund

OTA Online Travel Agent

PESTLE Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Legal, Environment

RevPAR Total Revenue Per Available Rooms

ROCE Return On Capital Employed

SWOT Strengthen, Weakness, Opportunities and Treats

UNWTO United Nation, World Travel Organization

11 List of Limitation

Limited information for political factor in PEST analysis

Information for political analysis is not described a lot in the report. When finding the information about it from online sources such as online news website, it does not pinpoint that it really affected Marriott directly but in the area of tourism industry.

No financial Report of Hilton between year 2009 - 2010

There is no revenue reported from Hilton in year 2009 – 2010. We cannot compare Marriott with Hilton during these two years. As a result, there are only three years comparison between Marriott and Hilton.

Currency conversion

Marriott uses US dollars in their financial report but Accor uses Euro currency. Before we can calculate every equation with the competitors including Accor, we need to convert currency to US dollars first. It is time consuming.

Same Topic but Different Figure

While we were finding the numbers of financial part from online sources , we found out that they present different number in the same topic and time period.

11 Business overview

1.1 Company Overview

Marriott International, Inc. is an American largest hotel company, headquartered in Washington. DC, US and founded by J.W. Marriott in 1927. The company manages and franchises a broad of hotels and related to lodging facilities (Marriott International 2014). Marriott hotel has 18 famous brands in worldwide including signature brand, luxury hotel, collections, destination entertainment, select-service lodging, extended-stay lodging, timeshare, conference center, great America parks and purchased the overseas hotel (Marriott 2014). As of July 2014, there were more than 4,087 properties under their brands in over 80 countries. Additionally, they have owned 697,000 rooms in the world and other 195,000 rooms in the development pipeline (Marriott 2014).

Figure 1: Marriott International, Inc 18 Brands. Source: Marriott 2014

1.2 The Leadership Style of Marriott

Key dominant figures within the Marriott leadership are its Chairman J.W. Marriott and President Arne M. Sorenson. Prior to the CEO position, J.W. Marriott served in this position of the businesses since 1985.Then began shifting the company’s business model in the late 1970s from hotel ownership to property management and franchising (Marriott 2014).

JW. Marriott always realizes that a good leader should listen to their employees before making a decision which is relevant to servant leadership style. Particularly, this leadership style is the appropriate instrument for hospitality business in the belief of

11 human strength and enhancement of people’s satisfaction and well-being by human themselves (Mullins and Christy 2013).

2. Internal Analysis

2.1 SWOT Analysis of Marriott

Strength Weakness  Global leader of the hospitality market  Relying on domestic market in US and large geographic presence.  A lack of low-cost alternatives/ lifestyle  World leading technical innovation in brand in product portfolio compared to hospitality industry and upgrades with Starwood and IHG the latest technology.  Launching new hotel, EDITION which is  Strong competitive prices online in a turbulent period now  High quality, valuable and efficiency of  Unsuccessful competitive will limit products offered operating margins, diminish market  High return on capital employed, which shares and reduce earnings. generates higher profits compared to  General economic uncertainty and weak competitors demand impacts on financial growth  Strong asset light strategy  Lowest current ratios, higher risk of meeting short term obligations

 Opportunity  Threat

 Emerging markets across continents  Competitive industry, competing with  Improving of customer services major hotel chains, national and  Focused pipeline development of growth international level. strategy for strong presence in foreign  Development of budget hotels markets  A lack of competitive mid-scale brands  Growth expansion in the lodging  Weak economic growth affecting business consumer confidence to spend on leisure  Expand into the mid-level hotel segments travel to cover  Downturn in business travel – poor  High earning per shares can attract new economic conditions forces business to investors reduce travel  Marriott Luxury brands will suffer from reduced traveler

Figure 2: SWOT Analysis of Marriott International, Inc.

11 2.2 Core Competence: Value Chain

The strong reputation of Marriott brands for over 30 years makes it well recognised among customers, staff and hotel’s owners. According to Marriott News Center, Marriott International was ranked by Working Mother magazine as one of the 2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies. Marriott International has earned the 2014 Work-Life Seal of Distinction from World at Work's Alliance for Work-Life Progress (Marriott 2014). Marriott International also ranked 16 on the 2013 Diversity Inc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list (Marriott 2013). As a result, the brands are continually being recognised for both existing and new markets. Thus, Marriott brands are one of the company’s distinctive competencies, which can build strong confidence amongst stakeholders and potential investors.

2.3 BCG Matrix

Figure 3: Marriott in BCG matrix in comparison with competitors

11 Figure 4: Marriott in BCG matrix in comparison of four business segments

In terms of Market Share, North American Limited-Service gain 73.6% , which is the highest rate among the other segments. The dog which represents the occupy of North American Full-Service is 67.0%. The occupy of luxury segment is 70.9% for question mark stage .The occupy of cash cow representing International segment is 71.0%. In addition, the Average Daily Rate is respectively 4.4%, 2.8%, 4.1%, and 3.5%.

In related to Comparable Systemwide Properties, the occupy of star is 71.8%, the occupy of dog is 60.5%, the occupy of question mark is 67.0%, The occupy of cash cow is 71.5%.And the Average Daily Rate is respectively 4.0%,3.4%,4.1%,2.4%

11 2.4 Economies of scale

Figure 5: Segment Revenue from Year 2011 - 2013 Source: Marriott 2013

Marriott provides one main webpage which will narrow down to each continent and country’s contact information directly on “Directory” page at www.marriott.com/hotel- search.mi. Also, one stop service to book a room worldwide can be done on the first page on the website. Since Marriott was launched as a public company in hospitality industry in 1998 (Marriott International 2009), they still continue to invest on new hotels and residential properties around the world. 161 hotels with 25,420 rooms and 5 residential properties with 301 units were planned to start building in 2013. As the revenue keeps increasing each year, Marriott is still gaining high shares in the market. Today, Marriott gains the highest market share among its five competitors in 2013 (see table 2 on page 21). Besides, company’s reputation and image share the same standard and value through advertising. Marriott is launching a global creative and content marketing studio by forming a talent team from various sources such as Sonia Travel's Sonia Gil, Substance Over Hype, What's Trending and Taryn Southern (Castillo 2014).

11 2.5 Stakeholder

Marriott International has a large range of stakeholder groups including shareholders, owners, franchisees, suppliers, associates, customers, community organizations (nongovernmental organization) and government entities (Marriott 2014). When it comes to shareholders, there are three different types of ownership respectively stands for different percentage. There are current ownership owned by institutions, mutual funds and insiders, equity ownership by funds and institutions, and bond ownership by individuals. According to the annual report of Marriott (2014), there were 294,823,291 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding held by 36,811 shareholders of record. In 2013, there were 312,344,872 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding held by 38,726 shareholders of record (Marriott 2013). In 2012, there were 333,866,753 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding held by 42,086 shareholders of record (Marriott 2013). It seems the interest decreased in long term investment and major shareholders were changed periodically. The lack of consistent guidance on Marriott’s earnings should be also seen as limitation to shareholders and has caused a decreasing confidence to invest in the company.

Refers to owners of hotels, it is well known about the Executive Officers J.W. Marriott, the Chairman Mary K.Bush, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick A. Henderson, the President Lawrence W. Kellner, and the Principal George Muñoz (Marriott 2013). Their interest are similarity to franchises, which is make the hotel sustainably development and economic development, in order to maximise profits.

Suppliers of hotel are the main component in delivering products and services. The interests of key suppliers are supply chain screening, local supplier capacity building, strategic partnerships, supplier diversity programs, engagement workshops and sustainable procurement programs. The interests of associates are to create programs such as Cultural Appreciation Day, Marriott Jobs & Careers, Take Care Wellness Program, Living the Gold Standards, Associate Appreciation Week and other related activities. The interest of community organisation is to be a part of the community engagement programs, volunteering, disaster relief and in-kind donations. It is associated to workshops, research,

11 board memberships, working groups, partnerships, and advisors and lobbying. The government entities have interest on the working groups, strategic partnerships on global issues, executive committees, advocacy for Reduced Emissions from deforestation and Degradation (REDD) projects (Marriott 2012).

2.6 Community and Corporate Social Responsibility

“World of Opportunity” is another corporate social responsibility that Marriott International, Inc. Puts effort on provide shelter, food, and children's health, while creating career opportunities for associates in the workplace and supporting education in the hospitality industry (Marriott News Center 2012). Also, the company raises the value of woman as a leader by emerging markets with small and growing companies run by woman owners.

Marriott's "Nobility of Nature" program is collaborating with Conservation International. The conservation program aims to preserve fresh water and rainforest especially Sichuan Province in China after severe earthquake in 2008 (Tuppen 2013).

11 3. External Analysis 3.1 PEST Analysis

Political Economy

 Marriott still gained RevPAR at 6  UNWTO (2013) reported that Asia percent in 2012 during political accounts for 14 of the world´s top 50 uncertainty in the Middle East. source markets in terms of international  ADR has risen almost 4 percent expenditure especially South-East Asian  Marriott still kept carrying on which are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, launching London EDITION in 2013. Thailand and Vietnam.  No new project in Europe was affected  In 2012, these five countries generated by that political situation. expenditure across international destinations for 49$ billion which is doubling up from 25$ billion in 2006.  WTM 2013 declares that IMF predicts global GDP to grow by 3.8 % in 2014 due to positive growth in the Eurozone after emerging markets with US (Bremner 2014).

 Social  Technology  World Economic Forum’s Governors of  Internet is considered as a main channel to Aviation, Travel and Tourism gain information and promotion nowadays Committee with the management board (Liu and Zhang 2014). of Marriott said that economic mobility  Reviewing comments from other guests and opportunity leading to prosperity affect decision making process on are driven by a travel sector. purchasing directly (Sparks and Browning  Marriott has made a promise with 2010). President Obama’s initiative to create  Marriott received one-quarter of booked job opportunities in the U.S. room nights from Marriott.com  Manpower is the most important  Marriott achieved 2.8 million times of instrument that needs thorough mobile application downloading in year monitoring and training. 2013  QR code or text shown on the key card holder that link to downloading source of Marriott application for mobile site creates more opportunity for upselling spa treatment, room upgrade and other facilities.  Abrahamson leaves the idea of pre-ordering room service remotely from a phone too (Whitby 2013). . Figure 6: The table of PEST Analysis of Marriott International, Inc

11 3.2 Porter’s Five Forces

Threats of New Entrants

Trendy hotels of other hotel chain are penetrating the local market

Emerging between hotels to set up a new property

Bargaining Power of Rivalry among Existing Bargaining Power of Buyers Suppliers Competitors Negotiation for the lowest Global tourist arrivals and Amenities and toiletries prices from guests inbound spending from from different brands to be 2012 – 2017 Skilled employees working used in hotels across the Strong CEOs and with a visionary continents management policy management team Skilled

Threats of Substitutions

Five-star boutique hotels in a particular area

Relaxation and rejuvenation technologies at home

Figure 7 : Porter’s Five Forces

Rivalry among Existing Competitors

11 Marriott is considered to be a five star alliance and the main international competitor is Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., followed by Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc. and Accor. At the same time, the company can use consumer demands to measure the company’s capability of accommodation, events and conferences. Accordingly, industry profitability can predict marketing trends periodically. The report from WTM 2013 suggests that global tourist arrivals and inbound spending are expected to grow over the 2012-2017 period from emerging markets (Bremner 2014). In addition, personality of CEOs and their policy play an important role in driving the company and manpower to compete amongst the industry in the right way as J.W. Marriot, Jr., said, “To realising out vision of being the best lodging company in the world” (Marriott International, Inc. 2013).

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

One spot that represents the image of the hotel and be taken back home with guest is amenities and toiletries. As reported by Touryalai (2014), Scott Mitchell, A Director of Design and Development of Marriott and his team tested up to 52 brands of shampoo, conditioner, body gel, lotion and soap become making a decision on Thann, a natural skincare from Bangkok, for hotels in Americas and Asia Pacific, and Acca Kappa, an Italian brand, for hotels in Europe and Africa. Marriott made a decision from scents until packaging to fit the “hit-and-cool” concept for their hotels. They spend money to Thann $20 million and about $7 million on Acca Kappa annually. Also, human resources are the main supplied mechanism to drive the services and has the strongest link to their customers. Skilled employers and visionary management team require different key performance indicator (KPI) to fit with the core competence of each brand and more importantly to work happily to reflect the brand from inside out like J.W. Marriott, Jr. stated that “Take care of your associates and they will take care of the guests” (Marriott International 2012)

11 Bargaining Power of Buyers

Guests are the main sources of income. Therefore, buyers hold more bargaining power over Marriott. They will negotiate the lowest prices with the best services or offers. If guests are satisfied with the services, they are willing to pay more for higher quality services and will become loyal customers. Word of mouth and guest royalty are considered to be the most important factor for hotel to retain the same target market while attracts a wider target market at the same time.

Threat of Substitution

With the five star boutique hotel options, guests have the alternative to choose their stay depending on their price range and suitability. Another concern is the development of technologies, which are seemingly a new enemy and ally to the hotel industry. The availability of relaxation and rejuvenation technologies has meant that consumers can stay at home and maintain their own health services. Therefore, Marriott has to ensure they have something that is beyond the guest’s expectations and attract them from competitors. One of the guarantee examples is Quan Spa at Hong Kong Skycity Marriott Hotel that just got three awards in 2014 from World Luxury Spa Awards (2015) which are Best Luxury Fitness Spa, Best Luxury Boutique Spa and Best Luxury Spa Group.

Threat of New Entrants

Meanwhile, international competitors are entering domestic market and some local areas by differentiating their products to create new perception for guests. For example, Accor launched M Gallery Collection that shows the uniqueness of that country or region through their standard, such as VIE Hotel Bangkok in contemporary wooden interior design. This new entry might attract guest’s attention and slow down the decision process to choose JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok. Besides, emergence of new entrepreneurial players between properties including smaller chain hotels can create strong competition particularly famous destinations. For example, merging of Thompson Hotels, an international collection of 12 luxury lifestyle hotels, and Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the most influential boutique brand in the West of US under the new name “JT Hospitality” can affect hi-end guests of Ritz-Carlton, Bvlgari and JW Mariott. Since the

11 consolidation in 2011, they now have 45 properties that can generate annual hotel revenues of approximately 500$ million (Business Wire 2011).

3.3 Market Analysis

3.1.1 Target Market

Marriott International, Inc. has a variety of hotels for different customers, such as Marriott Hotels and Resorts provides younger travellers to stay, it is called the ‘next generation’ (Covey 2013).

Table 1: Main Markets of Marriott in 2013 Source: Marriott Sustainability Report (2014)

As shown above, Marriott manages 3,631 properties and rooms across the continents. It is clear that China becomes the most important market beside America (Marriott 2013). As a result, the company planed to build new hotels outside America, including emerging markets in Brazil, China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa as well as other countries in the next few years while supporting local tourism and economy (Marriott Sustainability Report 2014).

11 Besides, different backgrounds of consumer behaviours can bring positive impact for market segmentation (New Age International 2009). Take Example for Marriott International Inc., some Residential fit for budget-oriented traveller such as Residence Inn, because of pricing. Marriott Hotels are suitable for full business travellers such as TownePlace Suite. Some Marriott resorts fit for leisure vacation guests like Marriott Vacation Club and Grand Residences. And, Marriott Senior Living such as Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts and J.W. Marriott Hotels and Resorts suit for elderly people to stay (New Age International 2009).

3.1.2 Market Share

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Hyatt 8.26% 8.71% 8.47% 8.71% 10.12% Hilton 18.80% 19.93% 20.11% 20.46% 20.54% Starwood 11.66% 12.52% 12.87% 13.93% 12.91% Accor 19.15% 14.69% 12.76% 12.46% 11.45% Intercontinental 15.10% 15.14% 17.59% 18.41% 19.32% Marriott 27.00% 28.87% 28.20% 26.04% 26.96% Table 2: Market share of Marriott from 2009 to 2013 Source from the statistic portal (2014)

11 The market share of Marriott has slightly increased between 2009 and 2011. Then, it dropped from 2011 to 2013 even lower than 2009. According to Marriott Annual Report (2013), it suggests that comparing to 2011, the revenue fees dropped from $11.81 billion in 2012 from $12.31 billion in 2011 (Marriott International, Inc. 2013). Meanwhile, comparing with North America, the outside of North America decreased about $3 million, leading to the market share of Marriott has slightly decreased in 2013 (Marriott International, Inc. 2013). These share figures are relatively indicative of their position in the market (see Table 2).

3.1.3 Market Growth

Table 3: Regional presence of Marriott from 2012 to 2013 Source: Marriott Sustainability Report (2014)

Based on total properties, the hotel industry is more and more globalisation and continuing increased after the few years. Table 3 shows that total properties and total rooms are increased during 2012-2013, especially Asia Pacific. UNWTO highlights that many tourists chose to travel in 2012  need citation. Furthermore, Marriott has built new hotels, providing better comfortable and warm living environment (Marriott International, Inc. 2013).

11 3.1.4 Key successful factors

According to the Table 3, Marriott dominants the largest market share in the last five years and operates over 492 properties worldwide and over 3000 in America (see Table 4). It is undeniable that Marriott is one of the most successful hotel companies, because it combines their own culture with local culture, has many VIP guests and highest guest loyalty, and offers prices for different groups of customers (Marriott International, Inc. 2012).

In addition, it has a human service, for example, customers can change their travel plan and budgets (Marriott International, Inc. 2012). At the same time, new services initiatives and a marketing campaign will be found everywhere by 2015 (Marriott International, Inc. 2012).

Moreover, Marriott brings a fresh, focuses on entertainment for customers. For example, the luxury brands like Ritz-Carton, J.W. Marriott and Bvlgari Hotel and Resorts provide the best dining and entertainment options with public spaces (Marriott International, Inc. 2012). At the same time, independent hotels such as Autograph Collection can use Marriott strong resources, including their loyalty guests and marketing channels (Marriott International, Inc. 2012).

3.4 Competitor Analysis

Marriott International, Inc. has 5.6% market share was lagging behind Hilton Hotel Corporation (7.2% market share). Other major competitors, meanwhile, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (3.4%), Accor (1.7%) and Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC (0.8%) (Renner 2010).

Hilton Worldwide is the one of fastest growing hotel company and it is the key competitor for Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Worldwide manages more than 4,200 hotels in 93 countries and territories, including Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Double Tree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Conrad (Hilton Worldwide 2014). However, Hilton has also experienced a downturn and they changed their headquarters from Beverly Hills to McLean, Virginia, US. In addition, they used new logo and announced a new slogan, ‘to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality’ (Renner 2010).

11 Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is an American hotel and leisure company and it is different from Marriott because they own Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., St. Regis, Element, Le Meridian, the Luxury Collection, the Westin, Sheraton, W and Four Points for high- end customers (Renner 2010). This company currently operated 1,162 properties across 100 different countries (Starwood 2014). Although Marriott with their new luxury brand were located in favorable location, Starwood has finished their expansion plans for India by 2013 (Starwood Hotels and Resorts 2010). According to the Starwood Hotels and Resorts website (2010), booking typically came from Starwood Preferred Guest members exceeding Marriott by 50% (Starwood Hotels and Resorts 2010).

3.4.1 Competitor Comparison

Main competitor of Marriott is Hilton Worldwide and they share competitive areas as the followings.

Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Worldwide

Objectives: Objectives:

-Founded:1927 -Founded:1919 -Global leader with market share 35.59% -Has a strong market share 11.90% -Strong operating performance -Strong operating performance (i)Tax Avenue:US$12.78B (i)Tax Avenue:US$9.47B -Expansion new market -Number hotels:4,000 -Number hotels:3,700 -Number of rooms:659,263 -Number of rooms:660,394 - Although focused on business travelers is trying to attract a new segment of ‘’X generation families’’ Resources: Resources:

-Innovation and IT solution -Partnership with IBM -Booking meeting: has electronic tool (E-tool) -Booking meeting: E-Events

11 Marriott International, Inc. Hilton Worldwide

Current products and services: Current products and services:

-Marriott International operates 18 different -Hilton worldwide manages 10 distinctive brands in 7 service categories brands, including: i) Luxury hotels: Ritz-Carlton, Bvlgari Hotels i) Hilton’s Luxury: Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts and J.W. Marriott Hotels and and Resorts and Conrad Hotels and Resorts Resorts ii) For business travellers: Hilton’s Full ii) Lifestyle Collection: EDITION Hotels, Service offers Flagship Hotel and Hilton Renaissance Hotels, AC Hotels and Hotels and Resorts Autograph Collection iii) Vacation clubs: Marriott Vacation Club and Grand Residences iv) Lodging: Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott Executive Apartment for business. -Customers can DIY (do it yourself) their accommodation and choose their favourite style to live -Advertising Campaign Rewards guest loyalty: Rewards guest loyalty:

-The loyalty program’ Marriott Rewards’ has - Hilton also has a loyalty program called 28 million members worldwide and continues ‘HHonors’, expanding. i) Providing four membership levels: Blue i)Providing members with basic features such (entry level), Silver, Gold and Diamond. as redeeming points for free nights and free ii)However, Silver status must stay 4 nights in flights, no blackout dates and priority check- a year or stay 10 nights in a year to retain and in. achieve membership ii) Offering 4 membership levels: entry level, Silver, Gold and Platinum Elite

Table 4: Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International – Competitive Differentiation Source: Buzzbattle: Marriott vs. Hilton (2013)

11 3.5 Competitive Advantage

It could be argued that Marriott derives its competitive differentiation by serving in both business and leisure segments. Accordingly, the company first launched “Marriott Rewards” in 1997 to create the guest values (Marriott Rewards 2009). The company does not operate with internal segments only but also external cooperation which are airlines, a car rental company, and VISA credit card. This strategy gives more opportunity for upselling and increase guest preference when making a choice of accommodation.

4. Financial Analysis

4.1Marriott’s International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Revenue & Profit

In general Marriott’s consumes higher revenue compared to Hilton. It has shown constant growth over the years with a slight decline in 2012. It was during the London Olympics that demands were increasing for travellers, in London. $14 million of revenue was generated at one leased property whereas a decrease of consumer demands heavily affected occupancy rates in Japan, due to the Tsunami and earthquake, which has frighten travellers. Effectively lead to a loss of $2 million in business interruption from a utility company (Marriott Annual Report 2013). Also, the previous economic history has been dominated by the credit crunch in 2008-2009 (Economist 2014), which represents the lowest figures during that period. Revenue decreased by $503 (4 percent) from 2011 – 2012. The spin-off timeshare were a big contributor to this loss as it deducted $1282 off the total revenue. The decrease was offset by $779 million increase in the revenue in the lodging business (Marriott 2013).

Nevertheless, businesses were booming again in 2013, due to expansions of the franchising operations and the lodging business. It was estimated that around 90% of Marriott’s revenue is generated from management or franchise fees (Reuters 2013). The growth of new hotels drove Marriott’s fee revenue to a significant increase of $1.5 billion (Sorenson, 2013 cited in Marder 2013).

11 Figure 8: Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide Holdings five years revenue. Source: Adapted from Marriott International’s Annual Reports 2009-2013 and The Statistic Portal

4.1.1 Marriott International’s Revenue – 5 Segments

Marriott International has spun off its ‘Timeshare’ segment in 2011, which has lead to operating loss of $177 million. Although the ‘Timeshare’ segment was a contributor to the company’s profit after the recession (Berzon and Hudson 2011), they decide to focus on the core lodging and franchising business (Cederham 2014). In general, the revenue for each segment has increased year on year, particularly booming demands in North American Full Service segment because addition of 108 properties (12,927) were developed (Marriott Annual Report 2013), and they represent half of the Marriott’s total revenue, with net margin of 38% in 2013 (Cederham 2014). 83 % of the hotels are operated in the America region, along with its major competitors (Hilton, Starwoord and Hyatt), which is the reason for higher revenues compared to other segments. International service are slightly increasing yearly, but indicates a good trend overall. Although it is generally low supply growth in the U.S, global economic climate in the markets around the world are improving, followed by strong increase in demand for luxury properties, full-service properties and limited service properties.

11 Figure 9: Marriott International five years revenue in five segments. Source: Adapted from Marriott International’s Annual Reports 2009-2013.

4.2 Net Income

4.2.1 Net Income EBIT and EBT

There are dramatic changes of net income since 2009, which has risen and fallen over the years (see figure 10). Subsequently, the number remained risen to 2013. It was during 2011-2012 that the timeshare spin-off has occurred which had a knock on affect on the revenue. However, the revenue for the lodging business that has increased in 2013 were due to the results of higher cost reimbursements, franchise fees, higher incentive management fees and higher base management fees, which were partially offset by lower owned, leased and corporate housing (Marriott Annual Report 2013).

An indicator of a company’s profitability, calculated as revenue minus expenses, excluding tax and interest. The measure shows a company’s ability to service its debt, because it eliminates the effects of financing and depreciation.

11 4.2.2 Earning Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)

A rise in EBIT causes a rise in net income; a decrease in EBIT will cause even greater decrease in net income (Gibson 2010, p 346). When looking at the graph, 2010 shows that EBIT reduced from $440 to $185 (by 24%), which caused a dramatic decrease in the net income by 58%, which is significant to the company’s performance. However, the markets reflected strong demand in North America, while properties in Britain remained weak as a result of government austerity measures and Japan first quarter of 2011 were affected from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami (Sato 2012).

Figure 10: Marriott International Net Income, EBIT and EBT Source : Adapted from Marriott Annual Report 2009-2013.

4.3 Available Daily Rate, RevPAR and Occupancy

The RevPAR improvements are strongly driven by the ADR increase (Reuter 2013). Both RevPAR and ADR have shown moderate trends throughout the years. It has slightly declined in 2009, due to the significant contraction and the impacted of the recession from 2008 (Nessler 2014). The negative state of economy has reduced consumer’s demands. However, the U.S hospitality industry RevPAR grew by 6.8% in 2012 (Smith Travel cited in Reuters 2013), which reflects on Marriott’s growth expectancy to grow in line with or slightly better than the industry

11 average. The strong transient in demands that caused the RevPAR to increase has also affected the increase on occupancy rates as well (see figure 12). The occupancy rates are almost at peak levels, which designate a good business sign. As a strong growth of the U.S GDP, consumer confidence, and corporate earnings remain vital to the industry’s success. The expansion in capital spending has been in response to projected demand. However overdevelopment in certain areas is a concern because if there is a prolonged low occupancy rates, it could be threaten hotels that are heavily leveraged(The Street Ratings 2015). The demand for spending on varies factors such as personal income levels, total employment, and consumer confidence has affected the ADR, RevPAR and Occupancy rates. In recent years, catastrophic weather, fear of terrorism, and health epidemics directly impacted on the industry in numeral ways. The industry is capital, marketing, personnel, energy, maintenance, and technology intensive (Owusu 2014).

Figure 11: Marriott International Available Daily Rate and RevPAR 2009-2013. Source : Adapted from Marriott Annual Report 2009-2013.

11 Figure 12: Marriott International Hotel’s Occupancy rates. Source: Adapted from the Marriott International Annual Report 2009-2013

4.4 Asset Management

The Asset Turnover measures the operation and efficiency use of assets (Kim and Ayoun 2005). Marriott operates on the asset light strategy, being asset intensive, which causes the lower ratio of asset turnover. It is not necessarily a bad sign as different hotels operate different strategies.Marriott Annual Report 2013 highlights that the total asset has decreased by 25% from 2009 to 2011 was due to impairment which caused $2 million loss and the value depreciated in selling those assets. It has increased by 15% in 2013, because of the growth expansion, whereby the company needed to purchase more assets to accommodate the growth plan. They expect to add 67,000 rooms to the system over the next few years and to boost the development pipeline to 195,00 rooms by the end of year. Marriott’s are in a better position compared to competitors as they rely on income from franchise fees, which has reached $1.5 billion in 2013. The London EDITION were built in 2013 and sold off in the early 2014, which showed consistency in the asset-light strategy and entering to definitive agreements to sell two others under development in New York and Miami while maintaining long-term management contracts. The management and franchise business model has increased the value to shareholders through predictable, strong earnings growth and high return on invested capital. For example, Hilton Worldwide has recently focused on achieving sales through franchising, to avoid the cost and higher risk of constructing new hotels (Marriott 2013).

11 Figure 13: Marriott International Total Assets Source: Marriott International Annual Report 2009-2013

Figure 14: Marriott International Asset Turnover and ROTA Source: Marriott International Annual Report 2009-2013.

4.4.1 Cash and Cash Equivalent

The cash and cash equivalents has been on the up and down scale over the years. 2010 shows increases of cash and current asset, which indicates bad signs as high current assets means there are not making sufficient use of and the assets are not being generated into cash quick enough, hence the lower revenue. However, from 2011 onwards, the current assets reduced and

11 the cash ultimately reduced, due to various renovation plans carried out on new business projects, therefore it can be said that Marriott’s are using their funds sufficiently to finance their growth for a greater return profitability. With strong financial managing positions, Marriott can access sufficient funds to finance their growth and increase their non-current liabilities if they wish to carry out further expansion plans. Generally, they are good at paying back their short- term obligations debt and they have carefully monitored the cash flow.

Figure 15: Marriott International Cash and Cash Equivalent in comparison to competitors. Source: Adapted from: IHG PLC 2009-2013; Marriott 2009-2013; Accor 2009-2013; IR Hilton Worldwide 2012; Development Starwoods Hotels 2012; Market Watch 2015 and Statista 2015.

11 Figure 16: Marriott International Current Asset in comparison with competitors. Source: Adapted from: IHG PLC 2009-2013; Marriott 2009-2013; Accor 2009-2013; IR Hilton Worldwide 2012; Development Starwoods Hotels 2012; Market Watch 2015 and Statista 2015.

4.5 Liquidity

Based on the company spending, Marriott seems to maintain an adequate liquidity profile, as net sources of liquidity are to remain positive in the event of declining EBITDA. Additionally, the company has a strong relationship with banks and has a high standing in credit market. Marriott are carefully monitoring their balance sheet and in preparation to utilise low cost spending when the lodging cycle declines (Reuters 2012). Marriott’s current ratios are relatively low compared to competitors; it seems to adequately rise in 2013. Particularly in 2011, there has been a drastic change of it the timeshare spinoff, which reduced total assets by $3 billions and current assets by $2 billion (Marriott Annual Report 2012), which resulted in a low current ratio and inevitably being overleveraged and struggle to pay off liabilities obligations. Due to following the capital-intensive strategy and investments in long-term growth expansions, it has lead to lower quick ratios (see figure, 17). Above all, Marriott’s believes that with the access to capital markets, together with the cash generated from operations, they are in a good position to meet short-term and long-term liquidity requirements, finance their long-term growth plans and meet debt services (Investor Shareholder 2011). Competitors seem to be facing with the same liquidity problem except from Hilton and Starwood, who seem to be safer in paying their liabilities and to pursue in safer business strategy.

11 Figure 17: Marriott International Current Ratio in comparison with competitors. Source: Adapted from: IHG PLC 2009-2013; Marriott 2009-2013; Accor 2009-2013; IR Hilton Worldwide 2012; Development Starwoods Hotels 2012; Market Watch 2015 and Statista 2015.

Figure 18: Marriott International Quick Ratio 4.6 Source: Adapted from Marriott International Annual Report 2009-2013 Debt to Equity

The hotel industry is considered a high-risk business by lenders (Elgonemy 2002 cited in Tiong and

11 Goh 2010). One major concern is debt to equity ratio, as excessive debt increases the costs of finance that reverse the positive effects of leverage. The above graph shows a consistency ratio for the debt borrowed by Marriott International. With the debt equity of 1.2, it seems that the company has been aggressive in financing their growth with debt. However, the results were successful and the expansion plans, renovations and joint ventures have generated greater returns to the company's revenue and its shareholders. The company has taken some risk in borrowing, because due to the economic crisis fluctuating, it shows the urge to become successful. Low debt to equity ratios may indicate that the companies are not taking advantage of the increased profits that financial leverage may bring. Investors are generally attracted to low debt to equity ratios because the interests are better protected in the event of a business decline, but firms with high debt to equity ratios may not be able to attract additional capital. If revenue declines 20%, the net cash flow would generally drop 35% to 40% (Fitch, 2009). As such, during a recession, a decline in hotel revenues will seriously impact the solvency of hotel properties that incurred large amount of debt.

Figure 19: Marriott International Debt to Equity Ratio in comparison to competitors. Source: Adapted from: IHG PLC 2009-2013; MarriottF 2009-2013; Accor 2009-2013; IR Hilton 4.7Worldwide Return On 2012; Capital Development Employed Starwoods (ROCE) Hotels 2012; Market Watch 2015 and Statista 2015.

11 Marriott’s ROCE are generally high compared to competitors, indicating that they generate more earnings of capital employed. However, Marriott’s current assets are less in comparison with competitors (see Figure 11), which suggests the higher value of ROCE and profitability. Marriott’s is now focusing on asset light strategy and driving incremental revenue by cutting costs at the property level and extend their expansion into the mid-level hotel segment to take advantage of the industry’s fastest growing population and by utilising low-cost, high impact promotions to allow room rates to remain competitive (Renner 2010). Whereas competitors are concerned with asset orientated strategy, deploying their balance sheets to secure brand presence in strategic market and expand into emerging markets (Bergen 2012).

Figure 20:Marriott in comparison with competitorROCE Source: Adapted from: IHG PLC 2009-2013; Marriott 2009-2013; Accor 2009-2013; Bib Kuleven 2010; Development Starwoods Hotels 2012; IR Hilton Worldwide 2012; Market Watch 2015 and Statista 2015.

4.8 Earnings Per Share

11 Marriott has improved earnings per share over the years, along with a growing rate of revenue, which has demonstrated a positive pattern of growth rates. The five years trends could well continue to rise of up to $2.57 (The Street Ratings 2015).The EPS was a 16 percent increase over the years, showing a growth of 22 percent year-over-year (Marder 2013).

Figure 21:Marriott in comparison with competitor Earnings Per Shares Source: Adapted from Marriott International Report 2009 –2013; Accor 2010-2013; Markets Ft 2015; Bib Kuleven 2010;

4.9 Dividend Per Shares

The sum of declared dividends for every ordinary share issued. DPS is the total dividends paid out over an entire year divided by the number of outstand ordinary shares issued. The board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of seventeen cents ($0.17) per share of common stock (Investor Shareholder 2013). DPS growth rate has increased 23.30% this year and 62.80% over 5 years (Guru Focus 2014). Marriott repurchased over 31 million shares of approximately $1.3 billion and including $191 million in dividends, the company returned $1.3 billion to shareholders during the year (Marder 2013); this has likely to reflect on the revenue because it uses the reserved cash to reinvest into the company, instead of paying more for dividends.

11 4.10 Marriott International Share Performance

Marriott share prices has been increasing rapidly since 2010, with some short term decreases. 2013-2014 has shown greater increase of up to 78 U.S. Dollars because of the expansion of new businesses and the growth of the lodging businesses segments, which contributes hugely to the share performance. The strong US economy also supports this. However, there was a slight dip of share price during Aug-Sept 2012, which could be as a result of the third quarter dividend pay. The expansion of the company has affected in the share performance strong this year and several areas proves the strength of Marriott, such as the revenue growth, solid stock price performance, growth in earning per shares and increase in net income. These strengths outweigh the company’s weakness cashflows. It is a good time for investors to purchase shares because it looks like the prices are continuingly increasing and shareholders will receive greater returns in the next year (Owusu 2014 ).

Figure 22: Marriott International Share prices 2010-2015 (US Dollars) Source: UK Yahoo Finance 2015

11 Recommendation

Based on protecting local environment, Marriott always focus on building loyalty brands, building hotel Inn to draw young generations (Marriott Sustainability Report 2014). ‘In 2020, hotel branding will be incredibly creative. The new generation of traveler wants experiences and convenience. Isenberg (2015 cited by Higley 2015) said that brands will need to learn how to bend the rules to satisfy guests by paying more attention to guests, as well as creating new jobs in developing countries, especially in Africa in next few years (Marriott Sustainability Report 2014).

Nowadays, Marriott became the largest hotels in Africa in April 2014. They also won LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver because they built the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC which is the largest hotels in the U.S. in May 2014 (Marriott Sustainability Report 2014). Besides, Marriott will open hotel chain in Africa, China, India and Brazil (Marriott Sustainability Report 2014). For example, they plan to open Marriott Port-au- Prince Hotel in Haiti in February 2015 and will provide over 200 new positions to promote local economic (Marriott Sustainability 2014).

In conclusion, Marriott has some positive factors that should attract investors to with the opportunity to gain earning per share as Marriott assures investors of the guaranteed share dividends each year. The company’s strength can be seen in the revenue growth, good cash flow operation, increasing share price in the stock market, growth in earning per share and increasing in net income. The strength outweigh the facts that the company shows low liquidity and low profit margin.

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11 Grouop 29: Group Meeting Action Plan and Progress

N o Item Details Action Who What When Resullts 1 1st Form a group Talk about the All We brainstorm what 9th We finally meeting topic and key company or industry we are Ootber, assign points in the interested to do research. 2014 every report that We formed a group on member need to be Facebook and use it as a to do covered. primary discussion room some promptly. research of the company that each of us is interested in and consider if it cover topics as required. 2 2nd Share information We share All Just a rough group meeting 14th Homewor meeting information of to see how much information October, k for the company we can find about Marriott 2014 searching that each of us International, Inc. and see for have found which part need to fulfill informatio more. n resources 3 3rd Info. Gathering Devide the All We consult among the group 16th Start meeting report for each and assign each part of the October, working of us to study report to each team 2014 on and work on it. member. individual parts N o Item Details Action Who What When Resullts 4 4th Structures & group Going on with a All We decide to keep working 13th We have meeting member issue group of 4 and with a group 4 people after Novemb to find brainstorm for Iaona suspended her course er, 2014 informatio the outline at BU. n and start We came up with external writing a and internal factors, draft company overview, and report of suggestion parts in our each part report. Separate each part to as each of us. assigned. Rattikan - Financial report, Then, we stocks and accounting will keep Chanunya - Strategic updating management (past-present- via online future) chat and Yao and Ming - Business share Plan individual report for the team. 5 5th Combine info and Gather all All After doing some reseach to 18th We got meeting structures information we get info about Marriott, we Novemb new found so far in want to re-construct the er, 2014 structure each sections. outline again to cover all and will Re-construct ections and make it more continue the structure of relevant between each doing the analysed section. research report again and find both descriptve analysis and critical analysis

11 N o Item Details Action Who What When Resullts 6 1st Meeting with consult with Jef Yao, At the moment, Christina 28th We study meeting Jef about the outline of Chanunya,Ra went back to China due to Novembe more and with the the report and ttikan personal reason r, 2014 work harder advisor important parts immediately. We are because we planning to work on with a now reduce group of three. Jef also to a group indicates some financial of three and parts for us to calculate and are in analyse more. uncertainty that Christina can manage her time to continue her study this trimester or not.

11 N o Item Details Action Who What When Resullts 7 1st Meeting during the Gather content All Fortunately, Christina can continue 9th Each of us revision winter break of analysis her participation on this group Decemb needs to assignment, so we divide some er, 2014 find more more topics to her. For other parts, references we consult among the group to see and if anybody is struggling in some analyse topics and need help. At the end, some we separate and bring back the topics pending jobs to work on during the deeper. school break and will come back again for the final version of everyone's part.

Now each responsibility in the report is as the following. Rattikan - Financial analysis and scenario planning Chanunya - Industry analysis (PEST, Porter's Five Forces, Economy of Scale), consumer behaviours, company's expansion and risk management. Yao - Company's overview, competitor analysis, market analysis (market share, market growth, target market) Christina - Stakeholder, leadership style, BCG Matrix and SWOT Analysis.

11 N o Item Details Action Who What When Resullts 8 2nd Meeting after the Revise some All We gather all information and 7th If anybody revision winter break parats of the revise it for one lst time before January, need to add report meeting with Jef in the next two 2015 or edit some days. Some parts need peer content in review such as Financial analysis the report, and risk management. We take we still can the whole day to get all individual do it by parts together and revise it as a Tuesday one complete report. 13th January. 9 3rd Meeting again We meet again All Some more points to edit 8th Each of us Revisioon before meeting Jef - Edit analysis of BCG Matrix January, need to - Find more academic info. For 2015 finish our Leadership style part by - Find more info for competitive tomorrow advantage meeting. - Analyse and calculate financial part 1 2nd Meeting with Jef Get the idea All We need to do some more 9th Each of us 0 meeting where to cut financial calculation and some January, really need with the the words down edition in some analysis. 2015 to get every advisor and where to - CSR thing done add more - Economie of scale by details - Competitive Advantage tomorrow. - BCG Matrix Therefore, - SWOT Analysis we canr - Leadership sryle echeck the report again for one last time.

11 N o Item Details Action Who What When Results 1 4th Combinatio We need to finish All We cut the words done to 10th As we could not 1 Revision n and every part and go limitations and revise some January, finish the revision through the whole content. We combine every part of 2015 content and report once again. the report including the cover page calculation as till appendix at the end. We recheck planned, we and revise it for one last time. need to have one more meeting to go through the whole report altogether again. 1 Final Last Gather every part Chanun After receiving every part of the 12th Print the report 2 Revision revision of the report and ya, report and revising content some January, to submit as a before organise the report Rattikan parts because we exceeded the 2015 hard copy and handing in and Yao word limitation, we need to cut the send online in words down. Due to Christina's PDF file via illness, Chanunya needs to revise myBU her part. Rattikan and Yao recheck Financial part for one last time. At the end, Chanunya gathers and reorganises the whole report into one parallel structure. Rattikan takes care of grammar checking for one last time. Yao is responsible for figure and table orders.