3/23/10 Class 13 Reaction

I was reading the USA Today newspaper and there was this article under business travel, called "Hearing online critiques," that basically summed up the value of business intelligence. The article was about hotel managers responding quickly to negative blog/review posts on the Internet. These hotels are trying to maintain their business' online reputation through finding solutions to the problems that the hotel guests are writing about to other travelers. Reading these critiques are another way for hotels to find ways of improving operations through training, adjusting restaurant and staff hours, adding or removing amenities, as well taking it as opportunity to stand apart from the competition.

There are many hotels that are using software tools that will combine all the reviews and comments on websites, blogs, and other social-media sites. The article said that Starwood Hotels is also using a Review Analyst to manage online content. Hotel managers are even setting certain phrases to be caught on these sites, such as bedbugs, discrimination, eviction, police, security, etc, so immediate action can be taken.

All of this information shows how vital a component IS and IT are to running a successful business. These hotels are taking a corrective stand in the hopes of satisfying customers and ultimately expanding their business. All this work being done now is showing an improvement to the effectiveness and efficiency of running the hotels.