Case Study-2-Assignment Details
Prepare an in-depth analysis of four case studies during the semester. Here are some guidelines:
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This is an individual assessment, which is a part from your course score. It requires effort and
critical thinking
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Answer all the questions listed below for each case.
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The ‘answers’ to the questions are best formulated by reviewing the case and the reading
materials up and including the current week in the course.
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The questions are worded to help you apply the readings to the case, so don’t limit yourself
to the case’s terminology and perspective. The best analysis will abstract the case content by
applying the reading materials to draw broader lessons about the material
Case Study 2: Vail Ski Resorts Goes High-Tech for High Touch
1) List and describe the types of systems described in this case study. (1 Mark)
2) How do these systems improve the operation of the business? (1 Mark)
3) How do these systems support decision-making? Identify 3 different decisions that can be
supported by these systems. (1 Mark)
Case Study 2: Vail Ski Resorts Goes High-Tech for High Touch
Vail Ski Resort is the largest single mountain ski resort in the United States, with 5,289 acres of
the most diverse and expansive skiing in the world. To its world-class skiing, Vail is also trying to
offer world-class customer care—fine dining; spas and ski valets ready to haul, stow, and retrieve
your equipment; heated boots; and hand-warming packets. Vail's season pass is a top value
industry-wide; its free PEAKS Rewards membership program further inculcates customer loyalty.
Members can the most economical lift tickets online, link the PEAKS card to a credit card, and
accumulate points that can be redeemed free lift tickets, ski school lessons, and various discounts.
In 2012, Vail Ski Resort installed the fastest, highest capacity gondola in the United States. Seating
ten people per cabin, and with an uphill speed of 1200 feet per minute, the state-of-the-art gondola
carries 3600 skiers per hour while decreasing ride time from 9 to 7.5 minutes. Heated seats and
Wi-Fi access make it one of the world's most customer-friendly ski lifts as well.
Long lift lines have always created a big headache for skiers. In the past, the only way to gauge
the flow of the crowd was to ask lift operators or check on bulletin boards at the bottom of the lifts.
Now Vail skiers are able to obtain accurate up-to-the minute lift line information by using social
networking, streaming alerts, and the resort's own Witter account. Slope congestion can be
alleviated by offering special pins or prizes to coax guests to move to a different slope. Guests can
be directed to on-mountain dining locations at lunch time.
Vail now uses radio frequency identification (RFID) lift tickets and ski passes. Part of the EpicMix
social media program, the tickets and passes are scanned at the base of each lift so that skiers and
snowboarders can track how many lifts they ride and the vertical feet ascended each day. The
scanned data are automatically transferred to an EpicMix application which can be accessed from
either a smartphone or a computer. The basic program is free and confers various pins and virtual
awards based on user statistics. For example, you earn the "Connoisseur" pin after 75 lifts and the
"Over the Moon" pin when you surpass 350,000 vertical feet skied. After you create your EpicMix
account, you can view and share stats by linking to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The EpicMix Racing program provides additional fun. At one of six race courses, you can compete
against friends and family, all skiers, and even 2010 Olympic women's downhill gold medalist
Lindsey Vonn. At the beginning of each season, the four-time overall World Cup champion
establishes a course time for race courses at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone,
Heavenly and Northstar. Race pros then ski the courses to establish their "seconds behind
Lindsey." 'lb factor in changing course conditions, every day one of the race pros skis each course
and uses his or her "seconds behin Lindsey" to determine a course time for Vonn on that particular
day. When you ski a course, your actual time is automatically recorded and then adjusted for
gender, age, and discipline. Snowboarders, telemark skiers, and adaptive skiers with disabilities
and special needs can also participate. Scores are computed based on each skier's "seconds behind
Lindsey," and gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the top three daily. Race results and
leaderboards are accessed on EpicMix.com or the EpicM mobile app, available for Apple and
Android smartphones. Your dashboard tallies your Lindsey
Vonn Race Series points, EpicMix Racing medals, total number of resort check-ins, total days on
a mountain, vertical feet, pins earned, and number of EpicMix photos taken.
The six race course mountains are staffed by 140 professional photographers. Photos are
automatically identified and uploaded by scanning the intelligent chip embedded in the skier's lift
ticket. Photos can be captioned and shared free on Facebook and Twitter, or you can purchase
prints at a number of locations, including, of course, the Children's Ski Schools. You can also
purchase a $30.00 season package for unlimited downloads of all images taken at all locations and
print them out later. All of these amenities turn a ski vacation into an "experience" that can be
shared with family and friends, increasing emotional attachment and promoting customer
retention.
Still, to ensure that it is fully leveraging the wealth of customer data it collects, Vail Ski Resorts'
parent company Vail Resorts implemented SAS Customer Intelligence software. Customer data
were previously collected and stored in a number of unrelated systems. Now, the data are compiled
in a single database that includes all customer points of contact, allowing a complete picture of
customer habits and preferences to emerge. Rather than one or two versions of a marketing
campaign, Vail Resorts now runs 30 to 50, targeted to specific groups. In the future, the company
expects to expand to hundreds or even thousands of personalized, individual communications.
SAS predictive analytics will help Vail Resorts to identify guest motivations and anticipate
customer desires, while customer segmentation models identify profitable segments to which they
might be steered. Vail Resorts plans to further personalize its engagement with its guests and enrich
their mountain experiences before they have even begun.
Answer
Solution 1:
Transaction processing systems (TPS): This is an information resource for the organization used to
collect, retrieve, and modify all transactions the organization makes. Vail Ski Report made use of these
systems to collect the customer’s basic data. For instance, the skiing experience and the number of times
the customers visited Vail Ski Resorts. Furthermore, the system collected the number of skiers that used
each lift, the ski equipment for rent, customers who bought meals and the meals sold in the food outlets.
Executive support systems (ESS): These systems provide the general computing capacities which can be
applicable in changing different problems. They typically use a portal consisting of a web interface, or
digital dashboard in order to present its content. This system in this case study, helps managers to create
campaigns aimed at marketing to reach out to many customers. This system also helps Vail Ski Resort to
determine the lift that needs elevation and the one frequently used by customers. As a result, the resort can
opt to increase the speed of its lifts so that more customers can enjoy.
Management information Systems (MIS): This system provides information to the middle managers on
the performance of the firm which help in predicting the future. MIS helps in offering reward to skiers for
switching to a different lift because this reduces queuing in the same lift. This is done with the hope of
reducing lines on each lift so that each customer can hopefully be served well. Furthermore, MIS has
enabled Vail Ski Resort to determine the place most skiers like visiting as this helps to maintain the product
and services provided.
Decision Support Systems (DSS): These are computer-based applications that collect, organize and
analyses all data from the business to enhance decision-making for management, operations and planning.
DSS enables Vail Ski Resorts to adjust maintenance schedules of the ski lifts. Using these systems,
managers are able to understand the most frequently used lifts. This is important in decision making by the
manager since some customers are targeted at some point of time for return visits.
Solution 2:
Information gathered from these information systems helps executives to have a target category of
customers for their campaigns. This reduces guess work thus ensuring managers target customers that
will come back and spend much more money. Furthermore, Vail Ski Resorts can offer more products
to its customers thus ensuring they beat their competitors. Additionally, executives can use this data
to make future decisions that will improve the attractiveness of the resort.
Because of the accuracy of the data collected from these systems, employees, managers, and the
executives are better placed to make quicker long-term decisions without guesswork.
Solution 3:
The three decisions that Vail Ski Resort information systems support include:
Marketing campaigns: these systems offer decisions on which customers should receive more
advertisements, enticements, and discounts. Which customers who promise great return on
investment?
Maintenance and upgrading: the lifts that require frequent maintenance and the frequency at which
it should be done. Furthermore, they provide decisions on which lifts are popular and why. Besides,
they provide information on the features which needs be changed and the reasons behind the change.
Whether the existing features should be changed, improved, or done away with because they are not
producing the desired outcomes.
Improved profitability: More data which can help enhance the motivation of guests and anticipate
for customers to come back will be provided to Vail by these systems. Thus, they are able to identify
the most profitable segment.
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