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A critical strategic analysis of Marriott’s merger with Starwood Hotels
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Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Evaluating the levels of strategy ..................................................................................................... 4
Analysing the generic position .................................................................................................... 4
An evaluation of the key stakeholders ............................................................................................ 6
Critically analysing the external factors ......................................................................................... 7
PESTLE analysis ......................................................................................................................... 7
Porter five forces analysis .......................................................................................................... 10
Threat of new entrants (Low) ................................................................................................. 10
Bargaining power of suppliers (Medium) .............................................................................. 10
Bargaining power of customers (High) .................................................................................. 10
Threat of substitutes (High).................................................................................................... 10
Analysis of the key themes ........................................................................................................ 10
Competitive advantage analysis with group mapping ............................................................... 11
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 12
References ..................................................................................................................................... 13
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Introduction In the present era of competition and globalisation, merger and acquisition has become one of the
crucial components in the strategic management process of an organisation. For hospitality
industry, diligence, superiority, involvement, and procedure of strategic planning procedure are
the important parts of strategic positioning process. To attain the competitive advantage, two
prominent hotels, namely, Marriot International and Starwood Hotels and Resort have agreed to
join together through a merger deal. The merger between these two hotels groups can create
world’s leading lodging organisation and can deliver strongest loyalty program in the hospitality
industry. Marriott International, Inc is one of the leading lodging organisations all over the
world. It possesses almost 4200 properties and it has presence in more than 79 nations (Marriott
International, 2015). The headquarters of the company is located in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is also a world’s leading luxurious hotel company with
more than 1300 properties. The organization has its presence in more almost 100 countries
(Starwood hotels and resorts, 2016). It has a huge network worldwide and it has award winning
loyalty programs. During the middle of 2016, the merger deal between Marriot and Starwood has
been finalized after taking the approval of shareholders of both the organisations. Marriot has
acquired the Starwood hotel. Initially, the group was not very interested about the deal. However,
with the passage of time, Marriot group has realized that it can gain potential benefits from the
acquisition deal. The questions regarding the Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriot Rewards
were raised. After the merger deal, the hotel groups stated that the best solution will be offered
combining SPG and Marriott Rewards. The present study is prepared to critically analyse the
effectiveness of the merger deal between these two hotel groups. The analysis will be conducted
corresponding to the external market as well as industry of both the hotel groups with the help of
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