Leading Hospitality & Tourism Management Firm in Asia - Eternal Bliss Enterprises

About Eternal Bliss Enterprises (EBE)

Victoria Ng headed a leading Hospitality & Tourism Management firm out of Asia – Eternal Bliss Enterprises [EBE]. A family-owned enterprise – EBE had grown leaps and bounds over 30 years and was now one of the largest hospitality groups in Asia. It had an enviable portfolio of 4 and 5-star hotels and resorts, cruise liners, travel agencies, car rental firms and several eCommerce / online portals – that catered to various age segments and consumer needs. Victoria had cultivated a solid management team under her – and she welcomed non-family professionals to add strength to the business. She had witnessed the demise of many family-run ventures on account of being closed-minded and distrusting of outsiders – and she did not want to suffer the same fate. Through Victoria’s team’s efforts, EBE grew and was publicly listed on a leading stock exchange and developed a solid reputation for Corporate Governance and Responsibility. Victoria strived to ensure the firm complied with all local, regional and international regulations. Indeed, she operated her firm much like a multinational enterprise with very high standards of Corporate Ethics and Ethical Leadership and excellent stakeholder management – customers, employees, shareholders and partners. As the US-China trade spat took a toll on business across Asia in general – Victoria was eager to explore new frontiers and opportunities. She was approached by one of her colleagues in EBE’s representative office in New York -- to consider a growth opportunity in the Caribbean. The colleague – Ken -- was scouting for EBE -- to develop a family friendly 5-star hotel and resort facility in one of the less developed islands – which had not really appeared on the tourist map and presented tremendous possibilities. Ken was also well connected with the island’s local government and assured Victoria of preferential consideration in negotiations – if EBE was willing to be the primary financier and investor.

Victoria had visited the Caribbean several times and was always fascinated by the tourism potential of the region. It would be a change from the ASEAN and Indian Ocean based island and beach resorts she currently operated. She took up Ken’s offer to visit the island with him on her next trip to the USA. The island’s economy was primarily agricultural with sugar cane being the major crop cultivated. This was followed by fishing. Standards of living were low and most of the native islanders lived off the land or sea. Victoria was introduced to Ken’s local contacts and there were initial discussions of investing around USD 500 million. However, the local contacts introduced a spin on the potential investment by suggesting that a 24-hour casino be added to the resort – so it could attract tourists round the year – independent of the season [e.g. school holidays / North American winters etc.]. The local contacts also recommended setting up a Social Welfare foundation to develop schools, clinics, and housing for the poor indigenous populace that lived close to the proposed site for development. The foundation could be a Joint-Venture between Victoria’s firm EBE [financier] and the local government -- and the funds would be managed by the local government. As per the local contacts, this was important for optics and political considerations – Victoria needed to be viewed as a friendly investor. The local contacts assured Victoria that all arrangements [permits, licenses, authorizations, approvals, land sanctions, development charges etc.] could be arranged for an appropriate “fee” that could be discussed. Victoria discussed her initial impressions with her management team on a conference call. The team saw the tremendous opportunity – the proposed investment of USD 500 million paying itself back many times over. A great chance to internationally diversify into another leading tourist hotspot. EBE would become truly global. However – the team also saw the potential downside. The team highlighted that the region was rife with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, money laundering. A 24-hour casino combined with a family friendly resort – was that a good combination? The local contact was promising too much. What was the “fee” for? The Social Welfare foundation sounded suspect – why should EBE finance it and let the local government manage it? There were too many unanswered questions for the team and Victoria. On returning home – Victoria collected her management team and put together a task force – Team Cari [short for Caribbean] to carry out a thorough Due Diligence of the potential business opportunity. Cari consisted of both senior management and mid-junior employees as well – a combination of Business and Functional Experts and Analysts. She empowered Cari to collect as much information on the Economic, Financial, Business, Political, Legal and Sovereign Risk of such an investment. She provided Cari the budget to travel there and dig deeper into the upside and downside. Above all – she reposed complete confidence and trust in Cari to come up with a rational recommendation – to invest or not to – after the detailed analysis. Victoria valued EBE’s stellar reputation – particularly in Ethical practices – and she was not prepared to gamble that away. Based on materials covered in the lecture sessions, write a based on the following: 1) Identify the leadership approaches illustrated in this case. Which was the most important? 2) Describe how each level of analysis of leadership theory, namely individual, group and organisational were illustrated in this case. Which level was the primary focus? 3) Lastly, describe how this case has illustrated the shift from management-to-leadership paradigm