Good case study on answers to questions: intelligent lighting condition

a. What is the root cause(s) of the problems/issues occurring and what other factors contribute to them?
The root cause of the problem is the expenses incurred by Moonlight Hotel is rising energy expenses. Accordingly, it incurs too many expenses for its hotel lighting. However, it could not just remove all its lighting equipment or materials because that would hurt the hotel’s profit. There is possible solution, however, that communicated through the other hotel’s general manager named Bruce Cregg of Shining Star Hotel. The said hotel has replace its front-of-the-house incandescent light with florescent lights which are more energy efficient. Nevertheless, there was a problem associated with this, which is the environmental threat posed by the florescent lamps. Florescent lamps contain heavy metal like mercury which are proven toxic. Another possible problem is that if Moonlight Hotel Adapts the strategy of the Shining Star Hotel, then there is a possibility that it will get low customer satisfaction from its customers because that light coming from florescent lamps is not esthetically pleasing. The root cause of the problem is therefore economic in nature, while the contributing factors are more of social and environmental factors.
b. Discuss the key players and the role they play in this case. What role does each individual play in the case? Are they contributing to the problems you discussed? What should their role be in fixing those problems and creating solution?
There are four Key players in the case study. The first is Bruce Cregg, who is the general of the Moonlight Hotel – the one having problem with rising energy cost. The role of this stakeholder is that he is the one to make the final decision on what possible solution should be adapted to solve the hotel’s problem. He is also the one responsible for mobilizing the company’s personnel like Maria Santos to search for possible solutions. The second player is Maria Santos – as the person sent by Bruce Cregg to Shining Star Hotel, it is her role to find possible solutions to Moonlight Hotel’s problems. She needs to assess the pros and cons of the possible solutions and then suggest them to her boss – Bruce Cregg. It is also her role to communicate with the different contact persons in Shining Start Hotel like Charlie Havesham, who is the chief engineer of the said hotel. The third player is the Charlie Havesham, who has the role of making sure that the Shining Star Hotel lighting is working effectively, and to make sure that there are no problems that remain unsolved when it comes to engineering in the said hotel. The fourth player is Steve Seaborn who is the general manager of the Shining Start Hotel. As the general manager he has the responsibility to make sure that the said hotel is competing efficiently in the hotel market. In this particular case he has the responsibility to help make sure that the new lighting design is indeed lowering the cost of energy, while at the same time make sure that such solution poses no adverse effect to the hotel’s profit making capability. These four players are not contributing to the problem, they are helping to solve the problem, instead. Their role is that they are all stakeholders to the effort of bringing a solution to the problem of increasing energy cost. Havesham and Seaborn are in position to play the role of adviser to Santo and Cregg. The former two personalities on the other hand have the role of evaluating he possible solutions, including those suggested by the latter two personalities.
c. What are the possible solutions to the problems that you would implement? You are a consultant that has to make recommendations on what needs to occur to correct the problems. Present your plan of action.
Incandescent bulbs do use more energy than florescent bulbs – the former, however, releases more aesthetically pleasing light than the latter. A more aesthetically pleasing light is something that is more preferred by customers – as implicitly assumed in the case study. My task is therefore to really decide whether I must put more weight to energy saving and environmental friendliness of the solution over aesthetics and economic factors. If I assume that changing incandescent bulbs with florescent bulbs is the only solution, then I would suggest to adapt it. This seems to be the wisest solution due to two reasons. The first reason is that it will save a lot of expenses, and second it is still environmentally sound because it saves energy and there is a way to dispose of used florescent lamps that does not put the environment at risk. The second is that adapting it would not necessarily mean that the hotel will become less advantaged due to loss of competitiveness. Note that its competitor, the Moonlight Hotel, had also adapted the same solution, hence for Shining Star Hotel to adapt it would be leveling the ground. The two hotels would simply have to compete on the other aspects of marketing their hotel – such as in the quality of services. If I however, assume that there are other possible solutions to the problem aside from that suggested by Steve Seaborn, then I would definitely use bulbs that are not florescent-based but still consume less energy than incandescent bulbs. There is lot of these bulbs now, such as the lithium and iridium-based bulbs. I may also retain the incandescent bulbs but look for alternative energy sources like the sun through solar cells. Each of these have their pros and cons, but definitely they could still work without putting too much bad effects on the economic side. For example, being environmentally friendly could be used in the marketing or advertising for the hotel. Considering that customers today are more aware and concern about environmental problems, saying that your hotel or any other business to be environmentally friendly would definitely catch their attention and perhaps their support. In other words, as a consultant I would always tell my client that there are diverse factors that they must consider: social, economic, and environmental factors.