Caso kimpton

oikos sustainability case collection oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition 2006

3rd Prize

Kimpton Hotels
Balancing Strategy and Environmental Sustainability

Murray Silverman Tom Thomas College of Business San Francisco State University

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Hockerts The Fair

oikos sustainability case collection

oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition 2006

3rd Prize

CASESUMMARY Kimpton’s founder, Bill Kimpton, is credited with inventing the “boutique” hotel segment in 1981. By 2005, Kimpton Hotels was comprised of 39 hotels throughout North America and Canada, each one designed to create a unique and exceptional guest experience. While Kimpton was known for designing hotels that reflected the energy and personality of their distinct locations, by 2004 the company’stop executives realized that uniting its hotel portfolio under a single recognizable brand could add considerable value. One aspect of the branding effort was to add the Kimpton name to each property, as in “Hotel Monaco San Francisco, a Kimpton Hotel.” Another aspect of their efforts to establish the Kimpton brand was the development and roll out to all of their hotels of a major environmentalinitiative they named EarthCare. EarthCare was built on an already established commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Their Hotel Triton was a model for the program, as it already included initiatives such as: energy efficient lighting solutions, low-flow/high pressure showerheads and sink aerators, and toilets that reduce water use, linen and towel reuse program, non-toxic,non-allergenic, all natural cleaning products, low VOC paints used to paint walls and ceilings and more. Planned future initiatives went well beyond those in the Triton Hotel. There were two basic ground rules for the rollout: New initiatives couldn’t cost more than what was already budgeted for operations and capital improvements, and they couldn’t adversely affect customer perceptions or satisfaction. Thecase allows students to explore whether there is a ‘business case’ for the Earth Care Program as well as posing a number of implementation issues, including: • • • • Potential resistance by General managers to centralized imperatives Potential resistance by hotel staff to new products and procedures Investments might have slower payback period, lower rate of return, intangible benefits For someproducts, required investments might exceed existing budgets

This case was developed to be cross-disciplinary and can be included in courses in: - environmental management - business & society - strategic management

Silverman / Thomas

Kimpton Hotels – Balancing Strategy and Environmental Sustainability

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oikos Sustainability Case Writing Competition 2006

3rd Prize

KimptonHotels: Balancing Strategy and Environmental Sustainability

Michael Pace faced a dilemma. He was Kimpton Hotels’ West Coast Director of Operations and Environmental Programs, General Manager of its Villa Florence Hotel in San Francisco, and the main catalyst for implementing its “EarthCare” program nationally. He was determined to help the boutique hotel chain “walk the talk” regarding itscommitment to environmental responsibility, but he also had agreed not to introduce any new products or processes that would be more expensive than those they replaced. Now that the first phase of the program had been implemented nationwide, he and the company’s team of “eco-champions” were facing some difficult challenges with the rollout of the second, more ambitious, phase. For example, the team had...