This case study is based on a real life situation of Prof. John Davis who is the Dean of the MBA program here at SP Jain. Prof. Davis was managing a bunch of 4-5 star hotels with a renowned hotel group after college and decided to attend graduate school. After graduate school, he decided to join Nike for a short while. After spending a few years, he decided to experience the hotel industry and market for himself and set to invest in a new hotel property roughly 20 years ago. .
He found a 100 acre property just on the border of Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River which had several lodges littered on the property. Prof. Davis and his group of investors resolved to invest more in the property by renovating and giving the lodges a new look. The lodges were spread about the property in clusters with some on the top of a nearby hill and others near the reception area which was at the bottom. After a month of renovation, they decided to open up the hotel in mid-July. The reception area was a massive lodge with high ceilings and beautifully decorated lobby. .
On the opening day, there were numerous customers and things were looking busy about the newly renovated property. Unfortunately, July is the time of summer storms in the region and one happened to appear on this fine opening day of Prof. Davis' new hotel. He was in the lobby area asking for opinions from the customers about his new hotel, when the entire lobby was illuminated by the light from a lightning strike followed by the sound of thunder which shook the entire lobby area. At the time, he knew lightning had struck nearby but he had no idea how close it was to his property. After a short while, one of his employees came running into the reception with ragged breath. He informed Prof. Davis about a fire as calmly as possible for fear of causing panic amongst the new hotel's numerous customers. The employee told him that lightning had struck a grove of trees near the edge of the property up on the hill.