Cybersecurity Challenge Facing Marriott Company
Final Paper
As the global marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, it is incumbent upon human resources to broaden its strategic mission and become a strategic partner with executive staff. This requires human resources to have a detailed understanding of not only the human resources field, but the strengths and challenges of its organization, and the complexities of its industry. Through these units of knowledge, human resources can maximize its value by providing competent advice and counsel to its organization as it strives to achieve its strategic objectives.
The comprehensive Final Paper comprises four parts, with Parts 1, 2, and 3 submitted during the first three weeks of the course. In Week 5, a cohesive final paper will be due that includes Part 4, an executive summary, and the previously submitted Parts 1, 2, and 3. This final paper should be eight to ten pages and should incorporate any comments or suggestions made by the instructor on Parts 1, 2, and 3.
Focus of the Final Paper
In your final project, you are to choose a major problem/issue affecting an organization of your choice, and then utilize your detailed knowledge of human resources and strategic planning to develop a comprehensive plan that minimizes, and hopefully eliminates, this threat to your chosen organization’s ability to meet its long-range organizational goals and objectives. The components of this comprehensive project are as follows:
Executive Summary: Your final paper should begin with an Executive Summary, which is an abbreviated capture of the entire paper and as such should touch upon all major points while engaging the reader.
Part 1 – Overview of Organization/Problem (due in Week 1): Provide an overview of the organization and the problem/issue that challenges that organization. Next, detail how the problem/issue affects (or can affect) the future viability of the organization. Finally, discuss the principle role of human resources in an organization and how human resources can provide critical advice and counsel to the organization in addressing this challenge. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
Part 2 – Environment Analysis (due in Week 2): Optimal solutions are determined when a researcher has a thorough understanding of a company and its industry, along with the strengths and weaknesses that impact its future viability. In the second part of your plan, perform a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats) on your chosen organization and provide an analysis of these results in light of the problem or issue under study. Be attentive to identifying how the problem or issue impacts the organization and its competitive position within the industry. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
Part 3 – Financial Analysis (due in Week 3): Nearly every problem or issue confronting an organization has a financial or budgetary impact. For instance, staff turnover has not only a direct cost on recruitment expenses, training costs, and productivity, but also an indirect cost related to the loss of organizational learning. In Part 3, detail the financial implications to the organization related to your problem or issue, including the additional costs that may arise if the problem or issue is not resolved effectively. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
Part 4 - Recommendations (due in Week 5): The final part of your comprehensive project incorporates your recommendations. Based on your work in Parts 1, 2, and 3, provide 2-3 recommendations to organizational leadership that would resolve the problem/issue in question. Be sure to detail any challenges the organization should consider in implementing your recommendations (culture, motivation, etc.) and your strategy to overcome these challenges. This section of the paper should be two to three pages.
Note that some of the information related to this project may not be readily available in course materials, requiring you to research contemporary management trends in the public sector.
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper
Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.).
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources.
Must use at least four scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.
Final Paper: Cybersecurity Challenge – Marriott
Student's Name
Course Name and number
Instructor's Name
Date Submitted
Executive Summary
Marriott is a company operating in the modern hospitality industry and faces challenges that have come with the advancement in technology. As the world's leading hotel chain with properties distributed worldwide, the company serves millions of customers every year. This means the company stores valuable customer data, putting it at risk of cyberattacks from malicious individuals. Marriott experienced two major cyberattacks between 2018 and 2020, which threatened to affect its viability. In addition, Marriott faced huge financial implications, with the company being fined $123 million by the EU and customers filing a class lawsuit due to the first incident. Nonetheless, its financial performance over the years and its many properties stand to help alleviate the consequences of the attacks. In the future, the company needs to prevent another major attack, which could mean the close of business. Recommendations to help the company going into the future include developing a cybersecurity culture, investment in cybersecurity tools, investment in insurance cover, and reputational risk management.
Part 1 – Overview of Organization/Problem
Businesses operating in the 21st century face numerous challenges brought about by the advancement in technology. Marriott is the world's largest hotel chain comprising 30 brands and owning more than 7,000 properties distributed across the world (Marriott, 2020-a). As a major successful company in the modern business environment, Marriot faces the challenges that come with technology, one of them being cybersecurity. Marriott is a company that faces a huge cybersecurity challenge, but human resource management can play an integral role in minimizing the associated risks.
Marriott began operations in 1927 when J. Willard Marriott and Alice, his wife, started providing great food and great service to customers, setting up the hotel to become one of the best in the world today (Marriott, 2020-a). The company now operates in 131 countries around the world, with its operations being supported by a staggering 174,000 employees as of the end of 2019 (Marriott, 2020-a). 47% of the company's employees are men, while 53% are women (Marriott, 2020-a). A majority of the employees, 136,000 to be specific, work in the US. According to the company's 2019 annual report, the company managed gross fee revenues of $3.8 billion, which represented an increase of 5% from the previous year (Marriott, 2020-b). In addition, the company had annual revenues of about $21 billion and a net income of $1.27 billion in the same year (Marriott, 2020-b). As can be seen, Marriott is quite a huge company financially and in terms of presence in the world.
Cybersecurity is a key challenge facing the company. Between 2018 and 2020, the company was hit by two major cybersecurity breaches. The breach in 2018 involved the leaking of personal information of about 383 million guests as well as five million passport numbers and eight million credit cards (Ikeda, 2020). While the 2020 attack did not result in the loss of payment information, key personal data such as phone numbers, names, and email addresses were accessed. Following the 2018 breach, the company was fined $123 million in the EU (Ikeda, 2020). As a company that stores its guests' personal information, it is easy to see how the company is bound to be targeted by attackers in the future. The cybersecurity challenges facing the company affect, to a great extent, its future viability. There is a direct financial implication of a cybersecurity breach, with the company being fined $123 million. The biggest implication, however, lies in the damage to its reputation. With the personal information of hundreds of millions of its customers falling into the hands of attackers, its reputation has been damaged to a great extent. This is bound to affect the number of guests it serves. If another major attack occurs in the future, the damage could be catastrophic.
Nonetheless, the HR function in the company can play a tremendous role in minimizing the risks of a major attack occurring. Mello (2019) noted that forming a strategic partnership with human resources is key for success. Breaches primarily originate from employees, and according to Alshaikh (2020), establishing a cybersecurity culture among employees can help minimize cybersecurity incidents. In addition, it is important to recognize that HR has a key role in guaranteeing the cyber-efficacy of the organization's culture (Sanders, 2016). Therefore, human resources can be developed to foster a culture of cybersecurity in the organization to reduce the chances of other cyberattacks occurring.
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges facing modern organizations, and Marriott is no exception. The fact that the company has already experienced two major attacks in two years puts it at a huge risk of losing customers. Therefore, prevention of another major attack should be the primary goal of the company.
Part 2 – Environmental Analysis
Companies holding valuable personal and financial information are at constant risk of cyberattacks from malicious persons and groups. Having experienced two major cyberattacks in two years, Marriot risks damaging its reputation further if it does not put measures in place to reduce the incidents and severity of the attacks. SWOT analysis is a valuable tool that can help understand the position of Marriot in relation to the cybersecurity challenge.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
* Diversity
* Vast Presence
* Financial Strength
* Several lawsuits
* It is a family business
* Data protection
Opportunities
Threats
* Expansion opportunities
* Appealing to younger generations
* Address cybersecurity challenges
* Cyberattacks
* Competition
* Pandemics
Strengths
As shown in the table, Marriot has several strengths that it can use to bolster its position further as the leading hotel chain in the world. First, the company's workforce is characterized by diversity, with women making up 55% of its workforce and also all races being part of its team (Marriott, 2020-a). This helps in building its reputation. Second, the company has a vast presence as it operates in 131 countries, making its expansion plans easier. With annual revenues of about $21 billion and net income of $1.27 billion (Marriott, 2020-b), the company has the financial strength to facilitate further expansion. These strengths can help the company address the challenges it is facing as well as facilitate expansion plans.
Weaknesses
Marriot has faced several lawsuits that have to some extent, affected its reputation. In 2014, the company faced a lawsuit against the FCC for blocking WIFI and consequently paid $600,000 in fines (Grant, 2015). The company also faced $123 million in 2018 for a data breach (Ikeda, 2020). As a family business, the company misses out on implementing new ways of business that can appeal to younger generations. The company has also failed to protect its customers' data as it was subject to two data breaches between 2018 and 2020 (Ikeda, 2020). These weaknesses have the potential to derail the progress the company has made towards becoming an industry leader.
Opportunities
The company has expansion opportunities in numerous locations around the world due to its vast presence in many countries. With the many decades of experience it already has, opening up new locations can be an easy undertaking. The company also has the opportunity to appeal to younger generations who have fast-changing tastes and preferences. Finally, there is an opportunity for the company to address the cybersecurity challenge and prevent further reputational damage.
Threats
Cyberattacks are the biggest problem the company is facing. As a hotel chain, it holds valuable personal information that cyber attackers can seek. Another major attack can be catastrophic for the business. Competition from big hotels such as Hilton and small ones offering specialized services can affect the operations of Marriot. Furthermore, the occurrence of pandemics such as COVID-19 can bring the business to a standstill.
Impact of the Problem
The cybersecurity challenge can have a huge financial and reputational impact on the organization. As determined earlier, the company already faced a $123 million fine from the EU due to the 2018 data breach. An occurrence of another cyberattack may attract more fines as well as reputational damage that can drive customers away. Mello (2019) noted that strategic HR is fast, proactive, and integrated and can thus help Marriot address the cybersecurity challenge.
The cybersecurity challenge facing Marriot is immense, and if relevant measures are not implemented, it can put the company's future in jeopardy. However, the company's key strengths, including diversity, vast presence, and financial position, can help the company address the cybersecurity challenge and prevent financial loss and further reputational damage.<...