Strategic Issues in China State Owned Hotels

Identifying strategic issues are important for formulating strategies both at the individual hotel and industry levels. This paper intends to identify and discuss the current strategic issues faced by China state owned hotels (SOHs) based on extant literature review both published in Chinese and English. Three mostly discussed/studied issues identified in the external environments are: oversupply, competition from international hotel companies, government interference. Whereas five strategic issues frequently discussed which can be categorized in the context of internal environments are: organizational structures, leadership styles, marketing strategies, operational management, service and standards, and corporate governance. The findings suggest it is imperative to be aware of, and focus on the changing external environments affecting Chinese SOHs. In addition, they also need to find ways to meet challenges stemming from the internal environments: for example, awkward organizational structures and systems, lacking strategic vision and strategic planning systems to pursue economic objectives, and lack of corporate governance in this unique transitional period.