Business Model Assignment: Case Analysis of Great Barrier Reef

Question

Task: Write a detailed report on business model assignment deconstructing the business model canvas of Great Barrier Reef?

Answer

Introduction
A business model canvas prepares analysis enables deconstructing an organization's business model such that the critical success factors can easily be identified. This in turn enables ascertaining the factors that make the business sustainable. In the current scope of BMC, the business model deconstruction of Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef has been undertaken within this business model assignment (Ojasalo, &Ojasalo, 2018). Through BMC it can be understood ways the organization creates, delivers, and captures value. Heron Island Resort is one of the prime resorts located in Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef offering a panoramic view of the surrounding. The resort located in a world heritage property offers its customers an exclusive stay amidst nature, with varied customer experience and activities (Heron Island, 2020). In the current scope of analysis, every element of the BMC has been critically analyzed for the resort.

Business Model Canvas
A business model canvas is a strategic management approach that can enable identifying the sustainability factor in the existing business model (Joyce, & Paquin, 2016). It is a visual chart that includes elements that describe the resort's value proposition, customers, and finances. This chart will identify activities by understanding the potential trade-offs with the nine building blocks of the business model design template regarded as the BMC (Bonazzi, &Zilber, 2014). Some of the key elements of the BMC includes key partners, key activities, key resources, value propositions, customer relationships, channels, customer segments, cost structure and revenue streams as has been analyzed below.

Value Proposition
These include the key offerings undertaken by the resort as per the BMC (Coes, 2014). The unique value proposition offered by the resort includes products and services compiled to deliver tourists' satisfaction.As stated in this business model assignment, it is a seven-star category property offering unique and value stay for its consumers. The property is located at a unique destination that offers an exclusive experience to customers. The staff and employees at the property ensure top quality and safe services especially post Covid-19 times. They are undertaking appropriate compliance procedures as per the Queensland Government's Statement of Compliance on COVID Safe Health Management Plan so that tourists can feel safe as well as protected during their stays. The resort offers packaged tourist services as per seasonal stays along with normal stay packages. It offers tourism products such as packaged tours of the Great Barrier Reef. It provides exclusive diving experience, island and reef tour, snorkeling packages for its customers. Businesses can plan their events as well as conferences at the location. The resort offers varied types of rooms to select from such as the Turtle room, Turtle family room, Reef room, Reef family room, Beachside room, Wistari suite, point suite, and beach house.The restaurants located at the resort also offers exclusive and delectable cuisines matching with the local tastes. Its restaurants appoint chefs from the world over locations for making their customers stay pleasant.

The resort has been performing continuously by catering to its services as a star category resort. The products and services of the resort are high priced, keeping in line with the amenities offered by it. It aims at offering the convenience of a city hotel along with the unique experience of nature.

Table 1: Business Value Model

Key Activities
The key activities outlined in the business model assignment that are conducted by the resort include designing of unique services and products for its customers (tourists). Its employees and staff are trained to design and render services at the resort in a unique manner. At the resort, the staff and employees are trained in a manner such that they can resolve any problem faced by the customers within the shortest possible period. To render a unique value proposition to customers, products, and services are designed by upper management, keeping in mind the current trends and practices in the industry. The prices are also determined according to standardized market rates. The resort mainly attracts customers by way of online promotions and word of mouth advertising. As the resort is located at a remote location, hence the management has undertaken tie-up with various travel agencies and app for the promotion of its resort and attracting customers to the select destination. The report on business model assignment focuses on establishing a customer relationship by servicing them uniquely and meeting their needs. Its revenue streams are mainly generated by way of customer payments for their stays and various services rendered. Moreover, the business has also been successful in attracting varied businesses to the destination for conducting their events and conferences. The resort has been capable of hosting marriage events at their location as well. These corporate clients and wedding events also serve as major revenue streams for the business.

Key Resources
Some of the key resources that are being made use by the business to render products and services to its customers include its physical, human, financial as well as intellectual resources (Hong, & Fauvel, 2013). The resort is spread across vast areas, which hosts its property for letting rooms, restaurants, for activities and open spaces. The physical spaces are designed uniquely to appeal to their customers and serve as an attraction at the location. All the physical properties are kept clean with appealing and soothing colors to offer a unique experience to customers. Human resources is one of the key valued resources of the resort as the management, staff, and employees are striving day in and out to attain the highest possible levels in customer satisfaction. While the management designs and determines unique customer offerings in terms of products and services to customers, the staff and employees are continuously designing their services to match them. These staff as well as employees are provided with training to match up to seven-star property standards such that customer satisfaction at the property can be enhanced. The resort has good financial resources, it is self-financed as well as backed by bank finance. Suchstable financial back-up and sources enable the resort to undertake any additional endeavors as determined by the management and senior-level employees of the company. Its key intellectual resources consist of its unique brand name in the Great Barrier Reef, which has been effective in attracting customers from the world over. Another pertinent intellectual resource includes its tie-up with travel partners which provide the business with capabilities to attract customers towards the business of the company.

Who Are The Key Partners Involved In This Case Of Business Model Assignment?
The resort is located at a destination that attracts tourists from the world over. The resort undertakes various forms of partnership such that it can attract customers from the entire globe. Key partners of the business include primarily the travel businesses located in Australia as well as international travel businesses such as Cox & Kings and Thomas Cook. The resort has also undertaken a successful partnership with various travel apps from around the world some of which include Make My Trip, Agoda, Booking.com, and so on. Partnering with these apps assists in listing services of the business globally. The resort also has certain local tie-ups with Australia tour and travel operators as well as local tourists' operators to assists tourists in finding out a suitable place for staying at the Great Barrier Reef.

The resort has partnered with various suppliers as well such that it can smoothly render its services to its customers. Some of its suppliers include food suppliers, human resource staff's suppliers to meet with seasonal staffing demand, furniture suppliers, amenities suppliers, and many more. These suppliers are for meeting the needs of hospitality at the resort as well as for reddening tourism-related support to tourists. These suppliers provide valued and quality materials as per contract terms and arrangements to meet the needs of the resort of certain physical resources.

Cost Structure
The business operates on a high-end cost structure (Dudin et al, 2015). To deliver high-quality products and services to customers, all materials and other resources whatsoever are purchased at higher costs. The most important cost in the business model includes property and property-related costs associated with the business. Human resource costs are also considerably higher associated with the business. Hence some of the key resources are expensive for the company to gather which considerably increases costs associated with the business. Key activity which is expensive for the business noted in this segment of business model assignment includes staff training and also their acquisition. The business is not cost-driven, on the contrary, it is a value-driven business where cost consideration is limited. There is hence no scope of outsourcing in the business as all products and services rendered to its customers are self-designed by the business itself. It offers premium value to its customers for the unique stay at the location.

Customer Segments
The resort caters to the premium segment of customers, especially international travelers and domestic tourists, who want to experience the uniqueness of the Great Barrier Reef. The customer segment consists of people from high-income class, mostly middle-aged, who wants a unique experience of the Great Barrier Reef. The resort's products and services are not targeted at the broadly based market hence carefully crafted for premium customers only. The resort offers personal assistance to its customers while they are staying at the resort and also offers amenities similar to those available in city hotels coupled with nature stays. The premium customer segment is the target customer for this resort as the prices of its products and services are slightly higher as compared to traditional hotels and stays in the locality. Hence, it is clear on this business model assignment that the resort offers services to the niche segment of international travelers wanting to stay at the destination.

Customer Relationships
The resort aims at establishing a unique relationship with its customers by way of establishing personal relationships. Each customer's needs and demands are analyzed and carefully rendered such that their highest satisfaction levels can be attained. The resort prides itself on offering customized services for its clients and does not adopt any automated services or self-servicing for its clients. Clients are not only assisted in their stays but also in their food experience as well as by providing guided tours to them.

Channels
The resort reaches out to its customers by mostly online channels. As already discussed by making tie-up with its partner networks and conducting online as well as website promotions, the resort raises awareness regarding its existence and its services in the reef. During all times the resort reaches out to its customers by way of a cost-effective initiative to propose the unique value proposition offered by them.

Revenue Streams
The majority of the customers of the business make an online payment, or payment by debit or credit cards to the business (Toro-Jarrín et al, 2016). Customers are ready to pay for the value proposition that they receive from the business. They prefer to pay high prices for the products of the business due to the exclusivity in services and products offered by the business. This is the major source of revenue for the business that contributes towards the entire stream of revenues.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the above analysis on business model assignment has effectively identified some of the key components of the business. The exclusivity of the products and services offered by the business primarily generates revenue streams and creates sustainability for the business. The business's exclusivity and appeal attract large volumes of tourists regularly to the resort.

References
Bonazzi, F. L. Z., & Zilber, M. A. (2014). Innovation and Business Model: a case study about integration of Innovation Funnel and Business Model Canvas. Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios-RBGN, 16(53), 616-637. DOI: 10.7819/rbgn.v16i52.1812

Coes, D. H. (2014). Critically assessing the strengths and limitations of the Business Model Canvas (Master's thesis, University of Twente).

Dudin, M. N., Lyasnikov, N. V. E., Leont’eva, L. S., Reshetov, K. J. E., & Sidorenko, V. N. (2015). Business model canvas as a basis for the competitive advantage of enterprise structures in the industrial agriculture. Business model assignmentBiosciences Biotechnology Research Asia, 12(1), 887-894.http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1736

Heron Island. (2020). Company Details. Retrieved from [https://www.heronisland.com/] Hong, Y. C., & Fauvel, C. (2013). Criticisms, variations and experiences with business model canvas.

Joyce, A., & Paquin, R. L. (2016). The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of cleaner production, 135, 1474-1486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.06.067

Ojasalo, J., & Ojasalo, K. (2018). Service logic business model canvas. Journal of research in marketing and entrepreneurship. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-06-2016-0015

Toro-Jarrín, M. A., Ponce-Jaramillo, I. E., & Güemes-Castorena, D. (2016). Methodology for the of building process integration of Business Model Canvas and Technological Roadmap. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 110, 213-225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.01.009