Hyatt's housekeeper debacle

Abstract

Case description

This case describes what happened when three Boston area hotels, the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and the Hyatt Harborside, decided, during the 2009 recession, to layoff all their housekeepers and replace them with employees from an outsourcing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The action created a public relations nightmare for the company. In 2009 many other organizations had implemented layoffs with little reaction from the public. Students are asked to think about why the Hyatt Hotels had been singled out. Was the main problem their decision, or the communication and implementation of their decision, and what could they have done differently?

Citation

Landau, J. (2013), "Hyatt's housekeeper debacle", , Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/TCJ-09-2013-B003