MANAGING SPA BUSINESS AFTER THE COVID-19 CRISIS THROUGH MCKINSEY’S 7-S FRAMEWORK.

Abstract

The spa industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and spa operators have struggled with long-term impacts from the pandemic. The McKinsey’s 7-S Framework is a tool to improve organizational performance and to determine how to implement a proposed strategy in changing circumstances like the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate problems and challenges of spas during the COVID-19 crisis, problem management of spas through the McKinsey’s 7-S Framework, and explore preparedness of spas for the post-COVID-19 phase. This study adopted a qualitative approach involving an in-depth interview to collect data from two hotel spas in Bangkok and Khon Kaen to gain deep understanding and insightful information from the case studies. After the analysis based on the McKinsey’s 7-S Framework, the findings revealed the hotel spas encountered a dramatic customer loss and the reduced number of staff. The hotel spas adjusted their marketing plans to attract more domestic customers and managed insufficient staff with a job rotation which requires multitasking skills. In terms of preparation, the hotel spas’ staff need to maintain good health to ensure customers of spa safety and they consider recruiting more staff to meet customer demands in the future. This study provides useful guidance and recommendations for spas and other businesses to survive the COVID-19 crisis and get prepared for future incidents and serves as a secondary data for future research.