M3.1 Lemon Tree in US Case

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case W95C91
David A. Wernick July 14, 2021
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Siddharth K. Upadhyay
Does the U.S. Hospitality Market Offer Fertile Soil for

Lemon Tree Hotels’ Inclusive Business Model?
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“It’s true that some hotel companies have tried to include people with different abilities
and incorporate them in the workforce. I do not think it has been very successful in any
other hotel than Lemon Tree. It needs a lot of effort. The beauty is, once you implement
it, then it’s a flywheel.”1
— Patanjali Keswani, chairman and managing director, Lemon Tree Hotels
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“We find that our entire team—not just those who are differently abled—but the entire
team of 5,500 employees feel better engaged and more driven and more motivated
because they work in a company which is so different and so inclusive.”2
— Aradhana Lal, vice president of brand, communication and sustainability initiatives,
Lemon Tree Hotels
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It was not easy to catch Aradhana Lal by surprise. The vice president of brand, communication and
sustainability initiatives for Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd., India’s largest and fastest-growing mid-market hotel
chain, was an industry veteran who felt she had seen it all during her two and a half decades in the industry.
However, a conversation earlier in the day with Patanjali (Patu) Keswani, the company’s founder, chairman,
and managing director, had truly caught her off guard. Keswani stopped by her office on the way to lunch
and dropped a bombshell: He was considering expanding Lemon Tree’s international footprint by entering
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the U.S. market. That was certainly a stunner, given that the COVID-19 pandemic had brought the global
hospitality industry to its knees. The real surprise, however, was what came next. The boss told her he
wished to replicate Lemon Tree’s highly acclaimed human resources (HR) strategy Inclusion Program in the
U.S. market and wanted her advice on whether such an idea was feasible.
The Inclusion Program focused on hiring large numbers of people with physical and intellectual
disabilities and people from other socially marginalized groups, including orphans, survivors of acid attacks,
and members of the transgender community, and putting them to work throughout various areas of hotel
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Published by WDI Publishing, a division of the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the University of Michigan.
© 2021 David A. Wernick and Siddharth K. Upadhyay. This case was written by David A. Wernick, Teaching Professor, and Siddharth K.
Upadhyay, Doctoral Student, at Florida International University’s College of Business with research assistance from Marcos Santos and
Madison Daum. The case was prepared as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling
of a situation. The case should not be considered criticism or endorsement and should not be used as a source of primary data. A
representative of Lemon Tree Hotels reviewed and approved the case before publication.
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Rangarajan K, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade until Jan 2023. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Does the U.S. Hospitality Market Offer Fertile Soil for Lemon Tree Hotels’ Inclusive Business Model? W95C91
operations. The idea, Keswani confided, was to launch the brand in a major city such as New York or San
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Francisco and then gradually expand into other American cities, preferably those frequented by Indian
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business people and tourists. “Get back to me within 48 hours,” he said as he briskly exited her office.
Background
Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd. was India’s third largest hotelier, with 84 properties and 8,300 rooms across
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51 cities. The company, which owned and operated roughly two-thirds of its properties and leased and
managed the rest, focused primarily on the mid-market segment. This segment was comprised of 3-star
hotels that catered to value-driven business and leisure travelers. Room rates typically ranged between $50
and $75 per night.3 Its flagship Lemon Tree Hotels brand was the leader in this segment with roughly 11%
of the market.4 Its main competitors in the mid-market segment included Accor’s Mercure, Novotel, and Ibis
brands; ITC’s Fortune brand; Royal Orchid’s Regenta brand; and Sarovar Hotels and Resorts’ Portico brand.
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The Lemon Tree company also had a growing presence in the economy segment (2-star hotels) with its
Red Fox brand. Room rates at the company’s 12 Red Fox properties ranged from $30 to $50 per night. Red
Fox hotels offered clean rooms, courteous service, a breakfast buffet, a gym, and a business center.
In recent years Lemon Tree had entered the upper mid-market (4-star) segment with its Lemon Tree
Premier brand, which offered larger and better-appointed rooms, more personalized service, and better
amenities. Additionally, in 2019, Lemon Tree inaugurated Aurika Hotels & Resorts, a new upscale (5-star)
brand catering to India’s elite and foreign executives.
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The New Delhi-based hotel company was the brainchild of Keswani, a former hotel executive with the
Taj Group and management consultant with A.T. Kearney. Keswani founded Lemon Tree in 2002 on the hunch
that the market for mid-priced hotels was poised to explode due to India’s economic dynamism and the
growing popularity of business and leisure travel throughout the subcontinent. At the time, India’s hotel
industry was top-heavy with a glut of 5-star branded properties that catered to foreign business executives
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and wealthy tourists.5 There was also an abundance of non-branded, 1- and 2-star lodgings geared to
budget-minded travelers, but few offerings in the middle. Keswani sought to fill this void, while offering
customers superior value for the money. “All I wanted to do was build a hotel and give 60% of what a 5-star
hotel gives at 30% of the costs,” he stated.6
Keswani opened his first hotel in 2004—a 49-room property in the city of Gurgaon, a fast-growing
commercial hub near New Delhi. That hotel turned a quick profit, affirming the Lemon Tree boss’s intuition.
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Two years later, Lemon Tree received a $75-million investment from private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
Flush with capital, the company began its nationwide buildout. The hotelier tapped into additional resources
in 2012 when it formed a joint venture with Dutch pension fund APG, using those funds to build 35 new
hotels. Lemon Tree raised an additional $160 million in March 2018 with an initial public offering and used
a portion of those funds to acquire mid-market competitor Keys Hotels.7
As 2019 drew to a close, Lemon Tree appeared to be in an enviable position. A national shortage
of inventory was driving room prices ever higher and boosting operating margins. The outlook for the
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mid-market segment was particularly robust, with annual revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth of
4.6% between 2013 and 2018—the highest of any market segment.8 Meanwhile, the company’s expansion
drive continued apace, with Lemon Tree planning to add some 50 hotels and 4,500 rooms to its portfolio
by 2021.9 Lemon Tree’s executives were particularly excited about the company’s foray into the upscale
market. Its first Aurika branded property in Udaipur, Rajasthan, opened in late 2019 to much fanfare and
the company aimed to open three others within 24 months, including a signature property in Mumbai
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that would be among the largest hotels in all of India.10 Lemon Tree had also begun dipping its toes in
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international waters, opening hotels in Dubai in 2019 and Bhutan in 2020.
And then COVID-19 hit. In the span of a few weeks, Lemon Tree’s properties went from nearly 80%
occupancy to virtually empty, as the Indian government imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown in late March
2020.11 Lemon Tree’s response to the pandemic was swift and efficient. In April it drastically scaled back
operations at nearly all of its properties, while offering some hotels as quarantine facilities for doctors and
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other frontline workers. The company also asked 800 of its top managers to take steep pay cuts, instituted
a hiring freeze, and put its hotel renovation program on pause.12 In May, Lemon Tree implemented its “Rest
Assured” program, establishing new and more rigorous health and hygiene protocols for all customers,
visitors, and staff.13
As 2020 came to a close, Lemon Tree could point to some hopeful signs. Occupancy rates were creeping
upward as lockdown-weary Indians began to look for affordable getaways within driving distance of their
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homes—a phenomena dubbed “revenge travel.”14 Additionally, there was growing demand for ancillary
services such as food delivery, laundry, and catering for weddings and other special events. Industry
observers, meanwhile, projected that an accelerated rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine would give the industry
a much-needed boost and that occupancy rates could return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022 or 2023.15
The Inclusion Program

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A cornerstone of Lemon Tree’s success was its Inclusion Program, which focused on recruiting, training,
and hiring people with physical and intellectual disabilities and other challenges to work alongside non-
disabled staff throughout various areas of hotel operations. The goal was to create a cohesive and high-
performing team of people of different backgrounds, abilities, and ethnicities who shared the company’s
commitment to service excellence.16
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The program began in 2007 with the hiring of two hearing-impaired individuals to work as kitchen
helpers in Lemon Tree’s Gurgaon hotel. That move, undertaken largely as a charitable gesture, led to an
emotional meeting between Keswani and the mother of one of the new employees. Clutching an enormous
bouquet of flowers and fighting back tears, the mother profusely thanked Keswani for giving her child a
chance at a “dignified life” and invited him to attend the child’s wedding—a ceremony made possible by
his employment. Moved by the encounter, Keswani instructed his executive team to ramp up the program
with a goal of hiring 100 speech- and hearing-impaired workers by 2011.17 Shortly thereafter, Lemon Tree
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devised its Seven Pillar Inclusion Model, which remains in place today. The pillars are: 1) Vision has to
come from the top; 2) It must cascade through the leadership and management teams; 3) Assign dedicated
resources for inclusion; 4) Sensitization of the entire workforce; 5) Job mapping; 6) Partnerships with
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and skilling organizations; and 7) Scale up nationally.18
Initially, Lemon Tree’s differently abled workers assumed back-office roles in the hotels, where direct
customer interaction was limited. Over time, however, as the program expanded to individuals with visual
impairments, orthopedic disabilities (e.g., missing limbs), Down syndrome, autism, acid attack survivors,
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and economically and socially marginalized groups, some workers were given customer-facing roles, primarily
at reception and in the hotel restaurant. The key to success, as Lal explained, was understanding both the
limitations and the capabilities of these individuals and assigning tasks accordingly:
“If somebody is deaf and he’s working in the coffee shop team or the housekeeping team, he can still
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perform the same 30 tasks as any person who is hearing. It doesn’t make any difference. When we work
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with someone who is autistic, there will be some constraints that person will have and maybe they need
to work in an environment where everything is a little more predictable and there is not too much human
interaction—a little interaction is okay. So, the goal is to not let the disability get in the way of doing their
work and to focus on their ability.”19
Lemon Tree received numerous awards for its Inclusion Program, including the national award by the
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president of India for Best Employer of Persons with Disabilities in 2011, the Asian Human Capital Award
in 2015, the Financial Times Corporate Responsibility award in 2018, and the 2019 Tourism for Tomorrow
Award for Investing in People. Moreover, it was perennially ranked as one the best companies to work for
in India.20
While Lemon Tree advertised its commitment to the triple bottom line (i.e., profit, planet, and
people), the company insisted that its Inclusion Program was not motivated by charity nor corporate social
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responsibility. Rather, it was an integral part of Lemon Tree’s business model and a source of competitive
advantage. Chief among those benefits was enhanced worker productivity. For example, Lemon Tree reported
that its hearing-impaired housekeeping staff were able to clean three to five more rooms on average per
shift than their non-hearing-impaired coworkers, amounting to a 15% productivity gain.21 In the hotel
restaurants, meanwhile, hearing-impaired employees were faster to notice customers attempting to attract
the server’s attention and thus more responsive. Other benefits included increased employee morale,
creativity, and engagement. Lemon Tree had also experienced lower worker turnover than its peers (roughly
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25% per year at Lemon Tree vs. 60% industry-wide), and high levels of customer loyalty. The latter, Lal
acknowledged, came as something of a surprise to the company.
Lal said they noticed “a very interesting impact on consumers that we had not estimated and hadn’t
even planned for. Our guests tell us that one of the reasons they come back to Lemon Tree again and again
is that we hire people with disabilities and they feel as though they are participating in that person’s
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growth and independence and ability to earn for himself. Imagine thinking about a brand in such a personal
way. It’s a really great reason for them to come back to us, so we’re really happy about that.”22
Clearly, there were significant costs involved with running the Inclusion Program. For instance, Lemon
Tree had found it necessary to establish its own in-house learning and development team. The team,
which worked closely with Lemon Tree’s numerous NGO partners, offered specialized training programs for
employees with various physical and developmental challenges, as well as for non-disabled staff. In an
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effort to promote communication and cohesion, Lemon Tree required all employees to learn Indian Sign
Language (ISL) and pass a proficiency test, with those seeking management positions requiring a score of at
least 85%.23 Additionally, non-disabled workers were required to undergo extensive “sensitization training”
to learn how to work effectively with their differently abled coworkers. Initially, some of Lemon Tree’s non-
disabled staff chafed at the idea of spending extra time learning new skills and adjusting their behaviors to
accommodate their colleagues with special challenges. But over time, these staff members had warmed to
the Inclusion Program and become among its most enthusiastic supporters. As Lal observed:
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“Today, after 12 years, ask any [Lemon Tree] manager how they like working with team members
who have all these different special needs. They will say, once they are trained and know their task, I am
satisfied and my team is satisfied, because they know what to do and they will do it with their full potential
and I would say earnestness and they won’t stop.”24
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Growth Industry
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Corporate interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives had grown substantially in recent
years.25 The reasons were not difficult to discern. Studies showed that corporate DEI leaders not only
achieved better financial results than their industry peers, but also experienced benefits in the areas of
decision-making, innovation, and talent acquisition and retention.26 Moreover, research suggested that
these benefits were maximized when companies fundamentally reshaped their power structures to create
leadership pathways for previously under-represented groups.27
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While the vast majority of corporate DEI programs focused on the hiring and promotion of women,
racial and ethnic minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community, a growing number of companies were
recruiting persons with disabilities (PWDs).28
There were numerous reasons for this trend. First, PWDs represented a promising and relatively
untapped labor pool. According to Accenture, in the United States there were more than 15 million working-
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age people with visible and non-visible disabilities, many of whom were unemployed or underemployed.29
Second, employers were beginning to recognize that, far from being liabilities, PWDs could positively
affect the workplace environment and enhance performance. Such individuals were characteristically
punctual, hardworking, dedicated, and persistent—all of which could lead to greater productivity, reduced
absenteeism, and lower turnover.30 In addition, research suggested that businesses hiring PWDs often
reported improved financial performance. A 2018 Accenture study, for example, found that companies
offering the most inclusive working environment for disabled workers achieved 28% higher revenue, 30%
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greater profit margins, and twice the net income rate of their industry peers.31
Most corporate disability inclusion initiatives focused on hiring workers with speech, hearing, and
vision impairments, but a growing number of companies—particularly in the high-tech sector—had begun
recruiting individuals with neurological conditions such as autism, dyspraxia (a neurologically-based physical
disorder), and dyslexia. Such individuals often had a special talent for performing complex mathematical
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calculations or enhanced memory and pattern recognition skills. Writing in the Harvard Business Review,
Austin and Pisani (2017) noted that companies embracing “neurodiversity” were experiencing a wide range
of benefits including reputational enhancements, productivity gains, quality improvements, increases in
innovative capabilities, and greater employee engagement.32
Disability Inclusion in the U.S. Hotel Sector

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Among U.S. hotel groups, Marriott International was arguably the leader in the disability inclusion
space. The Bethesda, Maryland-based chain, whose portfolio included 7,500 properties in over 130 countries,
began its disability inclusion initiatives in 1969 with the establishment of the Marriott Foundation for
People with Disabilities.33 The foundation provided grants to organizations like Bridges from School to Work
(BSW) that offered workforce training to young people with disabilities. BSW had served more than 20,000
young people since its inception.34 Additionally, Marriott established 18 regional diversity and inclusion
councils and associate networks that sought out potential recruits from the ranks of the disabled and
other underrepresented groups. Individual Marriott properties, meanwhile, had their own disability inclusion
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initiatives. The Chicago Marriott, for example, had a longstanding partnership with the International
Association of Machinists Center for Administering Rehabilitation and Employment Services (IAM CARES) to
provide training to more than two dozen disabled individuals each year.35 In 2020, Marriott International
was named as one of the “Best Places to Work for People with Disabilities” by the Disability Equality
Index—one of only two hospitality companies to receive a perfect score of 100. It also was ranked first by
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DiversityInc in its 2020 list of Top Companies for People with Disabilities.36
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Hilton Worldwide was another of the industry’s disability inclusion leaders. Like Marriott, Hilton had
created regional inclusion councils to oversee outreach to people with disabilities and other minority groups.
The hotelier’s outreach efforts included a partnership between its Embassy Suites brand and Project SEARCH,
an organization that provided job training and employment assistance to adults with developmental and
intellectual disabilities. As of October 2020, more than 450 individuals had participated in the program and
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over 150 graduates had been placed in full-time jobs.37 DiversityInc ranked Hilton fourth in its 2020 list of
Top Companies for People with Disabilities.38
The Hyatt Hotels Corporation had also won plaudits for its disability inclusion efforts. The Chicago-
based company had seven diversity business resource groups, one of which (disABILITIES) was geared to
recruiting and promoting people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Hyatt also had a longstanding
partnership with the non-profit Hands on Educational Services to provide vocational training and placement
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assistance to PWDs. Begun in 1998 at a Hyatt Hotel in Tampa, Florida, the partnership had grown to include
over 30 Hyatt properties in nine states. The program offered job-readiness training, job coaching, job
placement services, and on-the-job training to individuals across a wide range of areas, including culinary,
engineering, housekeeping, and guest services. More than 1,500 people had received training since the
program’s inception and Hyatt had extended job offers to several hundred program graduates.39
While the aforementioned hotel chains were clearly committed to increasing the ranks of PWDs within
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their organizations and creating a more inclusive work environment, none of their initiatives appeared to
match Lemon Tree’s Inclusion Program in scale or scope. Perhaps the closest analogue to what Lemon Tree
was doing in the hospitality sector, albeit on a much smaller scale, was a pilot project that coffee retailer
Starbucks had launched in 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That project involved creating a “Signing Store”
staffed almost exclusively by deaf and hearing-impaired employees. The concept was so well received that
Starbucks brought it to the United States in 2018, opening a second such store in Washington, D.C., near
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Gallaudet University, a college for hearing-impaired students. The U.S. store required that all employees—
deaf and hearing alike—be proficient in American Sign Language (ASL). Customers who did not know ASL
could communicate their orders by pointing to items on a menu, writing them on a digital notepad, or
typing them on a console with keyboards designed for back-and-forth typed conversations.40 In 2019 and
2020, Starbucks rolled out additional Signing Stores in Guangzhou, Penang, and Tokyo.41
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The U.S. Hotel Industry and COVID-19
The hotel industry was unquestionably a key pillar of the U.S. economy, generating over $200 billion in
revenue and employing over 2 million people in 2019.42 In 2020, however, the market collapsed under the
weight of pandemic-related quarantines, travel restrictions, and social distancing mandates. Leading brands
like Hyatt and Marriott reported single-digit occupancy rates during the second quarter.43 Occupancy rates
for the full year came in at an all-time low of 44% for the industry—a 22% dip from 2019. Meanwhile, the
average daily hotel rate fell by 21% in 2020, and the RevPAR fell by 48%. For the first time in history, the
industry surpassed one billion unsold rooms.44
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Business travel, which accounted for an oversized chunk of industry revenue, was particularly hard hit
by the pandemic, falling by 85% in 2020 as compared to 2019.45 Among the biggest casualties were hotels
in city centers that catered to conventions, concerts, and sporting events. Most analysts speculated that
business travel would take longer to recover than leisure travel, and might not ever fully return to its pre-
pandemic levels, as companies increasingly eschewed in-person meetings in favor of Zoom calls and other
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remote solutions.46 The pandemic also dealt a severe blow to hotel-sector employment, eliminating more
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than 670,000 hotel industry operation jobs and nearly 4 million hospitality jobs.47 As the American Hotel
and Lodging Association noted, the COVID-related lockdowns erased more than 10 years of job growth in
the accommodations sector.48
Surprisingly, the pandemic had not curbed the appeal of the U.S. hotel market for operators and
investors. During 2020, Radisson, Choice Hotels International, and several other chains had all opened new
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U.S. hotels. All told, more than 900 hotels opened in the United States in 2020 and 960 more openings
were planned for 2021.49 Sonesta International Hotels went on a major buying binge in 2020, acquiring 103
properties from the International Hotels Group, 98 from Marriott International, and the entire 900-property
portfolio of Red Lion Hotels. By the end of 2020, upstart Sonesta International’s 1,200-hotel portfolio was
larger than Hyatt’s.50
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Major Players and Market Segments
There were five hotel companies that dominated the U.S. market, accounting for nearly half of all hotel
room inventory: Marriott International (886,308 rooms), Hilton (703,716), Wyndham (546,716), Choice
Hotels International (482,743), and Intercontinental (463,111).51 Each of these hotel groups managed a
variety of brands, from midscale to luxury.
Leading brands in the midscale space were La Quinta Inns & Suites with 89,456 rooms, Best Western
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(35,201), and Wingate by Wyndham (16,729). Brand leaders in the upper-midscale segment included
Hampton by Hilton with 266,933 rooms, Holiday Inn (214,000), and Fairfield by Marriott (94,603).52 The
major players in the luxury segment were Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts with about 25,000 rooms, AC
Hotels by Marriott (20,777), and Omni Hotels and Resorts (20,010).53
Leisure travel accounted for roughly 60% of the U.S. hotel sector’s demand, with business travel
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accounting for the remainder.54 Whereas leisure travelers tended to gravitate toward either budget hotels
offering few amenities or pricey resorts offering all-inclusive packages, business travelers tended to
patronize midscale and upper-midscale properties. Indeed, Marriott and Hyatt reported that business travel
accounted for roughly three-quarters of room demand.55 Business travelers tended to value factors such as
location (i.e., proximity to airports and city centers), cleanliness, suitability of meeting facilities, quality
of staff service, healthy food and fitness options, safety and security, quality of amenities such as breakfast,
parking, and Wi-Fi, and price-to-value relationship.56 Based on these and other factors, Fairfield by Marriott
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received the highest marks in the upper-midscale category in a 2019 survey of business travelers, whereas
Wingate by Wyndham scored the highest in the midscale segment.57
In recent years, hotel rewards programs had emerged as a key driver of growth in the midscale and
upper midscale sectors. As with airlines and rental car agencies, hoteliers used these programs to encourage
direct bookings on their websites (rather than via third parties) and to build loyalty among consumers. Best
Western, for example, which operated nearly 2,000 properties around the world, saw its loyalty program
business jump to 48% from 4% between 2004 and 2019.58
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Opportunities and Benefits of International Expansion
Lal could see numerous opportunities and benefits associated with entering the U.S. hotel market.
Foremost among these was the chance for Lemon Tree to generate attractive financial returns for its
shareholders and establish itself as a truly global hospitality player. After all, by almost any indicator—
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average daily rates in excess of $131, RevPAR above $86, and occupancy rates hovering at 25-year highs—
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the U.S. hotel market prior to the pandemic was sizzling59 (see Exhibit 1). While COVID-19 had delivered
a body blow to the hospitality sector, many analysts expected travel to pick up in the second half of 2021
and in 2022 with the widespread distribution of vaccines, and a full recovery occurring in 2023 or 2024.60
Meanwhile, if there was a silver lining to the pandemic it was that asset prices were attractive, opening the
possibility of acquiring a distressed property at a bargain price.
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Although Lemon Tree was a rather unknown entity in the United States and establishing its brand would
take time and resources, the hotelier could benefit immediately by catering to Indians traveling abroad for
work and pleasure. Indeed, roughly 1.5 million Indians visited the United States in 2019, making India the
tenth-largest source of foreign visitors, and the number of arrivals had jumped over 100% since 201161 (see
Exhibit 2). Of the ten top international travel destinations for Indians in 2017, four were U.S.: New York
(#2), San Francisco (#3), Seattle (#6), and Chicago (#8)62 (see Exhibit 3). As Keswani observed: “26 million
Indians fly out of India every year. And this is expected to double in the next five years. These guys stay
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3-5 days in places they visit…so if I have loyal members, why should I not have hotels in these cities?”63
Lemon Tree could also target the growing and relatively prosperous Indian American community. Indeed,
thanks to an immigration surge of technology workers and engineers over the past two decades, India had
become the single largest source of new immigrants to America, surpassing even Mexico and China.64 Dubbed the
“IT generation,” these new Indian Americans were better educated and more affluent than any other immigrant
group in the country, with income levels more than double that of the general U.S. population.65 By the end
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of 2019, nearly 2.7 million Indian immigrants were living in the United States, with large clusters residing in
metropolitan New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas66 (see Exhibit 4).
Another benefit of entering the U.S. market was that it would give Lemon Tree something of a first-
mover advantage in the hospitality sector’s disability inclusion space, as none of the U.S. majors was
pursuing an HR strategy that focused on putting large numbers of people with disabilities in front-line roles.
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Although there was no guarantee that Lemon Tree’s U.S. hotel customers would embrace the idea of being
greeted by speech- and hearing-impaired employees proffering handwritten welcome messages on notepads
or served meals by waiters with Down syndrome, it was reasonable to assume that many would welcome such
encounters. After all, a 2017 survey found that two-thirds of American consumers would purchase goods
and services from businesses featuring people with disabilities in their advertising.67 Meanwhile, there was
a growing body of academic literature suggesting that inclusion-based employment policies could lead to
increased sales,68 and higher levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction.69
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Entering the U.S. market also had a strategic rationale. It would allow Lemon Tree to keep pace with
Indian rival Oyo Hotels and Homes. Oyo had entered the U.S. market in early 2019 and had quickly grown
its network to over 50 hotels in 35 U.S. cities. Backed by significant venture capital, Oyo had unveiled plans
in early 2019 to invest $300 million to acquire talent and technology and to renovate properties in major
U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Oyo’s youthful CEO Ritesh Agarwal boasted of
its plans to add five U.S. properties to its network every day in 2019.70
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Finally, the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic had upended the hospitality industry with customers
putting a premium on cleanliness and hygiene actually played to Lemon Tree strengths. After all, the
hotelier had developed housekeeping systems, practices, and protocols that set the standard for the industry
in India.71 If Lemon Tree could leverage these core competencies in the U.S. market and offer safe, sanitary,
and socially responsible hospitality at a budget price, the prospects seemed bright.
Challenges and Risks
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While the promise of the U.S. market was undeniable, there were major challenges and risks associated
with internationalization. For one, the market was crowded, with 16 hotels per 1,000 persons, as compared
to only 1.2 in India.72 The U.S. market was also an expensive one in which to operate, with real estate, labor,
and healthcare costs in major cities far exceeding those in India.
Moreover, Lemon Tree had ambitious expansion plans at home that would stretch its resources thin. The
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company aimed to expand from its current 51 cities to 143 by 2025.73 It was also entering the fast-growing
rental housing segment and rolling out an ambitious loyalty program involving partnerships with airlines
and retailers.74 On top of that, it was exploring new overseas opportunities in the United Arab Emirates,
Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.75 Could it realistically carry out all of these initiatives while entering the
U.S. market, too?
There were other reasons for caution. Lemon Tree had limited knowledge of the U.S. hotel sector and
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American labor laws, which were quite different than those in India. Now, in the aftermath of COVID-19,
there were complicated new restrictions on domestic and international travel to contend with, virus safety
protocols, testing mandates, and quarantine requirements for travelers. All of this would require tremendous
resources, planning, and training.
Lemon Tree also lacked non-governmental partners in the United States to help with worker recruitment
and training. This was a serious concern as Lemon Tree relied on an extensive array of Indian NGOs,
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each specializing in assisting individuals with different physical or intellectual challenges. For example,
the Noida Deaf Society, the Sai Swayam Society, and Youth4Jobs provided Lemon Tree with speech- and
hearing-impaired job candidates; Efficor provided recruits with orthopedic disabilities; Dialogue in the Dark
provided candidates with vision impairments; and Muskaan sourced recruits with intellectual disabilities.
Organizations such as Dr. Reddy’s Foundation and Vidya, meanwhile, provided Lemon Tree with job prospects
from socially and economically marginalized communities. Beyond that, Lemon Tree had relationships with
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dozens of schools, colleges, and vocational centers across the country.76 Establishing a similar network of
U.S. partner relationships could take months if not years.
Then, of course, there was the issue of talent acquisition. If Lemon Tree were to replicate its Inclusion
Program in the United States, it would need to hire and train dozens if not hundreds of disabled workers and
non-disabled staff. Moreover, it would need to find a way to retain these workers given the high turnover
rate in the U.S. hospitality sector—roughly 75% annually vs. about 40% for all industries.77 Furthermore,
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the company would need to bring on board a cadre of HR leaders who could oversee the various skilling,
sensitization, and job mapping initiatives and transfer Lemon Tree’s unique company culture to the new
affiliate. All of this seemed quite daunting.
There was also the question of where to launch the business. New York seemed like a natural choice
given the large number of Indian business people and tourists it attracted. Presumably, many of these
travelers would be familiar with the Lemon Tree brand. Some might even be loyalty program members. But
the New York hotel market was very crowded and real estate and labor costs were among the highest in the
country. Moreover, New York was a fast-paced city and its inhabitants had a reputation for being impatient
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and demanding. Would brusque New Yorkers embrace the idea of being served by PWDs if it meant sacrificing
even a nanosecond of speed and efficiency?
Finally, there was the issue of ownership and management structure. Lemon Tree could build a hotel
from scratch to its own specifications, acquire an existing asset, or lease and manage a property without
9
making a capital investment. Lemon Tree had employed the direct ownership model to establish itself as
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the leading mid-market hotel chain in India, but had been gravitating toward the lease-and-manage model
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in recent years in order to reduce debt and remain “asset light.” Indeed, Keswani had told reporters in early
2019 that he envisioned selling off all of Lemon Tree’s hotels within three to five years and leasing some of
the properties back from the new owners under long-term management contracts.78 It was a strategy that
Hyatt had employed with great success in the U.S. market, using the proceeds from asset sales to invest in
new technology, branding, and product development.79
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The Decision
Lal took a deep breath and considered what advice she should offer her boss. On the one hand,
international expansion offered a golden opportunity to prove what Chairman Keswani had been saying all
along—that it was possible to simultaneously pursue profits while achieving ambitious social goals and
contributing to “nation-building.” It also offered an opportunity to change many lives by giving people the
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dignity of a job—and perhaps many more, if Lemon Tree’s model proved successful and was adopted by other
industry players. On the other hand, international expansion seemed fraught with risks and challenges. As
Lal rose from her chair, she wondered whether the U.S. market offered fertile soil for Lemon Tree’s ground-
breaking HR strategy to take root, or merely rocky terrain.
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Exhibits
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Exhibit 1
Average Hotel Room Daily Rate in the United States, 2001-2020 (in U.S. dollars)
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Source: STR Global; Hospitality Net. “Average Daily Rate of Hotels in the United States from 2001 to 2020 (in U.S. dollars).”
Statista, Jan. 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/195704/average-hotel-room-rate-in-the-us-since-2005/.
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Exhibits (cont.)
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Exhibit 2
Visitors to the United States from India, 2011-2020 (in millions)
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Source: “Number of Visitors to the United States from India from 2011 to 2020 (in millions).” Statista, Jan.
2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/214815/number-of-visitors-to-the-us-from-india/.
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Exhibits (cont.)
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Exhibit 3
Top 10 International Destinations for Indian Travelers
Rank Destination
#1 LONDON
#2 NEW YORK
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#3 SAN FRANCISCO
#4 SINGAPORE
#5 AMSTERDAM
#6 SEATTLE
#7 DUBAI
#8 CHICAGO
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#9 BANGKOK
#10 HONG KONG
Source: Chaturvedi, Anumeha. “Tech sector drives Indian business travel;
US cities prove most popular: Survey.” The Economic Times, 14 Aug. 2017.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/travel/tech-
sector-drives-indian-business-travel-us-cities-prove-most-popular-survey/
articleshow/60057957.cms?from=mdr.
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13
Exhibits (cont.)
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Exhibit 4
Top U.S. Concentrations, by Metropolitan Area, for People Born in India
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Source: Hanna, Mary, and Jeanne Batalova. “Indian Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 16 Oct. 2020. https://www.
migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states-2019.
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Endnotes
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1 Sanchdev, Gumeet. “Exclusive Interview with Patanjali Keswani of Lemon Tree Hotels Limited.” Hotelier India, 9 July 2019.
https://www.hotelierindia.com/business/8001-exclusive-interview-with-patanjali-keswani-of-lemon-tree-hotels. Accessed 1 Feb.
2021.
2 Lal, Aradhana. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2019.
3 Philip, Lijee. “Mid-market hotel chains have taken the coronavirus blow on their chin.” The Economic Times, 7 Mar. 2020.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/mid-market-hotels-chains-have-taken-the-
coronavirus-blow/articleshow/74519421.cms?from=mdr. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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4 Lemon Tree Hotels Limited. Annual Report 2019-20. https://www.lemontreehotels.com/factsheet/Policies/Lemon_Tree_Hotels_
Limited_Annual_Report_2019_20.pdf. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
6 Tandon, Suneera. “How an IIT graduate built one of India’s largest budget hotel chains.” Quartz, 27 Mar. 2018. https://qz.com/
india/1237277/lemon-tree-ipo-how-an-iit-graduate-built-one-of-indias-largest-budget-hotel-chains/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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7 Chaturvedi, Anumeha. “Lemon Tree Keys deal is economically lucrative: Lemon Tree Hotels Chairman Patu Keswani.” The Economic
Times, 15 Mar. 2019. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/lemon-tree-keys-deal-is-
economically-lucrative-lemon-tree-hotels-chairman-patu-keswani/articleshow/68420085.cms?from=mdr. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
9 Chowdhuri, Rajib. “Lemon Tree Hotels plans to have 107 hotels by 2021.” The Asian Age, 23 Oct. 2019. https://www.asianage.
com/business/companies/231019/lemon-tree-hotels-plans-to-have-107-hotels-by-2021.html. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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10 Baggonkar, Swaraj. “Exclusive: Lemon Tree to debut Aurika in upper upscale category to rival Vivanta by Taj.” Moneycontrol.
com, 27 June 2019. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/exclusive-lemon-tree-to-debut-aurika-in-upper-
upscale-category-to-rival-vivanta-by-taj-4146201.html. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
11 Chandrashekhar, Vaishnavi. “1.3 billion people. A 21-day lockdown. Can India curb the coronavirus?” Science Magazine, 31 Mar.
2020. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/13-billion-people-21-day-lockdown-can-india-curb-coronavirus. Accessed 1
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12 Kaushik, Manu. “Uphill Battle.” Business Today, 17 May 2020. https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/uphill-battle/
story/402211.html. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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13 “Lemon Tree Hotels Rest Assured program ups the game on the hygiene and safety protocols.” Hotelier India, 3 June 2020.
https://www.hotelierindia.com/business/11094-lemon-tree-hotels-rest-assured-program-ups-the-game-on-the-hygiene-and-
safety-protocols. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
14 Pant, Shubhra. “Pandemic rages, but ‘revenge travel’ is picking up.” Times of India, 10 Nov. 2020. https://timesofindia.
indiatimes.com/india/pandemic-rages-but-revenge-travel-is-picking-up/articleshow/79146523.cms. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
15 Adlakha, Nidhi. “Covid-19 Unlock: Hospitality Sector Fights Back.” The Hindu, 13 Nov. 2020. https://www.thehindu.com/real-
estate/how-indias-hospitality-sector-fights-back/article33091751.ece. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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17 Kazmin, Amy. “Lemon Tree Hotels Hires ‘Opportunity-Deprived’ People as a Key Part of Its Workforce.” Financial Times, 15 Mar.
2018. https://www.ft.com/content/4257b9bc-e4e0-11e7-a685-5634466a6915. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
18 “Building an inclusive organization, the Lemon Tree Hotel way!” Amazing Workplaces, 2 Dec. 2019. https://amazingworkplaces.
co.in/building-an-inclusive-organization-the-lemon-tree-hotels-way/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
20 “About Us.” Lemon Tree Hotels. https://www.lemontreehotels.com/about-us.aspx. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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23 Narayanan, Chitra. “Service with a smile and the best of ability.” The Hindu Business Line, 2 Jan. 2018. https://www.
thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/chitra-narayanan/service-with-a-smile-and-the-best-of-ability/article9732196.ece.
Accessed 1 Feb. 2021
25 “Closing the Disability Inclusion Gap with Business Leadership.” World Economic Forum, 29 Jan. 2021. https://www.weforum.org/
our-impact/closing-the-disability-inclusion-gap-through-the-power-of-business-leadership. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
15
Endnotes (cont.)
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Holger, Dieter. “The Business Case for More Diversity.” Wall Street Journal, 26 Oct. 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-
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business-case-for-more-diversity-11572091200?mod=article_inline. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

27 Ely, Robin J., and David A. Thomas. “Getting serious about diversity: enough already with the business case.” Harvard Business
Review, November-December 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/11/getting-serious-about-diversity-enough-already-with-the-business-
case. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
28 Morath, Eric. “America’s Hidden Workforce Returns.” Wall Street Journal, 26 Jan. 2019. https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-
hidden-workforce-returns-11548478801. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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29 Jerdee, Chad. “What Companies Gain by Including Persons with Disabilities.” World Economic Forum, 23 Apr. 2019. https://www.
weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/what-companies-gain-including-persons-disabilities-inclusion/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
30 Kendall, Kristin M., and Gary L. Karns. “The Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities.” Social Business, vol. 8, no. 3,
2018, pp. 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1362/204440818X15434305418614.
31 “Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage.” Accenture, Oct. 2018. https://www.accenture.com/
t20181029T185446Z__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-89/Accenture-Disability-Inclusion-Research-Report.pdf. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
32 Austin, Robert D., and Gary P. Pisano. “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage.” Harvard Business Review 95, no. 3 (May–June
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2017): 96–103. https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
33 “About the Foundation.” Marriott Foundation. https://www.marriottfoundation.org/about. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
34 “About.” Bridges from School to Work. https://bridgestowork.org/our-story/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
35 “About the Foundation.” Marriott Foundation. https://www.marriottfoundation.org/about. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
36 “DiversityInc Top 50 Lists Since 2001.” DiversityInc. https://www.diversityinc.com/diversityinc-top-50-lists-since-2001/.
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37 “20+ Embassy Suites Properties Champion Disabilities Employment with Project SEARCH.” Hilton, 29 Oct. 2020. https://jobs.
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38 “2020 DiversityInc Top 50 Specialty Lists.” DiversityInc. https://www.diversityinc.com/2020-top-50-specialty-lists/. Accessed 1
Feb. 2021.
39 “NDEAM 2018: Hands On/Hyatt.” U.S. Department of Education blog. https://sites.ed.gov/osers/2018/10/ndeam-2018-hands-on-
hyatt/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
40 Warnick, Jennifer. “Eight things to know about the new Starbucks Signing Store.” Starbucks Stories & News, 23 Oct. 2018.
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https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/eight-things-to-know-about-the-new-starbucks-signing-store/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

41 Wilson, Marianne. “Starbucks takes its signing store concept to China.” Chain Store Age, 20 May 2019. https://chainstoreage.
com/store-spaces/starbucks-takes-its-signing-store-concept-to-china. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
42 “Hotel Industry Statistics 2020.” Condor Ferries. https://www.condorferries.co.uk/hotel-industry-statistics. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
43 Trefis Team. “Missed the rally in Marriott stock? Why not consider Hyatt.” Nasdaq, 28 Jan. 2021. https://www.nasdaq.com/
articles/missed-the-rally-in-marriott-stock-why-not-consider-hyatt-2021-01-28. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
44 Kelleher, Suzanne Rowan. “How the pandemic created a new hotel giant in less than a year.” Forbes, 27 Jan. 2021. https://
www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/01/27/how-the-pandemic-created-a-new-hotel-giant-in-less-than-a-
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year/?sh=6c653629255e. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

45 Lardieri, Alexa. “Coronavirus Pandemic Sets Hotel Industry Back 10 Years, Report Finds.” U.S. News & World Report, 27 Jan. 2021.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-01-27/coronavirus-pandemic-sets-hotel-industry-back-10-years-
report-finds. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
46 Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew, Alice Hancock, and Claire Bushey. “The death of the business trip?” Financial Times, 25 Sept. 2020.
https://www.ft.com/content/cdd2ecad-eafe-4289-8ad1-78dac463a536. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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49 Firshein, Sarah. “So You Want to Open a Hotel? Now?” New York Times, 28 Jan. 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/
travel/virus-new-hotels-opening.html. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
16
Endnotes (cont.)
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Kelleher, Suzanne Rowan. “How the pandemic created a new hotel giant in less than a year.” Forbes, 27 Jan. 2021. https://
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50
www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/01/27/how-the-pandemic-created-a-new-hotel-giant-in-less-than-a-
year/?sh=6c653629255e. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
51 “Three hotel companies exceed 500,000 rooms in North America.” STR, 30 May 2019. https://str.com/press-release/str-three-
hotel-companies-exceed-500000-rooms-north-america. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
52 “Largest Hotel Chains in the US – Location Analysis.” ScrapeHero, 14 Dec. 2020. https://www.scrapehero.com/largest-hotel-
chains-in-the-us-location-analysis/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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53 “Largest Hotel Chains in the US – Location Analysis.” ScrapeHero, 14 Dec. 2020. https://www.scrapehero.com/largest-hotel-
chains-in-the-us-location-analysis/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
54 Segel, Arthur I., Daniel Woodbury, and Michael Horowitz. “Hotel Industry.” Harvard Business School Technical Note 216-012,
August 2015. (Revised July 2017.)
55 Segel, Arthur I., Daniel Woodbury, and Michael Horowitz. “Hotel Industry.” Harvard Business School Technical Note 216-012,
August 2015. (Revised July 2017.)
56 Airoldi, Donna M. “Midscale Hotel Segment Takes Cues from Upscale.” Business Travel News, 11 Oct. 2019. https://www.
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businesstravelnews.com/Research/Hotel-Survey-Report/2019/Midscale-Hotel-Segment-Takes-Cues-from-Upscale#:~:text=As%20
new%20hotel%20brands%20have,is%20now%20Hampton%20by%20Hilton. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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59 “US Hotel Profits Hit All-Time High.” STR, 20 May 2019. https://str.com/article/str-us-hotel-profits-hit-all-time-high. Accessed 1
Feb. 2021.
61 “Number of visitors to the U.S. from India 2011-2020.” Statista, Jan. 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/214815/
number-of-visitors-to-the-us-from-india/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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62 Chaturvedi, Anumeha. “Tech sector drives Indian business travel; US cities prove most popular: Survey.” The Economic Times, 14
Aug. 2017. https://m.economictimes.com/industry/services/travel/tech-sector-drives-indian-business-travel-us-cities-prove-
most-popular-survey/amp_articleshow/60057957.cms. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
63 Iyer, Sriram. “All You Need to Know About the Future Plans of Lemon Tree Hotels.” Business Insider India, 2 Apr. 2019.
https://www.businessinsider.in/business-insider-stack-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-future-plans-of-lemon-tree-hotels/
articleshow/68680640.cms. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
64 “A Singular Population: Indian Immigrants in America.” Chazen Global Insights, Columbia Business School Ideas and Insights. 10
Dec. 2020. https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/chazen-global-insights/singular-population-indian-immigrants-america.
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Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

65 Chakravorty, Sanjoy, Devesh Kapur, and Nirvikar Singh. Indians in America: The Other One Percent. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2016.
66 Hanna, Mary, and Jeanne Batalova. “Indian Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute, 16 Oct. 2020. https://
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states-2019. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
67 Jerdee, Chad. “What Companies Gain by Including Persons with Disabilities.” World Economic Forum, 23 Apr. 2019.
68 Miethlich, Boris, and Anett Gabriela Oldenburg. “How Social Inclusion Promotes Sales: An Analysis of the Example of Employing
People with Disabilities.” Journal of Marketing Research and Case Studies. Sept. 2019. DOI: 10.5171/2019.463316. Accessed 1
Feb. 2021.
Lindsay, Sally, Elaine Cagliostro, Mikhaela Albarico, Neda Mortaji, and Leora Karon. “A Systematic Review of the Benefits of Hiring
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People with Disabilities.” Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, vol. 28, no. 4, 2018, pp. 634-655. DOI: 10.1007/s10926-018-
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70 Clark, Patrik. “Hotel Unicorn Oyo Plots $300 Million Push Into the U.S. Market.” Bloomberg, 19 June 2019. https://www.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-19/hotel-unicorn-oyo-plots-300-million-push-into-the-u-s-market. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
17
Endnotes (cont.)
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“Lemon Tree Hotels Rest Assured program ups the game on the hygiene and safety protocols.” Hotelier India, 3 June 2020.
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https://www.hotelierindia.com/business/11094-lemon-tree-hotels-rest-assured-program-ups-the-game-on-the-hygiene-and-
safety-protocols. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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76 “Building an inclusive organization, the Lemon Tree Hotel way!” Amazing Workplaces, 2 Dec. 2019. https://amazingworkplaces.
co.in/building-an-inclusive-organization-the-lemon-tree-hotels-way/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
77 Donnelly, Kelly, and Jefferey Joseph. “Disability employment in the hospitality industry: human resources considerations.” Cornell
HR Review, 2012. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/72968/3_31_2012_Disability_Employment_in_the_
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79 Kwok, Linchi. “More hotels are adopting the ‘asset-light’ strategy.” Multibriefs, 8 Nov. 2017. https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/
content/more-hotels-are-adopting-the-asset-light-strategy/travel-hospitality-event-management. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
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Notes
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Established at the University of Michigan in 1992, the William Davidson Institute
(WDI) is an independent, non-profit research and educational organization focused on
providing private-sector solutions in emerging markets. Through a unique structure
that integrates research, field-based collaborations, education/training, publishing,
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and University of Michigan student opportunities, WDI creates long-term value for
academic institutions, partner organizations, and donor agencies active in emerging
markets. WDI also provides a forum for academics, policy makers, business leaders, and
development experts to enhance their understanding of these economies. WDI is one
of the few institutions of higher learning in the United States that is fully dedicated to
understanding, testing, and implementing actionable, private-sector business models
addressing the challenges and opportunities in emerging markets.
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Does the U.S. Hospitality Market Offer Fertile Soil for

The Inclusion Program

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Growth Industry

Disability Inclusion in the U.S. Hotel Sector

The U.S. Hotel Industry and COVID-19

Opportunities and Benefits of International Expansion

Challenges and Risks

16 Lal, Aradhana. Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2019.

business-case-for-more-diversity-11572091200?mod=article_inline. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/eight-things-to-know-about-the-new-starbucks-signing-store/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

year/?sh=6c653629255e. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

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