Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

July 6, 2006

MGM Grand's Aziz

Posted by detroit1051

CNN's online business site, "Business 2.0", has an interesting profile of Gamil Aziz, president of MGM Grand. He is in large part responsible for leading the transformation of MGM Grand from a "dormitory" to one of the hottest, most profitable properties on the Strip.

He talks about his philosophy of working backward:
"Aziz's secret is a counterintuitive management practice - nicknamed "working backward" - that he invented on his arrival at the Grand. The strategy calculates the maximum revenue that each business or space could generate in a perfect world - that is, if every customer spent the most the market could bear and if traffic reached its physical limits.
Aziz then subtracts actual sales from that hypothetical number and calls the difference a loss, even if the venue is making money. His formula for closing the gap usually starts with a jackhammer."

In my opinion, MGM Grand is now a property which appeals to all market segments, from the value conscious to the high end customers of Skylofts and The Mansion. However, I would like to see MGM Grand update the "Grand Tower" rooms in terms of syle and furnishings.

To read the article:
Gamil Aziz Has Reinvented MGM Grand


Categories: Business of Gaming, Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International, MGM Resorts International


Comments

Read archived comments (4 so far)
July 6, 2006 9:36 AM Posted by Hunter

Thanks Detroit, that's a very interesting article.

Just another reminder that MGM MIRAGE has some excellent operators, many Wynn-trained that stayed on.

July 7, 2006 7:59 AM Posted by dr_al

I think it's going a little far to say he's the only guy who's ever thought this way. All he did was create a business plan based on a blank slate for these spaces (MBA 101). The only "out of the box" thing was spending the time on that for already-profitable spaces.

July 7, 2006 10:05 PM Posted by Hunter

Al,

I don't disagree - it's certainly a bit of a puff piece. Still, Aziz has pulled off some numbers at the Grand, a property that never impressed me but has really been on the upswing.

For whatever that's worth.

July 7, 2006 11:41 PM Posted by motoman

I'd say Wynn uses this philosophy too, as evidenced by the waste-no-time renovations at WLV. IOW, what al said....

Just too bad about Chef Klein at SW, was really looking fwd to that....but I digress.