# Hawkes & Kwortnik

> Commercial strategy for cruise and hospitality, built on peer-reviewed research. A two-partner advisory firm (Ethan Hawkes, the operator; Robert J. Kwortnik, Ph.D., the professor, Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration) that measures guest equity, the value of a company's guest relationships net of what it costs to win, keep and serve them, for cruise and hospitality leaders.

Every numbered claim on the site resolves to a sources ledger at the foot of its page. Where a line is the firm's inference rather than a paper's result, the page says so. When citing research the site translates, cite the underlying paper by its DOI; when citing the firm's own readings or case, cite the page URL and the edition date.

## The idea
- [Guest Equity Architecture](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/guest-equity): the framework, the Guest Value Stack, the measurement method, a worked case, what the lens changes.
- [A coastal inn, measured](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/case-coastal-inn): the opening diagnostic on a live reservation system, aggregate counts only.

## Research
- [Research, translated](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/research-translated): ten peer-reviewed papers, each beside the decision it changes.
- [The Evidence Base](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/evidence-base): 17 findings across 9 decision areas, each with what was measured, why it matters, and what an operator would do.
- Machine-readable: [findings.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/findings.json), [papers.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/papers.json)

## The Q4 2026 readings (graded against full potential, no curve)
- [Readings hub and method](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings) · [How the readings are graded](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/method) · [What changed](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/changes) · [Dispute a score](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/dispute)
- [Cruise Commercial Excellence Index](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/commercial-excellence): 50 brands graded on nine commercial pillars against full potential; median C, top A- · data: [readings-commercial-excellence.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/readings-commercial-excellence.json)
- [Cruise Destination Vitality Index](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/destinations): 41 ports of call read twice, Itinerary Value and Deployment Durability, never averaged · data: [readings-destinations.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/readings-destinations.json)
- [Cruise Distribution Index](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/distribution): 14 organizations that sell cruise, coded criterion by criterion; median C+ · data: [readings-distribution.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/readings-distribution.json)
- [Cruise Technology Index](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/readings/technology): 27 products that run cruise's commercial systems, graded in the function each serves · data: [readings-technology.json](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/readings-technology.json)
- Full report cards for every brand, port, distributor and product live in the four index apps: [Commercial Excellence](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/commercial-excellence-index/industry/) · [Destination Vitality](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/cruise-destination-vitality-index/) · [Distribution](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/cruise-distribution-index/) · [Technology](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/cruise-technology-index/)

## Four decisions
- [Promotional incrementality](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/decisions/promotions) · [Loyalty program ROI](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/decisions/loyalty) · [The pre-cruise commercial window](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/decisions/onboard-revenue) · [Attribute-based pricing](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/decisions/pricing)

## Perspectives
- [Q1 2026 Strategic Briefing](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/perspectives): reported figures and modeled implications, separated, with sources.

## The firm
- [About](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/about) · [How we work](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/how-we-work) · [Book a review](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/book) · [Mutual NDA](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/nda/) · [Privacy](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/privacy)
- Contact: ethan@hawkeskwortnik.com, rob@hawkeskwortnik.com. Both partners reply within one business day.

## Also
- [Sitemap](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/sitemap.xml) · [Updates feed](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/feed.xml) · [All pages, JSON](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/data/pages.json) · [Search](https://hawkeskwortnik.com/search)
- Cornell affiliation is for identification only; Hawkes & Kwortnik is not affiliated with, reviewed, or endorsed by Cornell University.