Management and Leadership of Ritz-Carlton Hotels - Essay Example

? THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTELS Inserts His/Her Inserts Inserts Introduction The Ritz-Carlton hotels are a group of luxury hotel that operate in various areas throughout the world. The parent company of the hotel chain is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LL. The chain operates 81 resorts and luxury hotels in various major cities around the world. The holding company for the hotel chain is Marriott International based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States. The company is one of the top luxury hotel chains in the world operating in 26 different countries all over the world (Ritz-Carlton 2010). An institution’s success largely depends on how decisions are made and the structure that govern employee relationship and customer service (Simon 2006, pp.44). The company has maintains high standards by employing a very capable management team. They include the Chairman of the chain, Bill Marriot; The Chief Executive Officer; Arne Sorenson; the President and Chief Operating officer, Hurve Humler and the Chief Financial Officer, Peter Cole (Ritz-Carlton 2010). The company however achieved its high position in global hospitality under the leadership of President Horst Schulze. Schulze introduced focus on both the data-driven and personal sides of hospitality. The hotel chain has accomplished a lot since its inception and is the only company in the world to have won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards twice both in 1992 and 1998 (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.221). It has placed in top positions in various notable hospitality surveys such as the Zagat Survey. Mission and Goals The motto of the Ritz-Carlton hotel is “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen”. This motto describes the general operations of the company and defines its corporate strategy. Since its inception, the company’s goal has been to provide exemplary service to their consumers while ensuring that elegance and luxury is of high quality. The company is dedicated to ensuring that their consumers feel like loyalty from the moment the step through the doors till the moment they depart. Customer Relations According to Storey, Emberson and Reade (2005, pp.248), customer responsiveness largely depends on the management model used and can make or break a company. The Ritz-Carlton group has ensured that their customer service if exemplary and worthy to compete in the global hospitality market. The previous president Horst Schulze instituted certain quality service control that catapulted the hotel chain into the top. Apart from the three levels of service employed to make guests feel welcome, employees in the company are given the authority to handle any complaints from customers on the spot and can spend $2000 in the process as necessitated (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.223). The employees can also request immediate aid from other employees. Furthermore, the employees are also required to gain feedback from the customers within a twenty minute period on the progress of problem resolution. Analysis of the Corporate Strategy of the Ritz-Carlton Hofstede demonstrated that there are several dimensions of culture that determine the operations of a company. The dimensions define how a company interacts both with its employees and its consumers. The first dimension is whether a company is means oriented or goal oriented (Hofstede 1980, pp.74). The Ritz-Carlton company is goal oriented such that the structure commencing from its credo to internal operations are all geared to providing the exemplary customer service and maintaining the Ritz-Carlton mystique. The second dimension is whether a company is internal driven or externally driven (Bono & Heijden 2011, pp.212). In an internally driven company, employees perceive that honesty and business ethics are vital and that they better understand what the customer needs. In an externally driven system however, emphasis is on meeting the requirements and needs of the customer (Aaker 2007, pp.59). The Ritz is an externally driven company whereby the needs of guest are of utmost importance and employees gear the tasks in the provision of exemplary service. The company’s founders developed the Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards of quality service delivery. Every employee in the company learns the gold standards which include 20 basics of service, the company’s credo, and the three steps of service (Ritz-Carlton 2010). The steps of services include: i. A warm and heartfelt greeting ii. Compliances and anticipation to consumer needs. iii. A fond farewell, employing the guest’s name whenever possible The third dimension is whether the company has an easy going work discipline or a strict work discipline (David 2001, pp.104). The Ritz-Carlton hotel employs a strict work discipline on its employees. Employees are punctual, serious and cost conscious. Employees are expected to be formal and modify their language accordingly. Employees are also expected to learn the 20 basics of quality service employed by the company, which span from absolute knowledge of the assigned work area to wearing immaculate uniform. The fourth dimension is whether the company is employee oriented or work oriented. This dimension is the most closely related to management philosophy (Kotler 2009, pp.182). Handy (1985, pp.38) identified four types of organization culture. These cultures are very important in analyzing the management approaches used in Ritz-Carlton hotel chains. They include: The power culture (strong central figure), the role culture (bureaucratic system), the task culture (project-oriented business approach) and the personal culture (Payne 2005, pp.169). Looking at the Ritz-Carlton organizational culture we find out that they use the task culture in order to carry out their objectives. According to the company’s vice president, employees are not told what to do but are expected to understand what they should do to ensure consumer satisfaction. The company shifted its operation from heavily scripted tactics of management to managing outcomes. The final dimension is the degree of acceptance of the leadership style (Williams & Williams 2007, pp.137). The Ritz has been able to modify its operations based on directions given by it executive team effectively. When Schulz instituted the gold standards, it was readily accepted and the company performed using these standards amicably even garnering various prestigious awards. The high expectation on the levels of service is not constrained on the hotel staff but also applies to upper management teams. The president and other senior executive conduct weekly meetings to review measures of service and product quality (Ritz-Carlton 2010). The company has set up quality management teams that are responsible for setting objectives and devising action plans at all levels of management. Each team has a leader responsible for strategic planning, solution of problems and fixing quality certification guidelines for every position in the hotel. Conclusion By analyzing the organization culture at the Ritz-Carlton hotels, it can be seen that the company greatly values its employees and has given them the opportunity and capability to not only improve their skills but also a chance to grow. Employees of the Ritz-Carlton hotel have better work ethics, experience and support system than other employees from different companies. This means they have a better portfolio in which to strike out on their own if they wish. The structure employed in this company is also very customer responsive and encourage self-reliance with regards to the companies goals. Looking at these factors, the Ritz-Carlton hotel is definitely a good company to work in. According to their website, one can be stationed in any of their many hotels, thus if one loves traveling, this company offers a very good opportunity as an employee. References Aaker, D., 2007. Strategic Market Management, 8th ed. New York, John Wiley & Sons Bono, S., & Heijden, B., 2011. Managing Cultural Diversity. Washington D.C.: Meyer & Meyer Verlag. David, F.R., 2001. Strategic management: Concepts and cases. 8th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Handy, C., 1985. Understanding Organizations. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Hofstede, G., 1980. Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Kotler, P. 2009. Principles of Marketing. New York: Prentice Hall. Payne, A., 2005. A Strategic Framework for Customer Relationship Management. American marketing association, 69: pp.168-170 Ritz-Carlto., 2010. The Ritz-Carlton Press Fact Sheet. Retrieved from accessed 6 Nov 2013 Simon, H., 2006. Rational decision making in business organizations. American Economic Review, 17(5): pp.42-45 Storey, J., Emberson, C., & Reade, D. 2005. The barriers to customer responsive supply chain management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, pp.242- 260. Williams, S. & Williams, N., 2007. The profit impact of business intelligence. NY: Morgan Kaufmann Read More