Four Seasons Goes To Paris Essay Example

have just done an exceptional job adapting to local markets. They have the ability to be a cultural chameleon because the Four Seasons’ brand does not rigidly define what the product is; instead its brand is associated with intangibles. Since they are an international company, they never stop learning or innovating.

They learned from each country and property, and take their learning across borders in order to innovate and give the best service possible to their guests. In addition, they have globally uniform standards. The seven Four Seasons “service culture standards” which all staff around the world are expected to follow are the employee guideline of being emotion labour. The word “service” is an acronym for smile, eye, recognition, voice, informed, clean, and everyone. Four Seasons also had 270 core worldwide operating standards that include specific missions, and detailed criteria for each mission.

For instance, during reservations, the mission is to provide crisp, knowledgeable, and friendly service, sensitive to the guest’s time and dedication to finding the most suitable accommodation. One of the two criteria for this mission is after establishing the reason for the guest visit, the reservationist automatically describes the guest room colourfully, attempting to have the guest picture himself or herself in the room. Due to Four Season's extensive coverage, standards were often written to allow local flexibility which has contributed their success.

Based on the flexibility element, managers often encourage employees to do something for a client that goes beyond a standard, so the standards only set minimum expectations. Perhaps many companies also implement their own standards, but Four Seasons did something further than this. Four Seasons not only implemented and enforced their standards,

they also evaluated each property’s performance against it. They used both external and internal auditors because they believed that their standards were the foundation for all of their properties, and it helped to shape relationships between stakeholders.

Delivering intelligent, anticipatory, and enthusiastic service worldwide, along with the tangible elements are Four Seasons most important elements of their success. Also, they recognize the difference in the perception and the various ways of using a hotel in each country. For instance, restaurants are more important in hotels in Asia, so in those hotels they build space for more restaurants in each property. Although corporate cultures and human resource strategies have also contributed to the success over, it will be further elaborated in question b and c.

To conclude, according to Cornell University’s academic research on Four Seasons, their success depends on choosing employees who provide service that is genuine and innovative, on developing standards that are meaningful and flexible, and on maintaining a unique culture that makes delivery of both possible. B. Does corporate culture play a role in Four Season’s success? If so, how and why? Skilfully applying human resource strategy is one of the most important corporate cultures of Four Seasons. Human resource strategy is designed to develop the skills, attitudes and behaviors among staff that will help the organization meet its goals.

Human resource strategy consists of principles for managing the workforce through HR policies and practices. Human resource strategies at Four Seasons started and ended with “The Golden Rule”, which stipulated that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated. According to Isadore Sharp, The Golden Rule is the success of the firm.

Kathleen Taylor, COO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, also says, “Our founder had a theory that you couldn’t have a guest focus in a luxury hotel business without an employee focus.

The emphasis on treating others well has inspired a higher level of guest service, which in turn has resulted in Four Seasons’ global success. ” In dealing with employees and all others, Four Seasons is guided by this philosophy. Their service culture is also about putting what they believe into practice. They only offer experiences of exceptional quality. Their objective is to be “recognised as the company that manages the finest hotels, resorts and residence clubs wherever we locate”. They believe in having a sense of dignity, pride and satisfaction in what they do.

Because satisfying their guests depends on the united efforts of many, they are most effective when they work together cooperatively, respecting each other’s contribution and importance. Also, the company’s legendary service is also ingrained in Four Seasons’ corporate culture. There is certainly evidence of the customer service value in stories and legends. One story recounts an incident in which rock star Rod Stewart called Four Seasons staff while he was a guest to find someone to play the bagpipes in his suite. The employees were able to find a willing bagpipe player, even though Stewart phoned in the request at midnight.

Besides, they believe Hotel’s culture is embodied in the general manager. In France, people typically referred to each other as Monsieur and Madame with their last name. However, Four Seasons support a more direct, relaxed, and straightforward relationship between staff and mangers. Thus, Le Calvez, general manager of the F. S.

George V and recently appointed regional vice president, encouraged the use of the first name. This is better because it creates a seemingly friendlier and informal environment. At last, Four Seaons’ culture is also to avoid social tensions.

Therefore even when Le Calvez did not think that they needed unions, the law said they had to have them, so he just said work together. This is Four Seasons’ approach to be pragmatic, so that they do not have to waste time on unnecessary conflicts. C. Do human resource strategies play a role in Four Seasons’ success? If so, how and why? Human resource strategy is designed to develop the skills, attitudes and behaviors among staff that will help the organization meet its goals. Human resource strategy consists of principles for managing the workforce through HR policies and practices.

Human resource strategies at Four Seasons started and ended with “The Golden Rule”, which stipulated that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated. According to Isadore Sharp, The Golden Rule is the success of the firm. Kathleen Taylor, COO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, also says, “Our founder had a theory that you couldn’t have a guest focus in a luxury hotel business without an employee focus. The emphasis on treating others well has inspired a higher level of guest service, which in turn has resulted in Four Seasons’ global success. In dealing with employees and all others, Four Seasons is guided by this philosophy. For management, employee satisfaction was as important as guest satisfaction. Four Seasons gained recognition for its quality service and also featured for thirteen consecutive years (1998-2010) on the Fortune

Magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work for in North America. To further consolidate their success in human resource management, Four Seasons’ turnover was even half that of the hospitality industry average of 55%.

Four Seasons always wanted to be recognized as the best employer in each of its locations, so in this Paris case, salaries (which were among the top three for hotels) were advertised in help wanted advertisements. They interviewed four times for every potential employee, the last interview being with the general manger. In the selection process, they only hire employees with the right attitude because without the right attitude, they cannot adapt. Since they hire for attitude, they usually hire individuals who are still “open” and tend to be much younger than usual for palace hotels.

Then they invest in training even though it consumes much more time. Besides attitude, they look for people person in order to spread the culture and “de-demonize” the U. S. Because of their high-recruitment standard, Four Seasons are able to provide their highly personalised 24-hour service, combined with authentic, elegant surroundings of the highest quality, embodies a home away from home for those who know and appreciate the best. To promote communication and better relationships with employees, Four Seasons have a few strategies. For example, the F. S. George V management implemented a “direct line” because subordinates in France did not feel comfortable speaking up in front of superiors. Also, every morning, the top management team would gather to go over glitches. About three times a year, they would even host an open door event inviting employees and their families to spend time at the hotel. In addition,

Four Seasons has several award programs, including employee of the month, quarter and year at each of its hotels. Also, Le Calvez made clear that in Four Seasons, your work speaks for itself.

More informally, leaders congratulate and thank managers for extraordinary work on a consistent basis, and managers do the same with employees. In general, as sourced in their company data, they succeed because every decision is based on a clear understanding of and belief in what they do. They couple this conviction with sound financial planning. They expect to achieve a fair and reasonable profit to ensure the prosperity of the company, and to offer long-term benefits to their hotel owners, their shareholders, their customers, and their employees. D.

How do you feel about the way Four Seasons entered the Paris/French Market? What was good and/or bad about the entry strategy? Why? The way Four Seasons entered the French Market, by having proper financial planning and strategic management with extensive studies on local regulations and culture, was just brilliant. Even though scepticism arose at the beginning, they managed to accord the French while implementing their own philosophy. The entry approach, believing how they came in was almost as important as what they did, was absolutely right. Four Seasons realized the difference between French and American managers’ styles.

French managers have a hard time sitting across from people they supervise and talking about their weakness, so they are allowed to modify the standard if it fits to the local norms. Also, the greatest challenge in France is to get managers to take accountability for decisions and policies, and managers had a poor understanding of human resource issues.

Thus, Four Season appointed Didier Le Calvez, who has a “Franco-Francois” background with North American experience, as the general manager to lead the team and, consequently, to solve all the challenges.

This strategy was appropriate and produced a satisfying result as we saw in the case. For coping with other cultural difference, Four Seasons paid tribute to the George V Palace Landmark by redesigning the interior while the facade was maintained, although this is more work than building a hotel from scratch. Also, they hired a French Designer, Pierre-Yves, to signal the French that Four Seasons understood what they meant by luxury. Furthermore, their approach to cultural transformation in properties with existing staffing was to promote those with the right culture and attitude while slowly replacing those resisting the transformation.

This created a new culture bit by bit while restoring the pride of France. They also introduced French unions to an inclusive approach by working together with the company rather than fighting it, which fostered good relationship. They obey the 35-hour work week in order not to breach the labour law. By diverting from Four Seasons practice, they hired a non-Four Seasons executive chef that was French. In France, they understood that having a serious chef and serious food is important. Also, French culture is very artistic and innovative so they have special flowers for the hotel.

To spread the culture and "de demonize" the American management style, they recruited staff with prior Four Seasons experience and, or, US experience to serve as ambassadors. They assigned a 35-person task force, to establish norms, solve problems, and acclimatize new employees to how Four Seasons function. As a manager stated,

the task force is truly a human resource, as well as a strong symbol because this approach supports allegiance to the firm and not just one property. As for social innovation, they hired men housekeepers and women concierges which were not common in Paris.

In conclusion, their entry strategy was outstanding because it helped to build a French hotel with international standards without causing any unsolved problems. They also coped with the cultural difference and created a harmonized workplace. E. Do the lessons from this case study apply to firms entering markets other than France? If not, why? If so, how and to what types of market? This case study definitely applies to firms entering luxury markets other than France due to the following reasons. First, firms should learn to walk the talk as did Four Seasons, if they expect to thrive in their business.

Because simply making statements on paper without taking action is meaningless. Especially in the service industry, a service culture is about putting what they all believe into practice. Second, managers can learn that when managing employees, like the French, who have a strong “logic of honour”, it requires a great deal of tact and judgement. The difference between “monochronic” culture and “polychronic” culture is also discussed in the case, so that firms can avoid committing mistakes when countering these respective cultures.

For instance, in a “monochronic” culture like North America, it is based on a high degree of scheduling and an elaborate code of behaviour built around promptness in meeting obligations and appointments; whereas, in a “polychronic” culture like in France, they value human relationships and interactions over arbitrary schedules and appointments. Third,

service industry, they could learn how to provide customized service because it enables guests to maximize the value of their time. Also, a research finding has shown that personal service is the reason affluent travellers choose most of the organizations they do business with.

Fourth, firms can set up an informal communication committee, where the most junior person in the hotel sits down with the most senior people every other month, to promote communication and problem solving. This strategy is suitable for markets in Africa, Europe and Middle East where the culture is not confrontational and where the employees do not feel comfortable speaking up in front of supervisors. This strategy is prevailed in other industries. Based on the above reasons, firms should spend time to read this case and apply the strategies that Four Seasons used when entering the high-end markets.