The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. Essay Example
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. Essay Example

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L. L. C. Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1174 words)
  • Published: May 8, 2018
  • Type: Case Study
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A History of Managing for Performance Excellence in the Hotel Industry Most hotels remained profitable despite these quality deficiencies because competitors had similar problems. Previously, in tiny hotels and inns, the innkeeper directed activities in the organization personally, including “managing for quality”. As hotels grew in size, the volume of activity outgrew the capacity of the innkeeper to manage by personal direction – it became necessary to delegate. Ritz-Carlton Returns to the Fundamentals: Upper Management Participation Then came 1983 and Horst Schulze.

The pace quickened with a lengthy procession of new Ritz-Carlton Hotels under development. Faced with this challenge, Horst Schulze and his team decided to personally take charge of managing for quality because they realized managing for quality could not be delegated! Apprentices were trained in the craft and qu

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alified by examination to become craftsmen. The innkeeper - the master - then delegated much of the managing for quality to the craftsmen, subject to inspection and audit by the master. Many of our standards go back 100 years to this era of Caesar Ritz and the legendary Chef August Escoffier.

The upper management participation of Horst Schulze and his team ranged across a broad spectrum, but most significant activities consisted of: As we entered the 20th century, the size of a hotel and its organization sharply increased. The resulting large hotels required functional departments. The innkeeper - now a general manager - delegated to each functional department head the responsibility for quality, for performing the function correctly.

With the emergence and growth of technology, hotel roducts and processes became increasingly complex. To deal with these new complexities the hote

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industry adopted the principle of separating planning from doing. Planning of the various departments was delegated to division and department heads (e. g. Food & Beverage managers, Rooms Executives, Purchasing Directors, etc. ). This left the job of executing the plans to the first-line supervisors and the workforce. The separation of planning from execution had four major consequences.

The Credo into basic standards to clarify the quality responsibilities for our Ladies and Gentlemen; the ost important of which include:

  • anticipating the wishes and needs of the guests
  • resolving their problems
  • genuinely caring conduct towards guests and each other.

A factory concept emerged in which people were assigned one task rather than a single craftsman performing the entire sequence of tasks. In this factory approach, if task #11 was causing a problem for task #24, it wasn’t identified until it reached the customer, and even then the problem likely continued.

The Ritz-Carlton developed a “Roadmap” to business excellence (see pages 3-4) which has attained significantly higher performance levels. A major ingredient of this approach was involving people in the planning of the work that affects them. The progressive removal of upper management from managing for quality produced negative effects on quality. Typically, performance either fell short of customer need or the cost to meet the need became excessive. In addition, the hotels accumulated huge chronic costs as a result of poor quality.

Anticipation and compliance with guest needs. “We Are At The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests. Ladies and By applying the principles of

trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company. Gentlemen Serving Ladies and The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton mystique is strengthened.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission. We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.

Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. ” As service professionals, we treat our guests and each other with respect and dignity.  The Three Steps of Service are the foundation of Ritz-Carlton hospitality. These steps must be used in every interaction to ensure satisfaction, retention and loyalty.  The Employee Promise is the basis for our Ritz-Carlton work environment. It will be honored by all employees.  All employees will successfully complete annual training certification for their position.  Company Objectives are communicated to all employees. It is everyone’s responsibility to support them.

To create pride and joy in the workplace, all employees have the right to be involved in the planning of the work that affects them. Each employee will continuously identify defects (M. R. B. I. V. ) throughout the Hotel. It is the responsibility of each employee to create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met.

Each employee is empowered.

For example, when a guest has a problem or needs something special, you should break away from your regular duties to address and resolve the issue. Uncompromising levels of cleanliness are the responsibility of every employee.  To provide the finest personal service for our guests, each employee is responsible for identifying and recording individual guest preferences.  Never lose a guest. Instant guest pacif ication is the responsibility of each employee. Whoever receives a complaint will own it, resolve it to the guest’s satisfaction and record it.  “Smile – We are on stage. ” Always maintain positive eye contact. Use the proper vocabulary with our guests and each other. (Use words like – “Good Morning,” “Certainly,” “I’ll be happy to” and “My pleasure. ”).

C. 1999 Application Summary Comparative Benchmarking process owners to each metric associated with key production and support processes. There are three types of comparative data at The Ritz-Carlton:

  • comparisons to industry and our foremost competitor
  • benchmarks outside our industry
  • benchmarks inside our company.

Since we began formal benchmarking in the 1980’s, we have found this highly useful as it has pushed us over the years to even higher target levels of performance and roadmaps to get there.  Since these process owners are heavily involved in designing the architecture of the data and information that they review, rarely do they see a fact or figure presented in a way they don’t understand. Results “Check” Since we place such a strong emphasis on fact-based decision making, reliability of the data is critical. We rely on our highly trained Ladies and Gentlemen (including statistically trained at all

levels) to insure data and information reliability. At the corporate level, we assign individual process owners to assure data can withstand scrutiny and provide background information.

We also retain third-party specialists to provide independent reviews of information analysis and processes. Deployment “DO” The specific actions taken by Senior Leaders to deploy the information and analysis approach is based on the concept of individual process owners. Individual Process Owners Improvement “Act” Our Senior Leaders and Hotel Guidance Teams have the high level organizational performance data they need because we assign individual owners to each metric associated with the Vital-Few Objectives. In addition, our Vice-President of Quality keeps our performance measurements current with business needs.

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