Ritz Carlton

The Ritz Carlton strives for competitive advantage over its rivals. Porter's Five Forces describes a firm that sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry to have a competitive advantage (QuickMBA.com).

The Ritz Carlton is based on their Gold Standards. According to their corporate website, the Gold Standards encompass the values and philosophy by which they operate (Ritz Carlton).

They focus on three fundamentals, location, product and their people. The Ritz Carlton is recognized by brand image. Not only are they well known for their luxury status but it is the image that the employees convey as well. The motto for the hotel is "ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentleman."(Robison, 2008). The brand image is described as 90% emotional.

It is important that all employees connect on a personal level with each guest. They are educated to make the guest feel at home and when they leave the hotel, guests crave to come back. It's an emotional attachment to the treatment they have received. Employees are even allowed to spend up to $2000, without any questions being asked, to satisfy a guest (Reiss, 2009). It may be as simple as asking how a guest is doing and picking up on clues that they may need something special like a scented candle or a massage.

Simon Cooper, President of Ritz Carlton Hotel company states that they use a type of lineup. He says " For the Ritz-Carlton, we want every single hotel, everywhere in the world, every partner, every shift, to utilize lineup, which typically takes around 15 minutes every day. Part of the lineup everywhere around the world is a "wow story," which means talking about great things that our ladies and gentlemen have done. That is a wonderful training and communication tool, where every department layers on the department message. And it's based on having the same message everywhere, every day, and then each hotel layers on its own message." (Ibid).

For the Ritz Carlton their leadership must live the values of the organization as do the employees. According to Cooper, "No culture sticks if it's not lived at the highest levels of the organization." (Ibid). The company has a very low turnover rate. When they hire their employees they hire individuals that have the same morals and culture that the Ritz has.

In 1999, they opened up the Leadership Center. Companies around the world with like values and company cultures comes here to learn how to do things the way the Ritz does things (Ritz Carlton).

It is important that the Ritz Carlton's culture is at every location because they do things the same at hotel. When a guest travels to worldwide locations, they will seek out the Ritz Carlton because they know their experience will be amazing.

References

Partlow, C.G.