Question 1
Answer: In United States of America (US), the history of Ritz-Carlton Hotel starts from early 20th century. Ritz-Carlton has changed the view of the travelers of US with respect to the luxury and customer service provided in a hotel. Ritz-Carlton has 70 hotels in 24 countries of the world comprising of total 38,000 employees. Ritz-Carlton began the change in its service design from the year 2001. In doing that, there were some catalysts that worked for the hotel. These are as follows (Nixon & Rieple, 2010):
New styles of leadership,
Redefining the correspondence to the target customers, and bringing changes in competitive landscape,
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Adjustments did in the methods of delivering services to the target customers, and
Adaption of new luxury landscapes.
Ritz-Carlton Boston Common locates in between the Theatre District and Financial District of Boston US which also gives a view of oldest Public P. The hotel is near to the boutiques at The Heritage, and fashionable Newbury Street; and the hotel is near to the historic buildings like State House, Faneuil Hall and Freedom Trail (Ritz Carlton, 2013).
The Ritz-Carlton Credo is, “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving the Ladies and Gentlemen.” This credo is fulfilled by giving the flawless training to its employees by executing three steps of service and twelve different service values. Every manager of the hotel holds a coated card in which the service values are written as bullet points.
They differ from their competitors in such a way that they create a level of luxury for their customers in the hotel settings. Its employees go beyond the duties performance limits to create a memorable and unique experience for their guests. They also incorporate following key differences in their hotel chain in the US. These are:
Private bath in each guest room,
Lighter fabrics material in the guest rooms so that it can be washed more thoroughly.
They give professional appearance to their whole staff members, such as the wait staff gets to wear a white tie and apron, the black tie for Maitre and the morning suits for all remaining staff;
Fresh flower placement in all public areas,
A la Carte dining, so that the diners get a choice to select food for dining,
Smaller lobbies for guests for more personalized experience of the guests sitting in, and
Providing their guests with Gourmet cuisines so that they can enjoy the cooking methods of Auguste Escoffier (Ritz Carlton, 2015).
Question 2
Answer: Storytelling is the cultural part of The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and is made official by the management of the hotel. Such storytelling includes the good experiences of the past employees with respect to the satisfaction of the customers they offer by going beyond the service authorities and it is shared all around the globe. Such stories are termed as the wow stories for the employees. The wow stories play a very important role for doing the customer service according to the values written on the covered card of every manager. They help the organization in achieving and maintaining their mission worldwide. The wow stories inside The Ritz-Carlton are based on the true experience faced by the employees while serving a specific customers’ need.
With the help of wow stories, needs and wants of the customers can be anticipated earlier than it is made (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Use of “wow” stories helps The Ritz-Carlton management in creating a feedback loop from its customers. The “wow” story is shared with everyone during the line sessions of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (Ian, 2015). The “wow” stories are the result of one of the twelve values, that is, “I am empowered to create unique, memorable, and personal experience for our guests.” “Wow” stories that enhance the meaning of the twelve service values helps in building the culture with strong values for delighting the customers in every possible way.
The management of the hotel allows each employee of the hotel to spend $2,000 on the anticipation and fulfillment of the guests need or desire. According to Simon Cooper – the President and Chief Operating Officer – the wow story helps the hotel top management in communicating with the employees worldwide. It tells them that what is expected when they are performing a certain job in Ritz-Carlton. Each wow story also show the ways and patterns to the customers and employees so that it can be seen that how every employee of the hotel contributes to the service values for helping the organization in attaining the desired success.
The wow stories also defines the satisfaction level of the customers who were the guests of the hotel for any time in a year (RCLC, 2014). For example, the official soccer team of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples; animal adventures for the young guest at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota etc. Such “wow” stories identify the work of individual employees with the outstanding performance. It helps the organization in keeping the growth constant even in the times of global recession time of 2008.
References
Ian. (2015). ‘WOW’ Stories: How Ritz-Carlton Brings its Values to Life. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from http://www.gatehouse.co.uk/wow-stories-how-ritz-carlton-brings-its-values-to-life/
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing Management (14th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Nixon, N. W., & Rieple, A. (2010). Luxury Redesigned: How The Ritz‐Carlton Uses Experiential Service Design to Position Abundance in Times of Scarcity. Design Management Journal, 5(1), 40-49.
RCLC. (2014). The Ritz-Carlton: A Tradition of Storytelling. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from http://ritzcarltonleadershipcenter.com/2014/07/the-ritz-carlton-a-tradition-of-storytelling/
Ritz Carlton. (2013). The Ritz Carlton, Boston Common. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from http://www.signatureboston.com/uploadDocs/1/RitzCarltonBostonCommon_2013.pdf
Ritz Carlton. (2015). THE HISTORY OF THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Corporate/History/Default.htm
