Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze the given case study “Four Seasons goes to Paris”. The analysis of the given case study shows that Four Seasons is the leading names in luxury hotels. It has been established that Four Seasons renovate and brought changes in George V and started to operate it in 1999 as “Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris. During this entire process, the management of the hotel played an indispensable role in completely modifying the French market through diversity and outstanding standards. The report is intended to identify and discuss the problem in the case while offering an appropriate solution for the identified problem.
Discussion
It has been established that some issues and challenges were faced by the management of the hotel. Initially, when the company started its business, it did not take several obstacles into consideration. However, there were some ethnocentric cultural attitude and government regulations that had to be overcome by Four Seasons to become more competitive in the modest market of France. Moreover, the management of Four Seasons also had to ensure that it is following utmost standards and is operating with perfection. When the given case was examined, it was revealed that the management of the hotel made a decision to conquest George V Hotel, which was located in Paris, as they perceived that it is impractical to buy a new property. However, Four Seasons came to know that they had to engage in this challenging activity, which is renewing and repairing the physical structure, while ensuring the integrity of building’s historical integrity (Hallowell, Knoop, & Bowen, 2002, p. 5). In this regard, the management of the Four Seasons decided to close their operations for two years to modify the building.
During this situation, it was one of the most critical issues for Four Seasons, as it had to repair and modernize the George V Building while adhering to the traditional outlook. To cope with this issue, the management of the hotel decided to adopt a new approach to keeping the building to appear historical from the external side, while changing the interior infrastructure. Apart from this, another greatest issue that had to face by the designers and architects of the Four Seasons was related to the overall appearance of the building. It is because the architects of the newly suggested George V hotel ought to find an appropriate method of integrating the sense of Paris into the overall design of the building. The management resolved this issue by adopting the balanced approach of including the contemporary designs while preserving the traditional appearance of the building.
Besides that, another issue that was faced by Four Seasons included the local government laws of France, which played a major role in influencing the work and design pattern. It has been established that in France, the government had deployed strict laws to adhere to the hygienic principles. In this regard, there was a strict policy about the transference of the food that suggested that trash and food items must be moved in separate elevators. Moreover, there were other regulations that stated that appropriate working environment must be provided to the staff members, like lighting conditions. Furthermore, when George V got reopen in 1999, after the completion of the renovation, it did not operate as smoothly as it was expected (Hallowell, Knoop, & Bowen, 2002, p. 8). Another issue that took place was about the control measures, as Four Seasons had no idea about the controls and regulations that were imposed by the government of France. The French government was extremely cautious about the fire regulations and the concerned departments used to perform inspections regularly until the completion of work in the George V. The situation ultimately affected the regular operations of the company. Another greatest issue that has been identified from the case includes the existence of the unions. Unions are found to be responsible for creating various disruptions for the managers, regarding firing any employee without justification.
Cultural barriers can also be considered as the biggest issue that was faced by Four Seasons, as there was a huge difference in the cultural values and norms of both the regions. Undoubtedly, the management of Four Seasons effectively coped with all of these issues. To overcome the cultural differences the company promoted diversity in its working environment. In this account, Four Seasons also ensured that the staff members are happy and are working in the optimal working conditions (Hallowell, Knoop, & Bowen, 2002, p. 5). Such practices played a key role in the success of Four Seasons and also enabled it to comply with French government laws. Instead of well-developed standards and policies, the management of Four Seasons was unable to cope with the problem that was related to the understanding of human resource issue. In this regard, it is suggested that the management of the company should adopt and ensure proper communication sessions with the staff members. Such practices help in recognizing the issues that are faced by the employees. Most importantly, these interactive sessions may also allow the managers to understand the cultural values and beliefs of the employees, so as to develop human resource strategies accordingly.
Conclusion
The preceding paper has analyzed the given case while assessing the issue that has been described in “Four Seasons goes to Paris”. Moreover, the paper has also examined the relevance of the initiatives that were taken by the management, while suggesting the optimal solution to the problem. I believe that the strategies the hotel management chose to solve obsolesces were effective; for instance, employing staff members from different cultural background ensured harmony and diversity at the work place. Also, I think that the diversification helps in being productive and distinctive because of a different set of ideas that come from each individual. Furthermore, I believe that the idea of maintaining the external historical design when renovating the building was a good decision since clients love unique things and appreciate the preservation of culture. Lastly, I think that the strategy of choosing to renovate an old building rather than constructing a new one was cheap and helped the management to save some money for other courses.
Work Cited
Hallowell, R., C. I. Knoop and D. E. Bowen. "Four seasons goes to Paris:" 53 properties, 24 countries, 1 philosophy"." Harvard Business School (2002): 803-069.Print
