Isadore Sharp, the affluent Canadian businessman, is the founder, chief executive and chairman of the Four Seasons hotel chain. He was a child of immigrants and had no know-how of the hotel business. Regardless of these facts, Sharp set up an envious business mostly considered by others as the trendiest and unbeaten luxury hotel chain in the world. Four Seasons, one of the world’s top hotel brand at present, was started by Sharp in Toronto back in 1960. At the moment, the brand includes more or less seventy-four properties worldwide (Higley 18). Since its inception, Sharp has worked devotedly to change the long-established and conventional methods that generally in the hospitality industry.
Over the company’s 50+ years’ history, Sharp has established Four Seasons Hotels& Resorts on four pillars of Quality, Service, Culture and Brand. The man promulgated the idea of only operating medium-sized hotels of incomparable quality with the purpose of being the best in the industry. At his hotels and resorts, one can easily observe that it is not the architecture or décor that defines true luxury. Instead, Sharp insisted on providing excellent service to the people and making their experience a truly luxurious one. He describes this motive by insisting on making the quality of service, the most distinctive characteristic and a competitive advantage for Four Seasons (Higley 26).
At Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, a work ethic was introduced that was based on the Golden Rule to give its employees a proper framework so that they could follow an advanced service culture (Higley 26). By putting an emphasis on the Brand, Sharp decided to “grow as a management company and build a brand name synonymous with quality” (as qtd. in Higley 26). The reason behind Sharp’s success and his exceptional position in the hotel industry is simple. He follows the golden rule of treating people in the same way he likes to be treated. According to Sharp, this principle is the main reason behind his extraordinary success in the hotel industry. Sharp gives most of the credit of his company's success to the idea of trust-building with his human resource and consumers. According to him, “In essence, to treat others-all others, customers, employees, partners, suppliers-as we ourselves would want to be treated. Even back then [in 1982], such credos were common, though seldom believed. What was new was that we enforced it” (as qtd. in Beslin and Reddin 29).
His consistency has brought him to the place he is now at. What sets his business apart is the way services are delivered. Four Seasons service can be symbolized as a trade of mutual respect with a compassionate approach. In 2007, Sharp privatized the company to protect its integrity. Sharp’s organization has grown from a single hotel to ninety in thirty-six countries in over fifty years. The genuinely implanted culture at Four Seasons and Resort that is personified by its workers has continued to get stronger. The employees at the company have built a noncompetitive depth of dependability, confidence and association with the customers.
The history of Four Seasons can be said to be a saga of constant improvement, extraordinary growth and a single-minded loyalty. Sharp altered the hospitality industry by introducing unison of openness and competence with the most excellent traditions of global hotel keeping (“Four Seasons History”).
References
Beslin, R., and C. Reddin. "TRUST in Your Organization's FUTURE." Communication World 2006: 29+. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
"Four Seasons History ." Four Seasons Hotels and Resort | Luxury Hotels | Four Seasons . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Higley, J. "The Man behind the Brand." Luxury Hotelier Sept. 2007: 18-27. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
