Making You Say Wow When you hear the name The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, what words come

to mind? Luxurious? Elegant? Formal, or maybe even stodgy? Way beyond my budget constraints? Three words that the company hopes to mind are exemplary customer service. Ritz-Carlton is committed to treating its guest like royalty. It has one of the most distinctive corporate cultures in the lodging industry, and employees are referred to as our ladies and gentlemen. Its motto is printed on a card that employees carry with them: we are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. And these ladies and gentlemen of Ritz have been trained in very precise standards and specifications for treating customers. These standards were established more than a century ago by founders Caesar Ritz and August Escoffier. Ritz employees are continually schooled in company lore and company values. Every day at 15-minute lineup sessions at each hotel property, managers reinforce company values and review service techniques. And these values are the basis for all employee training and rewards. Nothing is left to chance when it comes to providing exemplary customer service. Potential hires are tested both for cultural fit and for traits associated with an innate passion to serve. A company executive says, The smile has to come naturally, although staff members are expected to be warm and caring, their behavior toward guests had been extremely detailed and scripted. Thats why a new customer service philosophy implemented in mid-2006 was such a radical departure from what the Ritz had been doing. The companys new approach is almost the opposite from what the company had been doing: Dont tell employees how to make guest happy. Now theyre expected to figure it out. Says Diana Oreck, vice president, We moved away from that heavily prescriptive, scripted approach and toward managing to outcomes. The outcome didnt change, though. The goal is still a happy guest whos wowed by the service received. However, under the new approach, staff member interactions with guest are more natural, relaxed and authentic rather than sounding like theyre recited lines from a manual.

Discussion Questions 1. Using Exhibit 3-2 and the information from this case, describe the culture at the RitzCarlton. Why do you think this type of culture might be important to a luxury hotel? What might be the drawbacks of such a culture? 2. What challenges do you think the company faced in changing the culture? What is The Ritz-Carlton doing to maintain this new culture? 3. What kind of person do you think would be happiest and most successful in this culture? How do you think new employees learn the culture? 4. What could other organizations learn from the Ritz-Carlton about the importance of organizational culture?

Sources: The Ritz Carlton, http:..Corporate.ritzcarlton.com march 10, 2008; R. Reppa and E. Hirsh, The Luxury
Touch, Strategy & Business, Spring 2007, pp. 32-37; and J. Gordon. Redefining Elegance, Training, March 2007, pp.14-20.