The Ritz-Carlton: A Snapshot

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is a management company that develops and operates luxury hotels for W. B. Johnson Properties, also based in Atlanta. In 1983, W. B. Johnson acquired exclusive U. S. rights to the Ritz-Carlton trademark, a name associated with luxury hotels for 100 years. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company operates 23 business and resort hotels in the United States and two hotels in Australia. It also has nine international sales offices and employs 11,500 people. Two subsidiary products, restaurants and banquets, are marketed heavily to local residents.The company claims distinctive facilities and environments, highly personalized services, and exceptional food and beverages. â€Å"Gold Standards† Quality planning begins with President and Chief Operating Officer Horst Schulze and the other 13 senior executives who make up the corporate steering committee. This group, which doubles as the senior quality management team, meets weekly to review the quality of products and services, guest satisfaction, market growth and development, organizational indicators, profits, and competitive status.Each year, executives devote about one-fourth of their time to quality-related matters. The company's business plan demonstrates the value it places on goals for quality products and services. Quality goals draw heavily on consumer requirements derived from extensive research by the travel industry and the company's customer reaction data, focus groups, and surveys. The plan relies upon a management system designed to avoid the variability of service delivery traditionally associated with hotels.Uniform processes are well defined and documented at all levels of the company. Key product and service requirements of the travel consumer have been translated into Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards, which include a credo, motto, three steps of service, and 20 â€Å"Ritz-Carlton Basics. † Each employee is expected to understand and adhere to these standards, which de scribe processes for solving problems guests may have as well as detailed grooming, housekeeping, and safety and efficiency standards.Company studies prove that this emphasis is on the mark, paying dividends to customers and, ultimately, to Ritz-Carlton. The corporate motto is â€Å"ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. † To provide superior service, Ritz-Carlton trains employees with a thorough orientation, followed by on-the-job training, then job certification. Ritz-Carlton values are reinforced continuously by daily â€Å"line ups,† frequent recognition for extraordinary achievement, and a performance appraisal based on expectations explained during the orientation, training, and certification processes.To ensure problems are resolved quickly, workers are required to act at first notice — regardless of the type of problem or customer complaint. All employees are empowered to do whatever it takes to provide â€Å"instant pacification. † No matter what their normal duties are, other employees must assist if aid is requested by a fellow worker who is responding to a guest's complaint or wish. Much of the responsibility for ensuring high-quality guest services and accommodations rests with employees.Surveyed annually to ascertain their levels of satisfaction and understanding of quality standards, workers are keenly aware that excellence in guest services is a top hotel and personal priority. A full 96 percent of all employees surveyed in 1991 singled out this priority — even though the company had added 3,000 new employees in the previous 3 years. Detailed Planning At each level of the company — from corporate leaders to managers and employees in individual work areas — teams are charged with setting objectives and devising action plans, which are reviewed by the corporate steering committee.In addition, each hotel has a â€Å"quality leader,† who serves as a resource and advocate as teams a nd workers develop and implement their quality plans. Teams and other mechanisms cultivate employee commitment. For example, each work area is covered by three teams responsible for setting quality-certification standards for each position, problem solving, and strategic planning. The benefits of detailed planning and the hands-on involvement of executives are evident during the 7 days leading up to the opening of a new hotel.Rather than opening a hotel in phases, as is the practice in the industry, Ritz-Carlton aims to have everything right when the door opens to the first customer. A â€Å"7-day countdown control plan† synchronizes all steps leading to the opening. The company president and other senior leaders personally instruct new employees on the â€Å"Gold Standards† and quality management during a 2-day orientation, and a specially selected start-up team composed of staff from other hotels around the country ensures all work areas, processes, and equipment are ready.Quality Data Daily quality production reports, derived from data submitted from each of the 720 work areas in the hotel system, serve as an early warning system for identifying problems that can impede progress toward meeting quality and customer-satisfaction goals. Coupled with quarterly summaries of guest and meeting planner reactions. the combined data are compared with predetermined customer expectations to improve services.Among the data gathered and tracked over time are guest room preventive maintenance cycles per year, percentage of check-ins with no queuing, time spent to achieve industry-best clean room appearance, and time to service an occupied guest room. From automated building and safety systems to computerized reservation systems, Ritz-Carlton uses advanced technology to full advantage. For example, each employee is trained to note guest likes and dislikes. These data are entered in a computerized guest history profile that provides information on the preferen ces of 240,000 repeat Ritz-Carlton guests, resulting in more personalized service.The aim of these and other customer-focused measures is not simply to meet the expectations of guests but to provide them with a â€Å"memorable visit. † According to surveys conducted for Ritz-Carlton by an independent research firm, 92 to 97 percent of the company's guests leave with that impression. Evidence of the effectiveness of the company's efforts also includes the 121 quality-related awards received in 1991 and industry-best rankings by all three major hotel-rating organizations.

Advanced Emergency Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Advanced Emergency Care - Essay Example The article was chosen for its rigour and scientific form and the aim of this analysis is thus to assess the article by Preston et al. (2009) and how well they follow general research standards (posing and testing a hypothesis) and the use of (appropriate) methods. The analysis examines therefore the aim of Preston et al. (2009) and how well it is tested, whether it is properly contextualized in the relevant literature, whether the sample, research site or population are adequate and clearly defined and ethical questions have been considered and whether there is a thorough presentation of the results of the test (a RESULTS section). As part of the analysis the focus must also be on the conclusions and recommendations by Preston et al. and the relevance of the paper to advanced emergency care practice. The evaluation of Preston et al (2009) also notes in which sense the study under examination has tested the research question and whether limitations of the findings are acknowledged (R ees 2003). This essay analyses the work of Preston et al. (2009) and draws on external literary sources ) and the Resuscitation Council Guidelines (UK) 2010 when further clarification and referencing is be needed. After the analysis, it proceeds by framing the research paper in terms of its relevance to practice. The conclusions offered are a summary of the arguments in the essay. Evaluation of the research article, ‘Assessing advanced life support competence: Victorian Practices’ (Preston et al. 2009) 1. Aim in Preston et al. (2009) Preston et al. (2009) note that there are few studies that rigorously examining advanced life support (ALS) to direct educators about how to best assess ALS competence (knowledge and performance). The aim is therefore to point to a systematic approach to guide educators and has, as will be seen later, great relevance to practice. Preston et al.’s (2009) aim is accordingly to determine the most useful methods to assess competence amon g nurses and their resuscitation skills and knowledge (Preston et al. 2009, pp. 164-65). Their research is descriptive and uses content analysis (arranging the data into categories). It follows the standards of proper research presentation (Bowling, 2009; Rees, 2003). 2. Literature review Having outlined the problem by way of their hypothesis and aim, Preston et al. (2009) now turn to an analysis of relevant literary sources and concepts. So as to provide proper background to their own study (to contextualize it in the literature, Rees 2003) they cite the work of Chiarella et al. published in 2008. It identifies the competence to be tested, such as skills, knowledge, attitudes, values and abilities that appear to shape performance (ibid: 165). In the assessment of skills and ALS competence, psychomotor proficiency is recommended by other studies cited and refer to ‘arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat] recognition’, defribillation, intravenous therapy through insertion of in travenous cannula, administration of drugs and other means of coping with cardiac arrest by managing the airways and through ventilation and by assuring proper transport of the patient. While Preston et al. (2009) refer to Australian Resuscitation Council Guidelines (ibid: 165), one my here usefully refer to a similar

Macro economic assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Macro economic assignment - Essay Example www.fxwords.com/g/gross-domestic-product-quarterly... For GDP Comparison we used http://www.demographia.com/db-ppp-uscan.htm Current Economic Arena This report highlights the current trends in the economy which are detrimental to the Future development in the sense that if the trends are not corrected will lead to a situation where many of the opportunities to develop form the needs of nations like the United States, and Europe will soon erode and be gone to eastern economies for ever. Canadian companies have been making headway in the IT sector and in the home business sector. Consumer and industrial production and investment are on the rise, but costs as shown by the trends and statistics are on the rise too. Thus development is offset by rising cost, low productivity and investments. We apprise you on the three key areas where detailed changes in policy are needed. 1. We have to attract more investment, and for this we need to develop better infrastructure. 2. We need to address the concern of services and development both in manpower and in infrastructure of the Information Industry in which we can become a major player in the next 5 years. 3. We need to, consequently address housing, and transport needs. All this is possible only with government spending and lesser or minimal taxation. Indicators to the analysis While GDP and nominal indicators are a sure way of determining our current position, as we can see below, by itself it is not enough to determine the policies we ought to set forth. Our GDP growth: Our GDP growth has been constant and fluctuates only between 4.8 and 6.3 percent especially as compared to the US. That should give us pleasure that we are truly developing. However the consumption patters, and rise of fuel...This is bad news for us. It is time we took steps to develop our infrastructure in such a manner that Canada can host software and technology parks and benefit from that, and attract overseas investments. The thrust therefore will be on these three things: Government Investments, Industry specific developments especially with regard to Information technology, and Education. We also will lay a matrix for upgrading public transport to cover for rising oil costs. Future development in the sense that if the trends are not corrected will lead to a situation where many of the opportunities to develop form the needs of nations like the United States, and Europe will soon erode and be gone to eastern economies for ever. Canadian companies have been making headway in the IT sector and in the home business sector. Consumer and industrial production and investment are on the rise, but costs as shown by the trends and statistics are on the rise too. Thus development is offset by rising cost, low productivity and investments. Our GDP growth: Our GDP growth has been constant and fluctuates only between 4.8 and 6.3 percent especially as compared to the US. That should give us pleasure that we are truly developing. However the consumption patters, and rise of fuel costs to over 4.9% within the last six months, and the availability of lesser infrastructure to develop is impeding the progress of the economy. While Canada was always investor friendly,

Strategy in the Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategy in the Organization - Essay Example In the approach, the biological evolution’s law of the jungle is substituted by the market discipline. Another approach based on the business processes has emphasis on the stickiness and imperfection of human life. The strategy pragmatically accommodates strategies for the fallible processes, both for the markets and organizations. The final view is the systemic approach, which is in essence relativistic. The approach regards the means and ends of strategy as being inescapably connected with the powers and cultures of the social systems in the local setting where the strategy is implemented. The four strategic approaches, according to Whittington (2000), have fundamental differences emerging along two distinct dimensions. The first dimension is based on the outcomes of the strategy while the second dimension is based on the processes by which the strategies are made. In a nutshell, the two dimensions examine the purpose of the strategy and the processes involved in the impleme ntation of the strategy respectively. In the assumptions by evolutionary and classical approaches, the maximization of profits is viewed as the intended outcome of implementing a strategy. On the other hand, the processual and systemic approaches project a more pluralistic approach, viewing other outcomes that are possible from a strategy as much as the profits. Regarding processes, differences arise in the pairings. On the same front are the processualist and evolutionary approaches which view strategy as coming from processes arising by chance, conservatism and confusion. Similarly, theorists of systemic and classical approaches have converging views that strategy can be deliberate despite their differences over the outcomes from the two strategies. Taking a closer look at each of the four strategic approaches, the classical approach contains the textbook answers. This means, it views strategy as a process that is rational. It should, therefore, involve deliberate calculations and analyses strategically intended to maximize on the long-term advantage. In the classical approach, deliberate effort is made in the gathering of information and in the application of the most suitable techniques. In this view, both the organization and its environment are made plastic and predictable, shaped by the organization’s top management using carefully formulated plans. The classical approach relies on good planning in the mastering of the internal and external business environments. Success and failure in the long-run, is determined by the objective decision making and the rational analysis employed in the classical approach (Armstrong, 1991). On another strategic front, the evolutionary approach view the future-oriented planning adopted by the classical approach as irrelevant. According to the approach, the business environment is very unpredictable and implacable to anticipate anything effectively. According to the approach, the hostile, dynamic and competitive na ture of the markets means that it is not possible for organizations to plan for their long-term survival. In essence, only the firms that strategize to maximize on their profits will eventually survive the harsh environment. The businesses are likened to the species in biological evolution where the fittest organisms for survival are ruthlessly selected through competitive processes. The unfit organisms have little power to adopt to change quickly enough and therefore cascade towards extinction.

Video Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Video Reaction Paper - Essay Example The lightness and â€Å"breaking of the dawn† emotion of the second movement, Venus The Bringer of Peace, is contrasted amongst the heavens of this suite. It is light and airy and I like really liked it although not as much as the first piece. The 3rd movement, Mercury The Winged Messenger, uses the greek mythology to create a flighty almost lyrical piece in which the dominance of Mars is reheard in certain momentary sections, yet the air of Mercury prevails. In contrast to the militaristic 5/4 pulse of Mars, the  ¾ time of Mercury is delightful and joyous and pleasant to listen to as well. Jupiter is a piece which rests on traditional english folk themes and enhanced orchestration elements to create sonority without being bogged down by military motifs seen in Mars. Jupiter brings to mind certain English hymns and is emotionally uplifting. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, lives up to its title and is plodding and almost mechanical. The theme element is haunting and uncomplicated using elongation over movement in its undercurrent. My least favorite of the movements, its rather plodding nature is almost sleep inducing. In stark and violent contrast, Uranus The Magician, evokes the images of dark magic while echoing the thematic elements of Paul Dukas Sorcerer and even Dvorak Slovakian Dances. Along with Mars, this movement engages the listener to pay close attention to the enlarged orchestra and its powerful sound. In the terminal movement, Neptune the Mystic, evokes the tonality of distance and finality and the end of all things. Not content with evoking leaving everyone happy, the composer leaves with the distant voices of the female choir in dissonant tones evoking the far away planet that is Neptune. In addition to the usual large orchestra elements, the ENTIRE piece adds organ, 2 extra flutes (Piccolo and bass Flute),

How do the child figures in The Tempest' contribute to our Essay

How do the child figures in The Tempest' contribute to our understanding of Prospero as a Renaissance leader - Essay Example Thus they contain down-to-earth characters who appeal to the working classes, side-by-side with complexities of plot which would satisfy the appetites of the aristocrats among the audience† (Geraghty, 2002). The progress of mankind can be traced through numerous different venues, not the least of which is humankind’s identification with and understanding of what constitutes the supernatural. These ideas of the supernatural are reflected in the way in which the various characters of these works interact with the world of the supernatural as it relates to the self. At the same time, it has been suggested in a number of different ways and in a number of different cultures that the fundamental nature of the parent can be seen to some degree in the fundamental nature of the child. This nature can also be revealed to some extent in the various ways in which the parent relates to the child. Literature, in telling us stories of different people, can often reveal much more detail regarding what is meant when one refers to a particular character type such as the renaissance man by how this figure is revealed through his or her relationships with others, particularly those who are most dependent on them. To illustrate how this might occur, it is possible to look to the child-like characters in William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"The Tempest† to gain an understanding of the renaissance man as he is represented in the figure of Prospero. The term Renaissance Man is often thrown around as if it should be widely understood by those within hearing. It is used in statements such as â€Å"Jim is a true Renaissance Man,† and thus presented as self-explanatory. A film featuring the name â€Å"Renaissance Man† was created in 1994 that sheds some light on the term as the actor Danny DeVito struggles to teach relatively uneducated military recruits how to think by having

The Concept Professionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Concept Professionalism - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  professionalism is earned, rather than being called. A real "Professional" is a brand, which is tagged with respects that one gains. Professionalism has many benefits as it can increase the productivity and maintain the organizational culture of an organization. A business concern with professional   employees can increase the product or service value with less effort .If an employee is unprofessional he can bring chaos, unproductivity and conflict in an organization. An unprofessional employee has the ability to  Ã‚   damage the reputation of him and that of an organization.This essay declares that professionalism is an important criteria as it forms the basic foundation of any organisation. Professionalism is utmost important as it builds the career of a person and the social infrastructure of a firm. The more professional are the employee more benefit it can reap the employee and the organization.  Professionalism is a concept which relate to the competency or skill expected from an employee in relation to a profession .Professionalism is the attitude of a worker towards his work. Professionalism means the knowledge, understanding, attitude, obligation and responsibility one has towards his work.  The word ‘profession’ is, today, almost synonymous with occupation: the term professional is now applied to a wide range of such individuals as footballers and cricketers.