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 come to mind are "exemplary customer service". Ritz-Carlton is
committed to treating its guests 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 bases for all employee training and rewards. Nothing is left to
change when it comes to providing exemplary customer service. Potential hires and 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 towards guests had been extremely detailed and scripted. That's why a new customer service
philosophy implemented in mid-2006 was such a radical departure from what the Ritz had been doing.

The company's new approach is almost the opposite from what the company had been doing: Don't
tell employees how to make guests happy. Now, they're 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 didn't change, though. The goal is still a happy guest who's wowed to the
service received. However, under the new approach, staff member interactions with guests are more
natural, relaxed, and authentic rather than sounding like they've recited lines from a manual.

1. Using Exhibit 3-2 and the information from this case, describe the culture at The Ritz-Carlton.
Why do you think this type of culture might be important to a luxury hotel? What Might be the
drawbacks of the 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?

Source: Robbins, S.P., Coulter, M., 2009, Management, Pearson International Edition, Prentice Hall, p.
409
Answer :
1.

The Organizational culture of Ritz-
Carlton Hotel in the past is like
everything on the services is
scripted, then the new approach
culture in the company changed to
opposite direction to
moved away from that heavily
prescriptive, scripted approach and
toward managing to
outcomes said Diana Orek, vice
president. And t
h
is culture is very important as a
Luxury Hotel
because the service is not look
stiffed and very natural service,
provide that all of this have a
base guidance and base basic for t
h
e service based. So, t
h
e term and culture is just for
directing
services and focuses on the
outcomes. And these culture is more
dynamic and easy to adapt the
changes than the old culture.
The drawbacks these culture is if
the employees isnt capability to
mastery the hotel basic
service culture orientation then these
new culture is h ave very risk.
2.

Challenge that may Ritz-Carlton
faced is the maintaining and stronger
the culture of their system
and implement the culture to their
employees with detailed basic of the
culture system that
Ritz-Carlton have.
To maintain t
h
e new culture, Ritz-
C
arlton must be doing :
-

Establishes appropriate the new
culture
-

Constrains
decision making in all
management functions
-

Organizing - degree of autonomy
given to employees
-
 Le
ading - degree of concern for job
satisfaction
-
 Co
ntr
oll
ing - reliance on external or internal
controls
3.

Person who love to interact to other
people and take a liking in the new
environment. These
kinds of people will be very happy in
serving the guest freely but still
based on the regulations.
In result, they can do the job
effectively and efficiently.
4.

The other organization can learn
about how the manage to make their
staff happy while they
are working, making a good
environment for bot
h
t
h
e guest and t
h
eir staff, but still can manage
to get their guest happy with the
service which is received by the guest
Answer;

1. The Organizational culture of Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the past is like everything on the services is
scripted, then the new approach culture in the company changed to opposite direction to
“moved away from that heavily prescriptive, scripted approach and toward managing to
outcomes” said Diana Orek, vice president. And this culture is very important as a Luxury Hotel
because the service is not look stiffed and very natural service, provide that all of this have a
base guidance and base basic for the service based. So, the term and culture is just for directing
services and focuses on the outcomes. And these culture is more dynamic and easy to adapt the
changes than the old culture. The drawbacks these culture is if the employees isn’t
capability to mastery the hotel basic service culture orientation then these new culture is have
very risk.

2. Challenge that may Ritz-Carlton faced is the maintaining and stronger the culture of their system
and implement the culture to their employees with detailed basic of the culture system that
Ritz-Carlton have.
To maintain the new culture, Ritz-Carlton must be doing;
- Establishes appropriate the new culture
- Constrains decision making in all management functions
- Organizing - degree of autonomy given to employees
- Leading - degree of concern for job satisfaction
- Controlling - reliance on external or internal controls
3. Person who love to interact to other people and take a liking in the new environment. These
kinds of people will be very happy in serving the guest freely but still based on the regulations.
In result, they can do the job effectively and efficiently.

4. The other organization can learn about how the manage to make their staff happy while they
are working, making a good environment for both the guest and their staff, but still can manage
to get their guest happy with the service which is received by the guest