Four Seasons Goes to Paris
A. What has made Four Seasons successful over the last 30 years?
A number of main factors have contributed to the success of Four Seasons over the last 30 years. To begin with, Four Seasons has had an exceptional management team and structure that has had the ability to deliver and maintain its highest and most consistent service standards at each property in a cost-effective manner. These top managers were all world citizen, which means that they are able to act as the local citizens in any country around the world; for example, Italian in Italy, French in France. They were very professional, not pretentious, detail oriented, interested in people, and compassionate. Also, excuses were not tolerated, and customer service would be provided from all levels in the organization, such as managers routinely helped clear restaurant tables in passing. Moreover, Four Seasons has achieved its goal of providing an international hotel to the business or luxury leisure traveler looking for comfort and service. Having the strength of being both diverse and unique, meaning while keeping the essence of the local culture, the process for opening and operating a hotel stays the same, each of their hotels is tailor made and adapted to its national environment. For instance, in their Istanbul hotel, guests would know that they will get 24-hour room service, a custom-made mattress, and a marble bathroom, but they also know that they are going to be part of a local community in Turkey. From a design perspective they are much cleverer than other companies because according to David Richey, when you sit in the Four Seasons in Bali, you feel that you are in Bali. Four Seasons have just done an exceptional job adapting to local markets. They have the ability to be a cultural chameleon because the Four Seasons’ brand does not rigidly define what the product is; instead its brand is associated with intangibles. Since they are an international company, they never stop learning or
A number of main factors have contributed to the success of Four Seasons over the last 30 years. To begin with, Four Seasons has had an exceptional management team and structure that has had the ability to deliver and maintain its highest and most consistent service standards at each property in a cost-effective manner. These top managers were all world citizen, which means that they are able to act as the local citizens in any country around the world; for example, Italian in Italy, French in France. They were very professional, not pretentious, detail oriented, interested in people, and compassionate. Also, excuses were not tolerated, and customer service would be provided from all levels in the organization, such as managers routinely helped clear restaurant tables in passing. Moreover, Four Seasons has achieved its goal of providing an international hotel to the business or luxury leisure traveler looking for comfort and service. Having the strength of being both diverse and unique, meaning while keeping the essence of the local culture, the process for opening and operating a hotel stays the same, each of their hotels is tailor made and adapted to its national environment. For instance, in their Istanbul hotel, guests would know that they will get 24-hour room service, a custom-made mattress, and a marble bathroom, but they also know that they are going to be part of a local community in Turkey. From a design perspective they are much cleverer than other companies because according to David Richey, when you sit in the Four Seasons in Bali, you feel that you are in Bali. Four Seasons have just done an exceptional job adapting to local markets. They have the ability to be a cultural chameleon because the Four Seasons’ brand does not rigidly define what the product is; instead its brand is associated with intangibles. Since they are an international company, they never stop learning or