Ibus 3 - Four Seasons

1. What has made Four Seasons successful over the last 30 years?

Several factors have contributed to the success of Four Seasons over the last 30 years. First and foremost, Four Seasons has excellent management team and structure that has the ability to deliver the most consistent service standards at each property and maintain its standards in a cost-effective manner. Four Seasons hired local managers to do the job, such as French manager in France, American managers in America so on and so forth. Four Seasons adapted the process of starting and operating a hotel according to each market and country.

The seven service culture standards and 270 worldwide core operating standards are strictly followed by all the employees at all times. Thus there is uniformity between all the properties owned by Four Seasons as well it provides a standard procedure for each of them to follow. To provide a local environment to its customers, the management allowed some of the core standards to be adapted to local culture. The flexibility that this policy allowed has largely attributed to its success.

Strong emphasis was placed on personal service that provided the customer with a feeling of being an important person. They also personalized their service specific to their customers that provided the customers with a feeling that they were cared for and taken seriously. This is what set them apart from their competitors who were maintaining standard operating procedures across all their locations and offered the same service no matter what location the customers visited. This also provided a personalized service with a different experience across different locations for its customers.

2. Do corporate culture and human resource strategies play a role in Four Seasons’ success? If so, how and why?

Corporate culture and human resource are linked to competitive advantage in service companies. They are crucial for service industries and particularly luxury services such as five star hotels. Human resource strategies at Four Seasons started and ended with “The Golden Rule”, which stipulated that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated. Also, the company’s legendary service is also ingrained in Four Seasons’ corporate culture. Four Seasons Skilfully applying human resource strategy is one of the most important corporate cultures of Four Seasons. Human resource strategy is designed to develop the skills, attitudes and behaviors among staff that will help the organization meet its goals.

A corporate culture does not immediately come together, rather it evolves over time and is based on the accumulated history of the company. Four Seasons’ culture is also to avoid social tensions. Therefore even when Le Calvez did not think that they needed unions, the law said they had to have them, so he just said work together. Four Seasons always wanted to be recognized as the best employer in each of its locations. The role of national culture definitely played a huge part in Four Season’s business plan, and they took modest change in the implementation of Four Seasons Paris. In order to successfully establish a business in France, they had to adapt to the norms and desires of the citizens. One of the most considerable changes they made was in terms of the cuisine. However, there were also some elements that the Four Seasons desired to keep the same, in order to preserve its brand

image. One of these elements was that they required their workforce to commit to meeting their standards. This included always greeting guests with a smile, which is certainly not typical of French culture.

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3. How do you feel about the way Four Seasons entered the Paris/French market? What was good and/or bad about the entry strategy ? Why?

I believe it was a wise decision to manage the George V hotel, since it would have been very difficult to just buy a space in Paris to make a hotel. To such a point that Shangri-La and Mandarin put long years before finding an adequate location. Four Seasons paid tribute to the George V Palace Landmark by redesigning the interior while the facade was maintained. Also, they hired a French Designer to signal the French that Four Seasons understood what they meant by luxury.

The entry approach, believing how they came in was almost as important as what they did, was absolutely right. Four Seasons realized the difference between French and American managers’ styles. Thus, Four Season appointed Didier Le Calvez, who has a “Franco-Français” background with North American experience, as the general manager to lead the team and, consequently, to solve all the challenges. This strategy was appropriate and produced a satisfying result.

Though they did run some risk with their annual analysis and worker of the month awards, Four Seasons ended up making it work in the end. Four Seasons was very successful in implementing various strategies in part because of their understanding of how French workers wanted to be treated.

In conclusion, their entry strategy was outstanding because it helped to build a French hotel with international standards without causing any unsolved problems. They also coped with the cultural difference and created a harmonized workplace.