Four Seasons Goes to Paris: "53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy"

FOUR SEASONS GOES TO PARIS:

"53 PROPERTIES, 24 COUNTRIES, 1 PHILOSOPHY"

CASE ANALYSIS

Four Seasons Goes to Paris: "53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy"

Background

Isadore Sharp, the son of Polish Jew Max Sharp emigrated from Poland to Palestine in 1920, and then to Canada. Max worked as a plasterer and eventually began renovating homes. During the 1930s and 1940s, Max supported his family by purchasing houses renovating them and then selling them. Isadore Sharpe was born October 8, 1931. Isadore, also called Issy, went to the Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnical Institute where he earned his degree in architecture. Upon graduation he began to work for his father building apartments and houses. Issy and his father Max built their first hotel which opened to the public in 1961.

Summary

The Four Season philosophy and foundation for its success starts with an old ideal, "treat others as you would like to be treated. Sharp redefined the hospitality culture of service using this very simple and fundamental rule. He accomplished this by having an intensive interview system where employees were chosen after five separate interviews. Employees were eventually hired because of their love of people. Issy felt that this type of attitude in an employee would manifest itself into servicing customers in the manner most beneficial to the type of service establishment he wanted to create. Issy believed that competence could be taught, however attitude cannot.

He also believed that Four Seasons employees should be treated with the same level of respect given to customers. His philosophy is that respect will manifest in employee satisfaction and a willingness to give excellent service. Happy employees work harder, faster, better, and are loyal. He restructure the way in which manager earned their bonus by linking them to employee attitudes. He chose managers who were comfortable working in different cultures and able to adapt the service to the appropriate culture.

After the creation of a stable foundation in his employees, Issy focused on the objective of the Four Season hotels. The objective is to deliver exceptional personal service and respect with positive attitude of kindness. The Four Season kept the standards for luxury hotels known all over the world and added the culture specific features. For instance serving wine with dinner is not practiced in all cultures. Therefore you may receive wine with your dinner/lunch in Paris but not in Qatar. Dependent on the culture the style and even the décor of the hotel would be different. Issy gave travelers the opportunity to stay in a luxury hotel that is culturally correct for the location, with outstanding exceptional personal service by employees who love their work.

The Four Season is the only Canadian company featured in the Fortune Magazine list of 100 best companies to work for. Because of his incredible work in the hospitality industry, Issy Sharp has been inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Marketing Issues

When Four Season made to the move to venture into the French market, the company did not consider the many obstacles they faced. There were various government regulations and cultural ethnocentric attitude Four Seasons had to overcome in order to become successful in the France. In addition to the aforementioned problems, Four Season had to rise above their own standard of perfection.

When Four Seasons decided to take over the George V Hotel in Paris, after it was purchased by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, they felt it would have been harder to purchase a new property. But Four Seasons realized that they had to take up the challenges of renovating the physical structure without jeopardizing the historic integrity of the building. So for 2 long years Four Seasons had to closed their doors to remodel the George V building, but since the building itself was consider a landmark, they had to outline a new approach to keep the George V building looking historic, while altering the entire interior. Furthermore, the designers of the newly remodeled George V hotel to find a way to incorporate feel of Paris into the design.

Another issue Four Seasons had to surmount was France's government local laws, which affected the design and work pattern. In France there are strict hygiene laws that affirm that food and trash must be carried in separate elevators. Additionally there were other laws that required that employees have access to light, which meant that employees had to work near a window for a certain amount hours each day. Also, in December of 1999, the doors of the George V reopened, but this opening of the newly renovated George V did not go as smoothly as it should. Four Seasons did not assumed control until because of the French government regulations. This was due in part, because the French government is very meticulous fire regulations and the fire department would inspect the building until all work was done on the George V.

In addition to the French laws and regulation pertaining to working conditions, the country had strong unions. With the union in France be so strong, this made it somewhat difficult for managers to terminate any employees without justification. The company would have to go through a due process, and there must be some concrete reasons as to why that employee should be terminated and they must be documented. There are cultural barriers the management and employees of the Four Seasons had to conquer. In France when a supervisor had an issue with an employee, management would direct that employee to Human Resource. But Four Seasons required the operating manager be present and lead the discussion pertaining to the problem at hand.

For Four Seasons, France was becoming a hard market to maneuver because of cultural differences. For instance in North America, employers can decide whether they want to keep employees after an acquisition of another company. But In France companies cannot rid their company of their old employees; the acquiring company must retain their employees as well; whether good or bad. So Four Seasons had to find a solution to fade out the old, without making it obvious.

Alternatives

Paris presented new hurdles around the extended marketing mix, the other three P's of marketing;

packaging, positioning and people. The impact of cultural differences and synergies were astronomical for the Four Seasons market entry into Paris and highlighted