

Strong allegiance to the firm Four Seasons’ top management team was noted for its longevity, many having been at the firm for over 25 years. Customer service extended to all levels in the organization: managers routinely helped clear restaurant tables in passing. ” Excuses were not tolerated at Four Seasons: “Oh, but we have just been open a year” or “The people here do not understand” were not acceptable statements. They did not come telling me that all I did was wrong,” he remembered, “and showed a lot of compassion.
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A manager who stayed on with Four Seasons described the Four Seasons due diligence team that came to the property as “very professional and not pretentious detail oriented and interested in people. No bragging, no excuses Modesty, compassion, and discipline were also important. “If you are going global you cannot be one way,” he explained. He was the cultural chameleon he wanted Four Seasons hotels to be. ” Born and educated in Cairo, Corinthios spent 20 years in Chicago, but described himself as a world citizen. Antoine Corinthios, president, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, for example, was said to be “Italian in Italy, French in France. Italian in Italy, French in France The firm’s top managers were comfortable in a variety of international settings. Four Seasons management believed that the firm’s regional management structure was “a key component” of its ability to deliver and maintain the highest and most consistent service standards at each property in a cost-effective manner.Įxhibit 3 describes this structure. A quarter of the bonus was based on people measures (employee attitudes), 25% on product (service quality), and 50% on property profit. General managers had a target bonus of 30% of base compensation. 803-069 Four Seasons Goes to Paris: “53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy” Management Structure and Team Structure A general manager responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of a single property oversaw each Four Seasons property. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the permission of Harvard Business School. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-80, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to hbsp. Copyright © 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. ) Professor Roger Hallowell of Harvard Business School David Bowen, Dean, Faculty and Programs, and Professor, Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management and Carin-Isabel Knoop, Executive Director, Global Research Group (HBS) prepared this case. competitors and 27% higher than that of its European competitors. Four Seasons’ 2001 revenue per room (RevPAR) was 32% higher than that of its primary U. Get your custom essay onįrom 1996 through 2000 (inclusive), Four Seasons revenues increased at a compound rate of 22. ) Performance Four Seasons generally operated (as opposed to owned) midsized luxury hotels and resorts.ĭon't use plagiarized sources. (Exhibit 1 illustrates property locations in 2002. Young mused on what Four Seasons had learned from opening a hotel in France, wondering what lessons would be applicable to other openings given the firm’s growth plans, which suggested that new opportunities would be largely outside North America. Doing so was, according to John Young, executive vice president, human resources, “one of our great challenges and triumphs. George V”), its first French property, by renovating and operating the Hotel George V, a historic Parisian landmark. In 1999, Four Seasons opened the Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris (hereafter, “F. For Four Seasons, that meant providing high-quality, truly personalized service to enable guests to maximize the value of their time, however the guest defined doing so.

A senior Four Seasons manager In 2002, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was arguably the world’s leading operator of luxury hotels, managing 53 properties in 24 countries and delivering what observers called “consistently exceptional service. 9-803-069 REV: JANUROGER HALLOWELL DAVID BOWEN CARIN-ISABEL KNOOP Four Seasons Goes to Paris: “53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy” Europe is different from North America, and Paris is very different.
