Four Seasons In my opinion, Four Seasons seems to set the standard for transferring its practices to other cultures. The company did not want to simply “copy and paste” their hotels all over the world. Instead, the company wanted to make sure that the hotel offered all of the high quality service and standards that were associated with a Four Seasons, while ensuring that each hotel had a local feel and flare to it. David Richey, president of Richey International (who audits hotel service quality) stated, “Four Seasons has done an exceptional job adapting to local markets. When you sit in the Four Seasons in Bali you feel that you are in Bali. It does not scream ‘Four Seasons’ at you.” Four Seasons CEO Isadore Sharp said that one of the key strengths of Four Seasons was their diversity and mentions how “McDonald’s is the same all over. We do not want to be that way. We are not a cookie-cutter company. We try to make each property represent its location. “ To further emphasize this point Barbara Talbott, executive vice president of marketing stated, “In the US, our properties have public spaces with a luxurious, but intimate feeling. In the Far East, our properties have large lobbies enabling guests to see and be seen. People around the world also have different ways of using a hotel--restaurants, for example, are more important in hotels in Asia, so we build space for more restaurants in each property there.” While each hotel does have a local feel to it, Four Seasons was able to extend their company culture to each hotel (even if it needed to be somewhat adapted to a local market). Four Seasons’ was known for providing high-quality and truly personalized service to their guests, and in order to do so, the company needed to hire and train employees who bought into the Four Seasons culture. Every employee needed to follow the company’s “Golden Rule” which is that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated.
A Four Seasons’ manager stated that the company “needs employees who are as distinguished as our guests. If employees are going to adapt, to be
