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Qua l i t y a t t he Ri t z - Ca r l t o n Ho t e l Co mpa ny

Di s c us s i o n que s t i o ns

1 . I n wha t wa y c o u l d t he Ri t z - Ca r l t o n mo ni t o r i t s s uc c e s s i na c h i e v i ng qua l i t y ?

Qual i t y i s no t somet h i ng t ha t cab be quan t i f i ed , you can no t t ouch

or f ee l qua l i t y .

W hen a cus t omer i s s a t i s f i ed by t he se r v i ces o f R i t z ho t e l and

comeback nex t t i me , t ha t can be used a s a g r ea t measu r e o f

ach i ev i ng qua l i t y .

Success can a l so be measu r ed i n t he number o f compl a i n t s , wher eas

t he l e s se r t he compl a i n t s t he mor e t he success .

2 . Ma ny c o mpa ni e s s a y t ha t t he i r g o a l i s t o pr o v i de a qua l i t yproduct / serv ice . What ac t ions might you expect f rom a company

t ha t i n t e nds f o r qua l i t y t o be mo r e t ha n a s l o g a n o r Buz z wo r d?

Thi s can on l y be ach i eved t h r ough se t t i ng t he compan i es ope r a t i ona l

s t r a t egy a r ound t he s l ogan , t h i s way , each and eve r y un i t o f t he

company wou l d be wor k i ng t owar ds f u l f i l l i ng t he s l ogan / b r and

pr omi se .

Tak i ng t he scena r i o o f R i t z ho t e l a s an exampl e , t he company has

c l ea r l y pu t mor e mean i ng beh i nd i t s qua l i t y e f f o r t s t o o r gan i ze i t s

emp l oyees i n t o s e l f -d i r ec t ed wor k - t eams wher eas empl oyees

t eams de t e r mi ne wor k schedu l i ng , wor k t o be done and a l so mon i t o r

wha t t o i n t he i r pa r t i cu l a r a r ea t o add r ess t he i s sue o f qua l i t y .

3 . Why mi g ht i t c o s t t he Ri t z - Carl ton le ss to do th ings r ight thef i r s t t ime?

Thi s a l l r evo l ves a r ound t he concep t o f b r and i mage . I f a gues t s

f i r s t t i me expe r i ence a t t he R i t z does n o t mee t h i s / he r expec t a t i on .

The R i t z ho t e l r i sks l o s i ng t ha t cus t omer and h i s con t ac t s t o t he

compe t i t i on . And t h r ough no t do i ng t h i ngs r i gh t a t t he f i r s t t i me

Ri t z cou l d end up spend i ng mi l l i ons adve r t i s i ng i n d i f f e r en t med i a

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wher eas t h i s cos t cou l d have been avo i ded and i nves t ed mor e i n t o

t he t r a i n i ng and empl oyee mot i va t i on t o i nc r ease t he p r oduc t i v i t y

and qua l i t y o f t he wor ke r s a t t he ho t e l . By mak i ng t he f i r s t t i me

exper i ence o f t he cus t omer a t t he ho t e l mag i ca l , R i t z cou l d save a

l o t o f money and a l so boos t t he i r r evenues t h r ough i nc r ease i n

cus t omer ob t a i ned t h r ough r ecommenda t i ons and r e t u r ned bus i ness

f r om t he same cus t omer .

4 . How could contro l charts , Pareto diagrams and cause and e f fec td i a g r a ms be us e d t o i nde nt i f y qua l i t y pr o bl e ms a t a ho t e l ?

Pareto Diagram

I s a g r aph i ca l ove r v i ew o f t he p r ocess p r ob l ems i n r ank i ng o r de r o f

t he mos t f r equen t i n descend i ng o r de r f r om l e f t t o r i gh t .

The r e f o r e t he pa r e t o d i ag r am i l l u s t r a t e s t he f r equency o f f au l t

t ypes . Us i ng t he pa r e t o d i ag r am, you can dec i de wh i ch f au l t i s t he

mos t se r i ous o r mos t f r equen t o f f ende r .

80% of t he t o t a l p r ob l ems i ncu r r ed a r e caused by 20% of t he

p r ob l em cause t ypes . Us i ng t he pa r e t o cha r t a s a bas i s t o d i v i de and

conquer p r ob l ems . I t t e l l s you wha t you need t o wo r k on f i r s t .

Af t e r you have wor ked on t h e p r ob l em f o r a wh i l e , u se t he d a t a on

t he same t echn i ques t o co l l ec t da t a aga i n and c r ea t e a new pa r e t o

cha r t . The new cha r t w i l l be r e f i ned and w i l l t e l l you mor e c l ea r l y

how you a r e do i ng i n t e r ms o f qua l i t y i n your o f f e r i ng o f se r v i ces .

The da t a on t he new cha r t t o i den t i f y and t a r ge t t he mos t s i gn i f i can t

p r ob l em.

Ca us e - e f f e c t Ana l y s i s

Thi s g i ves you a u se f u l way o f i den t i f y i ng qua l i t y p r ob l ems wh i ch

combi nes b r a i ns t o r mi ng w i t h a t ype o f t h i nk i ng t ha t pushes you t o

cons i de r a l l poss i b l e causes o f a p r ob l em r a t he r t han j u s t ones t ha t

a r e mos t obv i ous . Hence expands t he ho r i zo n t o exp l o r i ng mor e

causes t ha t a r e a f f ec t i ng your bus i ness .

Contro l chart

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A con t r o l cha r t i s a t oo l you can use t o mon i t o r a p r ocess . I t

g r aph i ca l l y dep i c t s t he ave r age va l ue and t he uppe r and l ower

con t r o l l i m i t s o f a p r ocess .

Con t r o l cha r t can he l p t o d i s t i ngu i sh be t ween va r i a t i ons i n a p r ocess

and compar e w i t h t he s t anda r d t ha t i s be i ng benchmar ked .

5 . What are some nonf inanc ia l measures o f cus tomer sa t i s fac t iont ha t mi g ht be us e d by t he Ri t z - Ca r l t o n?

The f o l l owi ng nonf i nanc i a l f ac t o r s can be used a s measu r emen t s o f

cus t omer sa t i s f ac t i on a t t he ho t e l .

Number o f book i ngs and ove r book i ngs The advance t i me used f o r se t t i ng a r e se r va t i on The number o f r e t u r ned cus t omer s The number o f r e f e r r a l s Cus t omer f eedback f r om su r vey Empl oy i ng an ex t e r na l f i r m t o conduc t a qua l i t y aud i t .