Ritz-Carlton Hotel Case Robert Arroyo & Genoveva Amaya Nevada State College 11/22/17

1. Running head: RITZ-CARLTON 1
Ritz-Carlton
Robert Arroyo & Genoveva Amaya
Nevada State College

2. RITZ-CARLTON 2
Ritz-Carlton
Introduction
The Ritz-Carlton is a leading hotel management company that obtains management contracts for
new hotels and resorts across the world. One of the many owners whom the Ritz-Carlton manage
hotels for is the Millennium Partners; a New York-based real estate development group that was
founded in 1990. The Ritz-Carlton will be opening a new hotel that is part of a multi-use facility
owned by the Millennium Partners in Washington D.C. The Ritz-Carlton has a Seven Day
Countdown prior to the grand opening that is conducted by James McBride, general manager of
the new Ritz-Carlton who has to meet the deadline before the grand opening. Although the Seven
Day Countdown has been efficient at many of the previous Ritz-Carlton hotels, the manager of
Millennium Partners; Brian Collins, is concerned that the time frame will not offer the highest
quality of service that he expects and wants. James McBride, the veteran of the luxury hotel
chain who has previously opened a 248-room Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur successfully, has
been picked to manage the ongoing operations in Washington D.C. He is uncertain whether the
Seven Day Countdown is enough time to have 400 people be fully trained and whether it limits
the hotel’s ability to reach an 80% occupancy rate in a short period of time.
Primary Problem
The primary problem is that Brian Collins, the manager of hotels for the Millennium Partners,
believes that the Seven Day Countdown is not sufficient time to prep its employees and staff
before having a grand opening for the hotel and multi-use facility in Washington D.C. The Seven
Day Countdown is a service standard that consists of intense training activities that has been
successfully used by the Ritz-Carlton since the late 1980s.

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Critical Issues
The issues that are linked to the problem are quality of service, partnership with the Millennium
Partners, customer satisfaction, and the turnover rate. If employees and staff are not able to fully
learn the jobs requirements within the seven day period, they will most likely provide bad quality
of service and not meet the Ritz-Carlton’s expectation standards of excellent service. This can
cause and lead to losing its partnership with the Millennium Partners (MP) in the future. The
partnership with MP is important because it provides properties, gives an opportunity to conduct
its business, and be able to create and attract new and existing contracts with other investors by
the spread of reputation. Although there are experienced workers and managers in each
department, training 400 people in seven days will cause a lot of tension and stress that could
potentially lead to bad performance. Not being able to satisfy the customers will cost a fortune, if
the company has 88% of occupancy in three years, it is leaving $300 million on the table (Sucher
& Mcmanus, 2005, p. 14). Putting so much tension on the staff and employees could potentially
increase the Ritz-Carlton’s turnover rate. The employees and staff play a crucial and important
part to the Ritz-Carlton Company because they have ground-floor information that helps run the
business while providing the service that it is famously known for. If the company has a higher
turnover rate, it will cost the organization more money for training, recruiting, and hiring.
Organizational Stakeholders
 Customers include everyone who will be a guest at the Ritz-Carlton, utilize any space
within the hotel or multi-use facility, and anyone who plans on doing business with the
organization whether they’re booking a room or simply setting up meetings. Their
demand for the organization is having them meet their expectations for anything within

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the multi-use facility and hotel while receiving the Ritz-Carlton experience that is
expected from the organization.
 Staff members are those who work for the organization that are either new hires or
employees who have transferred from other hotels within the Ritz-Carlton Company.
Their responsibility and demand is to upkeep the Ritz-Carlton’s service and reputation
while getting a good experience out of the job itself.
 James McBride is the general manager of the new Ritz-Carlton in Washington D. C. and
a veteran of the luxury hotel who has proven to be successful within the company. His
responsibilities are opening and running the new hotel in D.C. His concern is the time
frame, the Seven Day Countdown, as well as trying to meet Brian Collins’s expectations,
upholding the Ritz-Carlton’s name, and the relationship with the Millennium Partners.
 Brian Collins, manager of Millennium Partners’ hotels, who joined the Millennium
Partners Management in December 1996 as their CFO and eventually became the COO,
partner, principal, and president of the Millennium Hospitality Partners (Sucher &
McManus, 2005, p. 3). His demand is that the Ritz-Carlton and James McBride are able
to run and operate their multi-use facility, hotel, and future hotels successfully. He
believes that the Seven-Day Countdown may not be sufficient for their needs.
 Millennium Partners, a New York-based real estate development group that was founded
in 1990. The organization's principals were originally set out to create high-end luxury
apartments that would command premium prices from wealthy individuals looking for a
second or third home in world-class cities (Sucher & McManus, 2005, p. 2). The
Millennium Partners is one of several hotel owners that conducts business with the Ritz-

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Carlton and are the key investors for the new hotel in Washington D.C. Their demand is
that they are able to run and operate a hotel and multi-use facility successfully.
 Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company operates luxury hotels and has signed contracts to manage
five other hotels for the Millennium Partners including the one in Washington D.C. The
organization nominated McBride as the general manager for the new hotel. Their demand
is being able to run and operate the hotels that have been contracted by the Millennium
Partners while living up to their standards and expectations as well as being able to
successfully execute the goals that have been set forth by the Millennium Partners.
Ideal Outcome
The ideal solution would be to extend the Seven Day Countdown to at least ten days to satisfy
each stakeholder's needs. By doing so, the organization could better its chances for having a
successful grand-opening while maintaining its excellent service standards that the Ritz-Carlton
strives for as well as what Brian Collins and the Millennium Partners would like to see. This
would also minimize any stress that may be on the new hires, transfers, and managers including
James McBride, especially since they will be opening and operating a hotel and multi-use facility
for the Millennium Partners.
Solution Alternatives
The following three alternatives would work for satisfying the ideal outcome. They are as
follows:
1. The first alternative solution to the primary problem could be extending the Seven Day
Countdown to a Ten Day Countdown. This would be ideal since Brian Collins believes it
would be best to extend the countdown so that employees could have the best service

6. RITZ-CARLTON 6
possible for the grand opening. By adding three additional days, the Ritz-Carlton and
James McBride could add more hands on training including some simulations to give
their staff experience on different scenarios that they may come across while ensuring
that everything is ready for the grand opening including some additional changes that
they think are necessary. This would also give the crew more time to actually understand
what is needed from them as well as how they should perform within the workplace. The
last day will be hands on training plus a final prep-rally to get its staff motivated and
ready for the grand-opening.
2. The second alternative could be keeping the Seven Day Countdown but adding and
reinforcing Day 1 with a combination of Day 2 on the last day. This would reinstall and
drive the idea that the Ritz-Carlton strives for excellent service for its guest. The last day
could include a small pep rally that will reinforce the idea that the job is meant to be fun
and beneficial rather than seeming like robots. This alternative could also be used to
evaluate how effective the Seven Day countdown really is since it is a concern for Brian
Collins. The president of Ritz-Carlton and COO; Schulze, knew how hard it can be for
leaders and managers to keep morale up after elaborating of the new-hotel opening, and
employees to deliver great exceptional service. McBride also stated, “It was difficult to
train new hires to meet the high expectations of The Ritz-Carlton service standard in only
seven days, but that is how The Ritz-Carlton worked” (Sucher & McManus, 2005, p. 16).
It is important to make sure that employees and staffs are comfortable because they are
one of the biggest assets of the company. If employees do not feel comfortable in the
workplace it could potentially lead to a lower turnover rate.

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3. The third alternative could be having a soft opening after the Seven Day Countdown
rather than the grand opening. The soft opening could be tailored for board members and
investors like the Millennium Partners as well as upper management from the Ritz-
Carlton. This alternative could give each investor and manager, like Brian Collins,
reassurance that the staff is suited for the grand opening and could also provide the Ritz-
Carlton with feedback that they may see need improvement within the near future.
Optimal Solutions
The optimal solution would be Alternative One. This option would allow the Ritz-Carlton and its
staff to perform at its finest while allowing its employees to get a better understanding on how to
go about their work days. Since they are having a grand opening for the hotel, including the
multi-use facility, it is crucial that the staff is able to handle anything that comes their way. By
adding extra days to the countdown, for a total of 10 days, the managers and supervisors could
add simulations to better their staffs perspective on what is required of them, how they should
assist guest, while teaching their staff how to deal with difficult and easy situations, providing
the skills and tools to recognize any situation including the guests’ behaviors and how to respond
effectively since the simulations will provide scenarios that they may encounter within the
workplace. The simulations would add hands on training that is vital for a luxury hotel like the
Ritz-Carlton since their concern and goal is to provide exceptional service to all their guests. The
simulations will consist of made up scenarios such as emergency evacuations for any crisis (i.e.
earthquakes, terrorist threats, technical difficulties, etc.), as well as scenarios that senior
employees have come across. With the extra Three Days, management can fix anything that they
feel is necessary to get the best out of their employees while implementing the standards that

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have been set forth by the Ritz-Carlton and the Millennium Partners. The final day would be a
combination of hands-on training, simulations, leadership orientations with managers per
department, and a pep-rally at the end of the day. This will get the employees and staff members
excited for the grand opening.
Implementations
The implementations should be fairly simple since everything will stay the same as far as Day 1 -
Day 7 from the original Seven Day Countdown (For an example of the schedule please see
Exhibit 1 on the following page). The difference will be adding the three additional days to
further train and implement the Ritz-Carlton’s key steps in being successful and meeting the
organization's standards and the expectations from the Millennium Partners. The extension will
also provide a recap of the elements that set the Ritz-Carlton apart from their competitors, like
the Four Seasons. This will motivate their employees to strive for excellence when providing
each guest with the Ritz-Carlton experience that they are famously known for. The hardest part
may be getting veterans of the organization on board since they may be used to the original
Seven Day Countdown. The best way for the manager, James McBride, to go about this would
be by utilizing the steps from the article titled Overcome Resistance to Change with Two
Conversations by Sally Blount and Shana Carroll. This article examines why most change efforts
fail and how to combat anyone who may be showing signs of resistance. The author states that
the three primary reasons people resist is that people disagree with your analysis or feel that they
have a better approach, human need for respect (i.e. senior employees), and that people may feel
rushed (Blount & Carroll, 2017). The steps in the article could be beneficial for senior
employees, James McBride, and even Brian Collins since he is pushing to extend the Seven Day
Countdown. The solutions that would work best for the Ritz-Carlton would be adding any

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timelines to help reduce time-based stress and being open for change (Blount & Carroll, 2017).
By adding three additional days to the Seven Day Countdown, the Ritz-Carlton and the
Millennium Partners could relieve any time-based stress that could be present on employees and
management. Lastly, being open minded and being able to adapt to change is crucial for any
business and management team to succeed. Even though the Seven Day Countdown has proven
to have been successful, it has never undergone a grand-opening of a new hotel and a multi-use
facility. The relationship between the Ritz-Carlton’s manager, James McBride, and the
Millennium Partners manager, Brian Collins, is crucial for the future of both organizations.
Exhibit 1: Timeline and Schedule for the 10 Day Countdown.
Countdown Activities
Day 1  Pep rally
 Introduction of Ritz-Carlton’s history, philosophy, culture, and values
 Leadership orientation with managers
Day 2  Orienting employees to the culture and values of company and each
department
 Sending them to their designated departments
 Group exercises to learn about one another
Day 3  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees introduced to daily line up procedure
 Skills training
 Uniform fitting
 Personal grooming sessions
Day 4  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees introduced to daily line up procedure
 “Life safety” instructions
 Skills training- learn details of job
 Handling guests difficulties procedure
 Uniform fitting
 Personal grooming sessions
Day 5  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities

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and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees arrive in two shifts
 “Life safety” instructions
 Uniform fitting
 Personal grooming sessions
 Skills training- learn details of job
 Handling guests difficulties procedures
 Employees must try to master their department’s key production process
Day 6  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees arrive in two shifts
 “Life safety” instructions
 Skills training- learn detail of job
 Handling guests difficulties procedures
 Employees must try to master their department’s key production process
 Corporate members must observe every trial run
Day 7  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees arrive in two shifts
 “Life safety” instructions
 Personal grooming reminder
 Skills training- learn details of job
 Handling guests difficulties procedures
 Safety emergency procedures
 Employees must master their department’s key production process
 Corporate members must observe every trial run
Day 8  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 Employees arrive in two shifts dressed in their uniforms
 “Life safety” instructions
 Skills training-learn details of job
 Safety emergency procedures
 Simulation
 Employees must master their department’s key production process
 Corporate members must observe every trial run
Day 9  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 All employees dressed in their uniforms
 Skills training-learn details of job
 Safety emergency procedures
 Simulation
 Employees must master their department’s key production process

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 Corporate members must observe every trial run
Day 10  Leadership team, trainers, and managers meetup to review day’s activities
and resolve any difficulties (6:00am)
 All employees dressed in their uniform
 Simulation
 Motivational/Energy boost
 Reminding employees of the culture and values of the company
 Leadership orientation with managers
 Pep rally

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References
Blount, S., & Carroll S. (2017, May 16). Overcome Resistance to Change with Two
Conversations. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2017/05/overcome-resistance-to-change-with-two-conversations
Sucher, S., & McManus, S. (2005, Sep. 30). The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Harvard Business
Review.