Service Quality at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

In the competitive market where corporations vie for customers, customer satisfaction is an integral element of the organizational business strategy. Wal-Mart customers’ satisfaction ratings have powerful effects on the organization’s bottom line. If Wal-Mart’s customer satisfaction rate drops, this tells the organization that there are problems in areas of the organization that affects the customer satisfaction rating. Wal-Mart will have to correct these problems to ensure the organization customer satisfaction rate improves. A drop in satisfaction ratings for the organization affects sales and profit. Wal-Mart always ensures that their customer satisfaction rating is high enough to keep current customers and to attract new customers. Customer satisfaction is the key element of Wal-Mart to exist in this modern day world of business with such a diverse society.

As we discussed in class, every business is faced with these issues and they are important to managers making strategic decisions. One of the first things learned about business is that if there is no demand for a good or service, the firm that provides it will not continue to exist. Over time the hotel industry has continued to change with market conditions and make itself attractive to business

The hotel chain, Astor Lodge and Suites, Inc., operates 250 properties in 10 western and Rocky Mountain states. The company’s customer base primarily comprises business travelers. In addition, the locations of the properties surround airports, large regional shopping centers, and major highways close to suburban industrial sites as well as office complexes. Projections of 2005 fiscal year forecast a fifth consecutive year of a gross loss for the firm. The estimates include an anticipated $422.6 million in company lodging revenues but a net loss of $15.7 million for 2005. As a result, Joseph James, president and CEO of Astor Lodge and Suites, Inc., initiated a challenging goal for executive management to devise a strategy achieving net profits in two years and sustaining positive growth in the future.

1. Think about size, growth, locational aspects and segmentation 2. Market Structure 3. Performance metrics used 4. Trends

At the present’s days, Hampton Inn has become a well-known chain of hotels primarily due to the fact that it is a trademark of Hilton Worldwide. In most cases, it can be said that this fact also makes an impression of quality and value. Although it does not provide most of the services that are available in upscale hotels of this chain, people all the same associate Hampton Inn with good service and decent living conditions while Motel 6 has always been associated with economy services and acceptable living conditions that correspond to its price policy (Parnell,

Maverick Lodging is a hotel management company that manages the day-to-day operations of third party franchisees of the Marriott Corporation. The company has recently implemented a balanced scorecard in an effort to align company strategy, structure, performance measurements, and incentives. The organization strategy involves growth in revenue and customer base with the use of differentiation. Issues with the current scorecard and its measures have been identified. Alternative solutions have been researched. A recommended course of action is presented that will allow Maverick Lodging to achieve its strategic goals and objectives.

Customer satisfaction and service quality are the two important components that direct anyone’s attention in every concept related to marketing, services, etc. (Spreng and Mackoy, 2006). In today’s competitive era, the success lies in

Hilton Hotels is one of the biggest players in the hospitality industry with over 2900 (as of September 2007) hotels worldwide consisting of numerous brands and products. The hospitality industry is service centered and highly competitive. The challenge for Hilton is to create and deliver value better than its competitors. Hilton understand that it is important to improve customer experience and build strong relationships with the customers. Hilton Hotels adopted a Customer Really Matter (CRM) strategy out of necessity to cater for

Hospitality Management is a difficult and competitive market, and any lack in customer service can result in defecting customers or the termination of a relationship between a customer and a service provider. In this paper we will look at Hilton a company that has continually ranked amongst the top ranking hotels and continues to improve. Hilton’s customer service ranks as one of the top hospitality providers in the United States. We will look at the history of how Hilton came to be the name brand it is today and some of their process the used to narrow the customer service gaps such as Hilton Honors, the Hiltons Reservation Customer Care, and RESMAX. We will look at how they look at how Hilton manages the customer expectations through the use of employee training and their decreased the customer service gap through employee retention. We will also look as how Hilton co-partnered with Citibank in order to offer its Hilton Honors member additional benefits in order to keep in line with the customer service that the customers have come to expect.

Customer service is very important element in hospitality industry. A good restaurant or a good hotel always have an excellent service first. Hotels and restaurants put added value in their products and service make guest love it. Some hotels give guest drink when they arrived or prepare small birthday gifts to their loyalty guests. But sometimes hotels spend lots of money to added value of customers’ experience but customers still don’t like their service. So, what’s happening? Hotels gave service and improved service are not customers needed or most needed. That’s the gap between you and your customer. “You know your hotel inside out, but do you ever see it through your guests' eyes? In many cases, there is a disconnect between what hoteliers think

As a primary worldwide provider of travel-related services such as rentals, lodging, conference facilities, and timeshare exchange, Wyndham Worldwide has overcome inconsistent branding strategy, unstable mergers, and acquisitions, as well as the 2008 economic recession to retain its top position in the industry. An internal and external analysis of the company, opportunities, and threats faced by the firm, its competitive advantage, and a strategic focus reveal the issues that need to be addressed henceforth for it to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive global market. The paper provides a problem statement, alternatives, and recommendations that Wyndham Worldwide can engage.

I will be evaluating the guest services department at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlotte, NC. The hotel is part of a much larger Hilton family that is quite successful, but this particular property is suffering from lower guest satisfaction scores, several recent management changes and the resulting low employee morale. The new guest services manager expects that once the new management both in guest services and the hotel overall gets settled, the low morale and slipping guest satisfaction scores can be assuaged by using specialized customer service training. This analysis will follow the progress of the Guest Services Team

There are numerous strategies hotels use to maximize capacity to increase profits all while keeping costs at a minimum. These strategies include price discrimination, overbooking, inventory control, and duration control. While companies such as the hotel chain, Ayres, may never achieve consistent full utilization, implementing such tactics as these aforementioned lets the Ayres achieve higher utilization rates that directly affect profit margins in the long run. Some tactics are highlighted more than others yet they all equally play a significant role in a hotels day to day front and back end operations. Hotels need to successfully implement all of these strategies and ones that are not mentioned to be a thriving profitable business. As electronic systems accompanying these strategies get more sophisticated as years pass, big hotel chains see larger profit margins and increased customer satisfaction.

Service quality represents a fundamental aspect of delivery, which strongly influences consumer satisfaction and, as a result, loyalty. In today’s global market a customer’s service expectation has to be met and exceeded eventually in order to retain customers as well as achieve success. Perceived quality of a product or a service is becoming one of the major competitive factors in the business world and has led to the innovation of the ‘Quality Era’ (Peeler, 1996). In simple words, the comparison of customer expectations with service performance is service quality. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable fulfilment response toward a good, service, benefit, or reward (Oliver, 1997). Both of these

The state of the industry since September 11, 2001 is as follows: Airlines have experienced two point one billion in losses and more than one hundred thousand layoffs. Employment domestically has experienced a ten percent drop in demand and employment globally has experienced a thirty percent drop in demand. Hotels have experienced a two billion dollar lost in room revenue and meeting room and convention industry has experienced a one billion dollar loss. As a whole the entire Travel and Tourism industry have experienced an enormous drop in revenues.