Total quality management at Ritz Carlton

By on April 13, 2012

Ritz Carlton was the first hotel that received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. It received the award for the first time in 1992. In 1999 it won the award for the second time. This stood as recognition for its continuous improvement in total quality management.

Ritz Carlton concentrates on the principle needs of its customers and offers them with caring service. Focus towards technology and performance of the employees are Ritz Carlton’s greatest strength. It has helped the company to receive the award twice and improve its quality.

The self-directed team at Ritz Carlton

According to Martin (1986, p 83) the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company uses self-directed teams. These process teams are aligned with the way customers come in contact with the hotel:

  1. Pre-arrival team.
  2. Arrival, stay over and departure team.
  3. Dining services team.
  4. Banquet services team.
  5. Engineering and security team.

In a self-directed work team members may have specific individual roles but the team shares accountability for meeting performance objectives.

Principles at Ritz Carlton

The Ritz Carlton follows what the new Baldrige criteria call for demonstrating a balance between financial results and customer and employee satisfaction. At all levels of the organization, Ritz Carlton operates the service quality which can be internalized and communicated aggressively.  Ritz Carlton’s five principles are:

  1. Service.
  2. Motto.
  3. Service values.
  4. Employee promise.
  5. And credo.

The above principles are together referred to as Gold standards. Ritz Carlton admits their employees to act and think independently with creativity for the benefit of the company and the customers (Barsky and Nash, 2003, pp 42; Greenberg, 2004).

Understanding its customers

Many sources of information are used by Ritz Carlton to understand their customers. On a daily basis, Ritz Carlton collects quality-related data for customer satisfaction. Every employee is involved to use information systems and asked to respond to the data in order to deliver error-free services. They understand the preferences of guest and create quality improvement opportunities.

On the whole Ritz Carlton can be considered as a role model in the service industry that purely cares on its customers and the quality of its services delivered.

References

  • Greenberg P (2004), Hotel Secrets from the Travel Detective: Insider tips on getting the Best Value, Service and Security, Villard Books, New York
  • Barsky J and Nash I (2003), Customer Satisfaction: Applying concepts to industry, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration, New Jersey, 43 (1): 39-46

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