Situation Analysis Of 4 Seasons

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International Marketing Professor Skuba Case 2: Four Seasons Goes to Paris Case Team Two: Bryce Fitzpatrick Mike Manchester Mariele Marki Craig Simoneau Situation Analysis Operating in twenty-four countries, the Canadian-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is no stranger to the international landscape. However, when planning to open one of their largest locations at the Hotel George V in Paris in 2002, they experienced (and eventually overcame) a number of obstacles. The majority of these came from adapting their core values, philosophy, and management standards to a vastly different French vacation experience. Culture clash was a significant problem, due to a culture in France that espoused extreme national pride, fear of taking initiative, and nativism in most every regard (specifically here, art décor). Because of these differences, it was difficult for management to instill values like the golden rule and to teach employees to deal with internal problems outside of the Human Resources department. Four Seasons’ standard North American monochronic culture, which values scheduling and promptness, had to be abandoned for a more polychronic French culture, which is scheduled around human relationships and interactions. These differences did not just exist in managing employees; things such as etiquette and norms, like leaving coffee pots on tables and hiring an executive chef became concerns for pleasing guests. These sorts of cultural problems mixed with differences in French law, like the maximum 35-hour work week and an extensive documentation process needed to terminate any employee. These stringent legal restrictions led to a need for almost 2.5 staff per room, far above the average throughout the rest of Four Seasons’ locations. Thus meeting a bottom line became a concern with such high salary costs. In addition, management was faced
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