Social and Cultural Accommodation in the Hospitality Field
Contemporary businesses organizations, particularly those in the service industry, must maximize customer loyalty to remain competitive. That concern only becomes more important in times of relative economic difficulty (Mankiw, 2008), such as in the case of the current U.S. economic recession that began, in earnest, in 2008. The Ritz-Carlton-owned Marriot Hotel chain recognizes that concept and reflects it throughout its corporate philosophy (De Bono, Van Der Heijden, and Jones, 2008; Lampton, 2003). Customer service and appreciation are the core values relied upon by the organization to meet customer expectations and ensure their satisfaction and repeat patronage. Marriot and other Ritz- Carlton hotels emphasize the importance of providing their customers a highly consistent experience regardless of where they stay (De Bono, Van Der Heijden, and Jones, 2008; Lampton, 2003).
Meeting the Challenges of Geographic and Cultural Diversity
In that regard, the...
More specifically, Ritz-Carlton maintains different types of services and accommodations in its facilities to comport with the local customs and expectations of customers from different social cultures and environments around the world. Within the framework of the high standards of services and customer satisfaction goals that are constants throughout the organization, each Ritz-Carlton property also strives to incorporate and support the various and often extremely varied idiosyncratic differences in those expectations in every locale in which it maintains hotel operations (De Bono, Van Der Heijden, and Jones, 2008).
Those differences require training all of Ritz-Carlton's employees to recognize and perfect their abilities to meet the expectations and fulfill all of the needs and concerns of hotel guests in a manner that is completely…
