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Marketing Case Study: Four Seasons

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Marketing Case Study: Four Seasons
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Case Study: Four Seasons

“Treat others as you would like to be treated” this is the golden rule and the basis for the success and recognized service quality of the Four Seasons hotel chain. The hotel chain founded in 1961 comprising of one modest motor hotel property in downtown Toronto is now the world 's leading operator of luxury hotels and currently manages 74 properties within exceptional cities and resort destinations in 31 countries. It’s dedication to its customers and employees of offering the highest standards when delivering their service has made it the benchmark in luxury hotels. Four Seasons constantly endeavours to maintain and improve the quality of its services. The company has been a major innovator in the hospitality industry, developing services to make business travel more productive and efficient, and leisure travel stress-free and more enjoyable. The aim of this essay is to explore and examine the service quality of this chain which has focused its quality amongst its human resources and of course its clientele. Through this we will compare and relate them to service quality theories that it relates to as well as examining other theories towards service quality and contrast them to the Four Season approach. The brand, its marketing, the scarcity of the type of service, etc. all secondary factors which will also be looked at and examined. Secondly we look at how the service quality obtained by Four Seasons seek to minimize the service gaps which so often occur in this industry as well as how such an established and high-quality regarded copes with service recovery in order to maintain its high esteem amongst its extremely demanding customers. Service quality necessitates an integrated approach from operations, marketing, HR and other areas of business. They need clearly defined service strategies with top management and leadership. In order to achieve success Four Seasons had to fulfil these requirements and



Bibliography: Bernstein, L.; (1999); Luxury and the Hotel Brand: Art, Science or Fiction?; Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, February; pgs. 48-53 Berry, L.L.; (1981); The Employee as Customer; Journal of Retail Banking, Vol Hart, C. W. L.; (1988); The Power of Unconditional Service Guarantees; Harvard Business Review, Vol. 66 Iss. 4, pgs. 54-62 Heskett, J Kotler, P., Wong, V., Saunders, J.; Armstrong, G.; (2005); Principles of Marketing, 4th European Edition; Prentice Hall; pgs 635-643 Lewis, B Siguaw, J.A., Enz, C.A.; (2000); Best Practices in Human Resources; Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, February; pgs. 48-61 Slack, N., Chambers, S., Johnston, R.; (2004); Operations Management, 4th edition; Prentice Hall; pgs

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