Page 27 - The New Gold Standard

The Ritz-Carlton Experience
pany has given the brand access to vast economic and support
resources. Yet despite this change in ownership—as well as the
relocation of the corporate offices to Chevy Chase, Maryland—
Ritz-Carlton’s leadership and management culture has remained
strikingly autonomous and independent.
Even with its early history of financial difficulties, The Ritz-
Carlton Hotel Company has grown as of January 2008 to man-
age 69 hotels worldwide. Approximately half of the Ritz-Carlton
properties are in the United States, and the other half are in busi-
ness and resort locations such as China,Egypt,Indonesia,Russia,
and South Korea. By the year 2011, Ritz-Carlton is poised to have
100 properties worldwide. The company is also experiencing ad-
ditional growth in new product lines including its Residences,
Clubs, and other fractional ownership properties, and it is also
widening its global footprint in emerging markets such as India.

C Names and Faces May Change, D
but Quality Endures

Facing struggles, stumbles, and transitions, Ritz-Carlton’s lead-
ership has been steadfast in its commitment to service and qual-
ity. Even during some of the financial challenges of the business’s
life cycle, Ritz-Carlton continued to be recognized across multi-
ple industries for its consistent excellence. While many leaders
would have taken a defensive position during economic threats—
allowing cost containment to cut deeply into the level of prod-
ucts and services delivered—the leadership at Ritz-Carlton set
out to benchmark its practices against the most quality-driven
companies. They did this by measuring and improving quality
through the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award evalua-
tion process, a program that allows businesses to benchmark
against other recognized “world-class” leaders.
Ed Staros, one of the original group in Atlanta that devel-
oped The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, notes, “I remember in
the late eighties there were economic concerns, and other hotels

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