Page 80 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 1: DEFINE AND REFINE
from resorts to urban hotel settings. Bob Kharazmi, senior vice
president of international operations, states, “As we started to
expand internationally, we were very careful and somewhat ap-
prehensive about how our offerings would be received. To our
pleasant surprise, we realized that although there were unique
challenges in each market, whether it was China, Shanghai,
other parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, or Latin America,
a disciplined and genuine respect for the wants, needs, and de-
sires of the customer resulted in success. No matter what lan-
guage you speak, you want to be respected. You want to be
treated fairly. You want businesses to be built with you in mind.
As we grow, and as our hotels go 8,000 miles away from our cor-
porate headquarters, the attentiveness and responsiveness to the
customer are even more critical.”
President Simon Cooper believes the longevity of the Ritz-
Carlton brand and its overall relevance (like that of so many other
companies) is largely linked to having its presence in emerging
markets so that the brand has sufficient worldwide distribution
both today and into the foreseeable future. Simon admits,
“I’ve been dealt a fantastic hand. I work with an outstanding
team, an incredibly successful brand that is doing extremely well
through superb customer support and exceptional internal sup-
port. I’ve always said my challenge was not to mess up the suc-
cess, while positioning the company for future growth. The
challenge is both about staying the course and placing hotels in
places where guests want us to be. That’s why we are position-
ing ourselves in the Dubai Financial Center and throughout
China in places like Sanya and Shenzhen.
“It’s about taking a jewel of a brand and frankly hoping that
when you hand it off to the next leader, it’s more relevant to its
customer base. There’s no doubt we’ll hand off a far bigger chain
of hotels. There’s no doubt we’ll hand off a lifestyle brand that
has developed into Residences and Clubs. There’s no doubt, at
the moment, we’ll hand off economically superior performance.
Hopefully though, we will continue to execute from a strong

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