Who are the Ritz Carlton customers, and what specific aspects of the market are they targeting?
· Does the Ritz Carlton have a service culture? If so, what have they done to create it, and what will they need to do to sustain it?
· How important is leadership in the creation of a service culture? Why?
· What are the decision factors for the Ritz as they consider opening a new property? Draw the parallels that exist between the decisions that confront the Ritz and what has been discussed in class thus far relative to service operations management.
· What are some of the challenges presented by the Washington DC property that may be unique vs. the openings of the other properties?
· Discuss the operational standards that are important to the Ritz? How do they reinforce these, and how do they measure them?
· Describe the Seven Day Countdown process and its importance to the Ritz strategy, organizational readiness and the challenges that it may present.
Case Study Write up: Should the Ritz Carlton change the Seven Day Countdown process?