Reference no: EM132806797

Case StudyThe Mix-up at New Year's Brunch-Revisited Jason, Vanessa, and their children, along with another family, traditionally attended New Year's brunch at a large downtown hotel. This year, as in the past, Vanessa called and made a reservation about three weeks prior to New Year's. Because half the party consisted of small children, they arrived 20 minutes prior to the 11:30 a.m. reservation to ensure being seated early. When they arrived, however, the hostess said they did not have a reservation. She explained that guests sometimes failed to show and that she would probably have a table available for them before long. Jason and Vanessa were quite upset and insisted that they had made a reservation and expected to be seated promptly. The hostess told them, "I believe that you made a reservation, but I can't seat you until all the people on the reservation list are seated. You are welcome to go to the lounge for complimentary coffee and punch while you wait." When Jason asked to see the manager, the hostess replied, "I am the manager," and turned to other duties. The party was eventually seated at 11:50 a.m. but was not at all happy with the experience.

The next day, Jason wrote a letter to the hotel manager explaining the entire incident. Jason was in the management development program at the local university and taking a course on quality management and service excellence. In the class, they had just studied issues of customer focus and some of the approaches used at leading companies such as Ritz Carlton, GE, and others. Jason concluded his letter with the statement, "I doubt that we would have experienced this situation at a hotel that truly believes in quality." About a week later, he received the following letter:

Now let's take a look at how The Place to Stay can improve its employee focus. Through this activity and the discussion that follows, you will have the opportunity to recommend action such as scripting, standardization, or customization.

The Place to Stay is creating an employee and management development program. Top leadership wants to ensure that quality standards improve and a mix-up like the New Year's brunch scenario does not happen again. And if it does, they want to make sure that the employees are prepared to take appropriate action so there is minimal impact on customer experience and satisfaction. What specific recommendations would you give to the senior leadership team of the hotel as they develop the training program?

As you revisit the Mix-up at New Year's Brunch case reiterated here, make note of your recommendations. Be prepared to share your recommendations in the discussion that follows

Reflect on the case you just revisited, the Mix-up at New Year's Brunch. Consider the current goals of the hotel to develop an employee and management training program to prevent future quality problems and empower employees to properly address them, should they occur.

1. In thinking of the New Year's brunch case, what recommendations would you give to the senior leadership team of the hotel as they develop the training program?

2. How might either standardization, scripting, or customization be used to either prevent or address another scenario like this?