Mr. Le Calvez elucidated the importance of cultural differences. Choose two different changes that had occurred. From the perspective of cultural profiling, assess how ‘national’ and organisational cultures have influenced said changes?
3) Contemplating on increased international travel and tourism, as well as intensified globalisation (also in the socio-cultural realm) – discuss if the Four Seasons should continue with the approaches known as ‘tailor made’ hotels and ‘cultural chameleons’? Would you prefer to change this practice – why/why not?
4) In relation to the above changing external environment due to globalisation/global trends, how would you recommend to explain the pertinence of focusing on ‘alignment’ and ‘misalignment’ for other managers in the hotel chain?
5) As far as the approaches of communicating and motivating for change are concerned, discuss what you find to have worked well (and why), in Paris. Furthermore, Mr. Woroch has informed you in confidence that a similar takeover is to take place in Indonesia, one of the fastest growing markets in the world.2 He asks you to discuss if you recommend changes in the communication and motivational approaches towards local staff to achieve the same cultural transformation as in Paris.
6) Develop a change plan that aims to ensure that the achieved change will ‘spread’ and ‘stick’ within the hotel organisation in Paris. Which interventions would you recommend?
7) Four Seasons is planning to take over another hotel in Paris, currently a budget hotel, to turn into an adjacent conference venue. This includes (re)training the staff who are not accustomed to providing the world-class service associated with the Four Seasons. Choose two human resource practices from the Case Study and develop a change plan:You need to address the ‘current’ and ‘end’ states, diagnosing, the nature and patterns of change in addition to how to overcome potential resistance.
8) Mr. Le Calvez is soon to host a workshop with new departmental managers across Four Seasons’ hotels. It is their first role at the management level (e.g. a receptionist turned Service Manager; a chef turned Restaurant Manager; a marketing officer turned Event Manager and so forth) and thus new to strategising about change. Mr. Woroch asks you to assist Mr. Calvez with explaining about the importance of managing change as a holistic process. Provide him with at least one bullet-point for each of the seven core activities integral to the change process as a way of explicating their importance in achieving successful change interventions. Furthermore, what methods (and why) would you recommend to the workshop participants when it comes to gathering and interpreting information that can help them to better comprehend what might need to be changed within their own departments? Lastly, choose one change example from the Paris-experience and exemplify to the workshop participants how power and politics within the organisation potentially represent a risk towards achieving a successful change intervention.