A Season for Every Need

I have always attempted to avoid autobiographies because I tend to be under the impression that the author is simply transforming their ego into profit. And first hearing the fact that we were required to read Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy, an autobiography from Isadore Sharp, the CEO and founder of Four Seasons, for our Hotel Operations Management Program, I instantly assumed it was simply another three-hundred page advertisement for the company.

Four Seasons Qatar
photo by Nick Leonard

However, once the lines of bias and fact have been established, I realized that the whole book revolves around what Sharp states is their secret to success: "the Golden Rule – the simple idea that if you treat people well, the way you would like to be treated, they will do the same.”

The Golden Rule is certainly not explained in great detail. Instead, Isadore Sharp uses the entire book to explain how and why Four Seasons' guidelines has shaped the business into the success and reverence it has established today.

A huge emphasis is established on how Four Seasons builds their employee base not through one's résumé, but through one's character. From an outsider's perspective, the hotel industry (and business as a whole) appears to be a cold facade of robotic and computerized functions in which a company is perceived as a "well-oiled machine," and that its employees are its "integral cogs." However, while Four Seasons still gives me the impression that the hospitality industry is a sort of mechanical operation, I have come to the revelation that they are not powerhouse hosts, but simple actors. While it may sound like an insult to the business, it simply proves that these top-dollar companies can certainly put on a show of hospitality and service for its clientele and patrons. Its as if each hotel is a studio where the rooms and facilities are the sets and the amenities are the props.

And just like a high-rating television show, these companies need to find their right audience and many of them are successful because they have. Right from the get-go, Isadore Sharp wanted to establish a name that was associated with five-star, medium-sized hotels for business executives and social elites. He attempted to work on large-scale projects like the Four Seasons Sheraton that was meant for conventioneers, but because his partners were trying to attract a different consumer than what he was accustomed to, his project broke apart. Other chains attract the high-class, high-income patron such as Hyatt and Hilton while brands like Holiday Inn are renowned for giving road travelers a place to stay along the highway.

Similar to what Jobel has already iterated, a majority of these companies work primarily with franchising and management where ownership is only a small percentage of their hotel composition. For example, InterContinental Hotels Group only owns 15 hotels globally which sums up to less than 1% of their hotel base. Owners and investors typically sit on a board of directors for a hotel while they seek and hire managers to actually plan and operate it for them.

As it may be, the Four Seasons logo on the book cover further raises my assumption that the book is a marketing ploy, but is it a ploy that actually gives insight into all the nuances, struggles, and strategies of managing a hotel? Absolutely.

"The Little Things Mean Everything"

In preparation for the Hotel Operations Management program, all of the Hotelies were instructed to start studying up on the business practices of many of the leaders in the hotel industry, such as Mariott, Starwood, and IHG.

In addition to that, we were to read Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy by Isadore Sharp, the founder and current chairman of the famed Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, in order to grasp the ideas behind what makes a hotel successful.

Despite the fact that our group were not able to meet due to scheduling conflicts, we all continued to do our research, sharing knowledge with each other along the way.

In terms of business models, I found that many of the leading businesses do not own the majority of their hotels.  They simply franchise and operate the hotels, earning a profit through a percentage of the rooms that are occupied, while the hotels themselves remain independently owned.  However, companies such as Hilton and Starwood do own properties -- however these properties generally make up an insignificant amount of the overall company.

Sharp touched on this in his book, implying that owning and building hotels simply created too much financial strain on Four Seasons, so they simply relied on managing and franchising hotels.  Thus, it would not be any stretch of the imagination for the other companies to follow suit.

Another trend I noticed was that some hotel groups seem to specialize in certain types of hotels.  For example, Hilton tends to focus more on upscale hotels, such as the Waldorf-Astoria brand that they manage.  Meanwhile, Choice Hotels focuses on smaller budget hotels such as Quality Inn.  Other companies such as Accor operate a myriad of hotel types, from resorts to smaller budget hotels.

Hotel companies also operate several hotels under different brands.  These brands are tailored to a specific type of hotel, such as the Courtyard by Marriot and IHG's Holiday Inn focusing mostly on affordable high-scale lodging, while brands such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons focus mainly on 5-star resorts.  It is important that the brand is marketed properly to the appropriate consumers, if not, the brand will not become established and the hotels will likely stagnate due to lack of business.

The details with employment matter as well, especially with the "Frontline," generally part-time employees that do the menial jobs in the hotel.  It is important for employees to be treated well, in order to give exemplary service, as Sharp points out.

Also, the idea of a company policy, a sort of "Golden Rule," is also fundamental.  This policy illustrates the goals of the hotel and all employees are pushed to meet those standards.  Any less is generally not tolerated.

The most important thing I learned however, was that the details of any hotel can make or break the business.  Sharp's book focuses mainly on this aspect, where he recounts testing pillows and mattresses to see if they were the best that could be offered, developing amenities such as the small bottle of shampoo to the 5-star hotel restaurant.

From that, I surmised one basic fact: whether it be a fresh-baked cookie for arrivals from Hilton's DoubleTree hotels, to listening in on guests who are muttering complaints and moving in to correct the situation, the little things mean everything.  Not only because it is good business, but it is also the right thing to do.

Any less than that, and the hotel will fail.  Because without the little things, the hotel and the service itself feels a little less "human."  And there is no better business plan than focusing on those little things.

A Fun And Informative Night In El Cerrito

On Wednesday night, five of my ILC cohorts and I headed to the beautiful El Cerrito High School Theater to attend an info session about Northwestern University. An info session for Northwestern, of all schools, may seem a bit random to some of our readers, what with us going to Cornell and all. However, luckily for my fellow ILCers and me we will have the great privilege of stopping in Chicago for a few days to tour prestigious schools such as Northwestern and University of Chicago, thanks to the ILC.

The information was both entertaining and informative, and actually was able to pique my interest in Northwestern, a school I originally knew almost nothing about. The school’s overall fun loving nature really appealed to me, and many of the programs within the school seemed spectacular as well. I have always been interested in math and science, so naturally, I am leaning towards some sort of engineering major, and Northwestern’s engineering school, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, fascinated me. I found it very interesting that this engineering school actually had students help businesses with their real-life problems, which seems like it would be great work experience.

After talking to alumni from Northwestern about can’t miss locations at the school, my fellow El Cerrito ILCers and I headed over to Nation’s for a study session of sorts in preparation for the Freedom and Justice class we will be taking. In preparation for the course, we have been reading Plato’s Republic and Princeton Readings in Political Thought. It has been great getting to hear this group’s brilliant takes on everyone from Plato to MLK Jr. to John Locke, and I feel fully equipped to take on this course in a few days.

Kelly Xi: First Impressions of Northwestern

First impressions are everything.

And what I got out of my first taste of Northwestern University from Wednesday’s presentation was invaluable. Northwestern is a school especially equipped for their students to discover what they want to do with their lives, then as soon as they figure that out, to immerse themselves into learning everything they need: gaining real work-force experience and accessing resources found nowhere else, all the while enjoying the amazing social activities of college life and the amenities that Evanston and Chicago offer. 

Okay, so it wasn’t exactly my first exposure to the school. Let’s just say I’ve been encouraged from a young age, but my desire to learn more about Northwestern also comes largely from all the wonderful feedback I’ve heard from family friends proud to call themselves Wildcats.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading up on their HPME program (Honors Program in Medical Education), which particularly interests me not because some consider it a fast track to medical school. It’s a rare, hard-to-earn opportunity which once accepted to, opens up doors for research, internships, and other opportunities to explore and gain that solid foundation in medicine as an undergrad, without having to juggle it all with separately applying to med school. No distractions :) 

While I’m somewhat familiar with background information about Northwestern University, I had a lot to learn from Wednesday’s information session. Mr. Daniel Fleishman, our presenter, was absolutely incredible. He had me sold on Northwestern, and I could tell some of the other audience members felt the same way.

Prior to his presentations, I had always had this focused plan (extremely narrow-minded now that I look back on it): I was definitely going to be a Biochemistry major, unquestioningly work my hardest to get straight into medical school to become a radiologist.

That all changed, because now I understand that at Northwestern, there is no single, direct route I would be limited to; I’d be free to choose my own path, to explore. At Northwestern, I can get what I need while enjoying everything that I want to do.

Part of this magic is Northwestern’s quarter system. Compared to the semester system, (which offers up to 8-10 classes per school year) that most colleges have, Northwestern University’s unique quarter system of up to 12 classes per year is a huge boon for students. The quarter system allows more time for students to take the classes they need, and in turn, more time to study what they want, to delve into other areas of interest.

This flexibility brings us to the Rule of Three, in which Northwestern students can manage to major in a subject and pick up two minors, double-major and take on another minor, or even triple major.

Open registration and access to all the amazing schools at Northwestern University along with their one-of-a-kind programs and world-class professors add to the endless possibilities; it’s as if Northwestern students have the world at their fingertips.

Not only does Northwestern have so much available to explore academically, all of its schools seem to have a wide range of opportunities to hone students’ skills for the work force. Countless off-campus (even abroad) work-study programs, internships, research and service opportunities, etc are available for students to gain hands-on experience in the real world. Northwestern prepares its students with the resources and networks they’ll need in the professional field.

Mr. Daniel Fleishman’s presentation of Northwestern academics was an eye-opener and I thoroughly enjoyed grilling him afterwards, but I was also impressed hearing about the social scene at Northwestern from him and the Bay Area alumni. However, I’ll save that for when we actually get to experience Evanston and Chicago first-hand next week.

So stay tuned! You’re all in for some of my nervous, anxious ramblings as I start to realize that this is all really happening, and that we really are going to have dinner with Mr. Aaron Zdawyczk, Associate Director of Admissions at Northwestern University.

Because first impressions are everything, haha.

P.S. Before I go, I have to express endless thanks to the ILC for opening these doors for me to acquaint myself with these prestigious schools of my dreams.

I can’t believe that in less than a week, I will know if I truly am meant to be a Northwestern Wildcat!  

Show Me The Money!

You have the brightest child in the neighborhood and everyone knows it.  Any university in the country would be lucky to have your child.  Without exception, though, all of the top flight schools cost a fortune to attend.  We’re not talking about new car kind of money.  We’re talking about the kind of money to buy a decent house—the kind where you have to keep paying for it forever and ever.  The kind f money it takes a regular working family decades to prepare for.

What are you going to do?  You make decent money—at least enough to keep the rest of your family living comfortably—but it’s not really enough to keep them living comfortably and leave enough to pay for that college education.  The cost of living here in the Bay Area eats up most of your paycheck—when you get a paycheck—and leaves little to sock away to pay for a decent education for your children.

You and your child could take out loans to pay for that top flight education but what kind of life would that be for your child to graduate owing almost as much as the National Debt?

Your child could get a job but what kind of money could an 18 year old make before acquiring the skills that the college education will help provide?

What’s a parent to do?  How are you supposed to take care of your family and provide them with a quality education—the kind of education that will open the right doors once your child has that sheepskin firmly in her grasp?

What are you supposed to do?  You’re supposed to turn to The Ivy League Connection’s very own Sue Kim—a professional educational consultant specializing in admissions and financial aid counseling since 1991.

Sue has helped many dozens of ILC students and others from the WCCUSD find the perfect fit of a college and then find a means to pay for that education.  She knows what she’s doing and she’s good at it.

On Thursday June 16^th Sue hosted 39 ILC and WCCUSD students and parents in a financial aid workshop where she helped point the way for the parents to find ways for other people to pay for the education of their children.

Between grants, scholarships, gifts and other options that may be available to the students and parents in our area, more and more of our students have opportunities to attend better schools than they might otherwise have been considering.

Sue explained that although California has an outstanding 10 campus University of California and a 23 campus state university system, both systems have little money to offer students in the way of financial assistance.  The cost to attend these schools is prohibitively expensive and the costs are steadily rising.

On the other hand, there are numerous private colleges spread throughout the country that have large endowments designed to help the very kinds of students we seem to have an abundance of: smart but needy.

Tonight’s session was only a primer but it laid the foundation so parents and students can start their preparations.  Once their students enter their senior year of high school, the college application process becomes a full time job requiring a tremendous amount of dedication and attention to detail.  There are openings at these schools and there is money to be had but if our students and their parents don’t do the necessary homework and prepare themselves, those opportunities may go elsewhere.  We want everyone around the world to have the option of getting a top education but if there are limited funds and limited openings, then we’d rather that our people be taken care of first.  Call it selfish if you will—and you’d be right—but such is life.

Chicago; Two Days Past And Three To Go

Wednesday evening, some cohorts and I attended Northwestern University's information session at El Cerrito high. Though the lure of Chicago had long since faded for me since descriptions of the weather, the presentation smoothed even that rough spot over and was expertly presented.

Northwestern seems like a grand place to go to college. Clubs, dance marathons, sports games, and places to visit galore! The verve with which alumni spoke of it was the best back-up one could get.

Not only did Northwestern have a lot of school spirit, it's academics are highly regarded as well. Their medical program and journalism schools are both highly prestigious, but I was more interested in the Bienen School of Music and SESP- or School of Education and Social Policy. I thought it cool that you could attend Bienen- and whichever other school of your choice- for just five years, but come out with TWO bachelor degrees!

I'm looking forward to seeing the campus with my very own eyes in less than a few days. The countdown begins.

Premonitions

Hello to everyone out there in the world that is either keeping up with our continuing adventures or even those who are just becoming avid readers of the blog.  As many know we are leaving for our four-week-long journey next week.

School has finally ended and life is taking a turn for the surreal.  Not that it is weird in any way, no -- it is because it feels extremely fast and strange.  Now that there is time to relax, the clock is flying by.  Meanwhile, packing has been a hassle and finding a good bag has been a bit difficult, but for the most part, everything is set.

However, there is one more ILC event the group attended before we depart next week.  Last night was the Northwestern University presentation at El Cerrito High School.

There were six of us present, two of the Hotel Cornellians and the Freedom and Justice Cornellians.  After meeting up outside of the school, we entered and took our seats in the centre-front of the theatre.

The presentation in of itself was interesting enough.  We learned of the quarter system and of the many prestigious schools at Northwestern, including their Pre-Med program, the Journalism program and the many Communications courses that were present at the school.  We also learned a bit about Evanston, the town where Northwestern is based, along with student life and the many organizations present on campus, such as the Happiness Club, which made me smile a little.

After the presentation, we spoke to one of the alumni currently studying at UC Berkeley.  She gave us some tips on where to go around Chicago, and to see the beautiful lake views in the area.

All in all, it was a great experience, and it gave good foreshadowing for what's to come next Wednesday, at Northwestern.