Pat Mene, Corporate Vice President of Quality

As Pat Mene, Corporate Vice President of Quality, reviewed a summary file containing the most recent data reported in the Dynamic Quality Information System (DQIS) from the Buckhead Ritz-Carlton, he wondered what it was going to take to lead the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to the next level in service excellence. The Ritz-Carlton was the first hotel company to become a winner of the nation's premier prize for performance excellence and quality achievement, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award1. The 1992 award represented the culmination of the Ritz-Carlton's efforts since its restructuring in 1983 to provide the highest level of service in the hospitality industry.

The Atlanta based company was preparing for its second Baldrige application. Closing the summary file, Pat considered the difficulty of continuing the legacy of the founder, Cesar Ritz -- to provide discriminating patrons with the highest standards of quality service in a setting of luxury and elegance.

Cesar Ritz, founder of the Ritz-Carlton Management Corporation (the predecessor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company), opened the first Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1898. The hotel was designed to pamper its guests through meticulous service and luxurious elegance. As news of the success of the new upscale hotel spread in France and throughout the rest of Europe, the Ritz name became synonymous with quality service and high style. In an effort to capitalize on the growing value of the Ritz name, in the early 1900s Cesar Ritz organized a group of hoteliers and financiers and formed the Ritz-Carlton Management Corporation, for the purpose of franchising the Ritz-Carlton name to individual hotel owners who were prepared to abide by the strict service and culinary standards set forth by Cesar Ritz. As early as 1927, Ritz-Carlton hotels were opened in locations including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Atlantic City, as well as London and Montreal. Each hotel committed to abide by the strict mandates of service and fashion demanded by the Ritz-Carlton Management Corporation. Although austere economic conditions in the United States in the early 1920s and 1930s eroded the profitability of the Ritz-Carlton hotels, forcing the closure of all but one U.S. Ritz-Carlton hotel by 1940, Ritz-Carlton continued to be equated with quality and elegance.