Question: Developing a Service Culture Form groups of three to five people, and discuss the following scenario: You are the owners/managers of a new five-star resort hotel opening up on the white sand beaches of the west coast of Florida. For your venture to succeed, you need to make sure that hotel employees focus on providing customers with the highest-quality customer service possible. You are meeting to discuss how to create a culture that will promote such high-quality service, that will encourage employees to be committed to the hotel, and that will reduce the level of employee turnover and absenteeism, which are typically high in the hotel business.

1. What kinds of organizational values and norms encourage employees to behave in ways that lead to high-quality customer service?

2. Using the concepts discussed in this chapter (for example, people, employment relationship, socialization), discuss how you will create a culture that promotes the learning of these customer service values and norms.

3. Which factor is the most important determinant of the kind of culture you expect to find in a five-star hotel?