Marriott International is an international hospitality company with broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities; its headquartered at Bethesda, Maryland United States.
Currently, the facility has approximately 3,150 lodging properties located in the United States and 68 other countries and territories; the structure at the United States is slight different with the model the company has adopted in the international markets (Marriot Official Website).
In the United States, human resources management is centralized at the head office; when someone has an issue, the issue is passed through the outlet manager to the head of human resources without passing through regional heads. As a policy, the company ensures that staffs in a certain location understand the culture, way of life model of operation that can best suit the market.
In the international outlets, the company adopts an international human resources management structure, under the model human resources issues are delegated to line or departmental managers who are answerable to head office human resources management team. International human resources management structure looks into issues like cultural differences, cultural intelligence issues, culture literacy are highly advocated for.
The supply chain adopted in the United Kingdom is slightly different with the structure that the company adopts in other nations; in the United states, the focus is mostly on domestic suppliers while the international branches makes supply decisions with the directions of the head office.
The kind of products to procure is highly determined by the people or the customers’ expectations; depending with the type of customer and the culture there in, the company decides the products and services to offer. For instance, in the United States, the lodgings are made in such a manner that represents the culture of the people. The American style is different from the British style so the company makes decisions on the outfit and structure with such factors in mind (Yueh-shian 89)
Customer relationship style also varies with the nation of operation; the company always aims at giving such quality services to customers that can resemble their organisational beliefs or religious orientation. For example Americans greatest population are Christians, the company has structured the facility to resemble the Christian styles in issues that the food served, employees service, and the general structure of the facility.
When dealing in a country with a different culture, the management is sensitive to the cultural beliefs and religion of the people. For instance when in a Muslim country, the company offers services that are in line with the beliefs of the religion; this is in the way rooms policy has been implemented/organized to the kind of food and service offered in the joints.
Although most of the outlets resemble each other, Marriot is sensitive to colour, drawings, and interior designs in different countries. The Americans favour bright colours thus the company has taken the initiative and made its interior and the outside environment to have such colours. When dealing in a county that has a different colour theme than that of the United States, the company is sensitive enough to make such adjustments.
Marketing and sales policies/strategies adopted in the United States are different with those adopted in other nations. When developing the strategies, the company considers the expectations of the consumer; with the expectations know, it them designs the best approach for a particular region (Adler and Graham 56)
Works Cited
Adler, Jan, and Graham, James. “Cross-cultural interactions: The international comparison fallacy.” Journal of international Business Studies 20. 1(2006): 510-547. Print.
Marriot Official Website. Marriot. Marriot Hotels. 2011.Web.
Yueh-shian, Leah. Developing International Human Resources Firms. International Journal Of Business & Social Science 2.1 (2001): 37-41. Print.