Four Seasons goes to Paris

Executive Summary Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts opened its first French property in 1999. This article presents that opening as a case study to illustrate a perspective on how a company with a strong and highly successful organizational culture might approach a new national culture when that culture is both distinct and intense, as is the case in France. Managers can benefit from the case by understanding this approach to organizational and national culture, which the authors believe represents a useful framework for global management. The article begins with a discussion of the linkage between corporate culture and competitive advantage for service organizations. It then describes the corporate support structure and the philosophy that Four Seasons developed over two decades to support its international expansion and to manage the type of challenges its French property posed. Finally, it describes how the firm went about transforming that property into one of its crown jewels.