| 商家名称 |
信用等级 |
购买信息 |
订购本书 |
|
|
 |
Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy |
 |
|
|
Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy |
|
基本信息·出版社：Portfolio Hardcover
·页码：320 页
·出版日期：2009年04月
·ISBN：1591842441
·International Standard Book Number：1591842441
·条形码：9781591842446
·EAN：9781591842446
·版本：1
·装帧：精装
·正文语种：英语
内容简介 在线阅读本书
?I approached the business of innkeeping from a customer?s perspective. I was the host, and the customers were my houseguests. . . . If we give them good value, they will unhesitatingly pay what they think it?s worth. That was the first strategy, and it continues to this day.? How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world?s most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service?
Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father?s three-man construction business.
Sharp learned the hotel business by trial and error. His breakthrough was a vision for a new kind of hotel, featuring superior design, top-quality amenities, and, above all, a deep commitment to service. Today, Four Seasons is widely recognized as the world leader in comfort and luxury?in fact, it sets the standard by which every luxury hotel is measured.
If you?ve ever set foot in a Four Seasons hotel, you know that every property accomplishes a rare and elusive aim: to deliver a memorable and unique guest experience at every point of contact. It?s not just the custom-made beds or the fact that the staff always remembers your name. It?s a feat accomplished through genuine engagement at every level of the company, from the hotel managers and concierges to the housekeepers and doormen.
Four Seasons is the story of a unique approach to creating an extraordinary brand by building a culture of true respect and caring?and nurturing that culture in more than thirty countries around the world.
作者简介 Isadore Sharp is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. He opened the first Four Seasons in Toronto in 1961, and the company now operates seventy-eight luxury hotels and resorts around the world, with more than twenty-five additional properties under development. He and his wife are prominent philanthropists.
编辑推荐 ?There's something different about a Four Seasons hotel. It's like gravity doesn't have the same effect there?the weight of the world lifts from your shoulders as soon as you walk in the door. I?ve often wondered how they do it. Now I know. It?s an inspiring story.?
?Morgan Freeman
?I have a great deal of respect for Issy Sharp and Four Seasons. I stay at their hotels all the time. This book is a terrific read by one of the smartest men in any business.?
?Larry King
?Full disclosure: I am a rock-solid Four Seasons apostle. And now I know exactly why: perhaps to a more successful degree than any other mogul, Isadore Sharp has animated and applied the Golden Rule as business principle. This book will no doubt become a mandatory manual for hospitality professionals everywhere; but leaders of any business that has employees and competitors would be seriously remiss to miss out on Sharp's lovingly written memoir chronicling how he built the world's most innovative and beloved collection of luxury hotels. How uplifting it is to see how a philosophy built on so much common sense so directly leads to such uncommon success!?
?Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and author of
Setting the Table
?Regardless of your business, regardless of your pricepoint, Four Seasons offers invaluable lessons for us all.?
?Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence
?Four Seasons truly sets the gold standard for excellence. He is an amazing guy!?
?Donald Trump
?The gripping yet breezily-told story of the man who transformed the hotel business, hospitality, and, in many ways, business itself.?
?Don Tapscott, bestselling author of Grown Up Digital and Wikinomics
"This isn't just another 'rags to riches' story but a story about a leader who embodies three essential qualities of exemplary leadership---trust, integrity and optimism--- how he leveraged those values to create quality at the Four Seasons, and how just about every business that cares about excellence can do the same."
?Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California and author of Judgment and Transparency
"Brilliant, incisive and honest. A story of engagement, imagination, ambition and charm. Four Seasons defines luxury and comfort."
?Michael Silverstein, author of Trading Up and Treasure Hunt
?An entertaining and educational peek inside the wonderful world Issy Sharp has created at Four Seasons. It is a must read for anyone who aspires to excellence and meaning in their life.?
?Roger Martin, Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
?No one?in our generation?has established a global brand name so totally identified with unquestioned quality as Issy Sharp.?
?Peter Munk, Founder & Chairman, Barrick Gold Corporation
?Issy Sharp is one of Canada?s great business success stories ? success that?s been achieved on a global scale and recognized throughout the world. He?s the living example of what a business leader can and should be.?
?Rick Waugh, President & CEO, Scotiabank
?With humility, humour, intelligence, innovation and ambition, Issy Sharp dared to take on the biggest by being the best. Today, his legacy is clearly not just a global chain of fine hotels with an impeccable brand, but a pioneering approach to business that always puts people first.?
?Gordon M. Nixon, President & CEO, RBC
?For my money, Isadore Sharp is one of the smartest entrepreneurs Canada?s produced.?
?Seymour Schulich, author of Get Smarter
?A consummate hotelier, Isadore Sharp is in the pantheon of entrepreneurs who reinvented innkeeping, with Cesar Ritz, Conrad Hilton and Kemmons Wilson. Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy reveals how Sharp re-conceived the hotel as a discreet oasis of small- scale serenity and assiduous service to guests.?
?David Olive, author of No Guts, No Glory
?Any time I?m travelling, I?m always proud to point out that Four Seasons, one of the premier hotel chains in the world, was founded & developed by Canadian Issy Sharp. It?s a great credit to Canada.?
?Jim Pattison, Chairman & CEO, The Jim Pattison Group
?Four Seasons hotels are a reflection of Issy Sharp; they are a multinational model of first-class service. A brilliant example of true success, this is the story of a great business leader and his iconic company ? as well as a chronicle of perseverance and self-confidence in adversity.?
?Dr. Sherry Cooper, Executive Vice-President, BMO Financial Group
专业书评 From Publishers Weekly
Sharp shares the story of his astonishing rise out of the Toronto ghettos to founder, chairman and CEO of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the largest group of five-star hotels in the world. Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants, Sharp began his career building apartment buildings and entered the hotel-building business in 1961. With his wife, Rosalie, the interior designer for the hotels, he decided to differentiate his brand by focusing on midsize and luxury hotels where employees are expected to deliver the best service. As the business grew, Sharp shifted his attention to charitable pursuits, including founding the Terry Fox marathon to benefit cancer research. While his story is impressive and inspiring—the company was named one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for in America, and weathered 9/11 and the SARS outbreak with aplomb—it is bogged down with pedestrian details of the deals and process of opening many of the empire's 150 hotels in 40 countries. While rabid fans of the hotels and of a good rags-to-riches story may cheer, other readers might be left unsatisfied. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This memoir by the founder of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is the story of his life and work. The son of immigrants, Sharp grew up working for his father in construction, an experience that allowed him to absorb many business insights and values. In 1961, he built his first Four Seasons hotel with a four-pillar business model of quality, service, culture, and brand. With absolute commitment to developing and rewarding excellent employees, the author quotes an old Japanese proverb, “If they work for you, you work for them.” In 2006, the Four Seasons was privatized for $3.83 billion, with Sharp continuing to hold 5 percent as chairman and CEO. By the end of 2008, Four Seasons had 85 hotels in 36 countries and plans to double that number in 10 years. A compelling story of an entrepreneur and his success that also serves as important advertising for the company. --Mary Whaley
