The Portman Hotel –

Case Study of its

Organizational Behavior

Kanchan Lakhwani – MBA 2001007

Neelav Dhar Choudhury – MBA 2001008
Mohammed Shahrukh Khan – MBA 2001011
Introduction
 The Portman hotel was built with
the intent of being a “5 STAR” hotel
that provides superior services to
its guests.
 The main objective was to provide
superior services based on “Asian
standards of hospitality”
 The vision that separated the
Portman hotel from its competitors
was “Introduction of PV’s”
Background

348
rooms,
across 21
floors
Asian Accents
- Quiet shades
of green or pink
with natural
wood furniture
HRM Policies
Employees
referred to
as
“Associates
”
Formation of
Stringent
unions was
recruiting
frowned
process
upon

Flat Bill of
hierarchy Rights

Practical
termination
rules
Personal Valets (PV)
 A group of employees most central to
the Asian philosophy of service.
 They were butlers for the guests
expected to provide comprehensive
personal service
 PV’s Age group ranged from 19 – 50
years
 “As long as a guest’s request is moral
and legal, we want you to do everything
in your power to fulfill that request”.
 Yes Sir or best friend relationship
 Cleaning of rooms, perform minor
maintenance, restocking the mini bars,
cleaning the hall ways etc.
 PV > Maids (additional benefits)
 Independent Capitalists
Problems in the first months of operations

 Implementation
 Decentralization
 Average Tip - $40
Expected Tip – $200 per week
 Misleading job responsibilities
 No central character
 Job content
 Employees relations

Result - Increased Attrition

Solution – 5 STAR PLAN
15 teams
of 5 each
assigned
to each
floor
Increased
2 days
week off
productivit
y

Formation
Guarantee
of teams
d working
based on
hours
seniority
Helped to
build
relationshi
p
5 STAR PLAN ………..Reality
 Gross miscommunication among
teams
 FLOATERS
 Disciplinary issues
 Work ethics
 Inability to form good relationship
with the guests
 Lack of supervision and training
 Ineffective decision making
 Poor performance
Plan of Action
Introduction of
Team Captains

Disciplinary
regimes to be
implemented

Redesigning the
growth strategy

Intensive
training
Theories addressed in the case
Fundamental
Attribution Error

Expectancy Theory

Equity Theory

Operant
Conditioning Theory

Herzberg’s Two
Factor Theory