Quality measurements are not unknown at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. In the last year, Starwood hotels around the world occupied 51 of the approximately 700 places of the Gold List, published by Count Nast, of the best places in the world to stay. Its spa and golf programs have been systematically classified among the best in the world.

In Starwood, the processes and programs are driven by the work of their team of Six Sigma experts, called "black tapes". The Six Sigma program, created by Motorola more than twenty years ago, is a comprehensive and flexible system to achieve, sustain and maximize business success by eliminating defects and processes variability. Starwood follows the five -step DMAIC process: define, measure, analyze, improve and control.

As is evident, understanding the needs of the client is of the utmost importance. To this end, Starwood collects customer data through its guest satisfaction index survey, called the "client voice." The survey covers all the departments with which the guest may have had contact during their stay, from the reception and the hotel room, to the restaurants and concierge. Surveys conducted in the past indicated that the effectiveness with which problems were solved during the host stay was one of the factors that most affected the high grades of guest satisfaction. To increase its problem solving qualification, the SHEATON brand of Starwood launched the Sheraton service promise (Sheraton Service Promise) in the United States and Canada. The program was designed to offer guests a single contact point to give part of the problems. I had the purpose of focusing the attention of the associates (employees) in dealing with the service problems that were presented during the guest stay within a period of 15 minutes after receiving the corresponding notice.

However, although the grades increased, the increase was not enough. Consequently, Sheraton commissioned his Six Sigma team to study what could be done. The team used the Six Sigma basic model consisting of defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and controlling, to guide its work. To define the problem, the Six Sigma team worked with data collected and analyzed by an independent survey organization, National Family Opinion. The study indicated that three fundamental factors are needed in problem solving: speed, empathy and efficiency. The three must be combined so that guests feel satisfied and the Sheraton service promise is fulfilled.

Next, the team studied specific processes that affected performance:

The management of requests by the telephone operators, the procedures to determine who to call, engineering work loads, and so on. The work identified in each area was measured. For example, call records were established to monitor speed, employee empathy that handled the call and efficiency of the personnel responsible for fixing the problem. The data collected were analyzed to determine why guest problems were not resolved within the 15 -minute standard. In the analysis, Pareto graphics and other techniques were used.

The final step was to implement control and monitoring measures to ensure that the improved processes, developed by the Six Sigma team, became part of the hotel culture and were not abandoned after the team finished their work. The monitoring lasts between 12 and 18 months, and monthly information is sent to the manager or head of department responsible for improving the Sheraton service promise program. The improvement campaign also receives visibility through the company's intranet so that the rest of the organization realizes the benefits, including the levels of financial service and performance, and can take advantage of the experience to improve its own operations.

Questions 1. How could the new process promise Sheraton contribute to Starwood avoiding the four costs of poor performance and poor quality of processes (prevention costs, valuation, internal and external failure of a failure)? 2. Starwood is the first important brand of hotels to commit to a Six Sigma program dedicated to improving quality. Why could an organization be reluctant to follow this type of formalized methodology? 3. What other methods could Starwood or its competitors use?