In Fall 1992, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. became the first hotel company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Ritz-Carlton implemented total quality management (TMQ) as a means of winning the award and improving its service. Patrick Mene joined Ritz-Carlton 3 years ago as corporate director of quality to coordinate and spearhead the company's TQM program. Mene explains issues concerning application of TQM to the hotel industry and applying for the Baldrige award. One of the planks of TQM - empowerment
- was an easy step for Ritz-Carlton. Measurement was a difficult hurdle because the industry does not have service-quality benchmarks. Key product and service requirements of the travel consumer were translated into Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards, which include a credo, motto, 3 steps of service, and 20 "Ritz-Carlton Basics." Team building was also a time-consuming effort. Ritz-Carlton is now requiring its vendors also to apply TQM or a similar process.