Creative Execution: What Great Leaders Do to Unleash Bold Thinking and Innovation

Sharp Meets His Prince

After his rapid growth in the United States and market-share grab in the aftermath of 9/11, Sharp set out to create a foothold for the Four Seasons beyond its traditional North American and European bases. This was a bit of a gamble, since the Four Seasons’ competitive formula of providing a luxury service had only been shown to work, so far, with a North American audience. Katie Taylor explains this risky transition: “In its infancy, our formula for luxury service was a concept proven only in North America,” she says. “Even the London hotel catered to North Americans coming to England for business or leisure. So the big question for us was: would the same approach to our culture and our service environment work as well ...