Marriott's Bedding Program

Introduction

The Marriott Bedding Program is one of the most ambitious programs that Marriott has ever undertaken. The project team developed and implemented a compelling bedding package for more than 628,000 beds across 10 Marriott lodging brands throughout the world in two years. This was an enormous undertaking for all stakeholders, requiring seamless coordination of resources from interior design, operations, finance, owner relations and public relations, among other groups. The stakes were high, with bedding choices becoming a focal point of lodging industry competition. It was critical for Marriott to conform to a tight project timeline with strong compliance across the Marriott system in order to reap the rewards of a competitive advantage by comprehensively introducing the new bedding packages in the company’s portfolio of hotels in a short amount of time. Marriott established the project in Q1 2004, developed the specifications and tested the product in Q2 2004 through Q1 2005, ordered the bedding in Q2 2005 and implemented the new bedding standards in over 95% of the properties by Q1 2006.

The new bedding was part of a comprehensive initiative to transform the look and feel of all Marriott brands to create an exceptional and rewarding experience for all our guests. In addition to high-thread-count sheets and multiple pillows, the replacement of traditional bedspreads with freshly laundered linens is allowing Marriott’s bedding to be regarded as the cleanest and freshest of any major hotel chain.

Project Successes and Challenges

Successes

Overall, the project came in under budget, on time, and with high compliance. It accomplished the project sponsor goals of large improvements in guest satisfaction and revenue improvement. Market research has shown that increases in guest satisfaction translate into customers’ intent to return to Marriott for another stay. This results in more revenue. The owners, who were responsible for the financial investment in the new bedding, have been extremely pleased with the results.

Another benefit of the Bedding Program was a tremendous amount of media exposure for Marriott, which resulted from innovative media and public relations campaigns promoting the new bedding. Marriott received several awards for those initiatives.

Challenges

Implementation of the Bedding Program was complicated by the following factors:

• Dramatic variations in the current state of bedding across Marriott brands and individual properties. Marriott had an existing bedding standard; however, primarily because of the differing ages of hotels, there was a great deal of variation in bedding specifications. For example, existing mattresses—especially in limited service hotels—were of various depths. This meant that some properties, in order to comply with the new standards, had to buy new mattresses. Other properties had to order special linens for deeper mattresses. Box springs were different heights off the floor, which meant that properties had to precisely measure bed heights from the floor to the top of the box spring in order to purchase bed skirts at the appropriate length. King beds are in three different sizes, impacting the length and width of sheets that had to be ordered.
  To address these issues, each North American property inventoried its current state of bedding. To aid in this process, the project management office (PMO) developed a sophisticated Excel spreadsheet model that asked individual hotels simple questions and converted the answers into a database that helped the procurement team create a preliminary order and cost estimate for each hotel. This information also aided the procurement team in planning manufacturing and distribution needs.
• The enormous scope and complexity of the project. More than 2,400 properties in 65 different countries (plus the United States and Canada) were involved in this project. More than 628,000 beds had to be transformed. Twenty-one internal project teams, consisting of representatives and subject matter experts from various company disciplines, were created to focus specifically on the numerous components of this project, making effective and efficient communication and coordination a challenge. Project teams had to work across time zones, languages and a variety of cultures and government regulations to achieve a successful outcome.
• Adapting the project to meet the specific needs of each of 10 different Marriott brands. Bedding specifications had to be developed for the individual brands and then communicated effectively to all stakeholders.
• Gaining support from external stakeholders. Foremost among Marriott’s external stakeholders are the hotel owners and franchisees. Their endorsement of the Bedding Program was essential for its implementation, since they would bear primary responsibility for the necessary financial investment. Marriott leveraged the account management team, which had good relationships with each owner, to obtain individual buy-in and commitment.
  Critical to gaining the support of owners and franchisees was the presentation of customer research that demonstrated the compelling desire of guests for new bedding. Additionally, product testing in properties was essential to show that the new bedding could be properly executed in hotels of various sizes. Negotiating competitive pricing also was an important component of gaining support from owners and franchisees. Although owners and franchisees are required to meet Marriott’s required specifications for a new standard, they are not required to purchase the products from Marriott-contracted vendors. For the bedding program, Marriott negotiated with vendors to obtain the best possible pricing so that owners would be encouraged to use Marriott’s procurement process. The negotiating challenge was that Marriott could not forecast the volume of bedding purchases until the orders were placed and owners would not commit to purchasing the bedding without price quotes. The procurement team negotiated preliminary pricing, prepared property-specific quotes for all 2,210 North American properties, and then obtained signed agreements from the owners. In total, 94% of the owners purchased the new bedding through Marriott Procurement.
• Associate training: Implementation of the bedding program required significant changes in hotel management processes. Thousands of people, including property management teams, more than 40,000 housekeepers and more than 10,000 laundry associates, had to learn how to transform their bedding and then maintain it. Training had to be specific to the bedding packages designed for different brands. Other training complications centered on the fact that housekeeping and laundry positions often are staffed by associates who do not speak or read English. To overcome these challenges, the project team developed wordless training videos and job aides with photos to demonstrate how the bed should be made.
• Complex procurement process. Marriott procured many of the bedding products from overseas. This created a six-month lag between the time an order was placed and when linens were delivered to the properties. Marriott contracted an outside distribution company to receive, repackage, and ship the bulk of the bedding to the properties. This allowed the properties to receive complete product orders—a Marriott requirement that reduced the risk of storage complications at properties that received items piecemeal. Across all the brands, the bedding program involved over 1,850 different products. Each distribution team was responsible for tracking actual and projected shipments and shortfalls by item, by week. The distribution teams and procurement team met with vendors every week to review manufacturing schedules and overseas shipping status reports and plan how to address shortfalls.

Special Management Methods

Always a leader in the lodging industry, Marriott has been in the forefront of applying project management processes to the hotel business. The bedding program presented the company an opportunity to use those processes on a scale never before attempted. The project management tools were adapted to the particular needs of a service industry and the specialized products of the hotel business, but the basic processes were essential to completing the project on time and on budget.

An important outcome of the bedding program was the expansion of the positive perception of the PMO. The Marriott organization, especially at the senior management level, became more aware of the important contributions of the project management role and processes in managing projects effectively. The PMO, staffed with PMI-certified Project Management Professionals (PMP^®), was originally formed to increase speed to market. Other projects had been completed using project management techniques, but the Bedding Program was the first large-scale, system-wide program with very aggressive implementation deadlines that was managed by the office. According to members of the various project teams, a major benefit of the project management by the PMO was that the team members did not have to focus on how the project would come together; they only needed to concentrate on delivering their particular component of the project with an understanding of how it impacted the overall project. The project teams also said they were well informed about the overall progress of the project and that updates following the completion of their component of the project allowed them to continue to feel integral to the project’s success. As a result of the successful implementation of the bedding program and its resulting improvements in guest satisfaction, the PMO has gained additional credibility and respect within Marriott and is continuing to assume responsibility for widespread programs. By leveraging the lessons learned from this project and others, additional successes with project management are anticipated.

Project Management Techniques

Concentrated attention to employing good project management techniques throughout the bedding program was critical to the ultimate success of the project. The following explanations illustrate how those techniques were used:

• Communication: Consistent communication throughout the organization was vital to keep the project moving forward smoothly. The project scope required that a variety of communication methods be used, depending on the type of information being conveyed and the urgency of the message. Project teams used meetings, e-mails, status reports, memos, conference calls, conferences, wordless videos, job aides, photos, the Internet (www.Marriott.com) and the Marriott intranet (Marriott’s Global Source) to communicate to the global audiences affected by the bedding program.
• Documentation and project management: These processes were well executed throughout the project. Solid recordkeeping, establishing clear goals, and defining specific deadlines and project targets helped keep the project on track, ensuring that it was completed on time and within budget. The processes were tested during the early phase of product implementation. During the ordering process—with critical deadlines looming—the program manager had to take a leave of absence for four weeks due to a family emergency. The solid documentation amassed up to that stage of the project allowed Katy Breuer’s supervisor, John Whitwell, to smoothly assume the project management lead and keep the project teams moving forward on schedule during her absence. Also, the comprehensive documentation process made the transition back to Ms. Breuer’s management just as smooth.
• Unified alignment from senior management: Clear support for the Bedding Program existed at all levels of the Marriott, starting with the chairman and CEO, J. W. Marriott Jr. This allowed decisions to be made quickly and at a senior level in the organization. Ms. Breuer had access to executive leadership and could leverage their influence and decision-making as needed.
• Recognition: Recognition was an important tool used throughout the project to keep team members motivated and working hard. Achievements of key milestones were acknowledged at team meetings and in status reports. Personal congratulatory letters, framed photos and impromptu celebrations marked special accomplishments and built team camaraderie. Whenever possible, team members were recognized publicly. For example, during the Pajama Rally at corporate headquarters, all team members wore buttons indicating they were part of the bedding team and were acknowledged publicly by Mr. Marriott in his comments. A celebration at the end of the project included a reception and, again, a public acknowledgement from Mr. Marriott for each team responsible for the success of the project. Ms. Breuer was individually acknowledged for her key role in managing the project. Her sole comment was, “It was a team effort.”
• Leveraged temporary professionals in procurement process: The procurement team relied on a few skilled Marriott procurement agents to manage the North American Lodging (NALO) bedding procurement; however, the team needed more people to handle the volume of work. The quantity of orders submitted exceeded expectations; therefore, it was necessary to develop a strong group of trained individuals quickly. The procurement and accounting teams were staffed with only five permanent staff members and over 50 temporary workers. The interview and training processes for the temporary workers were rigorous and ensured that the resulting team was qualified and motivated. When the project was completed, supervisors offered temporary team member’s letters of recommendation and assistance in obtaining job positions in Marriott. Almost every person who desired a job in Marriott after working with the Bedding Program was hired.

Project Integration Management

Project integration was implemented in the Bedding Program by combining related projects into a program. Initially, the PMO was responsible for a portion of the overall program, but it quickly became evident that it would be more efficient to leverage teams across all the brands. Some of the ways that the PMO facilitated the project integration are as follows:

• Identifying dependencies between project teams: It was important to ensure that dependencies between project teams and key milestones were identified in a timely manner. A priority for one project team might require the support of second project team, but might not be a priority for the second team. The program manager had to help facilitate these issues. An example is the public relations team’s staging of the Pajama Rally at corporate headquarters. The goal of the event was to showcase the new beds for both headquarters associates and the media. Members of the procurement and core teams were needed to support the marketing team in the execution of this event. This successful press event, occurring relatively early in the implementation phase, created huge momentum and helped gain support for the project from owners and franchisees. As a result, bedding orders were generated even before the procurement team had finalized all the pricing. The momentum fueled by the event reverberated through every project team and at every property as guests asked about the new bedding and when it would be installed in the hotels.
• Clearly identifying, documenting, and tracking requirements: Project requirements were documented and publicly vetted at the very beginning. As the bedding program progressed, new requirements or additional scope changes were evaluated as compared to the initial requirements and risks identified.
  For example, the risk that additional product testing would be required to gain owner support for the project was identified in the initial requirements. Alternative plans were considered to ensure that the need for additional testing would not interfere with achieving the project goal on time and within budget. Throughout the project, as an issue surfaced with one team, the other project teams were quickly made aware of it and could therefore be proactive in identifying solutions and managing the response.
• Planning: Each portion of the project started with multiple planning sessions, which allowed each of the project team members to communicate their vision of that stage of the project and to bring issues to the surface. The high quality of the team members contributed to the value of the planning process. Each team separately planned the key components of its work and established deadlines, and then the team plans were integrated into a comprehensive work plan.
• Aligning and integrating: It was not only important to align the goals of each project team, but also ensure that those goals were all aligned to the end goal of implementing the Bedding Program at the property level. Team members were often unacquainted with each other; therefore, part of project meetings had to focus on team building, aligning around project goals and clarifying roles and responsibilities.
  Additionally, it was important for each team member at headquarters to understand that the management staff of each property would be managing an operating business while this major change was occurring and that the change would be disruptive to daily operations. Accordingly, implementation plans and materials needed to be sensitive to and supportive of the needs and concerns of the hotels.
  Even external stakeholders such as vendors had to be made aware of the significant level of change management required at the property level to manage this implementation. Just one step in the process involved multiple tasks. For example, when linens were shipped to hotels, the boxes had to be stored in a secure location, the linens washed, and all the bedding changed in the rooms while the hotel was fully operational and guests were occupying the rooms.

Key Project Teams

Nearly 200 Marriott associates served as members of specialized project teams throughout the life of the Marriott bedding program. The key project teams and their responsibilities were as follows:

• Core Bedding Teams: There were two core bedding teams: one responsible for Marriott’s full service brands and one for the limited service brands. These teams were in charge of identifying the new bedding concept for each brand, developing the specifications to support those concepts, projecting system-wide implementation costs and ongoing operating costs, conducting market research with consumers, testing products in hotels, establishing the new bedding standards, creating training and implementation materials to ensure proper execution, and conducting conference calls with properties during implementation to provide assistance and monitor progress. These teams consisted of representatives from Marriott’s departments of brand management, market research, operations, finance, program management and interior design.
• North American Lodging (NALO) Procurement Team: This team was in charge of communicating with 2,210 properties in North America to create a bedding order specific for each property.
  The procurement team had to price the order for each hotel and send the quotation to the hotel owners for approval. The initial plan called for placing orders with bedding manufacturers after owner approval was received. However, the six- to nine-month lead time required for manufacturing and shipping the bedding from overseas resulted in a plan adjustment for vendor orders to be placed prior to owner approval. The procurement team worked with the distribution company (American Hotel Register) to ensure orders were received and delivered to the hotels in a timely manner.
• Owner and Franchise Services Team: This team was responsible for initially convincing owners and franchisees of the business imperative of the Bedding Program in order to gain their support and agreement with the necessary financial investment. Throughout the project, this team kept owners and franchisees informed of the project’s status and worked with them to coordinate implementation. The more than 50 account managers who were part of this team worked with owners and franchisees to help them understand the operational implications of the bedding transformation, its anticipated operational costs and expected returns in guest satisfaction. This team also ensured that orders were submitted to procurement in a timely manner.
• NALO Regional Operations Teams: There were four regional operations teams—one each for the East, Central, West and Canadian regions. These teams were instrumental in identifying potential issues, building and maintaining support for the bedding program among property management teams, and working with individual properties to track implementation progress.
• Distribution Teams: Six distribution teams were responsible for ensuring that the correct quantity and type of bedding items were shipped to each property. The primary distributor, American Hotel Register (AHR), was responsible for receiving the bedding from a variety of vendors (primarily overseas manufacturers), stocking, repacking and shipping the majority of the bedding items to each property. Coordination among the distributors was critical and was managed by the PMO and NALO Procurement Team.
• Marketing Team: The marketing team was responsible for promoting the new bedding through print, outdoor and online advertising, public promotions, and by producing collateral materials for properties to use. The marketing team employed innovative ways of capturing customer attention, such as printing large, eye-catching advertisements of the new “Revive” bedding campaign and posting them in major airports throughout the world. The “Revive” campaign won numerous awards, including two global, multi-industry awards for innovation. Another unusual marketing technique was “wrapping” hotel shuttle vans with advertising.
  One of the most unique techniques employed by the marketing team centered on a live billboard unveiled in Times Square in New York City in May 2005. Dubbed the “mSpot^SM,” the live billboard was a glass-enclosed guest room replica that showcased Marriott’s latest innovations in design, luxury bedding and bath, and technology. A series of special events, including live music by Ciara and Collective Soul, and appearances by local media personalities, aided in building excitement and interest in the live billboard. This marketing adventure won the Ex Award, a global, multi-industry award.
  The team also created a highly engaging, highly interactive website that gave customers a chance to interact with Marriott’s new room. Experiencemarriott.com won numerous awards.
• Public Relations Team: This team promoted the new bedding through a number of media events, public relations announcements and interviews. Aware that the success of the new bedding program would be significantly enhanced if Marriott associates acted as “ambassadors” for the program, the public relations team wanted to involve them personally in this exciting new venture. Therefore, the bedding program was introduced at corporate headquarters with a “Pajama Party Rally.” Displays of the new bedding for each hotel brand were set up in the lobby and halls of the corporate office and associates were invited to come to the party dressed in their favorite pajamas, bathrobe or other suitable sleepwear. Chairman and CEO J. W. Marriott Jr., and his sons Stephen, John and David all came to the party dressed in pajamas and robes with the Marriott logo. Media also were invited to attend the event and widespread coverage resulted.
  The “hotel bedding wars” was a predominant media story in 2005, drawing attention from much of the major national print and broadcast media. For example, the Today Show did a segment comparing hotel bedding that focused on the beds of five different hotel chains in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The new Marriott bed was featured and discussed positively by Travel Today host Peter Greenberg and weatherman Al Roker.
• International Lodging Team: This team, made up of Corporate Operations and Market Operations, addressed the needs of Marriott’s international hotels, assuming responsibilities covered by all the other NALO teams already identified. International procurement was complicated by the fact that Marriott has hotels in 67 different countries, each with individual requirements and restrictions regarding imported goods.
• Marriott Linen Donations Teams: Many of the replaced linens were still in good, usable condition. In keeping with Marriott’s core value of contributing to the communities in which it does business, embodied in its “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” commitment, Marriott encouraged properties to donate replaced linens to local charities. To facilitate these contributions, Marriott, together with owners and franchisees, launched the Marriott Linen Bank, working with United Way to donate replaced linens to community agencies and disaster relief organizations around the world.
  During the implementation phase of Marriott’s bedding program, the Gulf region of the United States was struck by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The project team worked with local hotels in the areas affected by the hurricanes and nearby evacuation locations to accept donations of used bedding from hotels throughout the U.S. to help support relief efforts. The local hotels worked with the Red Cross and other relief organizations to ensure that the bedding went to people in need.

Summary

The executive sponsor of the project, Bob McCarthy, president of North American Lodging, said “Marriott International’s bedding program was a resounding success. Completed on time and on budget, the program proved to be a masterful example of the best way to start, manage, and implement a large-scale initiative. The results exceeded our expectations in development, testing, communications, creating procurement and support channels, and roll out to over 2,400 hotels worldwide.”

Always an industry leader, Marriott recognized the value of formal project management and established a project management structure well before any other lodging company. The Lodging PMO has increased our competitiveness by:

• Increasing speed to market
• Focusing project resources on key deliverables
• Ensuring processes to reduce project setbacks
• Improving communications and alignment.

Our bedding project exceeded the expectations of all our key stakeholders—senior management at corporate headquarters, hotel management staff, Marriott owners and franchisees, and most importantly, our guests. The success of the bedding program has underscored for our company the immense value of project management.