MARRIOTT LAMENTATIONS 193: "A death thrust Marriott's CEO, Anthony Capuano, into the top role of a brutal de-hospitality regime"

In an article in Hotels Magazine ["A death thrust Marriott’s CEO into the top role. It wasn’t without merit" - David Eisen] Anthony Capuano describes the Marriott business model as "a high-growth model". He had previously reported in?Skift, “I can’t see the end of the runway for growth"

** Are there too many brands? Capuano, at Marriott since 1995,?doesn’t see that as a problem and, according to Eisen, likens it to a Rubik’s Cube?(though?the connection is unclear).?“When I think about the constituents that we serve, the thing I love about our portfolio is the breadth of choice that it offers. It’s incumbent on us to make sure each of those 30-plus brands have a well articulated distinct positioning in the minds of each of those constituents. It’s eight years on from Starwood and I would give us a grade of incomplete. Most of those brands, we’ve achieved the objective, but not on all of them and we work every day to get to that ultimate objective.”

Chekitan S Dev,?Associate Professor of Strategic Marketing and Brand Management at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, portrays it?all as "a sea of sameness". In View from the Wing, Gary Leff points out that "they have a brand they license to other owners. And they’ve seemed more interested in placating owners and generating short-term fee revenue than protecting the brand... More brands = more hotels = more fees"

** Capuano's real sympathies are with hotel owners; he?makes no bones about that. In today's ruthless business climate, hotel owners have become?Marriott’s customers, and hotel guests?the product Marriott delivers to those customers

Marriott’s previous CEO, the late Arne Sorenson, explained that the development of the Bonvoy programme was about saving costs for hotel owners. Capuano has since?explained that the?lack of service and generous benefits results from?a need to hold down hotel owner costs. "Guests have a short-term memory and should be more sensitive to the needs of owners to earn a buck off of them". Hilarious!

** Regarding technology (and let's not forget the 2018 Marriott data breach)?Capuano refers to "a massive technology transformation... that will unlock an extraordinary wealth of other opportunities, all with an eye toward improving the guest experience."?Marriott's monotonous 'guest-experience?newspeak propaganda' is disturbingly dystopian.?Meanwhile, people continue to slam all that Bonvoy has to?offer

“If there is an advance in technology that creates 60 seconds of efficiency for a front-desk agent and they can use that incremental 60 seconds to better engage with the guests and understand the purpose of their trip and improve their experience, then it’s great.” Ho-hum

Nonetheless, a Machiavellian Capuano reckons?that nothing can ever replace "the human touch". But it already has Mr Capuano, it already has, and you know that only too well. For some considerable time, 'profit before people' has been Marriott's most closet cultural?meme?

** Some of Capuano's?favourite moments?are?in the company of?front-line associates, "those who deliver the guest experience daily". In a recent?post, he offered a?"thank you to our associates for your hard work, dedication, and fostering our people-first culture". Yet,?there are current and former associates?out there who have been sacked, retaliated against or threatened by Marriott management?for doing the right thing, speaking out against?wrongdoing and injustice. This is the reality of the people-first culture

** Regularly travelling?across the globe,?Capuano is relentless in his ultra-partial reportage,?made so much easier by prioritising?only Marriott's?best. He doesn't seem to call in on?hotels?that have been illegally constructed; those whose kitchens have been ordered to be closed by local authorities for hygene reasons; those where corruption flows and whistleblowers are retaliated against; those in which guests have been threatened or treated with contempt. And how many franchised properties does he actually take in??By visiting?forewarned, brand new or?higher-grade establishments, he can easily avoid experiencing the true consequence?of Marriott's?asset-light high-growth strategy. He can convince himself that all is well and getting even better

Capuano should be courageous enough?to look?disgruntled guests and associates in the eye; concerned?enough to?hear what they have to say; shrewd?enough?to enquire into?what really is going on in the?company he heads

My own email communications - to?him, the board and other executives - are forwarded weekly; zero?response, of course, except for?the occasional "out of the office" notices. Courier-delivered correspondence is ignored. Capuano did once?follow?me on Linkedin but never made contact (though he did recently award me two 'likes', but these were eventually withdrawn). Rude and cowardly behaviour with the specific intention of evading the truth - and many others around the world?experience?the same crude?treatment

** Capuano talks at length about a work ethic which he credits to his dad. But is?a work ethic centred around?ambition, greed and self-interest, with minimal concern for?ethical practice, something to be celebrated?

Truly ethical leaders allow themselves to be held?accountable; they?champion?fairness and?transparency; through the candour and consistency of their own behaviour?they?decrease the likelihood of?subordinates engaging?in 'deviant' behavior

“One of the things I treasure about our company is its humility." Are we on the same planet? Or does?he?allude to Marriott's seemless ability?to 'humble'?hotel guests and associates who choose?to assert their rights

Where is his 'expanded awareness'?

** Capuano harks back to the days of?Arne Sorenson, citing?his skills with people, particularly as a listener, "a trait that is in increasingly short supply... We live in a world of soundbites and distractions". You said it, Tony!

Marriott executives spend?an inordinate amount?of?time looking back, reminiscing - to the founding era, to the days of Bill Marriott, to the days of Arne Sorenson. Does that?indicate?that?all is not well, a company potentially?nearing the end of its 'cycle'??Or might it suggest?that even the good old days were an illusion - attachment to an illusion?which is ongoing? "When there is attachment, there is fear. And fear inevitably becomes authoritarian, possessive, oppressive, dominating" (J Krishnamurti)

When I met Arne Sorenson in 2019 to discuss Marriott corruption,?I detected in him a deep unease, that he was not fully in control?- a?highly?effective frontman, but kept apart from?some of the darker internal goings-on...

In August 2019 Mr Sorenson was one of many CEOs to sign the Business Roundtable's new?declaration on?"the purpose of a corporation". Previously, companies were said to exist to serve?shareholders. The new statement made?a "fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders" including customers, employees?and local communities. Of course, the entire 'jamboree' was?a complete and utter deception. Sorenson?stated?to my face,?just?one month later, that, as CEO, his sole responsibility was towards Marriott?shareholders

Under the current?rule, little?has changed, though?the ruthlessness?has snowballed.?Today, Anthony Capuano is successfully appeasing?shareholders?and currying favour with hotels owners. On the other hand,?guests and loyalty members, associates and communities are being?increasingly duped, let down and short-changed.?To correct?that would require?enormous courage and integrity, and authentic ethical processes amid an aura?of humanity, all missing?from the Marriott mindset

Nothing is going to persuade this rather disagreeable in-hospitality corporation to turn into?what it actually purports to be. After all, powerful institutional investors own more than half the issued stock (67% ownership). They are not interested in hospitality, but they are in charge, and?the board must pay attention to their priorities

** So much business gobbledygook, so much self-congratulation and mind-blowing self-indulgence. Corporate?blindness and self-deception are ravaging the Marriott Corporation, plunging it to new moral depths

Tony Capuano is not an Arne Sorenson. Other than the joyfulness of?cashing in on his share options, it's difficult to know what he otherwise 'feels'. What is clearly?manifest?is an?empathy-void; this?has created a?serious disconnect?between 'him' and the?'public'. As in?politics, people thirst?for?gurus of even-handedness and sincerity; people with?a sense of vulnerability and a willingness to be held?accountable; above?all, they seek?integrity. Operating far away on?the?'Planet of Spin and Hoodwink', Capuano is unable to provide?any of that -?and, along with a host of other 'red flag'?issues, that's why Marriott's little castle in the air?will ultimately plummet?to earth with few survivors

John Shepherd (Marriott victim and hunger striker)