The cult of hospitality

Emotive and captivating stories are the currency of any culture. As Marriott corporate lore has it, the company’s global rise was seeded by a humble stand vending root beer and tamales in pre-depression Washington, D.C. The stand was owned by the Marriott family, and this continuity is an important part of what sets the corporation apart in the world today.  In the narrative of the Marriott Corporation, the company is a hospitality empire still seeking its equal after 85 years under the tutelage of a single family. Today the company welcomes guests to some 3,700 locations across 72 countries. Marriott employed 129,000 staff at the end of September 2011 and is the highest-ranked corporation with more than 100,000 employees in the United States in the Fortune Magazine’s and Great Places to Work Institute’s (GPTWI)’s ranking of the 100 best US companies to work for. Despite pressures recent turbulent years in