Starwood

Organizational Social Audit

Kristi Anne Gedid

GRBUS 537-61 PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGEMENT

Duquesne University

John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business

In accordance with the business school’s Code of Ethical Behavior, I attest that I have not engaged in any acts of plagiarism in completing this assignment.

/s/ Kristi Anne Gedid

Professor Dana Jarvis

July 19, 2007

Gedid, Page 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Starwood Hotels and Resorts owns, manages and franchises hotels worldwide. The properties are owned under the Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Four Points and W brand names. The company also owns and operates vacation ownership resorts. As of December 2005, the company owned, managed and franchised 845 hotels and 19 vacation resorts.

Starwood’s biggest strength is in its diverse group of employees. They display their commitment to diversity by offering benefits for same sex couples, policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, promotion among minorities and women as well as balanced work/life benefits strength. Additional ideas regarding community relations, environmental, and human rights issues will be discussed.

Starwood’s weaknesses lie in its employee relation concerns and retirement benefits concerns. Recommendations to improve these areas through improving union relations, and offering better retirement programs will be discussed.

INTRODUCTION

As stated above, Starwood Hotels and Resorts owns, manages and franchises hotels worldwide. An audit of the Starwood’s public affairs organizations was conducted using content from the Starwood website: (1), The Starwood Company Values System (2), observations during recent stays at both a W Hotel (San Diego) and a Westin Hotel (Cincinnati) and my experiences with employees of both hotels....