Chip Conley

Chip Conley has spent the last 23 years growing Joie de Vivre Hotels into the second largest boutique hotelier in the U.S. During the last downturn, he turned to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s iconic Hierarchy of Needs to evolve the company’s business plan. By focusing on the higher, peak needs of his key stakeholders (employees, customers, and investors), Chip was able to create a competitive differentiating advantage based upon deepening the level of loyalty his company received from his stakeholders.

The result of this new business plan was a tripling in size of Joie de Vivre and Chip’s bestseller, PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, was written to spread the message. Upon studying other companies, Chip found that organizations like Apple, Harley-Davidson, Whole Foods Market, Southwest Airlines, and Zappos all used Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a fundamental piece of their business plan. Chip will introduce his Transformation Pyramid and the Relationship Truths that come from his book, PEAK.

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Chip Conley: Library
Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Create Organizational Peak Performance
November 4th, 2009

Chip Conley is the founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, California’s largest boutique hotel company consisting of 40 award-winning hotels, spas and restaurants. Also an author, in his latest book PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow, Chip tells his story of survival in turbulent times and illustrates the theory that transformed his business. Recently honored by the San Francisco Business Times as the “Most Innovative CEO” in the entire Bay Area, Chip is the founder of San Francisco’s annual “Celebrity Pool Toss” fundraiser, which has raised more than $3 million dollars for families in the Tenderloin District. Chip received his BA and MBA from Stanford University.