The constant growing interdependence of national economies has demanded hospitality managers to acquire skills to work with individuals from different backgrounds. Experiencing culture diversity is one of the most determinant reasons for individuals to travel internationally, thus for an organisation to operate successfully across the world it must acknowledge the importance of differences in culture and that multicultural teams often generate frustrating management dilemmas. Hence the objectives of this chapter are to:
Cross culture management is the study of the behaviour of people in organisations identified in cultures and nations across the world (Adle, 1983).. Understanding culture demands and expectations could be the key to hospitality managers to deal with employees and guest’s individualities.
Cross Culture and Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry
Given the transnational nature of the hospitality industry for an organisation to achieve organisational goals it must accommodate cultural diversity not only for markets but for workforce as well. The human resource management (HRM) department can significantly contribute to the achievement of these objectives and goals. HRM is the department responsible for staff training, employees’ welfare as well as managing the selection and recruitment process with the purpose of placing the right people in the right place. Many scholars have explained how and why human resources can affect organisations’ performances and achieve competitive advantage. Casado, (2001) argues that employees should be seen as assets that create value to organisations and the recognition of cultural differences among personnel can be a source of competitive advantage. Having an international talent pool to choose from, it is a benefit nevertheless it can also be a challenge, which needs to be addressed due to intense global competition. Obviously, the hospitality industry is no exception. Therefore, for an organisation to achieve competitive advantage, it must employ a distinctive approach to employment management through the strategic implementation of a dedicated and capable workforce using a variety of cultural, personnel and structural techniques.
Cross-culture and human resource management scholars such as Hofstede, Laurent and Schneider have strived for years to emphasize the importance and the effects of culture to define culture in the view of human resource practices. Even though there are researches on the role of culture in the areas of human resource management that can be applied to the hospitality industry (e.g. in recruitment, organisational socialisation and in-service training) it is broadly recognized that there is a deficiency of theoretical severity and research to the impact of cultural issues in the field (McGuire et al., 2002).
What is undeniable is that when dealing with cultural diversity, hospitality managers must recognise that they are dealing with individuals with unique views and expectations. Hence HRM practice or policy is likely to be attributed different meanings by different cultural groups; independently of the strength or articulated nature of the organisation’s culture. Therefore, the need for behavioural adjustments, if it occurs superficially it might provide a false feeling of satisfaction among employees in front of apparent homogeneity across organisations.
Cultural diversity management has been suggested as the human resource strategy that enables the management of the workforce to be effective by demographical variations in the late 80s and the early 90s. Management of cultural diversity implies a holistic focus to generate an organisational environment, which allows employees to reach their full potential when pursuing the organisational goals. (Groeschl and Doherty, 2000). This emphasizes that it is essential for stakeholders in the hospitality and tourism sector to appreciate, respect and understand culture diversity to be able to effective manage a diverse workforce and consequently embrace and accommodate the expectations of guests worldwide therefore achieving organisational goals.