A deeper look at national culture and leadership in the hospitality industry

Increased internationalization and demographic shifts have made multicultural management a prime concern for hospitality leaders. Past research suggests that cultural similarity between managers and subordinates impacts employees’ appraisal of their leaders and work-related attitudes. Extending this line of research, the purpose of this paper is to examine more closely how employees evaluate leaders with varying national cultures and identify any subsequent employee responses. First, the results of an open-ended questionnaire on cultural influences, perceived leadership and work-related outcomes administered to 112 hospitality managers and staff members in a highly multicultural environment are discussed. Next, perspectives drawn from in-depth interviews with 12 hospitality stakeholders help to synthesize the findings. The results suggest that this is a highly complex issue, which can have a significant impact on employee reactions their leaders and the service received by guests. Implications for hospitality leaders are discussed.     

Leadership dyads in the cruise industry: the impact of cultural congruency

Multiculturalism continues to permeate the management literature as an imperative issue in today's workplace. The cruise industry is highly diverse, with leaders often interacting with subordinates whose national origin is different from their own. Past research suggests that differences in national culture may significantly impact the process of leadership evaluation and subsequently how subordinates respond to their leaders. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if such a process takes place in the cruise industry. Using a diverse sample of cruise line managers (n=367), a comparison of congruent and incongruent leaders/subordinate dyads was conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine how cultural congruence impacted perceived leadership style (consideration and initiating structure), trust, satisfaction and commitment to the leader. The results indicate that subordinates in congruent dyads evaluated their leaders significantly higher on consideration behaviors, and reported higher levels of trust and satisfaction with their leader, than those in the incongruent group. These findings suggest that national culture systematically impacts how subordinates within the studied sample evaluate, and subsequently feel about their leaders. The results are discussed and recommendations are made for leaders within the cruise environment.     

Human resource management responsibilities in private clubs

ABSTRACT

Private clubs have long been considered a unique segment of the hospitality industry. Clubs are different than other types of hospitality enterprises in many respects, including their ownership, revenue sources, management, and specifically, in the management of human resources. This article focuses on how human resources are managed in one regional chapter of the national association of club managers (New England). First, a focus group of club managers in New England was conducted. Next, a survey was conducted of club managers belonging to the New England chapter of the Club Managers Association of America. Findings suggest that very few clubs have human resource directors; responsibilities tend to be delegated through the organization; clubs have certain human resource management challenges associated with not having a human resource director; and general managers are actively involved in the management of human resources.     

Managing language barriers in the workplace: The roles of job demands and resources on turnover intentions

Immigrants are a considerable growing segment of the hospitality workforce, but with an overwhelming majority of immigrant workers having limited English speaking abilities, hospitality managers are often challenged with communication barriers. The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of managers’ communication satisfaction with limited English speaking employees on three work-related outcomes that can be influenced by working with limited English employees: role ambiguity, role conflict, and turnover intentions. A survey was completed by 130 hotel and lodging managers. The results of a mediation model showed that satisfaction with the quality of communication with limited English speaking employees reduced role ambiguity and role conflicts, which led to lower turnover intentions. Managers’ turnover intentions are not necessarily a direct effect of the communication quality with their limited English speaking subordinates, but due to the job demands that manifest in an environment with communication barriers, such as confusion and conflicting misunderstandings.     

The influence of national culture on the strategic use of salesperson pricing authority: A cross-country study within the hotel industry

At some hotel properties individual catering sales managers are empowered with the authority to make price adjustments, but at other properties they must ascertain the permission before adjusting prices. This research collected and analyzed data from 392 hotels in 28 countries and found that national culture has an influence on the price empowerment decision. Specifically, catering sales managers are more likely to be granted pricing authority in: (1) individualistic societies than in collective societies; (2) low power distance cultures than in high power distance cultures; and (3) low uncertainty avoidance societies than in high uncertainty avoidance societies.     

The Impact of Culture on Self-Service on Technology Adoption in the Hotel Industry

Abstract

Increasingly technology based solutions are being used to deliver customer service within the international hotel sector. Frequently, these are being driven by cost and operational efficiency concerns, rather than customer service concerns. The argument is presented in this paper that the undifferentiated use of these solutions across international hotel chains without consideration of the diversity of national cultures that may utilize these services may impact negatively on customer service and organizational performance. A number of propositions are suggested both for further academic research and as factors for consideration by hotel managers in this sector.     

Select Performance Differences in Equity and Non-Equity Membership Structures Within Private Clubs

ABSTRACT

Managers at private clubs in the Greater Toronto Metropolitan area who are members of the Ontario Branch of the Canadian Society of Club Managers (CSCM) were surveyed to determine the membership structures at their clubs (equity or non-equity), along with the reasons, and advantages/disadvantages for those structures. Responses were received from 46 managers, 57% of the population. The managers were affiliated with golf-country clubs, yacht clubs, city-athletic clubs, and city clubs. Respondents of the survey most often represented: golf-country clubs (78%), member-owned clubs (84%), and clubs with non-equity membership structures (83%). Clubs with non-equity membership structures were more likely to have full memberships and waiting lists of candidates to join the clubs. Non-equity clubs also had lower entrance fees to join, but retained a higher proportion of the overall entrance fee paid by members when they joined compared to equity clubs.     

A Social Cognitive Theory of sustainability empathy

Social-Cognitive Theory is used to test the argument that the motivations behind sustainable tourism, and the types of sustainable actions undertaken, depend on one’s empathy towards sustainability. Latin American businesses were surveyed about their motivations for acting sustainably and any sustainability actions undertaken. Based on their responses, TwoStep cluster analysis found four clusters (cost, legitimisation, biospheric, and lifestyle). Acceptance of responsibility to be more sustainable depends on one’s level of empathy with, and attachment to, sustainability, explained by a beneficiary focus (personal norms that drive one to act to help oneself or others) and a cultural focus (acting in response to individualistic or collectivistic social norms). Lifestyle businesses are argued to be culturally individualistic but self-transcendent in benefit focus.     

A Typology of Tourists from a Different Angle

Abstract

Over the years, academics have attempted to develop typologies that distinguish between various types of tourists. There is, however, general consensus that these taxonomies suffer from several weaknesses. In particular, they are based on a priori theoretical assumptions that rely on just one or very few dimensions, such as numbers of tourists. In remedying these shortfalls, the current paper proposes a new typology of tourists grounded in a two-fold empirical research that contrasts two opposite types of tourists, namely, solitary travellers and group tourists. Two separate qualitative pieces of fieldwork were carried out in order to obtain the necessary data from solitary travellers and group tourists in Norway. The comparison, based on psychographic variables (travel philosophy, travel motive and personal values), suggests that tourist experiences vary along a continuum of individualistic/collectivistic orientation. The solitary traveller represents an individualistic-oriented person whereas the group or package tourist typifies a collectivistic-oriented person. Each of these categories may further include a variety of tourists depending on their degree (i.e., low or high) of individualistic or collec-tivistic orientation.     

Attitude Towards Green Hotel by Hoteliers and Travel Agency Managers in Taiwan

Analysis is performed by green hotel features: energy conservation, water conservation, waste management, green purchasing, and corporate social responsibility. Questionnaires were distributed to managers of hotels and travel agencies via snowball-sampling. Findings show that hoteliers have higher green hotel attitudes than travel agency managers. By gender, female managers have higher green hotel attitudes. Managers with less work experience have higher green hotel attitudes. Managers who work for upscale hotels have higher green hotel attitudes than managers of typical hotels and travel agencies. Managers working in south or east Taiwan have higher green hotel attitudes than those in north or central Taiwan.     

Management Style and Environmental Scanning in the Search for Business Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Managers that scan the environment in their boundary spanning roles need to be attentive to the opportunities and challenges that may arise due to changes occurring within the environment. As an industry environment changes, an entrepreneurial management orientation helps firms adapt to changing market conditions. The purpose of this study is to examine the link between management style and environmental scanning. Based on responses from 201 top-level hotel executives, the findings suggest that entrepreneurial managers are more frequent scanners of the environment.     

Understanding the Cultural Differences in Tourist Motivation Between Anglo-American and Japanese Tourists

Summary

There is considerable evidence to suggest that differences in cultural characteristics exist across the world. Among them, individualistic societies emphasize “I” consciousness, autonomy, emotional independence, pleasure seeking and universalism. On the other hand, col-lectivistic societies stress “we” consciousness, collective identity, group solidarity, sharing, and particularism. A comparative research on the motivation of tourists from different cultures may challenge current tourism research, which mainly focuses on individualism and rationalism. These values of individualism and rationalism result in underestimation of the influence of groups, norms, culture, and emotion or impulse on tourist behavior. There have been few studies which attempt to directly measure cultural characteristics and identity across culture, and to explain how these cultural characteristics play a role in creating distinctive differences in tourist motivation. Thus, this study explores (1) cultural differences underlying individualism-collectivism between Anglo-American and Japanese tourists; (2) examines the relationship of two cultural dimensions to tourist motivation, and (3) suggests management implications facing tourism industry.     

Qualities and Characteristics Club Managers Look for in Entry Level Supervisors

ABSTRACT

A resume is used as a screening tool by employers and a method of conveying a job applicant's characteristics. This study attempts to discern how certain characteristics, as shown on a resume, influence the decision to contact by club managers. Six hypothetical resumes are developed with different characteristics, such as GPA, coursework, degree, extracurricular activities, and work experience. Managers were asked to evaluate a job applicant based on a single resume. The results suggest the best resume is one showing the following characteristics: a hospitality degree, an above average GPA (> 3.0), demonstrated leadership, and club-related work experience.     

Declining Memberships During an Economic Downturn in U.S. Private Clubs

ABSTRACT

Surveys were sent to managers at one thousand private clubs, who were members of the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) to determine what membership changes clubs have experienced during the economic downturn from 2000 to 2003. The majority of respondents managed country clubs, member-owned clubs, and represented different areas of the United States. An overall response rate of 50% was achieved. Most clubs experienced a decline in the overall number of members and a higher annual attrition rate. Fewer clubs reported having a waitlist of members wanting to join and the clubs having a waitlist reported a smaller number of individuals on the waitlist. The clubs without a waitlist reported a higher number of openings in their club. The results of this study suggest that clubs need to implement membership marketing strategies in order to increase the number of candidates for membership during economic downturns.     

Qualitative examination of employee turnover and retention strategies in international tourist hotels in Taiwan

In past decades, high employee turnover has been an important issue for many hoteliers and a focus of academic interest. Although hoteliers often use retention techniques to retain capable employees, the turnover rate remains high. The purpose of this study was to explore determinants of management-level employee turnover and to identify existing practices in human resource retention strategies. In this study, interviews with Taiwan hotel workers revealed that more than 80% of respondents had resigned from a job to pursue career advancement while 70% had experienced recruitment propositions from other hotels. Another factor of turnover may be that relating to differences between expectations and reality. This study indicates that managers need to understand more fully the needs of subordinates when providing career advice, and relevant training programs should be introduced to enhance career opportunities.     

Impression Management and the Hospitality Service Encounter

Abstract

Managers, marketers, and employees in the hotel and restaurant industry that are aware of the needs of people from different cultures will be able to better direct their efforts at product development, provide better guest services, and thereby offer a means of developing competitive advantage. This study determined cross-cultural differences in customer perceptions of employee behavior, intentions to return, and tipping between Americans and Asians living in the United States. The study was based on several impression management dimensions (ingratiation, intimidation, self-promotion, exemplification, supplication, and non-verbal behaviors). The results suggest that behaviors associated with ingratiation and exemplification techniques were perceived as being more satisfying for American than Asian respondents. Behaviors demonstrative of intimidation and supplication techniques were perceived as very dissatisfying for Americans.     

Identity,Politics, and the Beach: Environmental Activism in Surfers Against Sewage

Abstract

Academic accounts of leisure activities like surfing tend to emphasise their individualistic, hedonistic and commercialised qualities, seeing this as characteristic of leisure consumption in late capitalism; that culture is increasingly dominated by the market and attention is diverted from collective and political issues. Yet empirical research in such lifestyle sport cultures reveals a more complex and contradictory picture of leisure consumption. This paper examines the pressure group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), founded by surfers in Cornwall, England. It draws on subcultural media discourses about SAS and interviews with SAS members and personnel. Whilst acknowledging the limitations in the political significance and impact of SAS’s activism, the paper argues that through their sport consumption, participants from a range of minority water sports cultures have formed a politicised trans‐local collectivity based around a concern with their own localised environment, one which has become articulated into broader trans‐national political issues. It is argued further that SAS is part of a broader wave of new social movements and direct action protest groups that gathered momentum in Britain in the mid to late 1990s. In such groups the politics of identity take centre stage. The paper therefore challenges us to rethink the meaning of political activism, and the capacity of leisure and sport to contribute to the politics of identity.     

Participatory music-making and well-being within immigrant cultural practice: exploratory case studies in South East Queensland,Australia

ABSTRACT

Music participation is a way of life for many cultures and is an activity that is often passed on generationally. It can become especially important as a leisure activity for maintenance of self- and national identity for people who have migrated to countries of contrasting cultures, such as Australia. This article describes exploratory, qualitative research into the ways in which participatory music-making within communities from immigrant backgrounds in Brisbane, Australia may influence aspects of participants’ wellbeing. The sample for this research included three broadly-defined cultural groups living in the region: people of Baltic origin; people from Latin American and Caribbean backgrounds; and ‘newly arrived’ immigrants and refugees. Interviews with individuals have been analysed to explore the ways in which this involvement might affect mental, social, and emotional wellbeing. Our qualitative analyses demonstrated that beyond these aspects, factors of subjective wellbeing, both hedonic and eudaimonic, were apparent. This article aims to provoke discussions on the divergent ways in which immigrant communities utilise music-making practices to foster different types of wellbeing and the importance of maintaining diversity through cultural practices.     

Customer Satisfaction,Training and TQM

Abstract

Managers within the hospitality industry make frequent reference to TQM principles. The extent to which these principles are applied effectively within the human resource management area of hospitality however remains under-researched. By applying TQM principles, this paper focusses on the relationship between customer service and training drawing upon comparative data from Western and Thai hotels. The paper also examines the perceptions of staff towards of hotels' guest-orientation and the provision of quality guest services. The researchers found that guest assessments of the performance of hotel frontline staff depend on their services function (e.g., front-office, housekeeping). The service quality skills needed by frontline staff were also found to differ in the case of Western and Thai hotels. Such differences merit proper consideration on the part of managers within the major hotel chains. The various findings may assist hospitality managers to determine appropriate strategies for the enhancement of guest services particularly in cross-cultural settings.     

The impact of cultural orientation on perceived fairness over demand-based pricing

Revenue management practices are now being implemented by hotel firms on a global scale. This requires a finer understanding of how different cultures will relate to perceived unfairness that stems from the inequities inherent in demand-based pricing. In this context, individualism and collectivism as cultural constructs have been used extensively in cross-cultural research. These constructs are manifested with vertical and horizontal orientations that distinguish social patterns based on the acceptance of a hierarchy or conversely the preference over equality. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between vertical and horizontal orientations of individualism and collectivism with perceived price fairness over demand-based pricing. Findings indicate that vertical individualism has a significantly positive relationship with perceived price fairness. This can be attributed to the inherent acceptance of inequality in this cultural dimension combined with the emphasis of the individual over the collective unit. Marketing implications for lodging managers are discussed.