Management and leadership: culture holiday inn hotel

I am doing assignment on Leadership Across Cultures. I am doing this assignment on Holiday Inn Hotel. It is one of the most recognised hotel brands with a global reputation for service, comfort & value. Holiday Inn offers today are business and leisure travellers, dependability, friendly service and modern attractive facilities at an excellent value and convenient locations throughout the world. By the analysis and data depicted, Holiday Inn can actually be hailed as the Wal-Mart of the world of Hospitality.

Meaning of Across Culture

This involves the capability to recognize and assimilate similarities and dissimilarities among various nations and their corresponding cultures and then approach crucial issues concerning organization and strategy with a rather open mind. A group culture is the set of unique characteristics that distinguishes its members from another group.

The culture word obtained from the Latin word ‘ cultus’. After that culture grabbed a set of related meanings: training, adornment, fostering, worship as an activity, which has became transformed into a condition, a state of being cultivated.

The integrative definition of culture captures three important points. 1) The culture word shows a various type of knowledge, shared realities, and clustered norms that found the learned systems of meanings in a specific society. 2) From one generation to the next generation, these learned systems of meaning are shared and channelized through everyday fundamental interactions among members of the cultural group. 3) Culture is always alleviate for member’s capacity to survive and adjust to their external environment. (Communicating across cultures- page 9, Stella Ting-Toomey-1999.)

Importance of Leadership Across Culture:

Leadership:

A Leader is the sort of person with the appropriate qualities and knowledge which is more than technical or professional who is able to provide the necessary functions to enable a team to achieve its task and to hold it together a working unity.(John Adair- Effective Strategic Leadership Book.)

Two current leadership Theories:

Situational Leadership Theory- Situational theories put forward the fact that the leaders choose the best possible course of action which is based upon situational variable. Varying styles of leadership may indeed be apt for certain types of decision making. It takes as its triggering point the fact that there are two dimensions of leader behaviour, relation behaviour and task behaviour. However, these are independent of each other. Some of the factors that show considerable effect on situational decision include motivation and capability of followers. It is such that this is affected by various factors within the given situation. The existing relationship between followers and their leader can indeed be another of the factors that considerably affect behaviour as much as it does the behaviour of the follower. (changing. org/disciplines/leadership/styles/situational_leadership…)

Path Goal Theory- Path goal theory looks at what leaders must do to motivate people to perform well and to get satisfaction from work. It also deals with the expectancy theory of motivation four leadership styles: supportive, directive, participative and achievement oriented.

Supportive- The leader is friendly and shows concern for the subordinates.

Directive- The leader gives specific guidance of performance to subordinates.

Participative- The leader consults with subordinates and considers their suggestions.

Achievements- The leader sets high goal and expects subordinates to have high level performance.(valuebasedmanagement. net/methods path goal theory. html)

After all, leaders are also human. At the same time, this is not to imply that people who hold that specific position of a leader in the hospitality industry should not continuously strive to better their skills of leadership. As a matter of fact, it may actually be hold true that there is no such thing existing as we assume to be the perfect leader. It is a true observation that the managers have indeed ever set an example for the other ones to follow. They may possess a badge on their office door that pronounces them as ‘ chief executive’ but it is to be thought that how far do these badge holders can actually display all the essential qualities in them so as to inspire the others to follow them. In order to measure manager’s leadership skills, we need to identity the essential qualities of an effective leader.

A leader need to be a Visionary.

A leader should indeed be exemplary to the others.

A leader should understand the sensibilities of each of his team members and the ways in which they can be motivated.

A leader should be able to build a supportive relationship.

A leader should also empower others to reach their corresponding potentials.

A leader should also grasp or understand the power of communication.

These can be depicted as the components that every leader must really work hard at continuously and also consistently in application, and most importantly, demonstration in whatever done by him/her.

Their arises a question whether the leadership behaviour and management can be associated with their respective country of origin and to the corporate culture that have drastically evolved from country specific values, the prevalent educational system, social norms, and various other perspectives of economy. Management Research Group which is a farm specialising in the creation of behavioural assessment instrument which can be used for individual and organisational development has collected extensive data with regard to leadership behaviour across the globe. On the bases of self assessment done by the managers with the help of Management Research Group’s leadership effectiveness analysis questionnaire, various comparisons can be reported as many as 22 different leadership practices which jointly illustrate the ability of the managers to develop a specific vision or direction for their organisation. To gain more support for that vision, to implement the vision in organisational terms, and make sure the things happen in accordance with the plan. High standards of performance for them self and their organisation need to be set by the managers for achieving results and the orientation of the managers with respect to this aspect is also majored the ability of the managers to work within a team environment is also majored.

Main body:

History of Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn is one of the biggest chains in world. The first chain of Holiday Inn hotel was founded in 1952. These hotels were opened in Memphis, Tennessee by Kemmons Wilson. Wilson wanted to provide less-costly accommodation for families and others right inside America. Wilson’s first Holiday Inn opened in the Berclair district in Memphis. This location was a perfect setting, with the main road to and from Nashville right besides the building. In the mid-1950, Wilson teamed -up with Wallace E. Johnson. Kemmons Wilson first comes up with the idea to team-up following a road trip to Washington, D. C. He claims to have been so disappointed with the quality of the roadside motels he encountered, that he wanted to do something that would bring change. The name of the Holiday Inn franchise was originally provided as a joke by architect Eddie Bluestein. Bluestein was making reference to the Bing Crosby movie. The chain grew dramatically in 1975, following the chain’s official remaining as Holiday Inn within one year, there were over fifty Inns throughout America. In 1968, the 1000th holiday Inn opened in San Antonio, Texas. The Holiday Inn hotel chain led the motel market, putting a huge amount of financial pressure on more traditional hotels. It also set the standard for copycat competitors like days Inn, Ramada Inn, and best Western and Howard Johnson’s. When Wilson was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1972, there were over 1400 Holiday Inn hotels worldwide. The decision to include pools at many of the chains, further brought customers flocking through the doors. Wilson retired from his work Holiday Inn in1979.

Holiday Inn had taken pride in their provision of air-conditioned rooms, excellent restaurants, quality meeting rooms, refreshing pools, technological facilities such as television, as well as direct dial telephone services, with piped music and radio as an added attraction, along with wall to wall carpeting, attractive cocktail lounges, and a very convenient computerized reservation system that went on to throw many other Mom and pop outfits out of business. Numerous road weary business travellers and also many harried families have started to organize their around the practice of Holidex reservation, realizing that the same room, good food and a pool which is night-lit, awaited their company down the road. The company later branched into other related enterprises, including Medi-Center nursing homes, Continental Trailways, Delta Queen, and various related enterprises.

Multi culture management:

When working across culture, the company faces a fair share of problems from simple issue like understanding language idioms to more complex work, culture, issue. The company transfer people increasingly to other country which creates cultural diversity within work teams. The potential problems that usually surface in team working across culture for the company are: 1. Communication language and expression. 2. Work style. 3. Dominating influences. 4. Motivators and expectation from the job. The manager can certainly face a lot of problems if they lake of multi cultural awareness, as it can prevent them from communicating with the staff of the organisation effectively. Due to the awareness of the language of the culture, the movement of the information and communication could be with held. Sometimes these peculiar, circumstances can persuade the managers to be selective to some extent. This can farce the member of the staff to be isolated and confined. If that state prevails for more time, the staff might lose their self confidence which eventually lead to lose respect, trust and interest among the staff. The deficiency of communication can thus develop and unhealthy atmospheres in the organisation. So we can say that cross cultural awareness can make and important impact on the business of the organisation, and it also helps to maximise their potential internationally. By this it is quite obvious that the business of company become more competitive and more profitable with staff that can deal sensitively and effectively with customers and collies from other culture.

It is important for the manager to be aware of cultural differences and the way in which they show effect on the dynamic, communication as well as management styles of the team. The workplaces of multi-cultures also offer a huge source of new experience and opportunities that would assist in attaining self-growth. Some of the way by which a manager can improve multi cultural relationship in the workplace are as follow:

Create a relaxed atmosphere to ask a question- There’s a possibility for some people to feel that they can not ask a person in a case where he or she belongs to another culture due to fear of being offensive to that person. This can, as a result, go on further to prevent communication, also team effort and in some cases, even happening of friendship, and therefore, if question are asked of one and other, then the growth in relationship enables more effective working together.

Learn about each other countries and culture- The cultures of every individual is a respected.

Give respect and always be with an open mind- The differences in cultures can actually sometimes be confusing or can be misinterpreted. The manager also should recognise the need of being respectful regarding the way in which the other people work and interact among themselves.

Create cultural awareness facts sheets- If the company employees people from other country, they should be giving material on what it is to work in the company.

Treat people as individuals- The manager should not jump to conclusion just because somebody. We get to know people as individuals.

Identify gaps in your own knowledge – The manager need to identify the unknown aspects about the co-workers and their culture.

High performing managers recognised that specialised skills are essential for the creation of a productive, diverse workforce. They seek continues learning opportunities and sometime go as far as attaining certification. The managers are willing to work towards changing the organisation in order to create a culture of diversity and inclusion.

Analysis/ Understanding:

A workplace which is variant culturally constitutes of people with many various traditions and value. The management of this diversity which exists in the workplace actually needs you to be sensitive to the various differences, at the same time, being absolutely fair to everybody. One of the other aspect that can be viewed as common to varying culture is the significance of personal relationship. Two of the various strategies for managing diversity in the workplace: 1. People come first- The managers should indeed be able to pronounce the names properly atleast, and this as a result reflects respect and also their attention to minute detail. The interest is shown on employees by the management by asking about them and their families or so on. Some of the cultural diverse workplaces are very flexible with staffing. The employees who become more aware or knowing of each other on a rather social basis, further procced to develop into a surrogate family essentially for themselves. In due course of time the variations in their cultures dont appear to be a problem but rather become a good and new type of enjoyment for themselves.

The practices can be surely hailed as effective, because these are very simple and get effective ways to deal with the several issues related to cross-cultural management, for example, knowing about other cultures or countries would not only help in increasing awareness of various cultures, but also helps in getting a better picture, and much more detailed understanding of the various type of customers that the organisation would have to deal with any gap in communication, would be very difficult, and of great concern to the management. So the mentioned practices which deal with methods for reducing the communication gaps should be considered quite effective.

Conclusion:

By the research and the information posted, it is clearly evident that the cross-cultural differences directly influence the company management, motivation, practices and its leadership. There could be a good number of arguments, in support of this view. The proper functioning or the efficient working of any management would always depend on the persons or teams involved in the management of the organisation. It is also quite obvious that the lack of cross cultural awareness can actually cause a lot of hindrance, by creating gaps in communication among the staff, sometimes even causing the declination in the levels of confidence among them. This would rather show a direct influence on the company management, and if not dealt quickly and effectively could also contribute majorly to the performance of the company, which could again lead to several other undesired consequences.

When it comes to another vital aspect of management, that is leadership, the cross cultural differences, and lack of awareness of it could truly cause a distinct effect on even the leadership. In the information regarding the various way to deal with cross cultural management, important techniques were suggested such as creating opportunities for the staff, to be able to express themselves to the leadership, if they feel miss-communicated regarding anything concerning the organisation, as this truly forms a crucial factor for maintaining a team spirit within the company, resulting in a much better teamwork, and proving to be more fruitful for the development of the organisation. Cross cultural management as discussed, has various other aspects involved, while the language, culture and expression are some prominent aspects of creating a distinct impact, there are also other aspect such as the work style involved. When there is a scope for various cultures to get involved, there would also surely arise a scope for different work style to exist, within the same organisation. This usually could happen, when there is no proper bridge between the leadership, and the other wings of the management. In such a scenario, persons belonging to similar cultures can tend to adopt their own work style, rather than a uniform and standard work style of the company. This could drastically turn out to be a problem creating aspect for the company.

Another crucial aspect of the cross cultural management, which could affect the management of the company, is the dominating influences caused due to uncovered gaps between co-existent cultures within on organisation. For instance, when there is a dominant culture, that is when there are more people sharing a common culture practiced by the manager, there could possible arise a situation where the managers could get more inclined towards their own culture, particularly when they are unaware of the other existing cultures within. This would rather result in the isolation of the other people, and further could cause them to lose confidence on the management. They don’t feel as a part of the company, as a consequence. Their spirits would be dampened, affecting the team spirit, and finally the performance of the organisation as a whole. The creation of this atmosphere is not at all desired, and should be prevented at any cost, and necessary steps are needed to be taken, with regard to this aspect. The exiting theories of cross cultural management are quite good and appropriate, and they need not be challenged, but only could be modified, for yielding of better results. For instance, in the theories proposed for cross culture management, it was proposed that the managers should try to develop more awareness regarding various cultures that are existent within the organisation. This is surely the way to go about. For an appropriate solution, but this could be further improvised or simplified, by making it a point that meeting are arranged between the teams, and the corresponding managers, which helps in yielding a much better understanding between team and would also prove to be a faster approach, rather than the manager trying to get aware himself. If the awareness is created from both the ends, it would be more fruitful. By organising such meeting once in a while, there is certainly a scope for the development of very good relationship between the managers, and the other staff of the organisation.

This could probably even help further, in creating a trust and respect in the staff, for the organisation, which results in better team work, better performance, finally producing much better results for the organisation. By this we can conclude by saying that, though cross cultural management is a quite prominent issue, it can be properly and effectively dealt with minimising the ill effects that could possible occur, by the use of appropriate techniques. So it can be said that by an intensive research on the cultures and preferences, thereby, increasing the cultural intelligence of the organisation is the basic need which need to be accomplished for much better prosperity of the company.

Summary of assignment (Highlight):

I have discussed about the position of company in market and how company has increase the growth.

Here I have written the meaning of Across culture and different type of definition.

I have discussed about the importance of Leadership Across Culture: here I have written the current two theories of Leadership.

I have discussed about the company history in brief and how company has established.

Here I have described the multi-culture management: I have written the problems which created by the manager’s lake of cross culture awareness and how the manager develops multi culture management.

Here I have written that what I have analysis on this topic.

Here I have written the conclusion on this subject: I have written that cross culture differences directly influences on company management, motivation.