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Introduction
The high competition in the global market has forced most companies to invent different coping mechanisms. Failure to counter completion can push an organisation out of local and international market. Currently, most organisations focus on improving the quality of their products and implementing advanced technology to ensure operational efficiency. However, organisations have expanded their operations across national borders, thus including people from different countries as part of the workforce. Although multicultural teams enhance diversity, they pose a significant challenge to the parent firm (Harrison & Peacock 2010). The case of Four Seasons and its operations in Paris highlight the challenge of dealing with multicultural teams.
The prospects of achieving successful change management processes in hotels located in countries with different cultures
Leadership and cultural adaptation perspective and the appointment of Mr. Le Calvez as the new General Manager in Paris
Leadership and cultural adaptation advocates a leaders capacity to become accustomed to a variety of cultures. A leader develops flexibility by adopting a multicultural perspective, which enables him/her to balance both local and global demands while embracing cultural diversity at the same time (Ersoy 2014). With reference to the leadership and cultural adaptation perspective, I agree with the appointment of Mr. Le Calvez as the new general manager in Paris.
Having worked for the Four Seasons outside France for approximately 25 years, it is evident that Mr. Le Calvez has enough experience from working with multicultural teams. Furthermore, being a French citizen, he has sufficient knowledge of the countrys culture and that of the Four Seasons. In such a circumstance, Mr. Calvez has sufficient knowledge on how to blend the two cultures to avoid cross-cultural differences while working in Paris. Having succeeded in working for the Four Seasons outside France for more than two decades, it is an indication that he is flexible enough to balance different cultures, as opposed to favouring a dominant culture at the expense of the others.
Tailor-made hotels and cultural chameleons approaches
According to Gidwani (2014), globalisation has contributed to the increment in the rate of international travel and tourism. Stahl, Mendenhall, and Oddou (2012) contend that as tourists travel across the world, they view themselves as chameleons for their capacity to become accustomed to new cultures. However, for multinationals, a good number of them adapt the tailor-made perspective for them to survive in a foreign country. For such firms, the management changes the structure of the subsidiary in question and aligns its operations with the culture of the country in which it operates (Hallowell, Bowen & Knoop 2002).
The Four Seasons should continue with the tailor-made hotels and cultural chameleons approaches. As the organisation expands its operations into other countries, there is a need to embrace diversity through the tailor-made approach. For the cultural chameleons, the approach will ensure that the company maintains diversity by adapting the national culture of the country of operation (Early & Peterson 2004). I would not prefer to change this approach because it enhances diversity and flexibility from within, thus discouraging over-reliance on the dominant culture. The two approaches enhance fair representation of different cultures in an organisation (Steers 2010).
Levels in multicultural development
Jackson (2006) highlights three different levels of cultural changes through which an organisation undergoes for it to adapt a multicultural corporate structure. In our new hotel based in Namibia, I would consider three levels of culture in the course of implementing change. The first level (the club) allows dominance of one group coupled with creating missions, norms, and policies that favour the dominating groups.
In the second stage, viz. affirmative action, I would begin to eliminate the inherent discriminations and oppressions in the first level (Drogendijk & Slangen 2006). Affirmative action will be achieved by eliminating the prevalent rigidness and manipulation in the first level, thus enhancing the groups diversity. In the third level, viz. multicultural organisation, I would re-examine the entire branch to ensure that its practices, processes, and structure favour all the members irrespective of their cultural-orientation.
The limitations of Hofstedes (1980) cultural dimensions approach, and Kogut and Singhs (1988) cultural distant construct
Hofstedes cultural model entails an outline of interactions across cultures and it illustrates how society influences its members through values. Although Hofstedes model has widely been used in international management due to its cross-cultural psychology nature, it has various limitations (Fougère & Moulettes 2007). Hofstede exclusively relies on five cultural dimensions, thus overlooking other factors through which culture can be assessed (Witte 2012). Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the Four Seasons to rely exclusively on a countrys demographic representation in multinational organisations to gauge the countrys culture through its indices.
Additionally, Hofstedes theoretical constructions depict a countrys culture as national averages of the population in whole. Although such cultural perspectives help in drawing differences between countries, the national cultural practices cannot be used to differentiate between members of society (Shenkar 2001). For example, although Namibia is considered as a conservative country, it would be inaccurate to conclude that all its citizens are bourgeois. Within the population, some people are outgoing and they do not subscribe to the values of a patriarchal society, and thus they break the chain of generalisation highlighted in the Hofstedes model.
Kogut and Singhs cultural distant construct model utilises a composite index to approximate the distance of the target country score in relation to the United States cultural dimension. The index measures for cultural dimensions of other countries vary, but that of the US remains constant (Rapp, Bernardi & Bosco 2011). By taking the American culture as a constant is inappropriate. Culture is dynamic and people keep changing their values, morals, and practices from time to time (Hammer 2003). Additionally, the model suggests that cultural distance enhances the entry mode choice as companies opt for culturally distant markets that have lower levels of resource commitment. However, this statement lacks statistical evidence, hence undermining its eligibility, especially when analysing cross-cultural challenges.
Potential intercultural challenges, which I (as GM) might face when adopting the specific Four Seasons organisational culture in the new hotel in relation to local staff
The Four Seasons organisational culture revolves around creating a local image accompanied by the worldwide customer service practices. The organisations overall management has set common service cultural standards that should be reflected in all its branches. These cultural standards include maintaining eye contact, acting friendly and smiling at the guests coupled with using clear and humble voice and tone. Furthermore, the management recommends the recognition of guests by their first names and prudently. Observing individual cleanliness and that of the premises is among the most crucial practices within the organisation.
The common cultural practices across all the hotels affiliated with the Four Seasons highlight some degree of rigidity of operations in the Namibian hotel. First, these rules depict some levels of ethnocentric orientation that will hinder effective operations in Namibia. Considering that these rules originate from the parent firm in the US, some African employees may have the perception that I am using my culture and standards to judge their nationalities and practices. Furthermore, I have realised that Namibians are reserved when dealing with the customers. Most Namibian employees are likely to introduce their idiosyncrasies in the hotel, thus forcing me to encourage them to become outgoing (Brock 2005).
With the above set of cultural values, it is evident that I have to blend them into the new premises in Namibia for the new hotel to adhere to the Four Seasons corporate culture. However, in the course of running the new hotel in Namibia, I am bound to encounter different cultural challenges due to different ethnic orientations between the host (Namibia) and the county of origin (the United States). First, as an organisation incorporated in an English-speaking country, Four Seasons recognises English as the official language of communication.
However, in Namibia, English is less popular than the Taal (Haiko, 2014). Therefore, I anticipate instances of miscommunication as most of employees are likely to know Taal better as compared to English. Overemphasising the use of English may create the perception of disrespect toward the hosts. Language barrier amongst employees can ruin the Four Seasons image, especially when dealing with international clients (Martin & Nakayama 2013). Furthermore, with reference to communication, I anticipate to experience challenges in preparing promotional materials for distribution within the country.
Recommendations to the top management
The top management should adopt an engagement-oriented and systemic approach for the new local employees to catch up with the operations of the new hotels in the course of implementing change (Ricketts & Ricketts 2010). The top management should shift attention to participative leadership, which requires the employees commitment to the organisations goals, values, and objectives (Cavusgil 2014). For example, Mr. Le Calvezs fears that managers in Paris are highly doubtful and they do not take the first initiative to avoid failure.
Therefore, the local managers in France wait for the general manager to implement a project. Furthermore, the local managers can hardly handle challenges without consulting the general manager, which violates the independence nature of the Four Seasons policy. In such a situation, Mr. Calvez should understand that the behaviour displayed by the managers is due to their national culture. The implementation of change within an organisation requires the execution of new projects among other activities that involve significant degrees of risk.
By failing to motivate such employees to participate in the implementation of change, the organisation is deemed to fail (Chen & Tjosvold 2006). Mr. Calvez should adapt participative leadership that contributes to resourceful, adaptive, and resilient behaviour at the time of change. Furthermore, Mr. Woroch should encourage the top management teams to implement a policy within their respective hotels that involves local employees in the visioning process. This move would expose the new employees to the processes and goals of the entire organisation (McKenna & Richardson, 2007; Chen 2006).
In addition, the top management should empower the new local employees through encouraging high levels of staff involvement in change initiatives, delegation of duties, and sharing some of the decision-making responsibilities (Robson 2008; Huang et al. 2006). For example, with the new hotel in Namibia, the hotels top management under my leadership should delegate duties and some of the simple decision making responsibilities to the new local employees. Through delegation, employees will feel appreciated and part of the Four Seasons, thus encouraging them to be highly receptive to change.
The involvement of workers through delegations increases the level of interaction between the organisations management and the local employees (Johnson, Lenartowicz & Apud 2006). In the course of interaction, the management will study the culture of the host state, whereas employees will have the opportunity to learn the practices of the parent company. Furthermore, empowerment promotes flexibility and adaptability that lead to diversity within an organisations workforce (Littrell et al. 2006; Pellegrini, Scandura & Jayaraman 2010).
Reflection on the intercultural capabilities
Conclusion
With the Four Seasons move to Paris, the organisation is set to experience some challenges due to cross-cultural differences. However, it was appropriate for the Four Seasons executive management to appoint Mr. Le Calvez as the GM of the new hotel in Paris. With the implementation of the cultural chameleons and tailor-made approaches, the organisation is set to continue with diversity and flexibility across different cultures.
As international organisations seek to develop multicultural environment, they should not rely exclusively on the Hofstedes cultural dimension and Kogut and Singhs (1988) cultural distant construct approaches. Both models have limitations that hinder the generation of accurate results especially when analysing intercultural challenges. As the GM of a new hotel in Namibia, some of the challenges I anticipate include miscommunication due to language barrier, some degree of rigidity, and the risk of ruining the organisations image.
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