Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Cross cultural management: case study La Napoli
Introduction The cultural web of any organisation is made up of different elements which guide the operation of the given firm. The elements of the web include the symbols
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Cross cultural management: case study La Napoli
Introduction The cultural web of any organisation is made up of different elements which guide the operation of the given firm. The elements of the web include the symbols, routines and rituals, the structures in the organisation, power structures and dynamics, myths and stories that are passed down in the generations of the firm and the various control systems that are employed. Globalisation brought about by the rise in capitalism has contributed greatly to the presence of a diversity of cultures in various workplaces. According to Ritzer (2010), globalization refers to the diffusion of practices, the organisation of social life on global scales, increased relations across continents and the rise in global shared consciousness. In essence, globalisation has great impacts on the communities and the different cultures that are exhibited by people from different cultural backgrounds. Globalisation requires managers to be able to learn new information and also adopt new feelings, behaviour and way of thinking. McDonnell and Collings (2001) gave a consideration of the various competencies which characterise a global leader. The first dimension they discussed was the cross cultural relationship skills which require that the leader is able to appreciate the diversity of the different groups of people, ability to empower the employees and help in developing their cultural literacy. Finally, the leader must be able to be sensitive to the different cultures of the led. La Napoli is a new restaurant that is poised to offer exquisite Italian cuisine with some American touch in Hong Kong. The case study is an analysis of the different problems which were faced by La Napoli and the potential recommendations of how the problems could be solved. Cultural issues facing La Napoli La Napoli seems to have a lot of cultural issues affecting its operations. This can be attributed to the fact that the organisation does not have an effective cross cultural management practice with most of the activities of the firm being solely decided upon and run by Luigi Compio. The first cultural issue that is noted in La Napoli is the existence of ethnocentric and discriminatory sentiments (Padilla and Parez, 2003). Compio in most cases has assumptions that the Italian culture and cuisine is far much superior to those that have origins in other countries. This cultural issue also plays out greatly in the choice of the language which is used in the restaurant. Although there are a significant number of Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, Compio insisted on the use of English with the proclamation that English is an official language of Hong Kong though there was a significant number of the populace who could only communicate in Cantonese (Trompenaars and Wooliams, 2003). Moreover, there was an abrupt change from the British and Chinese style of cuisine that of provision of Italian Cuisine. There was a noted existence of cultural shock in terms of the cuisines which were offered. This is shown by the fact that Compio hired two Chinese employees; on a chef and the other a baker. It is clear from the case that these to employees had no idea about Italian cuisine. The two employees were always confused and disoriented about the various tasks which they were expected to perform (Arnold et al., 2005). Another cultural issue that affects La Napoli is the role conflict which is hugely experienced in the organisation. Compio does not delegate a duty with its subsequent authority to the employees. This is characteristics of the high power distance and individualism which characterises the American society. In the “Compio society”, American, the focus is on the task and not the individual thus the notion of Compio to want to take credit for every achievement in the organisation. This is in stack contrast to the collectivism which is reminiscent of the Chinese society where the firm is more bent on increasing the satisfaction of the various employees of the firm (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). Compio has an individualistic mentality where majority of the decision that are made by shim are meant to satisfy his individual needs of making a mark in the field of Italian cuisine (Hofstede, 1994). Also, there is a low level of team work in the organisation with most of the employees of the organisation not being consulted about the major decisions that are made by the firm (Di Cesare and Sadri, 2003). As is pointed out in the case, Compio does not consult the assistant managers especially regarding the purchases of the items that are needed in the restaurant. This led to significant delays as there was a high return rate for the items that were impulse purchased by Compio. The employees were also increasingly frustrated as most of their ideas and contributions were not implemented. A case in point is Angela who was charged with the task of translating the names of the dishes that were to be offered in the restaurant from English to Italian. The suggestions by Angela were in most cases overturned by Compio who wanted a touch of his own genius in everything that was done in the restaurant (Morgan, 1997). There was also a distortion of the employees’ orientation and attitude to time as in most cases, especially during the training; they were left idle as the managers who were to train them were embroiled in ensuring 