Regency Hotel Business Case Study

Regency Hotel Business Case Study EMPOWERMENT AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY INTRODUCTION The case study is about Regency Grand Hotel, a five star hotel in Bangkok. It was established by local syndicate of investors 15 years ago and was manage by Thai general manager. Regency is Bangkoks most prestigious hotel having 700 satisfied staff members. Lately, Regency was obtained by big American hotel chain. Due to this the old general manager took premature retirement an American John Backer with ten years of management experience was appointed as new general manager. Becker is a strong supporter of empowerment soon after his appointment as a general manager Becker implied empowerment to achieve success as in the past. ISSUES AND CONSEQUENCES AFTER EMPOWERMENT Empowerment can be described as People having the skills and the self-belief to proactively deal with issues and make the most of the opportunities available to them. but soon after the execution of empowerment new general manager realise that things are not going according to his expectation because staff of regency grant dont know what is empowerment? Because they use to work as per their manager order in the previous management they are not allowed to innovate generate anything new ,and were discourage by the senior managers and after all this they dont want to take risk and get punished by the management but general manger in America was working in a empowered environment where staff has a power of decision making can take minor decision on their own .basically its a cultural difference between management and staff where is from Thailand where they believe in team work and management is from America who believes in individuality they believe that they can do anything unaccompan ied which was the first issue. According to Hofstedes index Country Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Thailand 64 20 34 64 U.S.A 40 91 62 46 Power Distance The extent to which large differentials of power for example between a boss and a subordinate or between a higher status and lower status are expected and tolerated. Autocratic behaviour by a boss would be much better tolerated in a high power distance country Uncertainty Avoidance-The extent to which the culture emphasizes focusing on way to reduce un certainty and create stability-for example having clear written rules and procedure to guide action. Formal organisational procedure may be much more necessary in the high Uncertainty avoidance country. Masculinity/Femininity- The difference between the traditional male gaols of ambition and achievement and female orientation to nurturance and interpersonal harmony-for example the balance between seeking promotion at work and having good relations with others. Individualism- In individualism culture people are most concerned about the consequences for the action for themselves, not others. They prefer activity conducted on ones own or in relatively private interactions with friends. Decision are made by the individual according to the judgement he or she makes as to that is appropriates and the individual rewards that will accures. Other reason for the failure of empowerment is staffs dont have proper training about empowerment .They doesnt know how to use this decision making power for guest satisfaction and for companies profit because they are not properly trained about empowerment. General manager told that staffs has power to make minor decision but major decision has to be taken by supervisors but staff was unable to distinguish between minor and the major problems. It was not clear that what decisions can be made by staff members? These boundaries must be defined or employee empowerment efforts fail. In regency grand supervisor dont trust staff to make good decisions. Staff members know this and either craftily makes decisions on their own and hides their results or they come to you for everything because they dont know what they really control .Supervisor can dont motivate the staff for decision making. And without motivating the staff it is impossible to execute empowerment properly. From last 15 years the staff member of Regency grand hotel were working under hierarchy management but suddenly after the arrival the new general managers Empowerment policy come under existence without any prior notice and any proper training to the staff so it is natural for the staff to resist this change because they are in habit of working as per the manager order ,they were not allowed to take their decision or do any pioneering and its a human tendency to first resist the change some staff dont want to take responsibility of empowerment, (Bacal 1996 ) they like to work as per the old system in which managers have to take the decision and staff has to blindly follow that order and if anything goes wrong managers are there to help them out but in empowerment nobody will take responsibility if a error is committed by you and you are the one who is going to pay for it. We can say that empowerment is not properly applied on the staff member which lead to the failure of the empowerm ent. OUTCOMES OF THE FAILURE OF EMPOWERMENT Due to failure of empowerment hotel Regency grand was losing its profit, clients and status in Bangkok. Becker thought that empowerment will help his hotel to earn more profit and guest satisfaction. Overall Performance of the hotel begins to decline. Increase in number of written guest complaints both verbally and in written. Disgrace in the news paper as one of the Asias nightmare hotel. Criticism about service standards of the hotel. Staffs were also not happy raise of nervous tension level among the employees. Good working atmosphere has been harshly strained. Lack of team spirits among the employees now they were against each other when mistakes were made by any employee. POTANTIAL SOLUTION FOR THE PROBLEM New general manager comes with a great idea of empowerment but the way he put into practice it was inappropriate,followong can be some of the potential solution of the problem. They have a uncertain view that employee empowerment means you start a few teams that address workplace employee morale or safety issues. The staff should be encourage to take their decision and to believe in their decision they should provide proper training before giving them decision authority. (Heathfield, 2000) John Becker move from American work culture to Thai work culture which are totally different from each other. In America they believe in individualism but in Bangkok the believe in team work and John Becker fails to understand that .he try to impose his American work culture which prove to be a disaster before implementing Empowerment in the hotel he should study about their work culture and try to fill that communication gap between him and the employees. He should be ready to accept the changes that he have to make according to work culture he is working for. CONCLUSION Empowerment is a good weapon to increase the decision making power and leadership quality among the employee but it should be implemented in a proper manner and procedure otherwise if its not executed properly it can destroy the organisation just in case of Regency Grand hotel and John Becker. Beckers intension was good to implement empowerment but the way he executed was wrong. REFERENCES Bannon ,G ,Guy,v ,dr.Omari,J ,Pooley,R ,Reed,B ,White,N 2003, Cross Cultural communication ,UK Ron,C 1998, Structured empowerment: an award-winning program at the Burswood Resort Hotel Leadership Organization Development Journal, vol. 19, no.5 Bacal,R 1996, Empowerment Difficulties, Work911.com -Workplace, Business, Career Help, viewed 15 August 2008, Heathfield,S 2000, Employee empowerment, About.com; human resource , viewed 16 August 2008, Thomas,D ,Inkson,k ,2004,Cultural Intelligence people skills for global business, Berrett-Koehler Publisher ,Inc. ,San Francisco. Hunt,J ,1979,Managing People At Work ,cox and Wyman Ltd. Great Britain

Illegal Street Racing Essay -- Descriptive Racing Car Essays

Illegal Street Racing Vivid moonlight, dim city, slight overcast on the noxious night. Cool breeze blows over your sweltering body. Heart racing, sweat pouring, adrenaline pumping through the body like gas through the engine of a car. Body trembling, hands shaking, eyes twitching, foot uneasy as beady eyes observe your every move. Thunderous noise coming from the crowd, situation getting heavier the closer you get to the line. Tension raised to the max as time draws nearer†¦.5-0 no where to be found, time to go. Moment of truth draws near, one hand rises, heartbeat rises with it. Second hand rises, heartbeat rises even more with it. The body tightens up; the mind focuses as you get ready. Hands drop just as fast as your foot drops to the floor. Loud squealing coming from behind you, body is thrown back, scenery passing by, quickly becoming a blur. Hands in a death-grip, body is pulsating, mind is clear, feeling of freedom overcomes. Focus quickly turns to mirror to glance at opponent just as quick as it focuses back. Eyes now focused on goal ahead, body also feeling the closeness of the goal. Embracing of the feeling, then silence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Triumph, glory comes as the moment ends and the mind and body slowly returns back to normal. Now comes the return to the real world. What you have just experienced is a driver’s perception of an illegal street race. This is done to set a base as to why drivers even do it. Street racers live and thrive for those couple of seconds while racing. It is their way of escape from the world around them. It is their way to get away from their everyday jobs and to do something that they love the most. They are not like the regular people that do average things to get away and escape. ... ... them to find ways to race while a safe supervised place to race will bring in some of the racers but not all of the them. Racing on a track is not the same as racing on the street. The street racing experience is a one of a kind and always will be. Works Cited Amijo, Mark. Pros Want to Curb Illegal Street Racing. 6 Mar. 2004. 28 Mar. 2004 NHRA. Illegal Racing Stats. 2003. 28 Mar. 2004 Rendon, Paul-Mark. â€Å"THE THRILL THAT KILLS.† Maclean's 114.38 (Sept. 17, 2001): 36-39. Academic Search Premier. 28 Mar. 2004 Warner, Fara. Driving; Too Fast. Too Furious. Too Old?. 7 Nov. 2003. 28 Mar. 2004

Employment and Human Resource Management Essay

Define â€Å"beautyism† and its potential discriminatory effects on hiring in the workplace. â€Å"Beautyism† is giving a person preference or hiring someone due to their outward beauty. Some research has suggested that people who are outwardly beautiful get hired faster, get paid more, and receive better treatment in life in general, becoming more successful than others. While this may be true to an extent, I do believe that the opposite is also true, attractive people are over-looked due to their outward appearance and are taken less seriously even when qualified or more qualified than another candidate. This is not to mention that life brings challenges, hurts, and un-pleasantries, regardless of how a person looks. So we cannot be too quick to say that beautiful people have better lives. In this case though, the issue is beautyism as a â€Å"free-pass† in a sense, or a way into a job position without the proper qualifications (or in spite of the proper qualifications). There has been some evidence that people who hire for job openings do give preference at times to people who are obviously physically attractive. Researchers have noted that â€Å"beautiful people† tend to charm interviewers with their looks and create a positive tone and impression based solely off of how they look. Assess the Chair’s behavior from a human resource management perspective. I feel that if people try to regulate every detail of a hiring process, including the way people look, there will be even more discrimination. When an exceptionally beautiful or attractive candidate is interviewed, managers may feel pressure not to hire them just so there are no lies or tension in the workplace as to why that person was hired. In this case, though, it is not even evident that the Chair made an incorrect decision. Other department members should allow the Chair to do their job and trust that they have the proper qualifications to interview and choose quality  candidates. There are times when candidates are chosen without having all of the qualifications of another candidate. There are job openings available that specify that a certain degree is preferred but not required. The Chair was said to have â€Å"overlooked† a more qualified candidate, but that does not negate the fact that this interviewee may have also been qualified. A lot of times a degree or certain qualification sets are not the only thing being considered. A person who shows that they are able and willing to complete a job with a great attitude may win job offers faster than a very-highly qualified person who may be lacking in other areas. Recommend the action that the hiring committee should take to handle the hiring decision. The hiring committee should do their best to work as a team and keep down conflict within the workplace. The Chair made a hiring decision and that decision should be upheld. Employees may feel that the Chair is easily swayed and become more involved in the hiring process than they are even supposed to be. What happens when someone is interviewed that a worker just doesn’t like from their outward appearance? Going to the chair to try to get a hiring decision overturned should not be a route taken too often by employees. I feel that there is already enough â€Å"looks-discrimination† in the workplace. When a person enters a room to be interviewed they are being judged not only their answers but also how they look. Research shows that 74% of interviewers make hiring decisions within the first minutes of an interview. They judge looks by the person’s appearance, voice tone, handshake, and body-language. These are all surface characteristics†¦ There is enough judgment in interviews, applicants should not have to be subjected to on-looking, non-involved employees’ judgments as well. Discuss to what degree and why attractive candidates may be given unfair consideration during hiring processes.  This question makes me wonder, honestly, if people would feel better if attractive women or men were interviewed through a wall or only via telephone. People come in all sizes and shapes, with different features and looks. Attractive people cannot help how they look and are often not even  thinking about their looks when working or at an interview. Believe it or not, a lot of times attractive people would like a little less attention based off looks when it is time to be professional. More often than not, other people are more hooked on the candidates looks than the candidate themselves are. I feel this is an extremely issue and hopefully no advancements will be made to try to control this†¦ There is no way to tell what would begin happening in workplaces if employers try to control what they think others may be thinking about how a job applicant looks – this does not fit into professionalism. References Retrieved from: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/05/18/pretty-girls-get-all-the-jobs/. 16 May 2012. ERG Theory. Dictionary of human resource management (2001): 112. EBSCO MegaFILE. Retrieved viaWeb. 5 May 2011. Muller, M. (2009): The managers guide to HR: hiring, firing, & performance evaluations. New York, NY: AMACOM

Philosophy Do We Have Innate Ideas Essay - 1491 Words

Do we have innate ideas? Offer your view with reference to the work of Descartes and Locke I understand the concept of innate ideas alone means ideas that presents our mind at birth. Descartes and Locke both have their own views about innate ideas and their arguments are completely different to each other and the question remain to the human knowledge. Do innate ideas really exist? Descartes does not put experiences to his philosophy like the other philosophers, Bacon and Hobbes. He believes that we have some innate ideas that self, identity, substance and God are in us as we are born â€Å"most part on the truths contained in the mind†. He proposed an observations from the wax. Whatever he heats or cools the wax, it would still remain the same†¦show more content†¦Reflection is telling us the operation of mind such as includes perception, thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, willing. After reading the analysis of innate ideas of the two philosophers. I tend to agree with Locke’s argument that there is no such innate ideas. First, Descartes does not proving enough about how can we born with innate ideas? This major flaw eventually get to Locke’s tension and give us a strong evident of the young children should aware of truth if they have innate ideas in them. Second, I believe in Locke’s criticism about ideas only gain through our experiences and situations. Thus the more experience we have, the vivid picture about our external world we can perceived. It is sometimes said that Kants philosophy represents a sort of synthesis or reconciliation of empiricism and rationalism. How accurate do you think this way of characterizing Kant is? Be sure to display your knowledge of Kants philosophy. Kant credited both empiricism and rationalism movements. He believes that they both contributed to human’s knowledge and should not reject neither one of them. So, he keeps some parts of those principles and defines empiricism a posteriori knowledge and rationalism as a priori knowledge. His goal is to explain and then justify the possibility of scientific knowledge. Empiricism is a belief that humans being come to theShow MoreRelatedRene Descartes s Philosophy And The Science Of Philosophy1114 Words   |  5 PagesRene Descartes was a rationalist who is considered the father of modern philosophy, primarily because his ideas departed from current understanding in the early 17th century, which was more feeling based (Biography.com). He was born on March 31, 1956, in France and was a very educated man. His mother sent him to a boarding school which was considered college at an early age of 8. Additionally, by the age of 22 he had obtained his degree as a lawyer. 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