Effect of Culture on Expatriates Work Performance - Research Paper Example

Effect of Culture on Expatriates’ Work Performance Introduction Beyond any doubt, there has been a tremendous rise in international trade, globalization of economies and global trade being the order of the day. With the rise in global trade in practically every sector, there is rising need to learn how to carry out international business. It is important to learn about the various cultures that are represented in the workplace and in the business environment before engaging in business in foreign countries as suggested by Cardy (2007). This is the case considering that it helps in reducing the risk of failure. Understanding other people’s and countries’ communication styles, social events, dress codes, greetings, and negotiation tactics are very important in fostering positive relationships with persons from foreign countries and cultures. In the hospitality industry like in any other economic sector, individuals and organizations are bound to encounter people from foreign environments. Foreigners come in the form of customers, suppliers and expatriates. Expatriates in the course of their work re expected to maintain high performance standards for the good of the companies for which they work and to warrant the high pay they receive. They are in effect expected to be role models and provide direction to local workers. As they work in foreign environments, expatriates encounter a number of challenges. One of the main challenges that they experience is dealing with people from various cultural backgrounds. In as much as they enjoy working in such environments, there is a possibility that the changes that they encounter and the unfamiliar environment may impact on their performance at work. Statement of the Problem In spite of the existence of literature related to the effects of cultural differences in the area of multicultural environments and work performance, very little study has been conducted with respect to the hotel industry. This is study is focused on finding out the effects of culture and cultural differences on expatriates’ work performance in the hospitality industry. Significance of the Study The results of this study will be very valuable to expatriates in their endeavor to succeed in the foreign environments in which they work. Based on the results of this study, management of hospitality industries and especially the human resource manager can come up with better ways ensuring that the expatriate fits in well in the company within the shortest duration and achieve high output as is always the desire of every business. Objectives Main Objective 1. To establish the effect of culture on expatriates’ work performance in the hospitality industry Specific objectives 1. To establish to the existence of expatriates in xxx city hotels and restaurants 2. To determine the challenges posed to expatriates at work as a result of cultural factors 3. To establish the performance of hotels and restaurants that are managed by expatriates 4. To establish the correlation between expatriate work performance and cultural differences with locals. Literature Review Expatriates and Work Performance An expatriate is an individual who resides in a foreign country and culture. However, in business terms, an expatriate is a professional sent by an organization to work in a foreign country as opposed to staff who is locally employed. In many cases, expatriates are sent to work for subsidiaries of an organization or to work at it headquarters. Expatriates help businesses with a global presence to manage global structures and liaise with external partners and provide quality services to customers (Beaverstock, Derudder, Faulconbridge and Witlox (2009). According to Lee (2008), taking a foreign duty affects an individual’s professional and personal life. Such assignments subject expatriates to factors that prove stress such as ambiguity and uncertainty. Three main factors determine the success of expatriates in their work. These factors are communication ability, relation ability and stress tolerance (Lee, 2008). The Hospitality Industry The hospitality industry is made up of a wide range of fields offering accommodation services and food. Some of the main players in the industry include restaurants, transportation, cruise lines, lodgings, event planning, and theme parks. Some of the main sectors in the hospitality industry include meting and events, recreation, accommodation, visitor information, and beverage and food. In the United States of America, the hospitality industry is well established with several hotels featuring in practically every city. According to Hotel News Resource (2011), the industry has a nationwide annual growth rate of about 3.5 percent on average. Some of the major hotels in every state are managed by experts from other countries. This is normally the case especially where specific hotels are preferred by people of other cultures. Culture and the Multicultural Environment Culture can be defined in various ways. This is especially the case considering that Clyde Kluckhohn and Alfred Kroeber postulated a total of 164 definitions of the same word (Kroeber, and Kluckhohn, 1952). For the purposes of this study, culture will be defined as the integrated pattern of human behavior, knowledge, and belief that is pegged on the capacity for social learning and symbolic thought (Kroeber, and Kluckhohn, 1952). Culture also encompasses the shared practices, goals, attitudes and values that are characteristic of a group, organization or institution. Expatriates increasingly must contend with working in multicultural environments. When an expatriate is called upon to work in the USA in the hospitality industry, for example, he/she will probably have to work with Germans, Frenchmen, Chinese, Japanese and individuals from various other nations. In this case, it is important for the expatriate to understand that people who come from different cultures look at things differently, express themselves differently and dress differently. These differences can cause grave problems especially when interpreting what another person is doing. Indeed according to Geert Hofstede, people from different nationalities have different perceptions in regard to culture (Hofstede, 2001). Hostede notes that the different dimensions of culture include large versus small power distance, masculinity versus femininity, collectivism versus individualism, and strong versus weak uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 2005). For example, in Asian countries, it is uncommon for subordinate staff to offer advice to manager. Managers in this case are expected to maintain a distance with their subordinates as they are supposed to embody dignity. This however is not the case with Western countries where managers and subordinates may queue as they wait to be served in a canteen, the latter offering advice on issues of common interest. Harris Bond further noted that another cultural dimension is long versus short term orientation and indulgence versus restraint. Effects of Culture in the Workplace The issue of culture has a major impact on the success of an international business and its management (Velkley, 2002). Indeed the success of the global business a lot depends on the cooperation between employees, management, customers, and business partners as they understand one another both personally and professionally (Collings, Morley, and Scullion, 2007). It is in realization of this fact that some organization subject expatriates or workers from foreign countries to cultural training. The hospitality industry is one of those that have greatly been affected by cultural differences. Employees of a hotel for example often prefer to have the business managed by persons from specific nations and not others. As has been noted by many a human resource expert, culture plays a significant role in determining the structure of an organization. The structures of an organization as a result impact its performance in the market (Collings, Morley, and Scullion, 2007). Cultural differences may have both negative and positive impacts in an organization. The presence of foreigners in the company may foster improved performance when locals get to learn new skills from the latter. The presence of expatriates may also help in managing tensions as their views and opinions tend to be more respected by locals. On the other hand, locals may discriminate against expatriates causing them to suffer stress in the course of work. Methods and Methodology Statistically, data can be qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative data is information that can be presented in numbers. Qualitative data according to Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2009) is any type of data that is not numeric in nature. Some of the main sources of qualitative data include in-depth interviews, direct observation and secondary sources such as books, websites, newspapers, annual reports and memos, just to mention a few (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2009). This study will be conducted using primary and secondary data considering the usefulness of both kinds of data as noted by (Brace 2008). Secondary data will be obtained from books, journals and reputable journals mainly. Hotel records will also be used to find specific information related to the research. Primary data will be obtained by conducting a survey which will involve issuing questionnaires to respondents in various hotels and restaurants. The primary research will be conducted in the city of xxx, restaurants and hotels with expatriate staff forming the sample. A sample of 25 organizations will be used for the study, questionnaires being issued to expatriate staff. A random sample of hotels will be taken from the city from a list of all organization in the city that offer hospitality services with expatriate staff. From each organization, one expatriate will be issued with the questionnaire. The questionnaire will have multiple choice questions as well as open ended questions so as to enable the retrieval of as much useful information as possible. The respondents will be expected to take about 15 minutes each when filling the questionnaire which will be translated to other languages to meet the needs of those respondents who do not understand the English language. The questionnaire will focus on meeting the second, third and fourth objectives of this study. SPSS and MS Excel software will be used for coding and analyzing the data retrieved from the field. The analysis will involve determining descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and regression analyses. Ethical Issues Since the survey will be conducted within the premises of the various organizations, there is a possibility of breaching certain privacy rights of the organizations without intending to do so. In order to overcome such a problem, the researchers will make all the necessary arrangements to inform and seek the permission of the management of the organizations and respondents of the survey. In order to avoid breaching privacy rights of respondents, they will be briefed about every aspect of the survey and informed of their rights to withdraw from the survey without providing reason for taking such an action. They shall also be informed in advance that participation is voluntary and does not warrant any compensation from the researchers. Since no children, juveniles or persons with limited mental capacity will take part in the study, there will be no need to seek permissions from respondents’ parents or guardians. During the study, no personal information will be collected. The respondents will be asked to avoid writing their names on the questionnaires or any identification details to protect their identities. There is very limited chance that respondents will be subjected to physical harm or injury as a result of taking part in the study. Scope and Limitation Considering that the hospitality industry is global, it is very difficult to undertake this kind of research on a global scale. In this respect, this study will be focused on xxxx (state, USA, and specifically in xxx city. Work Schedule Time is an important resource that must never be put to waste. In the course of undertaking a research, it is very important to organize how time will be spent. The following section outlines the various activities that will be conducted in uthe study and the time that is allocated to each one of them. S/No Activity Time in Weeks W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 1 Preliminary preparations 2 Gathering of Secondary data 3 Questionnaire design 4 Pre-study and Revision of Questionnaire 5 Gathering primary data 6 Data analysis 7 Report writing and editing 8 Final Editing 9 Report submission and presentation Expected Results The study is expected to reveal the effects that working in foreign environments have on the performance of expatriates. The correlation between cultural difference between locals and expatriates will be established in line with the fourth objective. Although the study will be conducted with focus on the hospitality industry, it is expected that the results will be applicable in other sectors as well. Conclusion This study is expected to reveal the existence of expatriates in xxx city hotels and restaurants. The study will further reveal how much cultural differences affect expatriates in the hotel industry. The results of this study may be helpful for organizations that try to mitigate the effects of cultural changes faced by expatriates. References Brace, I. (2008) Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research, Kogan Page Publishers. Beaverstock, J. Derudder, B., Faulconbridge J. and Witlox F. (2009) ‘International business travel: some explorations’, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 91 (3): 193–202. Cardy, R. (2007). Managing Human Resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Collings, D., Morley, M., and Scullion, H. (2007) “Changing Patterns of Global Staffing in the Multinational Enterprise: Challenges to the Conventional Expatriate Assignment and Emerging Alternatives”, Journal of World Business, 42:2, pp. 198-213. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Hofstede, G. (2005). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind (Revised and expanded 2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Kroeber, A. and Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Peabody Museum. Lee L. (2008) “The Mediating Effects of expatriate adjustment and Operational Capability on the Success of Expatriation”. Social Behavior and Personality, 36(9), 1191-1204. Saunders, M. Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students, (5th ed.). London, England: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall. Velkley, R. (2002), "The Tension in the Beautiful: On Culture and Civilization in Rousseau and German Philosophy", Being after Rousseau: Philosophy and Culture in Question, The University of Chicago Press, pp. 11–30. Read More