The Influence of Demographic Characteristics on Leadership Practices in the Hotel Industry - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: Demographic Influences to Leadership Practices The Influence of Demographic Characteristics on Leadership Practices in the Hotel Industry Introduction Background of the Research The rampant globalization of the international market has caused significant growth in the diversity of employee demographics. In order to keep up with the growing demands for quality and innovation, many organizations have formulated new management styles that promote interdependence among the workforce (Gould, 2008). With the aim of determining suitable management styles, various studies have been conducted on employee demographics and how it affects the performance of an organization (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2009). There are several management styles that have its advantages and limitations. Such management styles address specific points of interest within the workforce. However, better understanding has to be garnered in order to properly impose management programs that best suits the needs of a company and its subordinates. Moreover, it is necessary to understand how to eliminate or at least minimize the negative effects of social differences within the workforce through proper management techniques. The effects of social differences among the workforce have caused organizations to suffer in terms of performance. Discrimination has also emerged from such growing employee diversity (Appleby, 2007). It has become a necessity for organizations to respond to such issues through effective management programs (Sfodera, 2006). Research Aim This study aims to determine how employee demographics influence the management practices within a hotel. The findings of this research would provide greater understanding on which management styles are suitable for different demographic circumstances among the workforce. This could help organizations in coming up with management programs that would address social differences among its workforce while still putting in mind the aim of improving the overall performance of the organization (Gould, 2008). Moreover, the results of this study would be of great value to hotel management officers, enabling them to make better decisions in their management practices. Essentially, the management is the core to the successful performance of an organization (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2009). Research Objectives 1) To determine hotel employees’ perceptions of the leadership styles practiced within their organisation; 2) To ascertain whether demographic traits influence leadership style perceptions a) gender b) age c) nationality d) educational attainment; 3) To put forth recommendations for improving leadership practices within the hotel. Review of Related Literature Management Styles In the broad sense, management styles are the manner and techniques of handling subordinates and making decisions with them. There are various management styles that fit well in particular circumstances (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2009). Moreover, managers should impose different management styles in order to compensate for the weaknesses of every technique. Among the common management styles are Autocratic, Paternalistic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire, and Management by Walking Around (MBWA) Autocratic The Autocratic style is where a manager makes unilateral decisions without giving much consideration for the subordinates. This results to decisions and outcomes that reflect the personality and opinion of the manager. Such management style projects a confident, structured and well-managed business. However, the subordinates may end up becoming too dependent on the manager; thus, requiring more supervision (Hurley, 2010). Autocratic leaders could be further categorized into two types: the Directive Autocrat; and the Permissive Autocrat (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2009). The Directive Autocrat makes decisions unilaterally while giving much attention and close supervision of the subordinates. On the other hand, the Permissive Autocrat makes unilateral decisions while being more lenient on the subordinates, which enables them to be more independent in performing their tasks. Paternalistic Dictatorial is often linked to Paternalistic, which is true in several aspects. However, the Paternalistic style gives priority to the interests and opinions of the subordinates and the organization as a whole (Cole, 2003). Similar to Autocratic, communication in this management style is downward, although the management encourages the subordinates to provide feedback in order to sustain their morale. If the management aims for employee retention, Paternalistic is the most effective in lowering employee turnover since this management style emphasizes on delivering the social needs of the subordinates. However, the Paternalistic management style also results to over-dependence of the subordinates on the leader (Cole, 2003). Democratic The Democratic management style enables employees to participate in the decision-making process; thus, decisions and actions are agreed upon by the majority (Drucker, 1993). Communication in this management style occurs in both upward and downward directions (Sheldrake, 2003). The Democratic management style is advantageous when complex decisions have to be made at the extent of requiring special skills. Generally, this style yields positive job satisfactions, improved quality of work, and better overall performance of the organization. A downfall however is that the decision-making process is slowed down due to the fact that communication is more extensive and subordinates get to participate in the process, which all in all requires more time. There are also two types of Democratic leaders, namely the permissive and directive (Cole, 2003). Laissez-faire In the Laissez-faire management style, the role of the manager is peripheral and the subordinates get to manage their respective areas in the business (Shell, 2002). In this management style, the leader does not entirely carry out the duties of a manager. Communication in Laissez-fair management is horizontal, where it occurs in both upward and downward directions; although, communication does not occur extensively as compared to other management styles. This style is beneficial in bringing out the potentials of professional, creative, and skilled employees. However, certain cases may not yield preferable outcome from the employees, which is mainly due to poor management programs. Moreover, the subordinates may tend to lack focus and end up doing tasks with different aims rather than attaining the goals of the organizations. Furthermore, this management style may yield poor job satisfaction and negative company reputation. Management by Walking Around (MBWA) Good managers who are proactive listeners generally use the Management by Walking Around technique. Leaders who use this management style collect as plenty information as possible in order to find solutions to a problem and keep it from growing worse. It is essential for this management style to hear out the opinions and thoughts of employees as these would provide necessary information that would help evade issues. Data collected by managers are generally unfiltered, raw, and up-to-date information about the processes that are often undermined in formal channels of communication. By walking around the work environment and listening to the opinions of the workforce, the managers get an idea of the morale of the subordinates and determine potential problems. However, a problem with this management style is that the leader might predict the decisions of the employees. The manager is simply a counselor and not to the director of the scene. Thus, the decision-making responsibilities should be given to the employees, rather than the manager. Demographics The globalization of the market has caused organizations to enlist employees from various cultures, religions, and other demographics which have lead to a great increase in the diversity of employees. It has become an apparent necessity for organizations to come up with management styles that would address such social differences (Sfodera, 2006). Several organizations have responded to such diversity by carrying out studies that would yield better understanding on how to handle demographic diversity through suitable management styles (Crosby, Foster, Perrin, and Towers 1990). Among the social differences are variations in age, gender, religion, culture, nationality, educational attainment, and work experience. Moreover, such differences have also lead to discriminations among the workforce, which have caused the company performance to suffer (Appleby, 2007). Age Age has become one of the most significant demographic concerning the workplace. Differences in age could be directly linked to work experience and ethics. In general the older you are, the more work experience you have (Sargeant, 2006). This is the common explanation to why older employees hold higher positions. Moreover, older employees are seen to be more professional especially in work ethics. Age has certainly affected the attitudes of employees towards one another. Several organizations have come up with recruitment and management practices that minimize age discrimination. However, better understanding has to be garnered regarding this workplace issue and how it affects management practices. Gender Sexism is one of the oldest forms of workplace discrimination. Women are often given less opportunities for professional growth when certain studies have found that women have greater potential than men in certain circumstances (Cohn, 2000). Modern management practices have been restructured to enable equal opportunity for women in the workplace, although it is still unclear how to address such issue through management practices. Educational Attainment The level of education of an individual often reflects the amount of supervision one gets from the superiors (Appleby, 2007). Employees from lower posts are significantly dependent on the directions given by managers. Generally, managers conduct the actions and processes within the workplace. Nationality Citizenship is one of the greatest contributors to the growing diversity of demographics among the workforce. Globalization has caused individuals from around the world to travel overseas for better job opportunities. However, the growth in demographics diversity has caused so many differences that have caused misunderstandings among employees due to differences in tradition, culture, and work practices. One of the most basic ways to normalize such differences is through the standardization of language. English language lessons are often offered to foreigners in order to increase communication efficiency within the workplace. Other organizations have imposed training for new employees in order to familiarize them with the local processes. Moreover, such training and English proficiency programs help develop the employee as an individual while improving the overall performance of an organization. Conclusion This review of related literature shall serve as a concrete background for this study. This chapter focused on determining the various types of management styles. Moreover, the demographics and its effects on management practices were also discussed in this chapter. The growing diversity of a more globalized workforce has generated the necessity for organizations to come up with effective management strategies that would address the social differences of its workforce (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2009). Moreover, such management styles are aimed at improving the performance of the organization, while benefitting the workforce and its managers. Methodology Introduction The aim of this study is to determine how employee demographics affect the management practices within a hotel. This chapter will discuss and justify for the selected approach, design, and strategy of this research. The sampling procedures would also be elaborated in this chapter. In addition, the data gathering and data analysis procedures will also be explained along with the limitations of such methods. Moreover, this chapter aims to provide insights on the validity and reliability of this study and its results. Research Approach The qualitative research approach would be used for this research. This approach allows the researcher to collect data in great detail and depth. The qualitative research approach makes use of interviews as the main instruments for gathering data. The qualitative responses from the interviews are then analyzed thematically to carry out comprehensive analysis (Bryman, 2001). This approach strongly depends on the narratives of respondents, which serve as the primary data for the research. Analysis of the answers will permit the researcher to derive meaningful conclusions that would either validate or reject the hypothesis set prior to the research proper. Research Design The research design patterns out the procedures for data collection, measurement, and analysis (Gall, Borg, and Gall, 1996). This research utilized a descriptive research design in determining the how demographics affect management practices within a hotel. The descriptive nature of the study lies in the idea that there are no interventions introduced by the researcher to alter the variables of interest. The comparative nature of the study lies in the intent to compare the qualitative responses of various demographic groups on their perceptions of leadership practices within the hotel. With validity given much concern, the chosen research design inhibits the researcher from manipulating the data and other research variables. Furthermore, this research design aids in determining significant relationships among the phenomena of interest and pinpoint important relationships that may yield essential understanding (de Vaus, 2001). Research Strategy The qualitative research approach is a comprehensive method of gathering data. Moreover, this approach requires the researcher to carefully plan the procedures in qualitative data gathering before the actual study is carried out. The data gathering instrument for this approach is an interview. The selected instrument is most advantageous in gathering straightforward responses at great depth. Moreover, interview results are used to generate qualitative themes that enable comprehensive analysis of data; enabling the researcher to have a deeper and better understanding of subject at hand. For the current study, interviews would be conducted amongst managers and subordinates working in hotels in COUNTRY X. The interview responses would be analyzed thematically. In addition, observations shall be made with both managers and subordinates. These data shall also be analyzed through thematic analysis. Selection of Participants Purposive sampling procedures are used in enlisting the interview participants for this study. This sampling procedure is a non-probability method where respondents are chosen based on how they qualify for the set criteria for the appropriate respondents for this study. The criteria were: 1) must be a subordinate or a manager; and 2) must be working in a four to five-star hotel in COUNTRY X. All in all, the researcher targets to enlist at least 15 managers and 15 subordinates for the study. Data Gathering Procedures The first step in gathering data would be to collect secondary data from relevant literature that would serve as a concrete background for this study. Relevant literature may be gathered from academic and online sources. Academic sources include books and journal articles, which may be acquired from libraries and other academic collections. In searching for online sources, the keywords used were: “management styles”; “employee demographics”; and “effects of demographics on management practices”. The research had to carefully select search results in order to select only the relevant literature. In general, sources which ranked within the top 7 search results were relevant. In enlisting the respondents, purposive sampling procedures were carried out, where both managers and subordinates will be selected. Consent forms will be sent out to the prospective respondents in order to ensure that only willing respondents would participate for this research, which also enhances the validity of the outcomes. The interview responses and data from observations will be collated for thematic analysis. Summary This research will utilize the qualitative research approach in collecting primary data regarding how employee demographics influence the management practices within a hotel. The descriptive-comparative research design will also be utilized in order to determine significant relationships among the phenomena of interest. Purposive sampling procedures will be carried out in selecting the interview participants who will included both managers and subordinates from various four to five-star hotels in COUNTRY X. The interview responses and observations will be subjected to thematic analysis. The findings from such analysis may help the researcher arrive at necessary conclusions. References Appleby, G. S. (2007). Harassment and discrimination and other workplace landmines. Entrepreneur Press. Bryman, A. (2001). Social research methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press Cole, G. A. (2003). Management theory and practice. Thomson Learning Cohn, S. (2000). race and gender discrimination at work. Westview Press Crosby, Foster, Perrin, and Towers (1990). Workforce 2000: competing in a seller’s market: is corporate america prepared?A survey report on corporate responses to demographic and labor force trends. Towers Perrin. de Vaus, D. (2001). Research design in social research. London: Sage Publications. Drucker, P. F. (1993). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices. Harper Business Gall, M. D., Borg, W. R., and Gall, J. P. (1996). Educational research: An introduction. White Plains, NY: Longman. Gould, A. (2008). Social differences and management styles. VDM Verlag. Hurley, L. (2010). Benefits of autocratic management styles. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from, http://www.helium.com/items/1808249-benefits-of-autocratic-management-styles Sargeant, M. (2006). Age discrimination in employment. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Sfodera, F. (2006). The spread of yield management practices: the need for systematic approaches. Springer. Sheldrake, J. (2003). Management theory. Thomson. Shell, R. L. (2002). Management of professionals.CRC Press. Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. (2009). How to choose a leadership pattern. Harvard Business Review. Read More