Dusit Thani Background of Hotel Culture and Values - Essay Example

Introduction Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket belongs to Dusit Thani international Group, one of the biggest hotel brands in Asia with over 60 years of experience. Dusit Thani Group has more than 20 hotels in different countries as Thailand, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Maldives and will soon open 11 more hotels. Built in 1987, Dusit Thani “Town of Haven” Laguna Phuket has since promoted Thai traditions and culture for all guests who are welcomed by the company in its objective to create a ‘heaven on earth’ theme through a unique portfolio of deluxe hotels. http://www.dusit.com/en/about-us.html In the absence of well-educated employees in the customer service industry as this, however, it would be impossible to create and achieve the level of distinctiveness which most five star hotels hold in possession. Dusit Value, hence, is realized among Dusit Thani employees who are themselves driven to perform personalized service with emphasis on values aligned with the goal -- “We celebrate those with positive ambition who search ways to transform not just do the same.” http://www.davideberle.com/files/university/MarketingStrategyPolicy%20Dusit%20Paper.pdf Nowadays some people agree and some disagree that cultural diversity in the workplace contributes to overall growth and prosperity. The aim of this paper is to determine how workplace diversity issue is dealt with by conducting interview with one of the top level executives regarding cross-cultural communications in the company. We have gained an overview of how Dusit Thani has achieved excellence by establishing a culture of thoughtful values that equally provide a good environment for employees and remarkable service for customers or guests. After discussing about cross-cultural diversity in Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, we aim to give practical recommendations on how these challenges may be overcome. Dusit Thani Background of Hotel Culture and Values Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket is made of large workforce diversity, comprising people who are deployed from different countries namely – Thailand, India, China, Russia, Bulgaria, Australia, and England. To yield at better relationship and understanding among employees, Dusit Thani management has made it a point to organize teambuilding activities for the latter in various spots. As such, outings had been held recently at Peach Laguna Resort & SPA, Ao Nang, Krabi Province for 5 days. All programs are designed to improve communications skills and team dynamics as well as to provide a great opportunity for new staff to get to know their colleagues. First at all, ‘organization culture’ refers to a deal occurring between one organization, company, institution or group and another. It represents expectations, goals, and norms that are held in common by all members in a group. In a company, organization culture has a big influence on the behavior and attitudes of each employee. (Book p. 107) Dusit Thani organization culture is a type that embodies Thai culture carrying a Thai language by accent and convention like ‘Sanuk’ which is a Thai word for fun. Everything is expected to have Sanuk even in a workplace where even serious people can hope to find joy while working. The concept of saving face is very strong in Dusit Thani, and that includes adherence to Thai traditional clothing, Thai music, and Thai food altogether. http://www.horizonmuaythai.com/Thailand/culture.html Following Dusit Thani Culture and Values The Dusit Thani Value “We celebrate those with positive ambition who search ways to transform not just do the same” http://www.davideberle.com/files/university/MarketingStrategyPolicy%20Dusit%20Paper.pdf Sincerity in Thai interactions - when the company shares employee’s knowledge about Thai culture, Thai food, and Thai traditions; Essence of hard work - demonstrated to educate staff about good tips for working. Achievements - when the company shares with staff details pertaining to the accomplishments of the hotel and company through corporate newspaper and monthly surveys on customer satisfaction which normally encourage workers to strive harder in endeavoring to meet personal and organizational growth alike; Today’s thought - formed to inspire employees prior to start of work by briefing them of a short thought or activities and future plans by the top-level executives who confer with them on a monthly basis; No Discriminations - implemented across-the-board to ensure fair treatment of all employees regardless of educational background, position, gender, age, and race. (One instance is on celebrating birthday by any member of a staff, anyone from a range of housekeepers, managers, and other executives may attend and join the event on the same ground, expressing no particular biases and fostering an atmosphere of warmth and kindness meant for all). The Interview 1. Are there many people working in Dusit Thani Hotel? If so, do they come from different countries and cultures? There are about 300 hundred people who currently work for Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket. Of course, most of them come from Thailand while the rest are from other countries like German, UK, Russia, and Australia. 2. What cultures do the people belong to? Most of the local employees exhibit being in a strong Thai culture since majority of them are Thais themselves. In our hotel, we immediately educate foreign staff about Thai traditions and culture, supposing they are deeply engaged with their own cultures and set of beliefs that appear strange or far from Thai living. This is one of the chief reasons we meet every morning when we bring across any issue concerning cross-cultural diversity and language barrier as we see fit. Nevertheless, it is mostly intended for new employees who need to take time in adapting to the hotel’s Thai values and culture. 3. Do any cultural differences among employees affect hotel work and services? For this, as much as possible our strong policy guarantees that whatever business and course of actions Dusit Thani decides upon shall bear favorable impact within work relations and services that ought to reflect its fulfillment in satisfied customers and guests. Additionally, it is the company’s desire to equip all our employees fairly with special trainings in order to educate them with alternative ways of handling unlikely or understandably difficult circumstances with clients that may take place at anytime. 4. Have you ever encountered communication issues because of cross-cultural diversity among employees? Yes, this kind of situation is not new to us. For Thai people, Sunak attitude is typically present in most activities because it has become an essential habit for them to enjoy work. To Western people, on the other hand, it is rather significant to stay with sole dynamics, challenges, and improvement mechanisms that are more ethically than sensibly results-oriented in obtaining excellent feedback for the services provided daily. Moreover, for such ground, western employees think that Thai people are sometimes slow in making response or decision toward certain situations due to Sunak motivation that actually enables Thai workers to go over things smoothly and accurately instead. “Save a face” is another practice that quite distinguishes a Thai from a western culture since the concept of saving a face means a lot of worth for Thai people who would always prefer to value a refined image and gesture. Thus, a Thai person who is spoken at harshly or in a straightforward manner regarding poor trait or performance is likely to feel readily disappointed. Unfortunately, once one loses face in such setting, the individual’s perception of and efficiency at work is negatively affected. 5. If yes, how did you / the management solve the issues? As a manager I can see through it all and I attempt to go an extra mile of weighing and selecting options that would work for both Thai and non-Thai parties, inculcating in everyone that flexibility in potentials and demeanor can be tolerated for as long as quality service that promotes uniqueness of Thai heritage in Dusit Thani is sought after with heart. Despite cultural differences, I want the entire working staff to understand this and envision the beautiful possibility of creating heaven-on-earth experience out of each hotel and resort setup for our valued customers. Because most of our stay-in guests come from varying places around the world, we acknowledge the truth that it may be impossible to grant some of them high-level of service and this is where we necessitate the professional insights of our foreigner employees. This way, I can manage to place a balance of sustaining interests such that every worker feels taken care of and that all perspectives count and contribute to the success of overcoming cross-cultural communication issues. Consequently, this allows us to settle back to the principal aim of servicing our clients through meeting their expectations in pursuit of a delightful holiday encounter via high-class approach and professionalism at Dusit Thani. Recommendations Apparently, it is of huge importance for managers to figure out the measure of cross-cultural diversity in a working environment and educate employees thereof by moderating classes on GLOB Cultural Dimensions and Hofstede’s Values Dimensions to help people understand each other’s cultures at-depth. Understanding a particular culture requires recognition of subsystems in a society where people’s distinct patterns of individual growth are based on influences derived from their economy, politics, social attitude toward recreation or leisure, and even the nature of geographic region. Among these factors, geographical regions are found to have a great bearing on people’s moral and on-the-job behavior. (Book. p.109) All cultures possess both positive and negative sides in terms of attitudes and behaviors shown in general. It is often good to know of countries that maintain ‘Strong Assertiveness’ especially with people who are naturally prepared to deal with toughness during competitive or confronting acts as opposed to those who keep modesty and tenderness. “Can do”-Future Orientation is facilitated under a culture with attention for future for planning and investment whereas Performance Orientation is indispensable for people who seek improvement and excellence within a society. Human-Orientated attribute, likewise, is one whereby a society encourages and rewards people for being kind, fair, altruistic, generous, and caring. This also comes with adequate focus on sympathy and support for the weak. A nation that considers Human-Orientated aspect at the least priority is more concerned about power, material wealth, as well as self-enhancement. (Book) After generating results with each cultural group of employees, it would be advisable to analyze cultural similarities and differences and for managers, it could be specifically helpful to acquire points and details from cross-cultural communication activities. Also, managers need to evaluate hotel staff with framework according to basic values that align with organizational behavior. Well-created framework was developed by Hofstede, based on his research study of 116,000 people in 50 countries under four-value dimension: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, and Masculinity. (Book) Read More