Motivating Cross-Cultural Employees in the Hospitality Industry

Motivating Employees Across Cultures

Daniela Andrade

145467

International Management

Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management

University of Aruba

Spring 2017

Dr. Jeffrey Campbell

Table of Content

Introduction                                                                         3

Importance of culture in international management                        4

Previous research findings                                                         6

Challenges and concerns                                                        8

Motivating Cross-cultural employees in Aruba                                9

Discussion                                                                         10

Summary                                                                         11

References                                                                        13

Introduction

Due to globalization, many companies are now operating in more than one country. This crossing of geographical boundaries by the companies gives the birth of multicultural organizations, where employees from more than one country are working together (Singh, 2012). The main reason for the expansion of companies is to create global competitiveness by reducing production costs and exploiting market opportunities offered by trade liberalization and economic integration (Singh, 2012). However, international managers should be aware of the challenges that they might face when managing a cross-cultural workforce. When an organization expands its operations geographically to more than one country, it becomes a multicultural organization. The biggest challenge to be faced by the organization will then be blending employees from different cultural backgrounds. According to Singh (2012), the traditional strategies used by management to manage culturally diverse workforces have been proved inadequate and may not be able to solve the problems of cultural diversity in the era of globalization. Cultural differences can act as a barrier to the successful completion of organizational goals. Therefore, managers should try to match the strategies they use with each country’s culture. Most importantly, when it comes to motivating employees to exceed their expectations.  Because cultural differences exist around the world, it is essential to understand the impact of culture on behavior in international management. As culture affects managerial attitudes and ideologies, it also affects how people think and behave (Luthans & Doh, 2012). Motivating employees is essential for any organization aspiring to succeed; however this is not an easy process due to the diversity of individual’s needs. Motivation and motivators differ across cultures. Thus, practices that might be highly motivating for employees in one country might not be effective in the other.