Business And Management: National Organisational Cultures

Describe about the Business and Management for National Organisational Cultures.

 

Being exposed to cultural exchanges among staff and clients offers increased chances to develop a vital hospitality industry, especially in the light of business globalization (Ogbonna & Harris, 2000). I have certain values which have not only assisted me to grow in my organization, but have also influenced my life and career goals. This journal is an account of such values and how national and organizational cultures have affected my leadership perspectives. It is an account of the different implications for leading in different cultures, where significant gaps between my current capabilities or sphere of influence and leadership aspirations have been elaborated. Key theoretical frameworks have been discussed with respect to informing and guiding my development plan.

Personal and Professional Development Plan (PPDP) for continued Leadership Development

I intend to fulfill my objectives within a period of two years. My main objectives include learning how to control my anger and embracing all types of temperaments. Being in the hospitality industry means I am required to respect, understand and cater to the needs of all my customers. I am also expected to do the same with my subordinates. I aim at keeping up to date with hospitality practices where I will enroll in part-time management skills course. While working at the restaurant, I will try and find out what others in my position have done in order to succeed in their career goals. 

As I had already stated earlier in my leadership assignment, I work in the hospitality industry where one is expected to have a caring and understanding nature to service their customers. These customers are from different walks of life and thus need different ways of managing them and catering to their various needs. I also mentioned that I work as the supervisor in a restaurant where I am in charge of a number of activities such as managing all restaurant staff, assisting guests, and offering requirements for all meals (Worsfold, n.d.). Working in the hospitality industry means one has to have values as a leader.  I have discussed my values and their influence on my life and career goals below.

Goals	Values behind the goals	Influence of values on life and career goals
To be patient with my clients and address their needs	I should understand that different customers have different needs, given the diversity of my work’s nature	The principle of ‘the customer is always right’ should be applicable in this case
To have respect for myself and those around me	I should treat people with dignity and compassion, regardless of their backgrounds, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation	If I learn to give respect to others, then I will be respected in the end
To be able to fulfill expectations of my subordinates and customers	I should be reliable and honest in everything I do around the restaurant in order to develop integrity	Having integrity will enable me to not only demonstrate ethical firmness, but also be trustworthy

I believe values to be the guiding principles in my life and being a leader takes place in the context of core values. It is not easy working as a supervisor in a big restaurant and that is why I have learned that I need to treat people with compassion and dignity, something which will result in making a positive impact on my colleagues and customers. Having these and other values has greatly influenced my life and career goals, providing me with a clear perspective and direction as to where I want to be in future. I believe that this is also the reason why I have achieved great success in such a short period of time.

Phase 2: Action Plan

For this part of the report, I have discussed the milestones and estimated completion period of the goals highlighted above, in order to give a clear picture of the plan. 

Goal	Milestones	Estimated completion period
To be patient with my clients and address their needs	Taking time to learn what each individual customer prefers or wants Learning the different temperaments for clients visiting the restaurant	6 months       6 months
To have respect for myself and those around me	Being conscious of how I carry myself around customers and my subordinates Learning to accept criticisms and complements from the customers and subordinates	5 months       3 months
To be able to fulfill expectations of my subordinates and customers	Being honest in everything I do Demonstrating reliability and ethical behavior particularly with decisions made	1 month   6 months
To enroll in part-time courses	Learning how to address diverse issues and conflict management	12 months

The influence of national and organizational cultures on my leadership perspectives, and the implications for leading in different cultures (cultural diversity and implications for effective leadership)

Working as a supervisor in a big restaurant means that I have to consider every individual’s needs and preferences. I also have to encourage the establishment of a conducive working environment where all staff and customers can feel comfortable and unthreatened. In my line of work, cultural diversity tends to have a few implications for effective leadership. That is why it is important that I understand employees’ culture in the restaurant since their national culture can have an influence on their perception of work setting and its elements. Unless as a leader I am able to carry out my subordinates’ expectations of what leadership conduct ought to be within a given cultural context, then I will not be effective. As a leader, I am expected to foster a work environment that encourages commitment from the staff and customers alike.

Notably, one’s level of commitment to the business might be distinct given their different attitudes, beliefs, and personal values that are represented in different national and organizational cultures. Furthermore, I should ensure that the menu is inclusive of different cuisines for the diverse clientele that promotes the restaurant. By so doing, I will not only be acting as an effective leader, but will also be acting as a role model to my subordinates and future leaders. In today’s globalized work setting, having a multicultural team is considered to be the norm. Whether a leader is Western or Eastern will determine how they interact with others. If, for instance, I was a shy supervisor or leader, that might be considered rude in some cultures. Being aggressive, on the other hand, might seem a bit overwhelming to others (Bono & Judge, 2004). I would assume that my previous example where a customer found me unapproachable was because in her culture, I seemed too threatening and aggressive in appearance and conduct. I have learned that leading in different cultures is all about embracing differences and the right levers at the right times to get the best out of both the staff and customers. I have also learned that a single leadership style is not applicable in the hospitality industry given its diverse nature. I therefore must choose the most applicable leadership styles to use as a leader and supervisor in my line of work.

In the recent past, a number of studies have been carried out to investigate how leaders become effective. Moreover, various theories have also been developed to identify the factors influencing the effectiveness of leaders. For my case, there are one or two theories of effective leadership that inform and guide my development plan, and these are Path-Goal Model theory, Transformational Theory, and Contingency Theories.

The Path-Goal Model dictates that a leader can affect the performance and motivation of a team by removing performance obstacles, clarifying paths towards performance goals, and offering rewards for the attainment of these goals (Bernard & Bass, 2008). This particular model is applicable in my chosen career path because as a supervisor of a large restaurant, I deal with different individuals from all walks of life. I also manage a diverse workforce and such motivation is necessary for the achievement and success of the business. The path-goal model assumes that leaders can be flexible to adopt any leadership style according to situations. 

The Trait theory establishes that an effective leader is either born or is made with certain qualities that make him/her excel in leadership roles (Christopher & Houghton, 2006). Being able to understand another person’s emotions and trying to bring out the best in them are perhaps some of my major strengths as an effective leader and a loyal team-worker. As a leader who has a sense of responsibility, creativity, and other values, I am able to inspire my subordinates with their personality and vision to change perceptions, and expectations for working towards common goals. I strive to inspire the staff to achieve extraordinary results while developing their own leadership capacity.

A third leadership theory that informs and guides my development plan is the Participative theory. This theory assumes that involvement in decision-making tends to improve the understanding of issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions (Zaleznik, 2002). This means that people are more committed to actions where they have involved in the relevant decision-making. As a leader in a big restaurant, I am faced with numerous challenges on a regular basis. Some of these challenges include miscommunication and misunderstanding of what is expected of the subordinates. It may also be a misunderstanding between the staff and customers, particularly those who are not fluent in the English language. Such situations often call for certain leadership styles and conflict management which would favor all parties involved. This theory has enabled me to establish good and meaningful relationships with both my subordinates and customers in my restaurant. It has also allowed me to involve them in some of the decisions regarding the management of the organization.

Strengths Ø  Implementing a participative leadership style at the restaurant Ø  Being an encouraging and motivating leader Ø  Ability to manage a diverse workforce and maintain a conducive work environment	Weaknesses Ø  Lack of patience with my customers and subordinates Ø  Easily angered Ø  Appear to be unapproachable and threatening
Opportunities Ø  A chance to undertake courses on how to manage and address diverse issues Ø  A chance to establish long-lasting and meaningful relationships with my subordinates and customers	Threats Ø  The possibility of being overwhelmed by demands of both customers and subordinates Ø  The possibility of being offered the wrong advice from others in similar situations

Nothing comes easy in as far as one’s career goals are concerned. The same can be said of me. In the course of my profession, I have observed that there are a few critical gaps between my current abilities or circle of influence, and my leadership aspirations. Being a supervisor in a restaurant means I surround myself with others who are like-minded. I have had a chance to investigate and talk to other supervisors of other big restaurants, and discovered what they do in terms of their leadership styles and management. Such individuals have been my sphere of influence. However, not all have been helpful. For instance, there is one supervisor who had negative things to say about being a leader in large organizations. He greatly emphasized on the lack of personal time, fatigue, stress, and lack of inner peace. The hospitality industry and particularly the restaurant business is a rather demanding one, and this individual cited that it is easy for a leader to give up. These negative comments made me feel insecure with respect to my leadership aspirations. However, following my partner’s feedback, I am learning to make use of my emotional intelligence instead of allowing negativity to gain an upper hand.

Another gap that I have observed is that even though I am good at my job, I appear unapproachable. Recently, a customer at the restaurant was having trouble translating our menu, and I was the only available supervisor nearby. However, I noticed that instead of approaching me and asking me to translate for her, this customer opted to ask a number of waitresses before being assisted. I remembered that my partner suggested that I need to mellow down my personality and be more approachable. I guessed that the customer saw my demeanor as threatening and unfriendly. I am still working on that. If I do not work on what my partner was suggesting, I may not achieve my leadership aspirations and see myself running my own restaurant business someday.

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