Cultural Diversity In The Workplace: A Case Study Of The Hospitality Sector

Purpose of assignment

The topic that had been selected for analysis in this paper is “Cultural Diversity within the Workplaces of the Corporations related to the Hospitality Sector”. The selection of this topic for the paper finds justification from the fact that the services offered by the hospitality sector are intended for a wider audience or target markets and thus it becomes important for the corporations related to the hospitality sector to take into account the cultural or the social traditions of their customers for the delivery of the required services. Thus, it becomes important for the corporations related to the hospitality sector to foster adequate amount of cultural diversity within their workplaces which in turn would enable them to offer the best quality hospitality services to their guests or the customers.

Presently, it had been seen that individuals from all walks of life are availing the services offered by the hospitality industry. However, the major problem arises since the corporations related to the hospitality sector actively disregard the aspect of cultural diversity which in turn had substantially reduced or for that matter declined the nature or the quality of the hospitality services which are being offered by them to their guests or the customers. This in turn had also adversely affected the profitability of the corporations related to the hospitality sector which in turn had it imperative for them to take into effective consideration the aspect of cultural diversity.

The inculcation of cultural diversity within the spectrum of the workplace of the different corporations related to the hospitality sector offers them various benefits. For instance, the staff or the workers have the opportunity to gain cultural competence or for that matter learn new skill sets from their colleagues which in turn would help them to effectively treat the different guests or the customers that they need to handle. This finds explanation from the fact that presently the corporations related to the hospitality sector get guests from all social or cultural backgrounds. More importantly, it is seen that the quality of the hospitality services offered by the corporations related to the hospitality substantially depends on the effectiveness with which these corporations and also their workers integrate the concept of cultural competency within the spectrum of the hospitality services that are being offered by them. However, despite the different benefits offered by the fostering of cultural diversity within the workplace, it had been seen that the diverse corporations related to the hospitality sector simply disregard the aspect of cultural diversity which in turn is presently adversely affecting their business or for that matter their growth prospects.

Overview of the Study

The researcher for the analysis of this topic had selected five peer-reviewed articles which are completely related to the topic under discussion here. These articles were selected by the researcher through the usage of the framework of CRAP analysis from Google Scholar. For instance, the researcher during the selection of these five articles took into account these Currency, Relevancy, Authority and the Purpose or the Point of View of the authors which they articulated in the articles. More importantly, the use of these articles had helped the researcher to effectively analyze the research topic that had been selected for analysis in this paper.

Annotation 1

Vassou, C., Zopiatis, A., & Theocharous, A. L. (2017). Intercultural workplace relationships in the hospitality industry: Beyond the tip of the iceberg. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 61, 14-25. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.11.001

Vassou, Zopiatis and Theocharous (2017) have tried to undertake an analysis of the impact of intercultural relationships on the job productivity of the workers within the framework of the hospitality sector. More importantly, the article also tries to undertake an analysis of the manner in which fostering cultural diversity within the workplaces of the corporations related to the hospitality can actually help them to improve the quality of the hospitality services which are being offered by the workers to the guests or the customers. Furthermore, the authors took the help of the quantitative data analysis method and thereby primary data was collected from the more than 300 workers related to the hospitality sector. Moreover, the Vassou, Zopiatis and Theocharous (2017) found that “prior attitudes towards the ethnically different “other” influence the development of intercultural workplace relationships”. The development of these intercultural relationships are important since they helped the workers related to the hospitality sector to acquire the skills from their colleagues which in turn helped them to effectively meets the hospitality needs of their guests. Vassou, Zopiatis and Theocharous (2017) conclude the article by stating that level of cultural diversity which exists within the workplace of a particular corporation related to the hospitality sector greatly influences the quality of hospitality services which are being offered by it and thereby its growth prospects as well. However, at the same time it needs to be said that the major limitation of this article is the fact that it relies primarily on primary data for the completion of the article and no qualitative data had been used which in turn had substantially narrowed down the scope of the article.

Annotated Bibliography

I would say that this article is of great importance to the topic which I have undertaken to analyze in this paper. For instance, the article is a recent one (published in 2017) and a highly reliable one since it was published in the reputed journal, “International Journal of Hospitality Management”. More importantly, it is seen that the authors have undertaken an objective discussion of the topic and also made the arguments presented by them more reliable through the adequate usage of primary data (collected from the workers related to the hospitality sector) and the secondary literature related to the concerned topic. Furthermore, it is seen that all the three authors who collaborated for writing this particular article hold PhD in field of hospitality management and thus it is likely that the arguments presented by them in the article under discussion here would be credible ones. Moreover, the information that the article regarding the correlation between the cultural diversity within the workplaces of the hospitality corporations and the quality of the hospitality services which are being offered to the guests is something which would be useful for the research that I intend to undertake. It is in the light of these aspects of the article that I have selected it as one of the key resources for the completion of this paper.

Yap, M. H., Ineson, E. M., Tang, C. M., & Fong, L. H. (2015). Chinese hospitality students’ perceptions of diversity management. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 27(2), 60-68. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10963758.2015.1033100

In this article, the authors Yap et al. (2015) have undertaken an analysis of the Chinese student’s perception of diversity management and its importance within the spectrum of the hospitality industry. Furthermore, the authors in this article have also tried to analyze the manner in which the perceptions of the students regarding the concept of diversity management and also the importance of the same within the hospitality sector can be positively enhanced and the implications of the same for the managers related to the national or the international hospitality corporations. Yap et al. (2015) took the help of quantitative data analysis method and therefore primary or firsthand information was collected from “361 Chinese university hospitality students” and the tools of descriptive analysis and advanced statistics was used for the analysis of the same. The findings of the article clearly reveal the fact that “although the Chinese students understood the essence of DM, their thorough knowledge of DM was disappointingly weak and their perceptions of DM were inconsistent”. In addition to this, the authors also found that not all the participants were willing to effectively use the framework of cultural diversity within the workplaces of the hospitality corporations. Thus, Yap et al. (2015) conclude the article by suggesting that the low perception of the students related to the concept of diversity management is one of the most important reasons for the disregard of the same within the hospitality sector which presently is adversely affecting the growth prospects of the concerned industry. The major limitation of the article can be attributed to the fact that primary data was collected only from the Chinese university and the students related to the other nationalities were completely ignored and this in turn had substantially limited the scope of the entire article itself.

This article is of importance for the topic that I have selected for analysis in this particular paper. For instance, the article clearly indicates the reasons for the low integration of cultural diversity within the workplaces of the different hospitality corporations and this information is something which will help me to effectively complete my research. Furthermore, it is seen that this article is a recent one, being published in the reputed journal “Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education”. More importantly, the authors Yap et al (2015) have objectively analyzed the research topic and also taken the help of primary data to back-up the different claims or for that matter the hypotheses used by them in the study. Moreover, it is seen that all the four authors who collaborated for the effective completion of this article hold PhD in the field of hospitality management and thus the arguments presented by them in the article under discussion here can be considered to be highly credible. It is on the score of these aspects that this article has been selected as an important resource for the analysis of the research topic under discussion here.

Hatipoglu, B., & Inelmen, K. (2018). Demographic diversity in the workplace and its impact on employee voice: The role of trust in the employer. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(5), 970-994. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1322120

The authors Hatipoglu and Inelmen (2018) in this article have tried to undertake an analysis of the “relationship between demographic diversity principles and evaluations of employee voice”. Furthermore, the authors Hatipoglu and Inelmen (2018) have begun with the presumption that the effective management of diversity within the spectrum of a workplace offers the required voice to the employees wherein they can not only come forward with the different issues that they are facing but also adequately utilize the concept of diversity for the enhancement of their performance and thereby the performance of the hospitality corporations itself. Hatipoglu and Inelmen (2018) took the help of the construct of quantitative data analysis method and thereby firsthand information was collected from “707 employees working at 37 hospitality institutions with different star categories”. Furthermore, along with the aspect of cultural or social diversity the entity of the educational qualifications of the workers was also being taken into account by the authors for the collection of the required information needed for the completion of this article. The authors after the evaluation of the primary data collected by them found that it is important for the hospitality corporations “to create an environment that fosters trust and that values workforce diversity”. More importantly, Hatipoglu and Inelmen (2018) also found that the inculcation of cultural diversity within the workplaces of the different hospitality corporations is an important strategy that the corporations can utilize for giving adequate voices to their workers. The authors conclude the article by suggesting that the adequate usage of the concept of cultural diversity as a way to not only enhance the performance of the workers but of the entire hospitality corporation itself. The most important limitation of this article can be attributed to the fact that the authors have relied only on the research strategy of survey and no interviews were being used to substantiate the primary data collected from the survey participants. This in turn had substantially narrowed the scope of the entire article and thereby its quality.

I would say that this is an important resource for this paper because of the insightful information that the concerned article regarding the importance of cultural diversity management within the workplaces of the hospitality corporations. For instance, the article clearly discusses the manner in which fostering cultural diversity within the workplaces can help offer the required confidence to the workers to place their opinions or perspectives before the management teams of the hospitality corporations. Furthermore, this article was published in the reputed journal “The International Journal of Human Resource Management” in the year 2018. In addition to this, it had been seen that the two authors have undertaken an objective discussion regarding the importance of fostering cultural diversity within the workplaces of the different hospitality corporations and also tested the validity of the claims or the hypotheses made by them through the adequate usage of primary data or information. More importantly, both the authors hold PhD in the field of hospitality management and thus the claims made by them in the article can be considered as reliable ones. It is in the light of these aspects that I have selected this particular article as an important resource for my paper.

Mooney, S., & Baum, T. (2019). A sustainable hospitality and tourism workforce research agenda: exploring the past to create a vision for the future. In A Research Agenda for Tourism and Development. Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788112406/9781788112406.00016.xml

The authors Mooney and Baum (2019) in this chapter of the book “A Research Agenda for Tourism and Development” have undertaken an analysis of the manner in which the hospitality and the tourism corporations can develop a sustainable workforce. More importantly, the authors Mooney and Baum (2019) begins this chapter with the presumption that the cultural diversity within the workplaces of the different hospitality corporations is an integration part of a sustainable workforce and also positively affects the productivity of the concerned corporations. The authors have stated that the effectiveness of a workforce greatly depends on the ease with which the hospitality corporations or the tourism corporations are being able to integrate the aspect of cultural diversity within the same. This in turn facilitate the effective transfer of different work skills among the workers of the hospitality and the tourism corporations which in turn helps the workers to effectively cater to the hospitality as well as the tourism needs of the different individuals who opt for the services offered by them. Lastly, Mooney and Baum (2019) conclude the article by offering recommendations that the corporations related to the hospitality sector have the opportunity or for that matter the option to enhance the cultural diversity within their workplaces and thereby enhance their productivity as well. However, at the same time it needs to be said that the primary limitation of this book chapter can be said to be fact that the authors have relied primarily on the secondary sources of information for the completion of the chapter and no primary information were being used by them.

This book chapter had been selected by me as an important resource for the paper because of the valuable information that it yields regarding the concept of cultural diversity and the adverse effects that the hospitality corporations have to suffer from because of the disregard of the same. Furthermore, the book chapter is a recent one (published in 2019) and that too by the reputed publication house “Edward Elgar Publishing”. In addition to these, it is seen that the authors have undertaken extensive research to validate the assumptions or for that matter the claims which are being made by them in the concerned book chapter. Moreover, it is seen that both of the authors hold PhD in the field of hospitality management and are presently associated with reputed educational institutions. It is on the score of these aspects that this particular book chapter had been selected as an important source for the annotated bibliography.

Carter, S. D. (2019). Increased workforce diversity by race, gender, and age and equal employment opportunity laws: Implications for human resource development. In Gender and Diversity: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications(pp. 380-405). IGI Global. Retrieved from https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/increased-workforce-diversity-by-race-gender-and-age-and-equal-employment-opportunity-laws/208986

The author Carter (2019) in this book chapter which was published in the book “Gender and Diversity: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications” have undertaken “a review of increased diversity management approaches undertaken by the hospitality corporations and its implications for the human resource management within the concerned corporations”. Furthermore, Carter (2019) has also tried to analyze the impact of the different diversity practices that are being followed within the spectrum of the different hospitality corporations on the workers. For instance, the author stated that the adequate usage of the concept of cultural diversity by the different hospitality corporations helped them to offer equal employment opportunities to all the individuals while promoting equality within the workplace itself. This in turn helped the hospitality corporations to create the kind of organizational or for that matter the workplace culture wherein the workers were being able to adequately complete their job roles and also learn new skill sets from their colleagues as well. Moreover, the author also found that the area of diversity management is a wider one and therefore it is important for the hospitality corporations to take into account the concepts from sociology and psychology for fostering the same within their workplaces. However, the major limitation of the book chapter under discussion here can be said to be the fact that the author for the completion of this book chapter had relied primarily on the secondary data and no primary or firsthand data were being used.

I have selected this particular book chapter as an important source for my annotated bibliography because of the insightful points that it makes regarding the concept of diversity management and its implications for the human resource practices followed by the hospitality corporations. Furthermore, the book chapter is a fairly recent one (published in 2019) and also published by the reputed publication house, that is, “IGI Global”. More importantly, Carter (2019) has objectively analyzed the topic of the chapter, that is, the implications of the diversity management practices used by the hospitality corporations for the human resource management practices used by them. Moreover, the author is presently a part of a reputed educational institutions and hold PhD in the field of hospitality management. It is in the light of these aspects that I have selected this particular book chapter as an important resource for this paper.

References

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