Negative Work Culture at The Imperial Hotel, London

This case study explores the negative work culture at The Imperial Hotel, London, including high staff turnover and poor guest satisfaction. It discusses the impact of work culture on organizational performance and suggests management theories to improve the work environment.

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Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 1
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.................................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 2
Introduction
Management is the process of identifying, designing and managing individuals, environment
and the organization, so they can achieve goals effectively and efficiently (Weihrich, 2008).
Management is essential for every organization, without management organization can’t
exist. In other words, management refers to the setting the strategies or implementing
planning and managing all things for achieving the organizations goals (Boddy, 2011). There
are five functions of management such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing and
controlling (Boddy, 2005). There are various internal and external factors which affect
effective management of the organizations such as economy, staff, competition, government
policies, rules and regulations, customers and company or organization culture (Sherman,
2018). Culture is the personality of every organization. Work culture is a combination of
qualities of the company and the employees of the company. It includes value, traditions,
interaction, belief, behaviour and attitude (ERC, 2019). Positive work culture helps in
increasing productivity, employee satisfaction, effective team management, increase number
of customers and improving performance of the organizations. From negative work culture,
there are increasing employee turnover, reducing staff morale, low customer satisfaction and
reducing efficiency and productivity of organization. In following case, there are various
problems in Imperial Hotel, London, which is identified by the new general manager, Peter
Farnsworth. Out of these problems, there is one problem which is related to the organization
working culture. Negative work culture impacts the Imperial hotel in increasing their staff
turnover because of high level of sick leave and poor attendance of employees.

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 3
Analysis
Working culture in organizations is essential for improving performance of any organization.
Positive working environment is necessary for every organization for achieving their
objectives. There is a pressure for General Manager and Heads of other department to
increase sales and productivity month- by- month by increasing occupancy of hotel and
increasing rooms in hotel. Manager’s and staff bonus or incentive schemes directly affect the
financial performance, increasing sales and reducing cost of the hotel. Level of guest
satisfaction is also affect the performance of the hotel and it is identify through Guest
Satisfaction Survey (GSS). Imperial hotel’s performance is worse than other Star hotels
because guest perception of London hotels is that expenses are over and poor value in return
of money. Work culture in the hotel was not good under the previous General Manager.
There is long working hours for those staff covering for staff, who may take sick leave at a
very short notice. Mostly part- time employees are female, so they have family issues and in
many cases, they are comfortable in other part time job which is fit according to them, so this
is resulted in arriving late than their working hours. So, there are high turnover of part time
employees. In some occasions, when staff ask their colleagues to cover their working hours
for short period without informing their supervisors then it also resulted in increasing
working hours and negative working culture. The level of supervision is low because high
turnover of supervisors and there are lower level of staff in terms of how to improve
performance and lack of feedback in terms of how to meet guest needs and their
requirements. Work culture is also impact the level of guest satisfaction of every
organization. According to an analysis of six million guests, London hotels have been ranked
worse for guest satisfaction as compare to other hotels in UK and Europe and ranked last out

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 4
of 10 largest cities in the UK, its average rating is 7.12 out of 10 (Witts, 2015). Guest
satisfaction of Imperial hotel is running at a rate of 60%. It is identified by a monthly Guest
Satisfaction Survey, some other survey by feedback form and guest card. If there is positive
work culture, then it will help in increasing the level of guest satisfaction. Negative work
culture resulted high staff turnover, reduce performance of the staff, poor team management,
reducing efficiency, conflicts between different department, increasing cost and poor
controlling and operative procedure . There is 80% of staff leaving within one year. Hotel’s
operational cost is increased because of high rate of turnover and it uses 35% of the total
revenue. An interview with workers who leave the job, they said that their reason for leaving
is unhealthy or negative work culture. Working in Imperial Hotel is a stressful, unsatisfied
and unethical. One of the employees tells that hotel management give them extra work and
hours but does not pay extra money in return. One of the front-of-house worker tells that this
type of negative work culture affect the mental health of people (Childs, 2016). Hotel’s
operational cost is increased because of high rate of turnover and it uses 35% of the total
revenue. High turnover rates cause of decreasing employee morale, so it automatically affect
the performance. High level of turnover rate also resulted management frustration because
their most of time spends in selecting and training to new employees (Banfield, 2011).
Management theories to fix the problem of negative work culture: - Management theories
refer as management strategies, which help in implementing the organization in modern way
and achieving their goals [Kwok, 2015]. The main objective of the theory of work culture is
that an organization will achieve their objectives by healthy organization culture. There
should be healthy work culture in the organization. There are some theories which help in
resolving the problem of negative work culture. These are:
1. Administrative Management Theory: - Administrative management theory which is
developed by Henry Fayol should apply by the General Manager Peter Farnsworth for

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 5
positive work culture at the Imperial Hotel in London. This theory is based on how
manager manage organization effectively and efficiently. Administrative management
theory is a rational way to manage or design a organization as a whole (Grimsley,
2018). Today the business community consider H. Fayol’s management theory as a
guide for increase productivity of the employees and organizations (Krenn, 2017).
There are 14 principles by henry Fayol. Out of these, Peter Farnsworth should follow
the following principles:
 Division of work – According to this principle, overall work of organization
should be divided into different jobs and employees. If work is divided
properly then no conflicts will arises between employees and manager. So, it
helps in maintaining positive working environment in the organization.
 Discipline – This is he another principle which should be used by the General
Manager. According to this principle, every employee should be respectful
and obedient to the managing authority and follow all rules and regulation of
the organization. Organization can maintain discipline by good supervision,
Reward and Punishment system and clarity of rules and regulations. So, from
this manager can maintain healthy working culture in the organization.
 Equity – This principle states that every member of the organization should
treated equally. There should be no biases and there should be positive
working environment. So, it will help the organization in achieving their goals
effectively and there will be no conflicts arises on the basis of gender, caste,
age etc. and it will also help in maintaining positive working environment in
the organization.
 Unity of command – This principle states that only one manager supervises
the particular employee and employee will follow the orders or guidance of

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 6
that supervisor. There will be proper structure follow by the employees and no
conflicts between employee and management of different department. So, it
will also help in maintaining healthy working environment by following
proper planning structure (Sharma, 2011).
2. Organization environment theory: - Organization environment theory should also use
by the General Manager Peter Farnsworth for maintaining positive working
environment. This theory explains that how organizations function relate to the
environment on the basis of environmental structure, source of changing the
environment, level of analysis and resources (Frishammar, 2003). With the help of
this theory manager design the organization in such way so that they can achieve their
objective effectively, efficiently and responsibly (Cunliffe, 2008). This theory states
that set of forces and conditions which is operate in organization for achieving their
goals (Boddy, 2017). There are two type of environment one is internal environment
and other one is external environment. So, this theory helps in maintain healthy
working environment by following proper planning structure.
3. Scientific theory of management: - Scientific theory of management developed by
Frederick Taylor in order to find one best way of doing the task. This theory states
that create an environment of organization with the members of the organization to
ensure the implementation of scientific principles of management (Caramela, 2019)).
This theory attempt to make change in the culture of the organization according to the
employees, management and organization, establish goals for the organization,
establish rewards or incentives system and training for the employees (Terry, 2017).
Its main objective is to maintaining positive working environment, improving
economic efficiency and productivity of labour. So, this theory of management also
helps in improving culture of the organization.

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 7
4. Behavioural Theory of management: - Behavioural theory of management also known
as behavioural psychology. This theory is based on the behaviour of employees as per
the culture or environment of the organization. Its main objective is to maintain good
relation between employee and manager, increase motivation and improved
productivity of the organization. So by using this theory, manager can also avoid
negative working environment.
5. Bureaucratic Theory of Management: - Bureaucratic theory of management which is
developed by Max Weber’s should also use by the General Manager Peter Farnsworth
for maintaining positive working environment. According to his, this theory is best to
set up organization and its management. It has two important elements, one is
hierarchy structure should be follow by the management means all information and
rules should be follow from top level management to lower level of management and
second is organization and its members should follow clearly defined rules and
regulations (Shrestha, 2005). Bureaucracy refers as systematic formation of any
organization and it is designed to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the
organization. There are six bureaucratic management principles. These are:
 Task specialisation – Tasks are divided into different category on the basis of
functional specialisation.
 Hierarchical of authority – Information pass from top level management to
lower level of management in terms of roles, jobs and any other information.
 Rules and requirements – Formal rule and regulations should be there, so that
employees know what is expecting from them (Johnston, 2019).
So, these above theory should be used by the General Manager Peter Farnsworth at
Imperial Hotel London for maintaining positive or healthy working environment.

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 8
Conclusion
Hence, the problem of negative work culture amongst the staff with high level of sick leave
and poor attendance of staff at Imperial Hotel, London because of poor guest satisfaction,
high level of turnover of staff and supervisors, poor team working management, poor
management system and improper planning structure of the organization. Negative work
culture resulted in high staff turnover, reduce performance of the staff, reduce productivity
and efficiency, increase organization cost and lack of employee morale. In this case, there is
long working hours for those staff whose cover other staff when they are on leave and when
they have family issues. They used autocratic management style. So, the new General
Manager Peter Farnsworth should use participative management style and apply the above
theories such as administrative theory, scientific theory of management, behavioural theory
and bureaucratic theory of management. Administrative theory based on how manger will
manage the organization effectively and efficiently. Scientific theory of management based
on change the environment as per the member. Organization environment theory based on
how organization function is relate to the environment. Behavioural theory based on the
behaviour of the employees on the basis of culture of the organizations. Bureaucratic theory
of management refers as rules and regulations which are followed by the employees. So from
the above theories manager can maintain positive or healthy working environment, reduce
turnover of staff and supervisor and improve productivity and it will also help the
organization in achieving their goals and objectives.

Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 9
References
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Case study- The Imperial Hotel, London 10
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