The Developing Manager

This document discusses the management styles and leadership approaches of Airbnb and Novotel Hotel. It also explores the role of a manager in the hospitality industry and the skills required for success. Additionally, it provides insights and strategies for creating a culture of excellence in a restaurant.

The Developing Manager
Name:
Date of Submission:

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Title: The Developing Manager
Task 1:
For task one, I have chosen two organisations namely Airbnb and Novotel Hotel from Accor.
Airbnb is one of the most aspiring groups in the hospitality field. It is a premium marketplace for
home stays enabling people to find short-term lodging and accommodation with hosts. Brian
Chesky founded Airbnb in 2008 (Airbnb.co.in, 2017). Mike Curtis, V.P of Airbnb engineering
said that the mission of Airbnb is to make people feel home everywhere and this is also the
management style and culture of Airbnb (Thomas, 2017). Airbnb has adapted an approach from
the top to down management style and freestyle management style. At Airbnb, Managers are just
facilitators, and they exist to get obstacles out of the people’s way. These obstacles can be
information obstacles or career obstacles (Thomas, 2017). Managers do not give orders to
employees at Airbnb. Employees are expected to be motivated by the mission of Airbnb and
equipped with enough information to their managers. Managers do not tell them how to impact
in work. Airbnb is trying to define both its products and its company around the hospitality. The
management at Airbnb is more similar to Fayon than Taylor as the management is going from
top to bottom, empowering individual people (Hofstede, 1993). Novotel is one of the brands of
Accor group in the medium category. With over 400 hotels in the World and over 266 in Europe
alone, it is one of the leading medium brands in the World (Novotel.com, 2017). The Hotel chain
has cultural diversity in its management, and thus its management style is depicted in the way it
handles its employees. Its culture drives on skills, attitude and satisfaction. The organisation
believes in sharing the vision with its employees. Management should know how to make
employees smile (Docplayer.net, 2017).

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The leadership style of Airbnb can be best described as charismatic. As per Brian Chesky, the
organisation is a boat with half in water and half-afloat (Gallagher, 2017). In the lower half, there
would be holes (problems), and his job is to solve them. He says that although they empower the
organisation and its leaders to take decisions and management act as facilitators, there are many
decisions that he takes without much discussion with the terms. He believes that when there is a
decision taken in consensus, it create a middle way. In key places it is not right to take the
middle way, you take a risk in extreme ways to evolve (Gallagher, 2017). This is not a sign of an
autocratic leader because the decision power is not limited to one person, but it is given to the
organisation with the limits.
In the Novotel Hotel, the management believes in a leadership that suits both transactional and
transformational leadership (Docplayer.net, 2017). Transactional leadership is all about keeping
the operations in normal flow (Ingram, 2017). Here performances are rewarded, and the focus is
on the seamless flow of work. There is not strategic guidance in the leadership. So this is
required to keep the daily work in the hotel (Ingram, 2017). Novotel does not need strategic
changes in the day-to-day operations of the hotel this is limited to serving clients in the best way.
Transformational leadership is all about looking beyond the day-to-day management and
creating strategies to craft the next level performance (Ingram, 2017). This type of leadership is
required in the hotel to continuously improve the Hotel management and being competitive in
the organisation. Novotel has leadership that fits in both the categories where the mid-level
management focus on the transaction leadership and the higher-level focus on the
transformational leadership (Docplayer.net, 2017).
Airbnb does not believe in the top to the bottom communication process. Each leader is given a
chance to grow and takes responsibilities. Their superiors who are often facilitators to them give

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them all kind of assistance. This has lead to a way where people can introduce ideas, and these
ideas stand in the organisation based on merits. This kind of communication has empowered
managers to develop a deep level of understanding with the organisation (Thomas 2017).
Novotel promotes the upward flow of information. They allow the regional hotel management to
make their decisions and then the information flow upward. They believe in empowering
regional hotels and still create a clear communication from the bottom to top (Docplayer.net,
2017).
Novotel believes in the reconciliation of local culture and corporate culture. It believes that the
amalgamation of both cultures and individuals lead to a better organisation understanding.
Airbnb has a mixed culture of different regions. The informal setting in the organisation allows
people from all walk to flourish. What it believes is work being done in a healthy atmosphere
(Thomas, 2017).

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Task 2:
Dorchester is the chain of luxurious hotels in the World. The London Dorchester is one of the
most luxurious hotels in London. As the manager there, I have understood several key sets about
myself. The whole management lies on the four principles of Plan, Organise, motivate and
control (Mintzberg, 1973). As a management student and later manager, I have realised that I
have good planning abilities. All the tasks in the organisation that are given to me are organised,
and I write them on paper to make them permanent in my head. The planning done by myself is
always done with the help of Herzberg theory of Motivation (Gawel, 1973). How the plan will
motivate people and my subordinates. Thus, there should be right incentives for them. The
planning is always set with SMART objectives. These objectives are specific, measurable,
achievable, time-bound and realistic. The next step in my management style is Organising the
plan. It includes workforce, materials, machines and money required. There should be the right
amount of each of these resources. The next step is the motivation. It is important for the
employees to be motivated if they want to work on the project, tasks, etc. I believe in Herzberg
motivation and create an asset of motivation and de-motivation points for the tasks (Gawel,
1973).
Control is very important for me as a manager as it helps me understand the overall success of
the work. It reviews the work and helps me in understand the grey areas so that I can work to
improve I those areas. It is very important also, as it set the benchmarks for the future and gives
the key learning from the tasks. Here I review the performance of my resources and use it as a
learning tool for my next tasks.
My SWOT Analysis as a manager:
Strengths:

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I believe in planning. As a manager, I try to plan my tasks as much as possible so that I can give
direction to my subordinates and does not sound like a lost warrior. The vision has shared with
the employees to gain their confidence.
I believe in action, and try to lead the team by my actions. If I do not believe in something, I will
not push my team for the same.
Time management is one of the key aspects of a manager that I follow. It is important to a
manager to value time as this is one of the few resources that cannot be increased. It has its
limitation.
Weakness:
I believe that I am a Charismatic leader, but there are times that I turn towards being an
autocratic leader. The problem is that my team expects something from my, but they end up
getting something different. Due to change in leadership style, they get confused and many
times, I do the work by myself to show them the direction, but it comes like I do not trust them.
I set goals for my team and no matter, I need to see they complete, and many times, I ignore
some unwanted and unattended problems in between that may cause or harm the overall growth
of the work.
Setting unrealistic targets for the team as per my potential but not as per their capabilities. This is
a big issue as some of the team members get unrealistic work as per their capabilities, and then
they are not able to work on them.
Opportunities:

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Dorchester is a luxury brand. It has created a culture where Hospitality of its clients is the
topmost priority. This helps me to understand the focus f my role. There is a set culture in the
organisation, and this is an opportunity for me as a manager as I do not have to re-create the
culture there, the management style is specified with the focus for at most services to our clients.
As a manager at such premium hotel, I have the opportunity to learn while I work. Most of the
staff is quite patient, and thus the work culture is healthy. The directions from the top
management are less and managers at middle management are required to take quick decisions.
There is more autonomy in the hands of the managers.
Threats:
The biggest threat to me in the organisation is more
Objectives and Targets for myself:
The success in the hospitality industry is how well you serve and solve problems of your clients.
It is not a product-based organisation so how we behave is very important. As a manager at the
Hotel, my role would thus be towards my clients and my team. My biggest role should be to treat
both clients and management with similar objectives. Like the Airbnb believes in providing
homely space to everyone including its workforce. Similarly, my objective is to provide best of
myself to my clients and my team. If I were punctual, oriented, planned, articulated towards my
clients and my staff, most of my people’s problems would be solved. Based on the SWOT here
are my objectives to be a good Manager at the hotel

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1. Create a PMOC for each work and utilise my resources at their capacities and not as per my
capacities.
2. Give a chance to my team to learn and grow, even if they falter once or twice. So give them a
chance to understand the problem rather than solving it myself.
3. Share the vision and mission of the organisation with them. Be their resource person and not a
boss.
4. Set my focus target. The area where indeed to improve and work on.
5. Build a team of people who can deliver than a team of people who can only follow.
6. Take risks, but at the same time, they should not be on the expenses of the team but my
capacity.

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Task 3
Jamie Oliver is a brand in himself and serving and working for him is a great pleaser not only for
me but also for the workforce. The priority for me would be to make clear the vision and
objective of the restaurant. Each of the employees is aware of the brand, and thus they too expect
a sort of culture that drives the passion to work for such a big brand. As per the Maslow theory,
there are five levels of needs and esteem is the second top level of need (Maslow, 1943).
Working for a prestigious place uplifts the esteem of the workforce, and they need to maintain
that for themselves and the organisation. The premise of a service industry is that the user
satisfaction of the clients is the most important and this comes through the quality of food and
behaviour of staff for any restaurant. As the Oliver is a famous chef, the customer has a set
mindset about the food and delicacies, but at the same time, they anticipate best services from the
staff.
Some of the very important skills for management in the restaurant are customer service skills,
commercial awareness flexibility, good interpersonal skills, and communication skills, problem-
solving skills, organisational skills and teamwork.
To impart all these skills to the employees and motivate them to achieve the goals and objectives
of the organisation, let us understand the culture of the team first.
As per Handy (1932), there are four kinds of cultures in the organisations namely Power culture,
Task culture, role culture and person culture. In the service industry person, culture is not
possible as in this culture, the importance of the person is more than the organisation, and this is
not possible in any service industry. The Power culture is also not possible, as we have seen that
people should have problem-solving skills and thus they should be self-capable and not look

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upon a powerful source. The best culture for the restaurant can be either role culture or task
culture.
Role culture: As per Handy (1932), in this culture, each employee is given roles and
responsibilities according to their specialisation, educational qualification and interests. In this
culture, employees decide what is the best that they can do and accordingly accept the
challenges. Each person is accountable for something, and they take ownership of their work.
Power comes with the responsibilities of the work.
Task Culture: In these organisation cultures, teams are formed to perform a task. Individuals with
similar interests are grouped together to form a team. In such culture, each team member work
within the team and the ultimate role is to accomplish the tasks.
In the service industry, as it is based on the services role culture is the best fit. Thus, my first job
will be to establish a roll culture in the restaurant. A chef should only cook as he or she has skills
for that particular roll. No one else can cook other than a chef. Similarly, teams would be formed
for waiters, receptionist, help desk, etc. Each person would be assignment tasks, and they would
be the responsible for that work. There cannot be over the power of work, and no person can
blame the other person. If the food is delayed, it is the responsibility of the waiter. If the food
cooking is taking time, it is the role of the chef. This way each employee would now their roles
and responsibilities.
However, knowing responsibilities, not enough. They should have the motivation to work.
According to Herzberg, there are two kinds of factors i.e. motivation factors and hygiene factors.
As per Herzberg two-factor theory, a factor can be either a motivation factor or hygiene factor.

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The hygiene factors are no satisfaction factors, but they are not dissatisfaction factors (Gawel,
1973).
Common satisfaction factors are achievement, recognition, work, responsibilities, advancement,
growth, etc. (Gawel, 1973).
When an employee achieves them, he is satisfied, and if he is not able to achieve them, he is not
dissatisfied but is merely not satisfied. These factors can cause satisfaction and non-presence can
cause not satisfaction in the employee as per their need.
Hygiene factors are supervision, salary, status, security, working condition, etc. These factors do
not cause satisfaction, but their absence would cause dissatisfaction. Thus, satisfaction and
dissatisfaction factors are mutually exclusive factors (Gawel, 1973).
Therefore, as the head of the restaurant, my next role would be to create a list of satisfaction and
hygiene factors for each job role. Thus would mean that all employees are equally satisfied by
the work, and they do not feel dissatisfied in between.
How to lead the team:
Tuckman in 1965 developed a theory on how teams are formed. The path created by their theory
led to high performance as per Tuckman. The first stage in their theory is forming. It is
succeeded by storming, norming and performing.
Forming: In this stage, the team is formed. In this case, it is the stage where I need to create a
team for the restaurant. In this stage, most of the employees are new, and hence they are polite
and anxious, and as the leader, I have the added responsibilities to discuss the role and

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responsibilities of each of the employees. Each member would be given their KPIs so that their
performance can be analysed and they can see third motivation factors.
Storming: This is a very important stage for me as a leader, as the team starts performing, they
push each other beyond the wall, some team fails and some crashes. This is the stage where as a
manager; my role would be to ensure that the boundaries of each employee are set. Thus, the
roll-based decision of work culture would be very helpful here. People will feel
Norming: This is the stage where people would start understanding each other and get normal.
The difference would be sorted, and now as the leader, my role would be to give the clear path in
the future. I need to motivate them in this stage to become a great team. I should create a system
where for feedbacks, more team commitments and goals.
Performing: This is where the team would start showing the goals. The restaurant would start
getting appreciation in the market. The team would be motivated, and they would take their
responsibilities by themselves. There would be intrinsic motivation to perform. As a leader, I
would delegate much of my work and would work towards team development. It would be easy
feeling for me here and people joining and leaving would not lead to any disruption.

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Task 4:
I see myself as a regional head of Airbnb or similar internet based aggregator in the hospitality
industry. Working with Airbnb is one of the dreams that I would strive for. This is not an
impossible dream as I have worked towards the same direction.
My short terms goals are:
To join an online hospitality brand after completing the studies.
To learn management skills in the field while working for the organisation.
To find my core competencies and interests within the field
My long-term goals are:
To be associated with the best online aggregator as mid to high-level management
To use my skills and learnings to further improve the prospects of my organisation
To grow with my organisation.
My personal skills and management skills would be one of the key assets in my career
development. The career that I have chosen is around hospitality industry. In this industry, the
services play the key role, and as the manager, the role is to deliver their services at the utmost
level. The responsibility of the leader is to create a team that can deliver the services to the
clients. The effect of the services is immediate, unlike the product where the product is used over

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and over. If the service is not liked, the whole work behind creating the services is a failure.
Services are intangible, and thus they are very susceptible to the performance of employees. The
leader thus needs to ensure that the performance of employees as individual and as the team does
not suffer the work. Like even of the chef has created the best mean, but if the waiter misbehaves
with the client, the overall service would be termed very bad and thus affecting everyone in
providing the service.
In my career growth, I see myself at the mid to higher-level management, and my people’s skills
are very important in this development. Thus, as a person now, my personal skills would help me
to understand my team better, perform better and assist better, I would be more understanding,
flexible and adaptable to changes.
My management skills would help me in creating a team with me who can deliver the services. It
would not be their individual performances that will matter, but the team effort will matter. This
team effort will only come if the leader can impact the team spirit.
My current personal and career development needs more experience. I have learnt from the
college and through various case studies and live projects, but the practical experience is left. I
need to go into the market to verify my learning and at the same time keep on evolving as the
dynamics of the team should always evolve. I still feel that I have to learn more about how to
handle a team as this is quite new to me and as a future management role, this would be one of
the key requirement. My goal shortly should be to learn as much as possible. Following are few
of my skills that would help me in achieving my goals.

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Interpersonal skills: As we have discussed above interpersonal skills are crucial in the service
industry especially in the hospitality and tourism industry where the skills come handy while
interacting with clients. This skill thus would help me in creating better relationships with my
clients.
Adaptability: I am ready to work during odd hours, in different places and different climate till
they are not extreme. The adaptability in by the body and in my mind would help me to serve
clients in different places, time zones and terrain.
Culture: I have friends from the different community, and it has helped me better understand
different cultures and respecting their ethos and protocols. This is very important in the services
industry as the world is getting flatter and customers from different fields would be walking in.
A restaurant can have a client from Asia, Europe, America and Africa at the same time and as a
manager, it is my duty that they are treated and understood similarly.
There are several steps in my learning curve that depends on how do I learn more and adapt
more. There are several skills that I need to learn my career path before achieving my goals.
These goals would become bigger as I would get more understanding of my career. However,
some of the key aspects where I need to learn more are:
Team Management: It is important for me to create a team that I can manage, if any one team
member does not perform, it can de-motivate others. Sometimes I tend to work on behalf of other
team members if they do not perform. This is not a right approach as this gives them cushion not
to perform and it also brings additional pressure on me.
Handling conflicts: Well this is an important trait that I can only learn with experience. This
level conflicts are small and thus resolved but in the organisation, conflicts can be big, and they

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are around career development of several employees, and thus the key for me here would be to
learn how to handle such situations without affecting the organisation.
References:
Airbnb.co.in. (2017). About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.airbnb.co.in/about/about-us
[Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].
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http://fortune.com/brian-chesky-airbnb/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2017].
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MASLOW, A. (1943). Preface to Motivation Theory. Psychosomatic Medicine, 5(1), pp.85-92.
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2017].
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