Diversity, Conflict, and Impact on Kent Hotel's Kitchen Department

This report investigates the relationship between diversity and workplace conflict within the kitchen department of Kent Hotel, a fine dining establishment in Australia. The study uses both primary and secondary research to analyze the causes of conflict arising from the diverse backgrounds of the hotel's employees. It examines factors such as communication barriers, cultural differences, and perceived inequalities, and their impact on the hotel's overall performance and work environment. The report also explores existing theories on diversity and conflict management, and presents a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics at play. Ultimately, the research aims to provide actionable recommendations for Kent Hotel to mitigate these conflicts, foster a more inclusive workplace, and improve organizational outcomes, with the goal of ensuring fair treatment of all employees and preventing cultural biases.

Running head: Assessment 3: Final Report
Topic: "A relationship between Diversity and Workplace Conflict, and its Impact on
Organisation: A case study on Kent Hotel’s kitchen department"
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

Assessment 3: Final Report 1
Executive summary:
The Kent Hotel located at the Rathdowne St, Carlton North, Victoria, Australia was
established as a pub and was later renovated to a fine dining place. The Hotel also offers
rooms for hire and private rooms for different occasions. It has been observed that there is a
continuous conflict among the chefs and other employees in the Hotel due to the difference in
the diversity of the origin of the people. As a result of this there have been issues in the
kitchen department of the Hotel and as a result of this the whole organisation has to suffer in
terms of meeting the expectation of the customers or creating a good environment at the work
place. The aim of this report will focus to analyse the situation with the help of both primary
and secondary research and come up with the best possible ways to overcome the issues of
diversity conflict at the Kent Hotel.
The entire report has been segregated into 6 chapters. Workplace diversity takes place when
there is a disagreement that results in conflict among the employees of the organisation.
Diversity conflict can occur due to oppression of the employees at a workplace. People from
various backgrounds and cultures have been found to be a part of the organisation. It is clear
that there is indeed high level of dissatisfaction among the employees as there is high level of
diversity right from the language barrier to the non-recognition of their skills and knowledge.
Thus, it can be said that Kent Hotel is indeed striving to maintain the level of connection
among the employees that can actually help them to utilise the diversity of the employees and
can improve the performance of the organisation. After the analysis of the conflict mode
instrument, it can be said that in order to bring harmony in the organisation and to avoid any
further chaotic situation, it is important for the management and the employees to actually
collaborate and compromise on the situation. In order to make sure that all the employees are
treated equally, there should be cultural biasness and nay person going against this can attract
great punishments.

Assessment 3: Final Report 2
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................4
1.1 Overview of the topic:......................................................................................................4
1.2 Industry partner:...............................................................................................................4
1.3 Research problem:............................................................................................................4
1.4 Rationale of the research:.................................................................................................5
1.5 Research aim and objectives:...........................................................................................6
1.6 Structure of the report:.....................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Literature review......................................................................................................8
2.1 Importance of understanding diversity at workplace:......................................................8
2.2 Various factors leading to workplace conflict due to diversity:......................................8
2.2 Existing theories on diversity and conflict in a workplace:...........................................12
2.3. Conflict management process:......................................................................................13
2.4 Conceptual framework:..................................................................................................15
Chapter 3: Methodology:.........................................................................................................16
3.1 Overview of the research design:...................................................................................16
3.2 Research approach:........................................................................................................16
3.3 Sample, sample size and sampling method:...................................................................17
3.4 Data collection process:.................................................................................................17
3.5 Data analysis process:....................................................................................................18
3.6 Ethical consideration of the research:............................................................................18

Assessment 3: Final Report 3
3.7 Limitation of the research:.............................................................................................18
Chapter 4: Findings and analysis:............................................................................................19
Chapter 5: Recommendations..................................................................................................41
5.1 Linking with the objectives:...........................................................................................41
5.2 Recommendations based on findings:............................................................................41
5.3 Suggestions to the Kent Hotel:.......................................................................................42
Chapter 6: Limitation and conclusions....................................................................................43
5.1 Conclusion to the study and expected outcome:............................................................43
5.2 Linking with the objectives:...........................................................................................43
5.3 Limitation to the proposed recommendations:...............................................................43
Reference list:...........................................................................................................................44
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................47

Assessment 3: Final Report 4
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Overview of the topic:
As stated by Webb (2018) diversity conflict in a workplace involves individuals from
different social groups as they are identified based on difference in the race, gender, age,
class, religion belief or any other human difference. In the opinion of Thomas (1992) ,
conflict is bound to take place in an environment if it is a diverse workplace. This might
happen between the employees at same or different levels or between the employee and
supervisors depending on different circumstances. An organisation is bound to suffer as a
result of the workplace conflict in terms of its work pl,
1.2 Industry partner:
The Kent Hotel located at the Rathdowne St, Carlton North, Victoria, Australia was
established as a pub and was later renovated to a fine dining place. This corner pub has been
renovated with a surfeit of style and the overlooking beautiful Curtain Square in the heart of
the Rathdowne Village. The Hotel offers different menu of modern Australians and
Mediterranean dishes to a variety of various cuisines right from the award winning French-
Algerian chef Pierre Khodja. The Hotel also offers rooms for hire and private rooms for
different occasions (Kenthotel.com.au 2018). This industry partner has been selected as I
have worked with this Hotel as a chef and I am well aware of the diversity issues that this
organisation has been facing in the recent time.
1.3 Research problem:
It has been observed that there is a continuous conflict among the chefs and other
employees in the Hotel due to the difference in the diversity of the origin of the people. As a
result of this there have been issues in the kitchen department of the Hotel and as a result of

Assessment 3: Final Report 5
this the whole organisation has to suffer in terms of meeting the expectation of the customers
or creating a good environment at the work place. Thus, the issue of the diversity and to work
in co-ordination has been creating a major problem and this has been taken into consideration
for the research (Kenthotel.com.au 2018).
1.4 Rationale of the research:
Diversity in work place promotes an environment of acceptance, respect and to work
as a team even when there is a difference in the race, religion or the sexual orientation among
the employees. As pointed out by, when there is a diverse working environment, it promotes
a situation where different minds can come together and help to achieve a common goal. In
case of a workplace, this holds more prominence as it helps in treating clients or customers
from diverse backgrounds easily (Ågotnes et al. 2018). If the situation of a Hotel is taken into
consideration, it is similar as the customer can be anyone from any particular background.
However, opposed to this, if there arise a chaotic condition due to the diversity of the
employees in the workplace, it might create a big challenge and the overall business might
also suffer.
The issue related to the diversity of the employees has been creating a great issue for
the management of the Hotel and this need to be checked at early as possible in order to
overcome any severe issue related that might hamper the overall functionality of the
organisation. The aim of this report will focus to analyse the situation with the help of both
primary and secondary research and come up with the best possible ways to overcome the
issues of diversity conflict at the Kent Hotel.

Assessment 3: Final Report 6
1.5 Research aim and objectives:
The aim of the report is to find out the different factors that are actually contributing
to the conflict among the employees in the organisation and to propose the possible ways that
the Hotel can undertake in order to overcome the issues.
The objectives are:
1. To find out the various factors that are contributing to the staff conflict at the
workplace
2. To recommend certain ways by which the Hotel can overcome the issues that results
in the conflict at the workplace.
The research questions are:
1. How are the diversity factors contributing to the staff conflict at workplace?
2. How can Kent Hotel resolve this issue?
1.6 Structure of the report:
The entire report has been segregated into 6 chapters. The first chapter is the
Introduction that gives an overview of the topic and the research aim and objectives along
with a brief overview of the industry partner. The second chapter is the literature review
where a detailed discussion on the various factors that contribute to the workplace diversity
will be discussed. The point of view of the various authors along with some theories will be
discussed. The third chapter is the methodology that will highlight the methods used for this
research. The fourth chapter is the findings and analysis, where the primary data will be
analysed and discussed. This chapter will also contain the discussion section. The fifth
chapter is the conclusion where the objectives will be linked with the findings and the final or

Assessment 3: Final Report 7
sixth chapter is recommendation where certain recommendations to overcome the issues will
be suggested.

Assessment 3: Final Report 8
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Importance of understanding diversity at workplace:
Workplace diversity takes place when there is a disagreement that results in conflict
among the employees of the organisation. This occurs due to the difference in the
perspective, values, abilities or the contribution of a member from another in a group. As
commented by Baillien et al. (2014), the diversity conflict is rather a conflict based on
prejudice and power differences and not due to the difference of the merit. Diversity at
workplace can have a positive impact on the organisation in various ways. It has to be
understood that a difference between the human being will bring more creativity, innovation
and product development and so this difference should be used in a more positive way rather
than resulting in a conflict. Moreover, diverse employees can deal with a diverse group of
people and can help in increasing the overall productivity of the organisation. In case of the
hospitality and hotel industry, a diverse workplace will automatically add to the more benefits
of the organisation.
2.2 Various factors leading to workplace conflict due to diversity:
Diversity conflict can occur due to oppression of the employees at a workplace. As
commented by Brazzel (2003), employees of an organisation can face oppression from the
people in the organisation due to their racism, sexism, and heterosexist or due to the other
forms as well. At times, the oppressions result is inequality and privileges to the dominant
group over the marginalised group. This will automatically lead to the conflict among the
oppressed and the marginalised groups creating a situation of utter disturbance in the
workplace as it results in the unproductiveness of the organisation (Danielsson et al. 2015).
Changes in the workforce in terms of the ethnic and the racial diversity have been recorded as
the most influential factor in the transformation of the present workplace culture. People from

Assessment 3: Final Report 9
various backgrounds and cultures have been found to be a part of the organisation. It is a
common sight that a boardroom is full of people from different backgrounds like Asian
Americans, African Americans and others. In Western or European countries, the diversity
due to the difference in the culture or the race has been the most prominent issue in the
workplace. In case of the Asian countries like Japan, China or Korea, it has been found that
the workplace conflict takes place mainly due to the difference due to the age or the gender of
the people working together in a workplace.
1. Workplace conflict due to difference in interpersonal and intrapersonal
communication:
Intrapersonal conflict takes place when we have a conflict with our self in terms of the
actions, thoughts, feelings and values. As pointed out by Devine et al. (2015), organisational
activities are very prompt and require the employees to engage in the activities with prompt
participation. However, it might happen that conflict arises between two persons because one
is not competent enough to work and frequently asks for help or suggestion from the other
person. This situation can definitely bring a conflict between the two persons. In such case,
both the persons might not come up with direct argument but can be found to strive with the
issue internally. It is kind of intrapersonal conflict. On the other hand, the conflict can take
place a vigour situation and both the persons involved in the situation can also come down to
a severe conflict resulting in interpersonal conflict. These types of conflicts are more
effective as this involve arguments and can create a negative situation in the workplace. In
order to overcome such situation, Devine et al. (2007) suggested that the intervention of the
third person is important because the third person can think from a neutral perspective and
can come down to a particular point that can actually resolve the issue without creating much
distress. Adding to this, Guillaume et al. (2017) commented that the situation of interpersonal
and intrapersonal conflict gets worsen in case of sudden or uncertain situations. In case of a

Assessment 3: Final Report 10
service industry or a Hotel, it is most important to serve the customers rightly. The situation
can demand prompt action from the employees and as result of which the thought process or
thinking can differ from one person to another leading to a communication conflict among
the employees.
2. Workplace conflict due to age difference:
As pointed out by Islam and Karam (2017), that there have been many instances when
workplace conflict has been found to take place due to the difference in the ager group of the
employees working together. This concept can be easily explained using the socio-emotional
selective theory that has clearly stated that adults are less likely to be engaged in the
destructive and non-confronted communication. However, this cannot be held true for the
people of other ages, especially those who are young. It is due to the absence of adequate
experience and ability to deal with the situation young people is often found to involve in
chaotic situation leading to a conflict (Katler et al. 2018). However, the workplace also
promotes multi-generational approach in order to ensure that ideas and the innovations from
the various age groups are taken into consideration when it comes to the business activities.
In fact, the young generation are found to be more active and advanced in their thoughts and
insights and they can come up with better plans rather than the older generation people
(Smith 2015). At the same time, it is equally important to make sure that the idea proposed by
the young generation is useful and can be implemented at the particular workplace. This can
be evaluated by the older generation only as they have the experience for this. Therefore,
employees with age difference is actually a boom for an organisation but this diversity
usually turns into a conflict as at times, the generation gaps are not fulfilled properly and the
ideas do not match (King et al. 2009).
3. Workplace conflict due to difference in skills and experience:

Assessment 3: Final Report 11
Having adequate skills in order to manage a situation or to work at a particular
situation is the primary requisite for an employee to work for an organisation. In fact, the
ability, performance and the appraisal of an employee also lies in the skills that one
possesses. In such situation, when there is a skill gap to work at a particular situation, the
issues or the conflict take place. This conflict can take a severe turn in the organisation as it
questions the ability or the existence of a person (Lewin et al. 2016). A person having more
experience might not have the adequate skills required to fulfil the particular responsibility or
the job role. Or a person having the adequate skills might not perform well due to lack of
proper experience in the particular field. In such cases, it is important that enough training is
provided to the employees of the organisation so that they will be able to understand the
working procedure and can easily be able to handle any kind of situation.
In the view point of Liu and Xu (2018), workplace diversity is not pertinent to any
particular individual in an organisation but it can affect the people in groups. Diversity is
important as it not only encompasses the similarity between the various workers but it
actually focuses on the differences. This leads to the situation where the management has to
consider both the sides of the people in the workplace at the time of any decision making.
Talking about the international worker and cultural diversity in the field of hospitality, it
can be said that the service industry attract clients and customers from various fields and
background that is diverse in nature. This automatically creates a scope for the diversity of
the employees at the workplace. In the opinion of, Miglbauer (2017) it is very important for
the employees working in the hospitality or service industry to understand the culture of the
various people. International workers as well as clients are growing in large numbers and this
is the reason that creating a diverse cultural environment is equally important. Organisations
that can manage the diversity properly can be expected to get the right result in return as it is
a means by which the customers are served. In fact, there has been a tremendous pressure on