Leadership and Culture Analysis: Imperial Hotel Case Study

This case study analyzes the Imperial Hotel, focusing on its poor organizational culture, high employee turnover, and negative work environment. The study identifies key causes, including a toxic work culture, authoritative leadership, long working hours, poor performance reviews, and cultural clashes among employees. It links these issues to problems like low guest satisfaction and high turnover rates. The analysis emphasizes the impact of leadership styles on workplace culture, recommending a shift towards participative or delegative leadership. A three-phase plan is proposed to address the problems: identifying and addressing problematic employees, changing the leadership style to be more supportive and engaging, and implementing cultural sensitivity training to resolve clashes and improve employee performance. The goal is to create a healthier work environment and improve overall hotel performance.

Running head: IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
Introduction
The problem which has been selected for the purpose of the planning and associated
problem solving can be mentioned to be the problem connected with the poor organizational
culture. Although the hotel is a comparatively large hotel, the associated issues in the hotel lead
to high employee turnover and poor attendance (Bratton and Gold 2017). The main factor
which contributes to such a culture of the enterprise can be understood to be the toxic target
oriented culture (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015). The luxury industry is a piece of art and it
can be mentioned here that in a case where the employees will be pressurized, the performance
shall go down. When the management of the hotel will be pressurizing the different employees to
work adequately well and not consider their associated problems, it is understood that even the
employees will lose out interests and in association with this, their attendance, their productivity
and the retention rates get affected (Brewster et al. 2016). This is the case for the hotel whereby
the negative culture and the poor guest measurement practices have brought considerate
dissatisfaction amongst the different employees.
Moreover, the management does not engage in supporting any performers and hence, due
to this lack of engagement and motivation the individuals working in the organization are not
willing to perform well and give their best (Chang 2016). Moreover, the female employees and
low earning personnel have other commitments due to which they often skip out their shifts and
request their colleagues to undertake the shifts. In consideration with this, it can be mentioned
that the supervisors are not motivated to perform due to poor performance management and
therefore, there does not exist adequate staff to look after the lower level employees (Conrad,
Ghosh and Isaacson 2015). The aim of the report is to critically analyze the issue being faced by
the hotel, link it to other associated theories and problems along with the examination of the
problem using various theories and frameworks.
Discussion and analysis
Causes
The poor work place culture along with the high retention is a result of the following
aspects:

2IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
 Toxic work culture: The work culture of the enterprise can be taken to be very toxic. The
employees are not motivated to undertake responsibilities and are instead penalized for
no fault of theirs. This leads to a sense of resentment amongst them.
 Authoritative leadership: The leadership style as followed by the management can be
agreed to be the authoritative leadership style whereby the leader tends to just give orders
and not consider the plight of the employees.
 Long working hours: As the hotel operations 24*7 and all around the year, it can be
stated that the shift timings are very high and the managers often extend the shifts of the
employees which leads to extended leaves.
 Poor performance reviews: As the guest rating is linked to the performance of the
employees and their appraisal, the system under which this rating is carried out can be
considered to be quite poor. In this context, it can be agreed to it that, the guest review is
a result of high prices and hotel infrastructure. Only a minor percentage of the Guest
satisfaction surveys are linked to the employee treatment and due to the other reasons, the
employees get paid rest which further rages the workplace employees.
 Cultural crash: There can be observed that there exists a cultural clash with various
employees who are Non-Spanish with the Spanish employees. Moreover, when the
management declares that it is the Spanish employees who are performing well, the
resentment amongst the Non Spanish employees increase and they blame the firm for this
injustice to them which further spoils the productivity of the enterprise.
Linking to the other problems and theories
The problem 3 which has been selected for the study can be linked to the other problems
in the following manner:
 Poor satisfaction: The reason why the work culture is toxic and the turnover rate is high is
because the satisfaction of the guests can be taken to be very low. In this context, it can
be explained that, as the guests are not satisfied, their ratings of the hotel are
considerably low and this is leading to the dissatisfaction and poor performance
appraisals, which can also be taken to be a poor decision making on the side of the
management (Driskill 2018).

3IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
 High turnover: The turnovers at the enterprise are very high. This is quite popular at the
supervisor level and it is in association with this that, it can be understood that when a
large number of employees leave the job then the morale of the management goes down
to a great extent (DuBrin 2015). In consideration with this, it can be agreed to it that, it is
demoralizing and dissatisfying when seniors leave and this might be considered to be a
reason associated with the fact that the environment has been affected.
 Front house and backhouse: The front house and backhouse problems are another reason
contributing to the issues being faced by the different employees. In such a scenario, due
to the miscommunication between the staff members, the customer needs are not being
fulfilled and this has led to a negative environment (Frohlich and Oppenheimer 2015).
Analysis
Out of the given causes, it can be agreed that the absence of a good leadership is one of
the critical reasons why the workplace environment is very negative. As the authoritarian
leadership style is being practiced by the leader, it can be understood that, this shall contribute to
a degrading work place culture which will then influence the culture of the enterprise. According
to Grint et al. (2016), the leadership tends to have a profound influence on the kind of culture a
workplace develops. According to Kuranchie-Mensah and Amponsah-Tawiah (2016), the
leadership style which does not involve any employee engagement and tends to demotivate the
employees and this reflects on the overall workplace productivity as well. In association with
this, it can be stated that a better approach to leadership can be agreed to be the participative or
the delegative leadership style. In the participative or the delegative leadership style would assist
in ensuring that the opinions of the different parties can be gathered accordingly and in relation
to this, the different employees can be satisfied accordingly and the needs of the associated
parties can be fulfilled accordingly (Lăzăroiu 2015). In consideration with this, it becomes
effective to mention that, for an enterprise to be successful in the long run, the delegative or the
participative leadership is critical to apply in order to ensure that the enterprise will be able to
engage in a healthy discussion with the employees.
When the associated employees will be able to place their viewpoints of the management
and feel respected, in such a case, they will be able to create a health work environment.
According to Lee and Ok (2016), the workplace culture is critically dependent on the overall

4IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
factors as present in the enterprise which range from employee motivation, employee
engagement, customer satisfaction, management support and associated resources and employee
unity. However, in the case of the imperial hotel, this aspect can be deemed to be missing and in
consideration of this, it can be considered to be relatively crucial that, it is for this purpose that
the enterprise resources can be understood to be very poor (Lussier and Achua 2015). In line
with this, it can be agreed to it that, to work upon the culture would require adequate working on
the employee engagement and extended management support as well. With this, it can be stated
that, the management and the supervisor level employees are required to be more supportive of
the enterprise (Marchington et al. 2016). In such a scenario, they are required to resolve the
problems in a significant manner which would increase the confidence of the employees and
thereby this trust can reflect on the performance of the enterprise.
Another issue which was identified in the case was that there existed a cultural clash
between the different employees can be stated to be associated with the problems and
considerations being faced by the Non Spanish employees with the Spanish employees. The non-
Spanish employees believed that the Spanish employees kept to themselves and did not carry out
their duties diligently (Naranjo-Valencia, Jiménez-Jiménez and Sanz-Valle 2016). However,
this resentment only grew when the Spanish received higher guest satisfaction rates as compared
to the no Spanish one. This problem can be stated to be a fairly common problem which requires
senior management intervention. In consideration with this, the extent employees were highly
demotivated and therefore would not perform well (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).
Lastly, it can be stated that, the cultural intelligence can be understood to be a skill which is
present in the employees and helps them to deal with the individuals of other cultures and
backgrounds (Noe et al. 2015). In a work environment, the employees would be required to work
with a large number of people and in consideration with this; this would help them to engage in
an effective consideration and completion of employee objectives successfully (Northouse
2018).
Plan for resolving problem
Hence, as the problem can be identified with the enterprise, certain recommendations are
required to be provided to the enterprise with the help of which these individuals will be able to
engage in successful measurement and consistent adoption of the strategies with the help of

5IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
which the firm will be able to engage in better operations. The three point plan for resolving the
problem can be agreed to be as follows:
1. Phase 1
In the first phase, the management of the enterprise would be required to see to it that, they are
being able to identify the employees creating a problem, adopting a new culture of the employees
and additionally ensuring that, new employees are being hired. In this step, the purpose is to see
to it that the source of the problem can be resolved adequately and in association with this, these
employees are either trained or laid off (Naranjo-Valencia, Jiménez-Jiménez and Sanz-Valle
2016). Additionally, new employees can be hired in this phase at all levels and alongside they
can be trained accordingly to adopt a new culture so as to see to it that, the operations can be
made effective.
2. Phase 2
In the second phase of the action plan, it can be considered effective that, the leadership style of
the managers is changed. In association with this, the senior management would be required to
undergo a considerate change and they would be required to see to it that a delegative leadership
style is adopted with the help of which the overall guidance being provided to the employees can
be improved accordingly (Northouse 2018).
3. Phase 3
In the third phase, a cultural sensitivity can be brought about in the enterprise. In association with
this, it can be considered effectively critical that, the different employees need to be provided
training in regards to the cultural sensitivity so that they can work together (Rosenbach 2018).
Moreover, the guest satisfaction survey also needs to be modified adequately with the help of
which the performance of the employees were being affected. A rather profound and modified
system needs to be established with the help of which, they can modify the ratings and the
changes in the appraisal system can be brought about (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).
Conclusion

6IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
Therefore, the report had been prepared with the aim of ensuring that the problems
associated with the Imperial Hotel could be adequately identified and certain solutions can be
brought for the purpose of the same. In association with this, it is effective to mention that, the
problems associated with the hotel which were critically examined in the study were the
problems associated with the employee culture and high turnover. It was identified that the
primary reason for such problems can be understood to be associated with the poor workplace
performance measures, cultural crash and the authoritative leadership. Hence, after the problems
were identified, they were critically discussed by making use of certain theories with the help of
which, they would be able to come up with a viable solution and the associated considerations as
well. A three point plan was identified and discussed which further contributed to understanding
that effective leadership, employee engagement and motivation along with a strong workplace
culture is essential for enterprise success.

7IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
References/Bibliography
Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015. Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., Sparrow, P., Vernon, G. and Houldsworth, E., 2016. International human resource
management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Chang, K.C., 2016. Effect of servicescape on customer behavioral intentions: Moderating roles
of service climate and employee engagement. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 53, pp.116-128.
Conrad, D., Ghosh, A. and Isaacson, M., 2015. Employee motivation factors. International
Journal of Public Leadership.
Driskill, G.W., 2018. Organizational culture in action: A cultural analysis workbook. Routledge.
DuBrin, A.J., 2015. Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Nelson Education.
Frohlich, N. and Oppenheimer, J.A., 2015. Political leadership and collective goods. Princeton
University Press.
Grint, K., Jones, O.S., Holt, C. and Storey, J., 2016. What is leadership. The Routledge
Companion to Leadership, p.3.
Kuranchie-Mensah, E.B. and Amponsah-Tawiah, K., 2016. Employee motivation and work
performance: A comparative study of mining companies in Ghana. Journal of Industrial
Engineering and Management (JIEM), 9(2), pp.255-309.
Lăzăroiu, G., 2015. Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, (14), pp.97-102.
Lee, J. and Ok, C.M., 2016. Hotel employee work engagement and its consequences. Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management, 25(2), pp.133-166.

8IMPERIAL HOTEL CASE STUDY
Lussier, R.N. and Achua, C.F., 2015. Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development.
Nelson Education.
Marchington, M., Kynighou, A., Wilkinson, A. and Donnelly, R., 2016. Human resource
management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Naranjo-Valencia, J.C., Jiménez-Jiménez, D. and Sanz-Valle, R., 2016. Studying the links
between organizational culture, innovation, and performance in Spanish companies. Revista
Latinoamericana de Psicología, 48(1), pp.30-41.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2015. Human resource
management. Gaining a Competitive.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Rosenbach, W.E., 2018. Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.