Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts: Organizational Behaviour Case Study

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ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR IN
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
A CASE STUDY OF SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND RESORTS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
LO1..............................................................................................................................................................4
AC 1.1 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND RESORTS USING ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR MODELS...............................................................................................................................4
AC 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND RESORTS....................................................................7
AC 1.3 EVALUATING HOW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ASSIST SHANGRI LA HOTELS TO FULFIL ITS
OBJECTIVES..............................................................................................................................................8
LO3..............................................................................................................................................................9
AC 3.1 THEORIES OF CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT..........................................................................9
AC 3.2 EMERGENCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATION TO TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY WORKFORCE....................................................................................................................11
3.3 MODELS OF CROSS-CULTURAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND
RESORTS................................................................................................................................................12
LO4............................................................................................................................................................17
AC 4.1 EMERGENCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTION IN THE TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY
ORGANISATIONS....................................................................................................................................17
AC 4.2 IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS IN INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND
HOSPITALITY ORGANISATIONS..............................................................................................................18
AC 4.3 ANALYSE THE MODELS OF MOTIVATION AND TEAMWORK IN TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY
INDUSTRY..............................................................................................................................................19
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................21

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: MODELS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.................................................................................5
Figure 2: HOFSTEDE CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSION MODEL.....................................................................13
Figure 3: TROMPENAARS MODEL OF CULTURAL DIMENSION...................................................................15
Figure 4: MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS..............................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour is the study of the behaviours of the employees in an organizational
context. It is the interface between employees and the organization. It is important to maintain
good organizational behaviour for better performance of the organization and to motivate the
employees to work efficiently (Wood et al., 2016). In this assignment, the organizational
behaviour of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is critically evaluated to understand the behaviour
of travel and tourism sector organisations in the international context. In the next task, the
models of cross-cultural management trends are analysed in the context of Shangri-La Hotels
and Resorts. The cross-cultural diversity in the hospitality and tourism sector is analysed in
detail along with its impact on the employees of the hospitality industry. Lastly, the concept of
human resource management in travel and hospitality industry is described and with the help
of different theories and models, the importance of teamwork and motivation in the hospitality
and travel industry is critically evaluated.

LO1
AC 1.1 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND RESORTS
USING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MODELS
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is the subsidiary brand of Shangri-La International Hotel
Management Limited, a multinational hospitality company. It is headquartered in Hong Kong.
The company was founded in 1971 by Robert Kuok. The company has more than 100 hotels and
resorts with around 40,000 rooms in Asia, Africa, North America, Europe, the Middle East and
Australia. The company has five major brands; Shangri La Hotels, Shangri La Resorts, Hotel Jen,
Kerry Hotel, Traders Hotels (Shangri La Group, 2019).
The management structure of Shangri La Hotels and Resorts is:
There are five types of organisational behaviour model and every company adopts one of the
models in order to understand the behaviour pattern of individuals in an organization. These
models are
Figure 1: MODELS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Source: (Wood et al., 2016)

Autocratic model:
In this model, the managers and boss have all the power and decision-making authority and the
employees need to follow their commands to fulfil the task to gain their salary and wages. In
this model, it is suggested that employees need to be motivated and rewards and punishment
are the ways to do so (Wood et al., 2016).
Custodial model:
Custodial model of organizational behaviour provides economic and social security to the
employees and initiate welfare programs to let employees dependent on the company rather
than the boss (Van Knippenberg and Hogg, 2018).
Supportive model:
It indicates that employees are not tools to work but are individuals with behavioural patterns
and are self-motivated. These employees need leaders and managers who can guide them and
can develop a positive work environment where ideas and activities can freely flow.
Collegial model:
The collegial model suggests that there are no employee-boss relationships in the organization.
All the employees work together as a team and colleagues to fulfil the tasks.
System model:
In this model, the managers try to create authenticity and transparency and social intelligence
in order to involve employees not just physically but psychologically and emotionally in the
organization to gain long-term loyalty and trust of the employees (Van Knippenberg and Hogg,
2018).
Shangri La Hotels and Resorts follow System model of organizational behaviour where it is
believed that managers and leaders guide the ethos of Excellency. The leaders of Shangri La

Hotels are all from diverse culture and had an abundance of experience in the field of
hospitality and create a working environment for the employees who can grow and develop
within the organisations. The employees are given proper training and learning opportunities
and are allowed to express their thoughts and ideas. The leaders embrace diversity in the
workforce and work with ethics. The employees are motivated to become better individuals by
helping them personally and professionally (Van Knippenberg and Hogg, 2018).

AC 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF SHANGRI LA HOTELS AND RESORTS
The objectives of Shangri La Hotels and Resorts are to become the best and first choice of
customers, investors, shareholders, etc. It wants to provide its guests with engaging and
exciting experiences and services from the hearts. The company also seeks commitment with
social responsibilities and developing cordial relationships with employers, employees,
shareholders, guests and business partners and to show the values such as honesty, trust and
care in all the relationships. The company wants financial success as well as to become more
customer-focused and loyal. Shangri La Hotels and Resorts is the top Hospitality Company of
Asia and are spread over in all the parts of the world providing best services and heartfelt
experiences to its guests. The company wants to create a work environment where all the
colleagues can fulfil their needs and achieve their goals. It wants to achieve customer loyalty by
making guests’ demands a priority and also the key driver for decision making. The company
aspires to be the top international hotel brand and also to provide the best services to its guest
and best working environment to its employees and colleagues and business partners (Shangri
La Group, 2019).

AC 1.3 EVALUATING HOW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ASSIST SHANGRI LA
HOTELS TO FULFIL ITS OBJECTIVES
For achieving these objectives, the social model of organizational behaviour and management
structure of Shangri La Hotels and Resorts are very assisting. The management structure of
Shangri La Hotels promotes the individual growth and development and also values the trust
and loyalty of the employees. The leaders and managers of Shangri La Hotels are all from
different cultures and background and understand the significance of diversity in the hospitality
industry (Wood et al., 2016). The culture of the organization promotes ethical and moral values
and discourages harassment, discrimination and bullying. The management structure enables
the organization to develop mutual trust between managers and employees at Shangri La that
helps employees to share their grievances and assist managers to delegate tasks to the
employees. Overall, Shangri La Hotels and Resorts are among the top hospitality company and
its management structure is assisting it to remain in its position by providing quality services to
its guests (Wood et al., 2016).
In a nutshell, Shangri La Hotels management structure assist to achieve the objectives of the
organization as the company believes that the excellence in work comes from the abilities of
the leaders in motivating and guiding their employees and also by developing the values of
trust and loyalty among each other and also the organizational behaviour of the company is
well evaluated by the management and the personal and professional needs of the employees
are fulfilled in the organization (Shangri La Group, 2019).

LO3
AC 3.1 THEORIES OF CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
In the era of globalization where the world is transformed into a global village, there is a need
to understand the diverse culture. It is crucial to communicate with people from different
cultures.
According to Hofstede G (1980), culture is the collective process which is inherited. He
described it as a collective mental programming of the groups which share the same language,
class, areas of colour, etc. and this mental programming distinguishes the group with another
group of people (Tjosvold, 2017).
Peter Drucker states that if management is the organ of the organization, culture is its very
nature. There are many theorists and researchers who gave theories of cross-cultural
management.
Geert Hofstede states in his theory of cross-cultural management that there are six dimensions
of culture and these dimensions vary according to the social behaviours of individuals and also
on the basis of areas, class and the objectives of people. In the eastern nations, the culture
values relationship and the notion of trust and harmony while in Western countries, the culture
focuses on individual growth and high productivity rather than personal relationships (Tjosvold,
2017).
Fons Trompenaars provided the cross-cultural management theory which has seven dimensions
and these seven dimensions evaluate the cultural diversity of different areas according to social
and organizational behaviour of people. The dimensions are described in the next part of the
assignment (Tjosvold, 2017).
Edward T. Hall in his theory of culture defined two types of culture, high context culture and
low context culture. In high context culture, the communication is less direct and the use of
gestures and signs are prominent. This type of culture is prominent when the understandings

between people are deep and no explicit communication is needed. In low context culture,
there are needs for explicit communication and written and oral messages (Tjosvold, 2017).
Through these cross-cultural theories, it can be evaluated that individuals from diverse cultures
have different objectives and goals and in order to work together, the management of the
organisations should accept this diversity and train and motivate their employees to adapt to
the cultural differences and integrate each-other in the organisations to achieve personal as
well as professional goals. It can also be noted that there are many similarities in the
dimensions given by Hofstede in his cultural theory and the theory of Trompenaars. The
dimensions of Trompenaars and Hall's theory of culture also have similarities in it. Thereby it
can be said that theories of cross-cultural management explain the cultural differences and how
these cultural differences can be utilized (McSweeney, 2016).

AC 3.2 EMERGENCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATION
TO TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY WORKFORCE
The concept of cultural diversity refers to the existence of various cultures and group of people
with different ethnicity together under larger culture. Cultural diversity refers to respecting,
recognizing, acknowledging and valuing, empowering, encouraging and celebrating different
cultures. At Shangri La Hotels and Resorts, cultural diversity is very prevalent. It is a
multinational hotel chain with its hotels all around the world. The hotel management respects
the cultural identities of all its employees and also tries to understand and encourage individual
cultural practices (Kalargyrou and Costen, 2017).
Shangri La Hotel that is recently constructed in Sydney has adopted the cultural attributes of
Australia that are very different from Asian attributes and succeeded in acquiring the top
position in Sydney. The management team of the Shangri La Hotels belongs to the diverse
cultural background of people as Mr Lim, Beng Chee the Chief Executive Officer of Shangri La
Hotels in Asia, Mr Bonke, Oliver, President and the Chief Operating Officer and many more
people from the different cultural background (Shangri La Groups, 2019).
The implications of cultural diversity on the workforce of the tourism and Hospitality industry
are that employees need to understand cross-cultural differences and to adapt changes
according to the cultural needs of the guests. Hospitality and Tourism industry is the hub for
different cultures. It is necessary for the employees of Shangri La Hotels and Resorts to belong
to the diverse cultural background to understand the demands of their guests and customers
(Kalargyrou and Costen, 2017).