Background
Over the past years, Shangri-La hotel has been one of the hospitality companies that have gained fame due to not only the quality of their services but also because of the strategies they use to relate with people (Pooja, 2017). In Asia, this company has several branches which are focused to ensuring it reaches as many people as possible. Considering the fact that it is one of the companies that focus on relating well with people through working based on their values and believes, and also through offering outstanding services, its management has been using various strategies to enhance hospitality, culture, and people.
Shangri-La hotel is a hospitality company headquartered in Hong Kong, China. Founded by Robert Kuok, Malaysian, in 1971, the company has more than 95 hotels and resorts with approximately 38000 rooms in Asia, Middle East, Europe, Australia and North America. The company has 5 brands in different segments namely traders hotels, Shangri-la resort, Shangri-la resort, hotel Jen and Kerry hotel (Konstantin, 2012). To succeed in serving its guests, this company has been considering organizational culture as one of the key elements that make the management and its staff members to have beliefs, values, assumptions, and behaviors that make it to serve its customers in a unique manner.
At Shangri-La hotels, enacting culture in its operations is one of the factors that have been keeping this company to be in operation for many years. According to Abbas (2011), culture is the ideas, customs, and social behavior which exist among people. In this company, the management enhances culture by appreciating the values and believes of every person. The company offers its services based on the culture that defines its guests, and also one which defines its staff members.
One of the key beliefs that Shangri-la resort hold is that the relationship between the hotel and guests should begin even before they check in. Before the arrival of its guests, its staff members do research to identify the customer is from which region and what are the cultural beliefs which people from that region hold. Obtaining this kind of information plays a crucial role to the management because it makes the company to customize services best on the interest of the guest. This includes serving meals and drinks that suite the customs and beliefs of the customer, preparing the room in the most ideal manner, and using oral and body language that suits their believes.
Literature Review: Organizational Culture
At this hotel, there is a firm belief that training is fundamental for good performance of the staff members. For this reason, the management makes its staff members to undergo some period in training various aspects such as culinary arts, food, and beverage service, front office organization and housekeeping operations. During this training, the employees are taught how to understand and appreciate the varying cultural believes which not only their workmates have but also one which the guests who visit the premises portray. This has made the employees to view culture as a factor that can make them learn new things other than one which can make them to feel different.
The company enacts organizational culture in its operations through coming up with strategies that make its staff members to trust in excellence by offering services that make the organization to appear unique as compared to its peers. For example, it believes that customers are the reasons why the company s in operation and therefore they should be treated with the utmost respect. The company also believes that to make it remain in operation, all guests should be served professionally and their satisfaction should be the major factor which every staff member should deliver.
The company also emphasizes on delivering a work culture that puts its staff members together, and one which also makes them to appreciate the presence of each other. The primary reason why the management does this is that it trusts that for Shangri-La hotels to attain their goals and objectives, there should be a workforce that works for a common purpose (Taha, 2017). For this reason, the management has been encouraging the employees to believe in excellence irrespective of the varying cultural beliefs that define the society which they come from.
This company also trusts that for it to succeed in its business, it must work based on the Asian culture because it is the one which defines the people of the area where its business exist. For this reason, it considers including much of the foods, beverages, rooms layouts and arrangements, music and other entertainment facilities based on the culture of the Asian people. For instance, it offers a variety of Chinese teas for its guests, and also Chinese comfort food including noodles and congee for the visitors to enjoy in the rooms. However, because it is a big company which serves people from other areas other than Asia, it has personalized some of its services to match the customs and beliefs of people with varying interests.
Discussion/Analysis
The management at this company believes that the hospitality industry has been realized constant changes that need every company to value its customers through treating them not as kings but as kins, and as human beings in order to make them feel they are really appreciated (Purwani, 2017). The company also believes in offering hospitality from the heart, not the rulebook, and also in focusing in the heart and humanity in every socialization which it makes with not only the guests but also with other stakeholders.
According to Nathaniel (2013), organizational culture is an essential tool in the hospitality industry because it makes organizations to have beliefs, ideologies, principles, and values that make them to benefit in their business operations. For Shangri-La hotels, there is a strong connection between its performance and its organizational culture.
According to Piotr (2014), Shangri-La hotels has a key principle which states that ‘treat your staff members in the manner you want them to treat your loyal customers.’ This belief has been making the company to dedicate its efforts in offering the best to the employees and also making them to feel that they are important to the organization.
According to Erastova (2016), organizational culture entails putting employees together to take the advantage of the differences in beliefs which they have to learn from one another. Having this kind of ideology makes an organization to perform better because employees with varying opinions join their efforts to accomplish tasks even those that seem impossible to attain.
Including motivation and respect for staff members in its organizational culture is an important factor in this company because it makes it to attain an outstanding workforce. According to Ajay (2013), believing in making the people who perform different duties for the operation of a business to remain inspired is crucial because it makes them to feel the importance of committing their efforts towards attaining the set goals and objectives. For Shangri-La hotels, the management enacts motivation to its employees through encouraging them to work in teams.
Through trusting in proper relationship among the employees, Shangri-La hotel has been realizing better services to its guests because teamwork in this organization makes the staff members to share ideas concerning how to deliver services that can make the guests to realize top-notch services. The company also values open communication and this has been enabling information to flow in all sections without barriers.
According to Dawson (2010), a good organizational culture is the one which focuses on not only enhancing the well-being of employees but also customer experience. At Shangri-La hotels, trusting in connecting with the guests at a personal level by making sure it adds small touches and details that personalize the experience has been making this organization to stand out in its operations (2017). It also makes its management to offer outstanding equipment and products that make the guests to remember the experiences for the future years. These equipment include unique utensils, foods and drinks, and also outstanding furniture.
Shangri-La hotels also believe in the importance of rules and regulations in its business operations. For this reason, it has set strict rules that require the employees to ensure they adhere to the work ethics, view customers as important assets to the business, and maintains a positive relationship with not only the customers but also other stakeholders. According to Sandro (2015), companies that have a culture of working based on the set rules portray better performance because employees stick to doing what is right for the benefit of the company. At this company, the staff members are always required to conduct themselves in a professional manner while serving the customers through using polite language and giving them products in a professional manner.
Although Shangri-La hotels strive to enact hospitality, culture, and people, there are various challenges which it faces that makes it challenging for it to attain some of its goals. For instance, in enhancing its hospitality through making the guests to feel that the company offers outstanding services through employing professionals who have unique qualifications and experiences in serving guests, this company is affected by competition because its rivals use similar tactics. Narendra (2016) asserts that when competitors use similar strategies in their business operations, the chances of not benefiting are always high. This means that Shangri-La hotels may need to use other strategies that will make it to appear more outstanding in customer service.
Although Shangri-La hotel has a rich company culture which seeks to understand the varying customs and beliefs of its stakeholders, working on the interest of every person is hard because it is a company which receives guests from different parts of the world. Adhering to the cultures of all people is challenging because it needs the management to spend more on some things such as foods and drinks, room services and so forth (Scheneide, 2017). The company also has a challenge of attaining some of its philosophies because its management believes in some of the things that are not attainable.
Irrespective of trusting in motivation as one of the factors that define its organizational culture, Shangri-La hotel has been realizing a significant challenge in making all the employees to view its benefits. According to Lukasz (2014), although a company may benefit from motivation to employees, it may also suffer from it especially when not done in the right manner. In this company, some employees especially those who do not perform better feel that some of the staff members do not deserve the gifts that the management offers as a way of motivation and therefore this impacts their performance.
Because competition for customers through employing professionals who are qualified and skilled in hospitality is a presence in the industry, Shangri-La hotels should stop having a firm belief that this tactic can make it to survive in the competitive sector where it operates. Its management should expand its organizational culture to trusting on other strategies such as reducing employee turnover to retain employees who are conversant with its business model and also spending some of its resources in training the staff members from time to time. It is also good to ensure the right hiring and promotion process is used to make the company have the right quality of the workforce.
For Shangri-La hotels to avoid incurring costs while trying to work based on the cultural believes of every person, it is good to concentrate on the segment which shows the highest loyalty to the business. It is also good to do research and innovation to ensure it comes up with better ways of ensuring the factors that the company believes in are attained with minimum cost.
To avoid the essence of feeling that there is bias in giving gifts that aid in motivation, Shangri-La hotels should make the staff members feel the reasons why the gifts are given. This can include showing the other staff members what those given the gifts have done to deserve the presents. According to Chibky (2014), companies which incorporate using the right procedure to provide motivational gifts to staff members is essential because it makes employees, even those who do not perform better to feel that those who get them deserve them because of their outstanding performance.
References
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