MGMT Executive Essay
This summary intends to give an overview of the West Indies Yacht Club Resort (WIYCR), which is experiencing difficulties on its operation. It will also discuss the specific problems that have to be solved in order to maintain the competitiveness of the resort in the industry.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) government heavily regulated the industry on the recruitment of expatriates and dismissal of locals to protect local employment. Moreover, the resort relied on expatriates for management positions despite the culture differences between the two workforces, as only a small amount of locals were qualified for the management work. Hence, several problems were raised, including high expatriate turnover, increased guest complaints, high tension between expatriates and locals and low motivation of local employees. In order to sustain the competitiveness of the resort, it is crucial for it to prevent the situation from getting worse. Hence, it is vital to recognize the problems thoroughly so as to apply the suitable strategies. The summary will focus on the issues of high tension between locals and expatriates and low motivation of locals as they are closely related to the other two problems.
The high tension between locals and expatriates is mainly due to the cultural differences between BVI (i.e. locals) and the United States (i.e. expatriates). One of the most significant differences was that the locals have high uncertainty avoidance while the expatriates have low uncertainty avoidance, as explained by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory. In other words, the locals have a low level of acceptance towards uncertainty and ambiguity, and favour to follow well defined regulations and instructions. Hence, different management styles were performed and preferred by them. The laissez-faire management style of the expatriate did not fit the locals who prefer democratic management, which gives clear direction from managers. Fergus, a local staff, remarked
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) government heavily regulated the industry on the recruitment of expatriates and dismissal of locals to protect local employment. Moreover, the resort relied on expatriates for management positions despite the culture differences between the two workforces, as only a small amount of locals were qualified for the management work. Hence, several problems were raised, including high expatriate turnover, increased guest complaints, high tension between expatriates and locals and low motivation of local employees. In order to sustain the competitiveness of the resort, it is crucial for it to prevent the situation from getting worse. Hence, it is vital to recognize the problems thoroughly so as to apply the suitable strategies. The summary will focus on the issues of high tension between locals and expatriates and low motivation of locals as they are closely related to the other two problems.
The high tension between locals and expatriates is mainly due to the cultural differences between BVI (i.e. locals) and the United States (i.e. expatriates). One of the most significant differences was that the locals have high uncertainty avoidance while the expatriates have low uncertainty avoidance, as explained by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory. In other words, the locals have a low level of acceptance towards uncertainty and ambiguity, and favour to follow well defined regulations and instructions. Hence, different management styles were performed and preferred by them. The laissez-faire management style of the expatriate did not fit the locals who prefer democratic management, which gives clear direction from managers. Fergus, a local staff, remarked