Global Hospitality Managers: Myth or Reality?

Abstract

Over the past forty years, the international management studies have expressed considerable interest in what has come to be known as ‘best‐practices’ (Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2003). The concept of best‐practices suggests standardisation and homogenisation of the organisation’s human resources through the employment of universally applicable managerial practices. This idea has been extremely appealing for MNCs during the 1980s and 1990s especially in industries like hospitality and tourism where pressures for standardisation due to the rapid global expansion were enormous. There are arguments however that it is difficult to imagine, that a single practice or set of practices would emerge as ‘best’ in any sense of the word, particularly in globalised organisations (Thomas, 2008). Moreover, a growing number of IHRM studies argue that ‘a best practice is not best unless it incorporates contextual elements in its application’ (Von Glinow et al., 2005, p.398). Thus, the dynamic and complex nature of the management function in global business today and the realisation that what works effectively in one country may not be as efficient in another, has led management scholars and practicing managers in continuous efforts to enhance their understanding of this context and its effects on international (hotel) managers. This is sought through the systematic study and exploration of management across cultures (cross cultural management), and international human resource management.