The Intercultural Organizations: Communication and Management-Perception, Awareness & Behavior of Freshly Graduated Hospitality Students.

Abstract

The hospitality industry hails its global and diverse recognition in being an industry which meets international travelers’ needs worldwide as well as being an important channel for GDP growth over the globe and a direct and indirect job opportunity generator. On the one hand, in a globalization context, hotels groups have developed ventures and new markets across their borders, employing local manpower whilst on the other hand, it allows thousands of individuals venture into finding jobs locally and abroad. Nevertheless, organizations must face a major issue, which allows smooth operations. Indeed, the human factor comes up with differences in cultures and can lead to miscommunication, which has to be managed for those businesses to be successful: intercultural management is the solution. Although there is vast literature to address the issue, the development of curriculum in terms of intercultural integration for hospitality graduates is vital, to gear them for the ever-evolving workplace. Therefore, this study aims at providing an overview of what has been done and what is to be achieved by both schools and organizations in terms of perception, awareness and behavior toward intercultural communication and its management styles. A survey has been conducted to a sampling population of students who would be in the cross-culture industry, to identify the existing elements and their gaps on the subject. A questionnaire has been circulated through the internet to collect a relevant number of 300 respondents. Findings highlighted that few factors could explain the different hypotheses identified in this study. The proposed variables can be engaged as tools to improve the perceptions and understanding of the hospitality professionals.