¶ … Management of Multicultural Workgroups by KFC Corporation
Headquartered in Lousville, Kentucky, KFC Corporation (hereinafter alternatively "KFC" or "the company") was founded more than 70 years ago for "Colonel" (an honorary title) Harland Sanders with the proceeds of a Social Security check. Since that time, the company has grown to include more than 18,000 KFC restaurants operating in 155 countries around the world (About KFC, 2016). Not surprisingly, the company is frequently confronted with the need to effectively manage multicultural workgroups. To determine optimal approaches, this paper provides a review of the relevant and timely literature concerning these issues to develop salient recommendations for the top management of KFC concerning effective approaches to the management of multi-cultural workgroups. A summary of the research and important findings concerning the effective management of multicultural workgroups are provided in the conclusion.
Review and Analysis
The organizational changes that have been needed in recent years to remain competitive were largely the result of shifts in economic conditions that have forced companies of all size and types to develop multicultural workgroups in place of their formerly homogeneous workforces (Wolf & Macharzin 2009). In this regard, Wolf and Macharzin (2009, p. 4) report that, "The trend to multicultural workgroups emerged as a reaction to changed economic conditions forcing organizations to develop new structures in order to minimize costs and maximize flexibility." Moreover, multicultural workgroups have been created by organizations in an effort to respond to the cultural diversity in the environments in which they compete or to provide well-rounded innovative solutions to organizational constraints (Bachman 2006). As Bachmann (2006, p. 722) points out, on the one hand, "Workgroups composed of people with different cultural backgrounds hold a great potential for more innovative and higher quality solutions to international business problems" but on the other hand, "It is these same cultural differences that pose the greatest challenges for organizations."
Therefore, one of the main outcomes of these recent trends has been a corresponding need to develop effective management methods for multicultural workgroups (Wolf & Macharzin 2009). For example, Wolf and Macharzin (2009, p. 5) add that, "Multicultural workgroups present challenges not only to the organizations that use them but also to scholars that try to identify the pitfalls of these groups and develop solutions how to manage them successfully." Notwithstanding the challenges that are involved, though, it is possible to develop timely recommendations for optimal approaches to managing multicultural workgroups by identifying and analyzing the success factors of organizations that have achieved these goals (Wolf & Macharzin 2009).
Until fairly recently, much of the scholarship concerning the effective management of multicultural workgroups was focused on a single aspect of cross-cultural differences. For instance, Bachmann (2006, p. 721) emphasizes that, "The literature on the functioning and effectiveness of diversity-based workgroups tends to take the single perspective of exploring the effects of cultural or demographic or functional diversity on workgroup performance." Certainly, each of this areas of inquiry will provide international managers with some indication of the constraints that might be involved in effectively managing multicultural workgroups, but a more holistic perspective, however, can provide managers with the information concerning the values and priorities of the different cultures that comprise their workgroups in order to formulate effective management practices.
For example, expectancy theory, reinforcement theory, Maslow's theory of the hierarchy of human needs and Herzberg's intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors all provide some indication of fairly universal human wants and needs, but it is also important to take into account salient cross-cultural differences that can affect the effectiveness of management practices in other cultures. In this regard, Metin and Kizgrin (2015, p. 107) note that, "International [fast food restaurants that] want to be successful in global markets have to understand how other cultures differ from their own culture. This is only possible with understanding of elements that constitute the culture such as material culture, language, religion, education, aesthetic values, behavior and values," including those cultural aspects identified by Geert Hofstede in his five main cultural dimensions which are discussed further below.
With more than 4,500 KFC outlets at present, China has become a major market for KFC in recent years and provides a useful example of the cross-cultural differences that can adversely affect effective management practices with the parent corporation being American. The only cultural dimension between the U.S. and China that does not have major differences is the masculinity dimension (defined as "The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best [Masculine] or liking what you do [Feminine]") (Hofstede 2016). All...
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