Human resource and leadership challenges at Allure Cruise Line

Allure Cruise Line-Human Resource and Leadership Challenge

Allure Cruise Line Human Resources

The process of globalization and the increased competition in most business sectors have determined numerous companies to develop and implement expansion strategies. Such strategies are intended to help them create competitive advantage, increase their number of customers, and increase their profits. The strategies developed by companies are determined by their size, activity and objectives.

In the case of Allure Cruise Line, the objectives that must be addressed are represented by expanding and competing on international level, organizing the structure and processes required for the company's international expansion, and determining the human resources leadership and management implications. Allure Cruise Line is facing certain human resources problems that tend to intensify if not addressed properly and if Allure wants to address the international business sector.

The following pages focus on identifying and analyzing the factors that must be taken into consideration by the management team in order to develop the expansion plan, to ensure the addition of new ships, and to prepare for the staffing and training of the ships' crew. The analysis will discuss the most important criteria and their parameters in the case of the leaders that are recommended to be selected for these activities.

The human resources necessary will also be discussed, in order to determine the best strategy that can be used in the case of Allure Cruise line. The preparation of the leaders and their teams that will be involved in this process are analyzed. This refers to discussing several factors that influence their training process. Other aspects addressed by this analysis include negotiations training, human resources processes within the company, and issues regarding the recruitment of crew members.

Management Team

The company must be careful in selecting the managers that will be included in the team sent abroad to supervise the expansion process. This is because some managers work better on the local market and prefer the stable environment they are used to. They prefer to specialize on aspects regarding the local market and to establish high quality standards in these activities. Other managers perform better if they are confronted with challenges. This type of managers prefers to change the departments or the locations they work in.

However, the company must make the decision based on several selection criteria. These criteria should include the length of time with the organization, the level within the organization, language skills, motivation level, family situation, and relational skills like empathy and flexibility. Therefore, Allure should take into considerations managers that have worked for the company at least three years. This period is required in order to understand the organizational culture at Allure, its objectives, and its resources. It is important to select managers with high loyalty towards the company.

Regarding the level within the company, it is recommended to orient towards second level managers. This is because top managers are necessary at the company's headquarters, where they manage the entire activity of Allure. In addition to this, second level managers could consider this opportunity as a promotion, and might focus on intensifying their efforts abroad.

The language skills are important in the case of all managers. They are even more important in the case of managers that will be included in the team that will work on the expansion process. This is because they will be required to communicate with crew members from different countries. However, it cannot be asked from them to be skilled in all the languages that the crew members are likely to speak.

The company's expansion in the Mediterranean can be supported with crew members from Spain, Turkey, Arabia, and other regions. The managers here must have strong English skills and must prove satisfactory skills in at least another important language in the region. Given the fact that the company will select several managers, each of them can have different language skills.

The motivational level is very important in this case. The success of the company's expansion strategy relies also on the motivation of these managers. As mentioned above, second level managers can be better motivated by the career opportunities provided by the company's expansion in comparison with top managers. Their motivational level can also influence the motivation of crew members (Frey & Osterloh, 2002).

The family situation of managers must also be taken into consideration. This aspect can significantly influence the performance of managers included in the team that will work on the expansion process. Therefore, it is recommended to select younger managers that can perform better abroad.

The multicultural environment that these managers must work in requires strong relational skills. They must be able to understand different cultures and to manage their staff in accordance with the characteristics of each group. They should be able to develop motivational strategies that can address each of these groups. It is recommended to select managers with experience in working with multicultural teams (Ungson & Wong, 2008).

Host Country Nationals

When planning their human resources strategy during their expansion process, most companies are confronted with the issue of whether to hire local workers or to hire individuals from the domestic market. The situation is different in the case of each company. Some prefer to hire locals because they are cheaper and have the skills required for the jobs, while other companies that do not trust the local workforce prefer to employ people from the domestic market.

In the case of Allure, the company should focus on hiring locals for medium and lower positions. This is because they must do most of the actual work, and are in the position to have cultural knowledge. This is of great help when addressing foreign markets. The local workforce might also be cheaper, which would reduce some of the company's costs.

The managers and their teams must be selected from the domestic market. This is because they will ensure the communication with the company's headquarters. In addition to this, Allure has identified their skills and abilities and has evaluated their performance. These managers and their teams are used with the company's strategy and its objectives.

Managers and Team Preparation

The expansion process of Allure Cruise Line requires important efforts for the company. Its limited resources make it necessary to thoroughly train and prepare managers and their teams in order to reach the established objectives. These teams are expected to face important challenges in Europe.

The cultural differences between these countries and work environments require that managers and their teams are trained regarding cultural and professional aspects. They should be prepared in order to understand the cultural environment in Europe and the differences that are important in this environment. They should be trained in communicating with foreign coworkers and subordinates.

Business etiquette is also important for managers. This helps them to understand their business partners, to better negotiate with them, and to understand their behavior. Language training is required in the case of team members with reduced language skills. Given the fact that the crew in Europe is likely to come from many countries, it is important that they improve these skills. This ensures the proper communication with the staff.

In addition to this, it is important to organize discussion between managers and other employees that have successfully achieved international objectives for Allure. Their experience can help managers understand some of the problems that they might face in their relationship with business partners and crew members. Based on these discussions, they can develop strategies intended to counteract the effects of these problems.

Such discussions should also be organized for team members. The assignment in Europe is a challenge for employees that have little experience with international activities. They require important support and information about potential issues that might influence their activity in Europe. They are also expected to work with multicultural teams.

Therefore, it is important that they are properly trained in order to be able to deal with cultural barriers. Based on these training programs, team members should understand the cultural characteristics of the countries they will address in the company's expansion process. The different cultural aspects that team members will be confronted with in Europe are likely to affect the stability of their workplace. This is another reason for which they must benefit from psychological training and support during their assignment.

Team members must also be trained in improving their communication skills. This is useful in interaction within the team, and in interaction with crew members from other countries. They will be supervising these crew members and their activity and must ensure that the work environment is supportive of these crew members.

Negotiations

Managers must be additionally trained in negotiation techniques. They will have to deal with numerous activities that will require good negotiation skills. However, these skills do not suffice, given the fact that the negotiation style is different in each country. Therefore, it is important that managers are trained in order to be able to address different negotiation styles (Craver, 2010).

The negotiation styled depends on each type of negotiation. The most important types of negotiations are deal-making, decision-making, dispute-resolution, value-claiming, and value-creation negotiations. Deal-making negotiations refer to buying and selling. Managers in this case are expected to develop numerous negotiations of this type. Decision-making negotiations refer to reaching agreement in situations with numerous choices. This is usually the case in multicultural teams where conflicts are rather frequent. Value-claiming negotiations refer to reaching distributive agreement. This is the case between different departments of the same company. Dispute-resolution negotiations are frequent in situations of conflict. Value-creation negotiation refers to reaching integrative agreement.

Culture in negotiations is represented by the interests, priorities, and negotiation strategies of business partners. In order to ensure the success of negotiation processes of Allure's managers, it is important to understand the culture of their business partners. They must be able to identify the interests of these business partners because they rely on the needs and reasons that motivate them. Their priorities represent the importance associated with their interests (Kumar, 2005).

Therefore, culture plays an important role on the interests and priorities of negotiation partners. The negotiation partners in Europe are influenced by their preference for tradition or for economic development. This also affects their negotiation strategies. Their culture influences their confrontation style, their motivation, and their influence.

Human Resources

The company must develop and implement human resources strategies that are able to identify and to assess the problems in this field, and that could ensure the success of Allure's international expansion. It is important that the human resources necessary for the Mediterranean is clearly established. This is an important aspect that must be taken into consideration.

In this case, it is recommended to compare the Mediterranean necessary with that of competitors in that region. This is because the market in that region might be characterized by different traits than its local market. The different market in the Mediterranean might refer to customers that are interested in other types of cruises. This requires different personnel necessary.

The selection and recruitment process is another important aspect that must be taken into consideration. Its importance relies on the fact that the success of the company's activity is determined by its human resources. Therefore, it is recommended to develop selection and recruitment strategies that can identify the best candidates for certain positions. This requires that the job descriptions are developed in detail. Based on the job descriptions, the skills and abilities required from candidates can be established.

In addition to this, Allure's managers must ensure the retention of staff. This is a problem that many companies are confronted with. Although they provide great financial benefits, they do not manage to retain efficient employees. This usually depends on the work environment and on employees' relationship with their managers. Therefore, it is recommended to identify the factors that influence employee satisfaction at Allure. Based on this analysis, the company can develop retention strategies. Given the fact that Allure has a multicultural environment, the retention strategies must be developed in accordance with the characteristics of each group.

The motivational strategy is another important aspect that must be taken into consideration by Allure's managers. The activity that Allure develops requires special working conditions for crew members. They are confronted with numerous challenges and problems. Therefore, they must be motivated pinto putting efforts into their activity and in ensuring a high level of quality that the company has established.