Organizational culture and ethnic diversity

The hospitality industry depends on a highly diverse workforce. While the relationship between organizational culture and organizational outcomes has been well studied, little research has focused on understanding the relationship between organizational culture and organizational effectiveness in the context of a highly diverse workforce. This chapter presents a study that aims to advance how ethnic diversity can moderate the organizational culture and organizational outcomes relationship. Organizational culture was examined using the competing values framework (CVF) and measured through four types of culture that are observed in organizations: clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy. Organizational effectiveness was examined using employee turnover, innovation, financial effectiveness, and quality of service. Ethnic diversity in the organizational workforce was tested as a moderator of the relationship between the four different culture types and organizational effectiveness. The data were obtained from managers in medium-sized hotels in Australia and multiple regression analysis was applied to demonstrate relationships among variables. The results suggest that diversity in the workforce enhances the effect of an adhocracy organizational culture on the organizational effectiveness measure of innovation.