National and organisational cultural influences on human resource practices: case studies from two hotels in Greece and Cyprus

Heretofore, cultural influences on managerial processes have been a challenging topic both for scholars and practitioners. Literature focus has been either on national or corporate cultural impact on human resource practices (HRPs). Thus, it is a million-dollar question whether national or organisational culture drives the implementation of specific HRPs in a real business environment.

A mix of qualitative and quantitative methodology is adopted to explore the above link on the Greek and Cypriot hospitality industry. Case studies of two hotels in Greece and Cyprus are adopted in order a comparative analysis to be possible. Employees of both hotels complete the research questionnaire. The findings of the questionnaire analysis identify the national culture of each country and the organisational culture of each hotel. Additionally, the findings unveil which HRPs and to what extent are implemented in each organisation. Afterwards, the analysis of the semi-structured interviews with the hotels’ HR managers sheds more light on cultural effects on HRPs.

The research concludes that both a country’s identity and an organization’s culture foster the implementation of specific HRPs. Finally, this paper provides points for practitioners and suggestions for the HR managers of the hospitality industry along with further research in this particular field.