West India
West Indies Yacht Club Resort:
When Cultures Collide
Jeffrey P. Shay
University of Montana
In early December 1994, Patrick Dowd, a 30-year-old management consultant, stared out his office window at the snowy Ithaca, New York, landscape. Dowd reflected on his recent phone conversation with Jim Johnson, general manager of the 95-room West Indies Yacht Club Resort (WIYCR), located in the British Virgin
Islands. Johnson sounded desperate to pull the resort out of its apparent tailspin and noted three primary areas of concern. First, expatriate manager turnover was beginning to become problematic. In the past 2 years, the resort had hired and then failed to retain three expatriate waterfront directors and three expatriate food and beverage directors. Second, although the resort had not initiated a formal guest feedback program, Johnson estimated that guest complaints had increased from 10 per week to more than 30 per week over the past 2 years. The complaints were usually given by guests to staff at the front desk, written down, and passed on to Johnson; usually, they were centered on the deteriorating level of service provided by local British Virgin Islands’ employees. Many repeat guests claimed, “The staff just doesn’t seem as motivated as it used to be.” Third, there appeared to be an increasing level of tension between expatriate and local staff members. In the past, expatriates and locals seemingly found it natural to work side by side; now a noticeable gap between these groups appeared to be growing.
Johnson had come to know Dowd and his reputation for being one of the few expatriate management consultants in the region who seemed to have a real grasp on what it took to manage effectively in the Caribbean. The two had become better acquainted in 1993 when the world-renowned sailing school that Dowd was working for, Tradewind Ventures, was contracted to develop new family-focused programs to be offered by the resort. Through this experience,
When Cultures Collide
Jeffrey P. Shay
University of Montana
In early December 1994, Patrick Dowd, a 30-year-old management consultant, stared out his office window at the snowy Ithaca, New York, landscape. Dowd reflected on his recent phone conversation with Jim Johnson, general manager of the 95-room West Indies Yacht Club Resort (WIYCR), located in the British Virgin
Islands. Johnson sounded desperate to pull the resort out of its apparent tailspin and noted three primary areas of concern. First, expatriate manager turnover was beginning to become problematic. In the past 2 years, the resort had hired and then failed to retain three expatriate waterfront directors and three expatriate food and beverage directors. Second, although the resort had not initiated a formal guest feedback program, Johnson estimated that guest complaints had increased from 10 per week to more than 30 per week over the past 2 years. The complaints were usually given by guests to staff at the front desk, written down, and passed on to Johnson; usually, they were centered on the deteriorating level of service provided by local British Virgin Islands’ employees. Many repeat guests claimed, “The staff just doesn’t seem as motivated as it used to be.” Third, there appeared to be an increasing level of tension between expatriate and local staff members. In the past, expatriates and locals seemingly found it natural to work side by side; now a noticeable gap between these groups appeared to be growing.
Johnson had come to know Dowd and his reputation for being one of the few expatriate management consultants in the region who seemed to have a real grasp on what it took to manage effectively in the Caribbean. The two had become better acquainted in 1993 when the world-renowned sailing school that Dowd was working for, Tradewind Ventures, was contracted to develop new family-focused programs to be offered by the resort. Through this experience,