Culture, Self-Identity, and Work

The Mirage Corporation’s Failure
to Identify Cultural Differences

by L. Scott Morrow - L. Scott Morrow is a Graduate Student, Adjunct Professor and Guest Lecturer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mr. Morrow has served various positions in the gaming industry during the past 24 years and is currently an Assistant Pit Manager at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at rock6575@cox.net.

In this paper, I will use my personal experiences and information gathering to discuss what occurred in the Mirage expansion to Mississippi. I will use the Culture, Self-Identity, and Work (Erez and Earley, 1993) text as a framework for analyzing the actions made by the Mirage.

In the first section of the paper, I will discuss the overall Mirage culture, and the culture of the Mississippi gulf coast. My analysis will show the significant differences in culture and how these differences led to important issues/problems of starting up a new gaming venture in the gulf coast.

The next section will discuss the motivational techniques used by Mirage management and why these may or may not have worked. I will also show how successful these techniques were in their attempt to internally motivate these workers.

In the third section, I will discuss the leadership approaches used by Mirage management and assess whether or not these were appropriate to create a positive work environment in the gulf coast, as they were in Las Vegas.

Finally, I will show the value of understanding the interconnectedness of these concepts in order to effectively manage an operation in a different culture. I will also share my personal views of this new knowledge.

WHAT IS CULTURE?

Culture has been described as a patterned way of thinking (Kluckhohn, 1954), a set of mental programs (Hofstede, 1980) and subjective perception of the human-made part of the environment (Triandis, 1972). Culture is a part of the characteristics that make up the person. These characteristics include the person’s views on an assortment of topics such as religion, family values, education, and politics. For the scope and purpose of this paper, I will focus on how culture influences work behavior. The components of culture are norms, values, and the environment.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

There are many different types of culture. One of these is organizational culture. Organizational culture is sometimes viewed as the personality of an organization. Schein (1985) defines organizational culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the organization learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems (Schein). The key components for assessing organizational culture are artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions. Artifacts consist of the organization’s physical environment architecture, clothing or uniforms worn by the employees, the corporate language and lingo, published values, such as the employee handbook and the mission statement. Espoused values consist of strategies, goals and philosophies. The senior management staff must practice what they preach in relation to these espoused values. Do the organizational members “walk the talk?” If a company placed a high emphasis on teamwork, it would be essential for the manager to identify all of his or her subordinates by name and to have some relevant personal knowledge of each employee. Basic underlying assumptions are the employee’s perceptions of the results of the artifacts and espoused values. If the supervisor identifies the employee by name and asks him or her how their children are doing or some other relevant personal question, the underlying assumption would be that the supervisor really cares about the individual employee and values the employee as team member. What follows is the Mirage concept of organizational culture.

TEAM MIRAGE MARKET CULTURE

My personal gaming experience began in 1980 at Bally’s Park Place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Bally’s’ bureaucratic culture was extremely formalized, had strict rules and instilled fear among its employees. If I asked a question about a policy or gaming procedure the majority of the managers told me to “dummy-up and deal.” In layman’s terms this phrase translates to “Don’t ask questions, shut up and deal the game.” I considered this approach to be motivation through intimidation. Bally’s management led through a high-distance authority. In a high power distance culture, subordinates are more satisfied and expect a directive style of management from their superiors, whereas in a low power distance culture more participatory practices are expected (Erez and Earley, p. 54). An example of a high distance authority would be a military situation. The sergeant orders the private to climb over a wall. The private is conditioned and trained not to ask the sergeant, “Why do you want me to climb over the wall?” The private simply starts climbing. The corporate cultures of many New Jersey gaming companies led their casino employees toward several attempts at union organization. The combination of the bureaucratic organizational culture and the lack of other tangible benefits such as competitive wages, employee parking, and the exploitation of part-time casino employees, led to the Atlantic City gaming employees’ desire to seek third party representation. Steve Wynn’s Golden Nugget, New Jersey was the exception to this rule. The Golden Nugget was the premiere property in Atlantic City. Customers flocked there and every individual with a gaming license desired to work there. Mr. Wynn installed corporate values that put a high emphasis on creating a superior gaming staff. The Golden Nugget marketed to the lucrative “high roller” customer. The high-end customer leaves larger gratuities, thereby making Mr. Wynn’s dealers the highest paid in Atlantic City. The casino supervisors were all rewarded with company cars, including car insurance and a weekly gas allowance. The Golden Nugget staff responded by delivering an unparalleled level of customer service. Mr. Wynn created a sense of teamwork and company pride that was the envy of the gaming industry. Upon the sale of the Golden Nugget, Atlantic City, Mr. Wynn’s vision of an oasis in the desert became The Mirage.

Mr. Wynn was unique and approached gaming with a new angle and a progressive perspective. The Golden Nugget/Mirage Corporation is an example of an individualistic market culture. The three components of a market culture are: (1) achieving measurable and demanding goals; (2) hard-driving competition; and (3) profit orientation. (Schein, 1985.)

The first component of a market culture, achieving measurable and demanding goals, is demonstrated by the Wall Street analysts’ reluctance to endorse Mr. Wynn’s project because of the extremely high price tag and debt load of the company’s junk bonds. For the Mirage to be successful, the hotel would have to generate $1 million a day in revenue. The Golden Nugget, Las Vegas, and the Golden Nugget, Atlantic City were similar scenarios. The Golden Nugget, Las Vegas is the jewel of “downtown.” Gaming analysts predicted Mr. Wynn’s vision of a beautiful hotel featuring imported Italian marble, brass, and the construction of a 1,500-room tower, would be a financial disaster. These same gaming experts considered the Golden Nugget, Atlantic City as too small and too expensive to compete on the boardwalk. In all three cases Mr. Wynn, and his superior management team and staff proved the gaming analysts wrong by creating the most financially successful gaming operations in their respective locations.

The second component of a market culture, hard-driving competition, was presented by the Mirage’s direct next-door neighbor, and Las Vegas icon, Caesars Palace. Due to the Mirage’s immediate success as a destination resort, other Las Vegas gaming companies such as Circus-Circus (now known as Mandalay Bay Resorts), Park Place Entertainment and the MGM Grand added to the intense environmental competition on the Las Vegas Strip.

The last component is profit orientation. The Mirage was the first hotel casino to turn every revenue-producing department into a profit center. In the past, hotel casinos gave away food and beverage, and hotel rooms to its customers, and focused their attention on profits in the casino only. The Mirage changed this concept entirely from day one. The Siegfreid & Roy Theatre was sold out at $100 per ticket with two shows nightly. The Mirage’s food and beverage outlets set Las Vegas profit records due to the new segment of gourmet restaurants. The Mirage was also the first gaming operation to focus on retail and shopping, which made the Mirage Palm Tree logo one of the most recognized company symbols worldwide.

ARTIFACTS, ESPOUSED VALUES AND UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS

ARTIFACTS

The first key component for assessing organizational culture is identifying artifacts. Artifacts consist of the organization’s physical environment, clothing, language, and published values.

The artifacts include a state-of-the-art $750 million destination resort. The Mirage was the first resort to incorporate the concept of a central elevator bank. Having the elevators strategically located in the center of the property provided the team members with the ability to better serve their customers. The central location of the elevators creates a substantially shorter distance for room service, housekeepers and casino hosts to service the guest rooms. Upon the completion of construction, the Mirage was considered the safest building on the planet as far as fire safety. Fire safety in hospitality is extremely important, especially in Las Vegas with the tragic events of the MGM Grand and the International Hilton fires. The Mirage Director of Safety communicated this fact to all team members at orientation, instilling from day one the high value the company placed on the personal well-being of the staff.

The back of the house of the Mirage, featuring the Strip Joint, the employee cafeteria, was impeccable as far as design and cleanliness. The Mirage spent the same amount of money per square foot on the back of the house as it did in the guest areas. The perception and appearance of the back of the house reflected the value the company placed on the staff’s internal environment.

The “Mirage Wall of Fame” contained pictures of the Employee of the Month for each department. The Employee of the Month program led to the Employee of the Year Gala, which was hosted by such celebrities as General Norman Schwarzkopf, Michael Jordan, Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey. All twelve Employees of the Month recipients featured at the Gala received all-expenses paid vacations to Hawaii.
Glass-encased bulletin boards were filled with published values such as employee excellence, teamwork, community involvement and equality. The bulletin boards also contained grooming tips and advice on personal appearance. There were numerous full-length mirrors in every hallway of the back of the house to reflect the importance of the proper standards to be applied to the employees’ uniforms and personal appearance.

The Mirage changed the standard of terminology which included changing the names of commonly-held job titles such as “boxman,” “floorman,” “pit boss,” “maids” and “employees” to “boxperson,” “floorperson,” “pit manager,” “housekeepers” and “team members.” This was a significant change in the way gaming companies referred to their staff. No longer were female employees referred to as “boxman” or “floorman.” In the Mirage Corporation, they became “a person” to reflect the measure of equality.

ESPOUSED VALUES

The second key component for assessing organizational culture is espoused values. Espoused values consist of strategies, goals and philosophies. The most important values that were present at the Mirage were employee excellence, Teamwork, community involvement and equality.

The espoused values entered the Mirage through the strategic recruitment and selection process of the Mirage. The strategic recruiting process was accomplished through internal recruiting. Over 85% of the casino staff of the Golden Nugget Las Vegas employees was transferred to the Mirage. Through this internal recruitment, the casino staff was highly trained and aware of the high priority the company placed on the values of employee excellence, teamwork, community involvement and equality prior to the opening. The transferred employees were experienced and familiar with the norms and values of the Mirage corporate culture, as well as the company’s polices and procedures. Mr. Wynn’s published values of wanting the best of the best was accomplished through the strategic selection process. These values were posted in gaming journals and gaming publications that told stories of Mr. Wynn’s vision of the Mirage. Mr. Wynn envisioned a unique destination resort, superior to any hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The concept of an erupting volcano, the white tiger habitat, the dolphin exhibit and the world’s largest fish tank would attract an international clientele, which would lead to the most lucrative and exciting gaming jobs in the industry. Mr. Wynn’s desire to create a superior staff that would function in a team concept was focused on giving back to the community and stressed equality led to an overwhelming number of employee applicants.

The strategic selection process resulted in acquiring an exceptional staff. At every level and in every department there were experienced and talented people, which led to an extremely competitive internal environment. The gaming employees desired to be on the high limit games and work with the high profile customers. The competitive nature of the gaming employees was very positive for the company, and assisted with creating a team concept, which led to a higher level of customer service. The Mirage had successfully raised the bar in all areas of its hospitality operation due to its superior staff.

Community involvement is very important in the Mirage Corporation. Mr. Wynn was the first CEO in gaming to institute voter registration drives on property. Employees were enlightened impartially on the candidates’ views and the issues or questions that would be presented on the voting ballet. The VOICE volunteer program was another example of the Mirage’s commitment to community involvement. VOICE was a collection of Mirage employees that would donate their time and efforts to such community projects as Corporate Challenge, Food drives for the homeless and the School supplies drive for under privileged children.

Human Resources Vice President, Mr. Artie Nathan, brought the espoused values to light. Mr. Nathan truly walked the talk. Mr. Nathan made himself visible and available on a constant basis. Unlike many traditional gaming companies Mr. Nathan had an open door policy in his Human Resource office and was the keynote speaker at the Quarterly Management Meetings, which were always held in the ambiance of the Siegfreid & Roy Theatre. Mr. Nathan was the catalyst of the Mirage strategic Human Resources Department. Once again, unlike other gaming operations the Mirage placed a high priority on its training department. All Mirage team members underwent extensive training beginning with their orientation, and continuing through customer service and management skills. The team members were informed about the company’s philosophies and goals which were to deliver an unparalleled level of customer service and to be the world’s finest destination resort. The Mirage Corporation provided clear communication from the top down. Mr. Wynn was a perfect example of this communication process, which ranged from the formal communication of hosting a “State of the Company” address to dining in the employee cafeteria among the staff. By dining in the employee cafeteria, Mr. Wynn conveyed a powerful statement to the staff concerning a team concept.

BASIC UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS

The basic underlying assumptions at the Mirage were achieved through the artifacts and espoused values listed above. The artifacts and espoused values conveyed employee excellence, teamwork, a sense of community pride and equality all in a superior working environment. Both leaders and followers were conditioned through the Mirage values to produce behavior envisioned by senior management. . Mr. Wynn stressed a high level of customer interaction and unparalleled customer service as the top priorities within the company.

The voter registration example is an excellent representation of basic underlying assumptions. On the surface the voter registration program says, “The Mirage wants its team members to be involved in the community.” The basic underlying assumption is that if a polition brings up a proposal that is not in line with Mr. Wynn’s vision, Mr. Wynn would now control 15,000 employees who are all registered voters.

MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST CLAN CULTURE

The regional culture of the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a hybrid of the collective clan culture. The six components of clan culture are: (1) tradition; (2) loyalty; (3) extensive socialization; (4) social influence; (5) personal commitment; and (6) self-management (Schein, 1985). People in collectivistic cultures stress similarities with other group members that strengthen their group identity. Collectivistic cultures emphasize the connectedness among human beings and cultivate the interdependent concept of the self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). It is important for members of a collectivistic culture to fit in and be an accepted member of the group. It is more important for a collectivistic person to make a contribution to the group than to pursue self-serving goals. The local gulf coast employee is rooted in the deep tradition of church and family values. Tantamount to the gulf coast employee are respect for parents and family members and participation in religious ceremonies. These ceremonies include All Saints Day, Easter, the Feast of St. Joseph, the Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet, the Feast of St. Nicoli and Christmas. The Mississippi Gulf Coast employee has strong ties to the Catholic and Southern Baptist religions, which share these similar collectivistic values. The Mississippi Gulf Coast employee has a strong responsibility to attend social events with family and friends consisting of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Mardi Gras and the opening of hunting and fishing seasons.

These examples were brought to light during the Beau Rivage recruitment process. When employee candidates were asked what would be their ideal days off, an overwhelming majority requested Sunday/Monday, citing the foregoing religious and social reasons. The Mississippi Gulf Coast employee displays a much different work ethic than their individualistic Las Vegas counterparts. Individualism reflects the extent to which individuals emphasize their goals over those of their clan or group. Individualistic cultures are characterized by members who strive to achieve their own goals, who have narrow family structures, and whose movement among groups is a function of self-interest, whereas collectivistic cultures are characterized by members who emphasize the needs of the group over self-interests and live in extended family structures (Hofstede, 1984). The individualistic employee has more self-serving interests and a desire for personal gain that is greater than the needs and goals of the group. The collectivistic employee is more concerned with the best interests of the group in mind. The needs of the group are more important than self-serving interests or goals to the collectivistic employee.

Herein lies the gap between the individualistic management approach of Mirage Resorts Las Vegas’ operation and the collectivistic culture of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Region. The employee behavior was an indicator that the motivational techniques were apparently not well received by the Gulf Coat employees.

MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES

Attempts to transfer motivational techniques across cultures have not been very successful (Erez and Earley, 1993). Values are key to understanding cross-cultural variations in work motivation, because they are the cognitive representations of needs, mediating between needs and goals. Values are the component or variable, which differentiate an employee from a different regional culture. Most employees’ needs are the same, such as food and shelter. Values are the wild card in the work motivational sequence. The work motivational sequence is comprised of needs ? values ? goals ? performance ? rewards ? satisfaction (Locke, 1991). The work motivational sequence model will be the analytical tool to identify the gaps in the work behavior. Locke’s model is relevant because of the prominent components of culture, which are needs and values.

Needs are defined as “an internal state of disequilibria or deficiency which has the capacity to energize or trigger a behavioral response” (Steers & Porter, 1991). Needs are necessary for biological balance and emotional harmony in an individual. The lack, or absence, of a need has the potential to trigger an adverse behavioral response. While needs and motives exist on both biological and cognitive levels, values are exclusively a project of consciousness (Locke, 1991). Values are defined as “enduring beliefs that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence” (Rokeach, 1973:5). Values are a specific behavior, or conduct, which is in line with an individual’s conscious beliefs. The subject of pre-marital sex is an example of a value. To some cultures, the concept of abstinence prior to marriage is a sacred value, whereas other cultures find the concept of pre-marital sex socially acceptable. On the individual level, values differ from needs in the sense that needs are considered to be fundamentally the same for all people, whereas values make each person a unique individual and guide his or her personal choices and actions (Locke, 1991).

The cost of living and housing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is relatively low compared to the rest of the country. Many of the Beau Rivage’s employees lived in trailer homes and their monthly expenses were relatively easy to achieve in relation to their earnings at Beau Rivage. The medium priced, three bedroom, two bath, home in the region was $110,000. The average salary for a dealer at the Beau Rivage was $55,000. A dealer would only need to work an average of three days a week to successfully meet his or her financial needs and obligations. A majority of the employees’ sole motivation was to meet his or her basic needs. Their individual goals were different from their Las Vegas counterparts, such as improving their living conditions, i.e., moving into a larger home or a nicer neighborhood. “I already have a single wide, I don’t need a double wide” was a management slogan when discussing the mentality of the Beau Rivage employee. The Beau Rivage employee was happy and content to meet his or her basic needs of food and shelter, while his or her ambitions and goals were to enjoy their social time with friends and family. Herein lies yet another gap in work behavior between management and the Beau Rivage employee. Beau Rivage management perceived the employees’ behavior as a poor work ethic, or the employee’s lack of acceptance of the company’s values and norms. The employees’ behavior is not right or wrong; it is just different from management’s perspective. Beau Rivage management’s perception of the employees’ lack of drive and desire to improve their lifestyle was not in line with Mr. Wynn’s desire for a solid, employee-focused and valued corporate culture. This is a major difference from the Team Mirage approach of company first and work as a means to the end.
The phenomenon of mental programming for responses to stimuli can be cited for such behavioral differences leading to severe attendance problems and scheduling challenges in relation to hunting season, fishing season and the Mardi Gras celebration. The chronic attendance problems and the disparity of priorities concerning social events in lieu of attendance at work is an example of another gap. The Mississippi Gulf Coast employee simply placed a higher priority on social and religious events first and work second. This regional culture’s priorities are different from those of its Las Vegas counterparts. The Beau Rivage management was unaware of the high regard that its employees placed on these social and religious events. Because of the employees’ collective nature, attendance at these events came naturally to the Gulf Coast employee.

From the employees’ standpoint, their mental programming said they should be at Mardi Gras and they should be hunting and they should not be at work. Another example of the work ethic issue was that in order to increase attendance on the weekends, management was forced to change its payroll policy from Friday to Monday. Employees would get their paychecks on Friday, and call in sick on Saturday and Sunday to spend the weekends with their family. They merely placed a higher value on spending quality time with their families instead of going to work. The need to transform the payroll policy shows yet another gap in the two cultures that can lead to inefficient gaming operations.

Herein lays my analysis of the gaps between the two cultures. The Mirage Las Vegas employees, from their individualistic approach, have the same basic needs, such as food and shelter, as their Beau Rivage colleagues. The difference in Locke’s model lies in the values of the two different regions. The conscious values of the Mirage employees are closer associated to the values of the company. The competitive nature and high goals and strong intentions lead to a better work performance, where the Mirage employee strives for excellence and sets higher individualistic goals for himself or herself such as home ownership, moving up to the master planned community, obtaining the SUV and a higher emphasis on their children’s education. To achieve these material goals, there must be a strong work ethic oriented to the things that are important to the organization and a superior performance. There is a proven track record with the company that a superior performance will lead to rewards such as financial gain, promotion, and commendations placed in the employee’s file. Achieving these rewards leads to the employee’s satisfaction as long as the rewards are tied to something the employee values.
The Beau Rivage employees, with their regional values of tradition and loyalty to church and family, have entirely different goals and intentions, which leads to their work behavior. The goals and intentions of the Gulf Coast employee are to spend more time with his or her family and friends in their social setting, which leads to a different work behavior and a totally different performance. Their performance leads to rewards that are not coming from the company, but rewards to their “inner self” which leads to their satisfaction.

WORK MOTIVATION/REWARD ALLOCATION

The motivational method of the Mirage Corporation was reward allocation. The three basic rules of reward allocation are defined as the equity rule, the principal of equality and the principle of need (Erez and Earley, 1993). The equity rule distributes rewards to employees based upon contribution and encourages differentiation. The equity rule works well in individualistic cultures and has the potential to cause disharmony in the group setting of collectivistic cultures. The principle of equality, which features uniformity and fairness, would be better received in a clan culture. An example of reward allocation using the principle of equality would be implementing cost of living raises instead of merit raises. When the Beau Rivage opened, the compensation of the casino floor supervisors was an excellent example of the gap between the two competing cultures. Management installed a two-tiered pay scale at the floor supervisor level. A two-tiered compensation system is one in which newer employees are paid less than their more experienced employees for performing the same job. The Beau Rivage transferred experienced supervisors from their Las Vegas properties and they received higher wages than their peers from Biloxi. The supervisors from Las Vegas believed they deserved a higher salary due to their individualistic mindset. The collective culture of the local Gulf Coast employee resented the two-tiered compensation practice. By not being compensated in the same manner as their peers from Las Vegas, the local employees felt alienated from the organization. The two-tiered compensation system brought disharmony to the group. Beau Rivage’s management had to quickly rectify the situation by bringing all floor supervisors up to an equal pay scale.

SELF

Beyond a physical self, individuals have a private self, which conveys the awareness of internal thoughts and feelings that are private, to the extent that they cannot be directly known by others (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). A person’s thoughts and feelings can only be known by the individual. Yet, these thoughts and feelings are shaped to a great extent by the shared understanding within a particular culture of what it is to be human (Cahoone, 1998; Cushman, 1990).

Self-regulatory processes operate in the service of developing and maintaining a representation of the self. Three motives in the service of the self can be identified as: (1) the need for self-enhancement, as reflected in seeking and maintaining a positive cognitive and affective state about the self; (2) the self-efficacy motive, which is the desire to perceive oneself as competent and efficacious; and (3) the need for self-consistency, which is the desire to sense and experience coherence and continuity (Gecas, 1982; Markus & Wurf, 1987).

Individuals are more sensitive to self-relevant stimuli than to stimuli with a low relevance to the self; they process self-congruent stimuli more efficiently and they resist incongruent information. Self-relevant stimuli show enhanced recall and recognition (Markus & Wurf, 1987). Self-relevant stimuli are stimuli that are important to the individual. Self-enhancement refers to stimuli that make the employee respond. Mirage Las Vegas employees displayed self-enhancement by competing at a high corporate level to reach desired goals of promotion within the corporation. Beau Rivage employees responded to self-relevant stimuli in a different way. Competing for upward mobility was not relevant to the locals. It was more important for them to spend more time with their family and social events.

Perceived self-efficacy is “a judgment of one’s capability to accomplish a certain level of performance” (Bandura, 1986:391). People will avoid tasks that they perceive will exceed their capabilities. The Mirage employee, excelling at a high level of performance based on industry standards, perceived that they could perform the tasks necessary for promotion. The Mississippi locals were content in their current position and the prospect of upward mobility would violate their self-efficacy. By avoiding the challenges associated with promotions or a higher level of responsibility, the employee would not violate the notion of exceeding their capabilities.

Self-consistency is defined as the sense of continuity and consistency, which helps individuals to connect events in their current social life to past experiences and to maintain a coherent view that enables them to operate effectively in the environment (Epstein, 1973). Self-consistency is a person’s conditioned response to stimuli accrued over time and changing one’s perspective and thought process is very difficult. It is easier said than done to change a person’s thought process and work behavior. The high- achieving Mirage employee is conditioned before entering the company that work is a means to the end. The Gulf Coast local is conditioned that church and family come first. Social events take precedence over employment obligations.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership refers to the process of influencing a group’s activities toward goal achievement (Roach, 1984). Steve Wynn is arguably the most recognized leader in the history of organized gaming. Mr. Wynn is to gaming what Lee Iacocca was to the automotive industry, and Herb Kelleher is to air travel. Mr. Wynn’s leadership style is charismatic. Charismatic leadership from a cultural perspective is Sashkin’s (1988) adaptation of Parsonian theory. Using Parsons’ action framework, Sashkin argues that charismatic leadership can be thought of as a fundamental, internal aspect of value orientation. The charismatic leader is one whose work is “defining, constructing, and gaining commitment to a set of shared values, beliefs, and norms about change, goals, and people working together—that is, defining, building, and involving people in their organization’s culture” (Sashkin, 1988:136;179). Mr. Wynn burst into instant celebrity with his series of award-winning Golden Nugget, Atlantic City television commercials featuring such entertainment superstars as Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka and Kenny Rogers. Mr. Wynn was young, handsome, wealthy, and powerful. He had the cutting edge vision of treating his employees with respect. Mr. Wynn’s philosophy was simple—happy employees deliver a higher level of customer service. Yukl’s (1989, 269) integrating model of leadership is based on three major focal points: Leader, follower, and intervening processes. In an individualistic culture, the emotional attachment occurs as an intimate bond between the leader and follower. The leader is viewed as a source of personal outcomes and recognition. Mr. Wynn achieved the bond necessary to elevate the Mirage as the number two most admired company by Fortune Magazine in 1995.

Barry Shearer was appointed to the position of President of the Beau Rivage. Mr. Shearer did not know that culture would have an impact on the overall performance of the operation. Mr. Shearer failed to identify the unique clan culture of the Mississippi Gulf Coast employee. In a highly collectivistic culture, leaders are recognized and evaluated by their ability to move the group toward valued goals. Followers’ attachment to leaders hinges on their relevance to a group’s success (Yukl, 1989). Shearer failed to identify the unique regional values and goals, such as church and family, which were important to the Mississippi Gulf Coast employees.

Shearer failed to place locals into leadership positions. He had no insight into the local norms and values. He also alienated the local community from the project. Shearer made the devastating strategic marketing blunder of alienating the local market. Valet parking was limited and customers had to show a driver’s license to valet park. Locals were forced to park across the street and self-park. Shearer failed to see this as alienating the clan. The local customers were the same people who went to church together with the Beau Rivage employees. These local residents, both employees and customers, were members of the same cultural group. The same local people, who shared the same holidays and social events, now shared negative connotations and negative experiences about the Beau Rivage. Shearer failed to move the collective group forward. He never established the necessary emotional bond of the charismatic leadership style Mr. Wynn successfully created in Las Vegas.

SUMMARY CONCLUSION/PERSONAL VIEWS

With the advent of global expansion and corporate mergers, my analysis shows it is extremely important for senior management to recognize and appreciate the importance of culture and its relation to work behavior. My research shows that different cultures exist here in the United States, and not only abroad. It is vital for an organization to fully understand the interconnectedness of the concepts presented in order to effectively manage an operation were a different culture exists.

Completing this project was very beneficial to me and I am confident that by applying my newfound knowledge in my approach, I will become a more complete manager. I have a better appreciation for each individual employee because I now understand the concept of self and self-need, and how the individual’s needs and values may be different than mine. I am now aware that norms and values of the employee will dictate how responsive they will be to various motivational techniques that in turn will have a dramatic impact on their work behavior.

My present position of Casino Pit Manager presents me with the opportunity to put my new knowledge into action. The team members at the Mirage come from all over the world and from all walks of life. There are many different cultures represented by our staff, because of our international cliental. I now possess a better understanding of each individual, because of my realization that different cultures exist, and people in different cultures have values and norms that are in line with their respective culture, and those values and norms may be different than mine.

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