Results

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of my field research, based on the tentative COCA framework developed in Chap. 5 and the reflective journey that I went through. The chapter is divided into five sections based on the COCA framework (see Fig. 5.1), which is divided into three parts: (a) Principal actors, (b) Technical aspects and (c) Core principles. Before looking at each of these, Sect. 7.2 discusses the relationship between the research team and ‘the researched’ (i.e. the community and the parent company), especially in terms of the perceptions and misconceptions of the different actors with regard to the role(s) of the research team. Section 7.3 describes how each step of the field research was implemented in practice and compares the theoretical approach with the actual circumstances encountered during the case study. Section 7.4 focuses entirely on Step 12: Reporting, and presents not only the output of the cursory analysis of organisational culture at the lodge but also proves that, due to the detail of the outcomes it produces, the COCA framework can be applied as an instrument to diagnose organisational and community cultures in the hospitality sector. Section 7.5 presents the implications of the core findings and explains why the lodge was unable to let its own dynamic organisational culture evolve. This conclusion refers to the fact that the parent company presented the ethnic cultures of the community as staged cultures by ignoring the undergoing permanent changes the villagers were embedded in. The final section, Conclusion, stresses that the findings have demonstrated that in the context of such ventures, an understanding of authenticity, cultural change, ownership and participation should be discussed and reflected by the involved actors in order to achieve a better ‘culture fit’ in the future. The field research has proven that COCA can be a supportive methodology in this regard.

“Research is where knowledge meets power”

(Hall, 2011, p. 49)