Modern hotel management versus traditional village values: The case of Bali

Bali is considered to be one of the top tourist destinations and the centre of growth of tourism in Indonesia. It is associated by a development process of hotels and other tourist facilities. At present, there are more than 25,000 rooms of star hotel accommodation available in Bali. Looking at the interface between tourists and hotel employees, there is an interesting thing to note about the Balinese, especially those who become hotel workers or employees. They normally work full day with strict rules and regulations, either a morning-, evening-, or night-shift. At the same time they have to participate in social activities at their home village. They are still considered to be members of local society. In doing their task as employees in the hotel, they often have to make a choice between two conflicting priorities. They either work in the hotel as normal, without do anything in their society; or they do their social tasks in the village, and have to be absent from hotel duty. These conditions frequently occur, and make life unhappy for the Balinese. This is a matter of conflict management; without any solution it is becoming a stressor for the Balinese worker. It is especially true if the hotel management does not understand the local culture. This article reports how the Balinese hotel employees are solving their problems, on the basis of a win-win solution. Based on past experiences, the solutions practiced are as follows: a) there is an exchange of shift-work between the Balinese and non-Balinese employees, based on individual agreement; b) if all the employees are Balinese, they manage in a such way that a Balinese who does not have any business in his village society is willing to replace/exchange for his colleague who has a societal task; c) the Balinese is asking his right to have a day-off on the day for his village societal festival; but this must be requested in advance. By doing that, work satisfaction is achieved; the business goals and the societal need can be maintained sustainably in a parallel way. That is as an example of how a pro-contra problem is solved wisely, in a win-win solution.