Richard Lewis Model Analysis

The Lewis Model was developed in 1990s by Richard Lewis. This model was further articulated in his book When Cultures Collide (1996) and won the US Book of the Month in 1997. Through his experiences on working with different cultural backgrounds, Lewis concluded that human, based on their BEHAVIOUR can be divided into 3 categories: Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive. Multi- Active
The countries that fall into the Multi-Active category have the following traits and commonality. They are: full of emotion, talkative, persuasive, have an expressive body language and religion and family are very important to them. They are also not interested in schedules and punctuality as for them “Reality” is rather more important to them than “man-made”

The expressive personality of multi-actives can be too much for the other parties to handle and can affect the guest satisfaction. For example, in terms of handling complains. Referring to table above, multi-active culture people are people oriented. This is a good thing for the service industry as they tend to be more hospitable for the guests. On the other hand this can also affect their way of handling complaints. As a multi-active people and who are emotionally expressive this can be interpreted as not listening to what the guests are saying and can be interpreted as a violent

The interview for the employees will be conducted to the chosen employees only. Referring to the Lewis Model we picked three employees and categorized them within the three variation of the model-Multi-active, Linear-active and Reactive. In Multi-active we interviewed an employee from Greece. In the Linear-active category we interviewed a Danish-American employee and for the Reactive employee will be from the Philippines.

Observation Notes
- People from Multi- active category or cultures tend to have more aggressive behavior in terms of handling complaints and when they are stressed.
- Reactive people are friendly and always have a big smile at work. They are very good at concealing their emotions. Guests-They are a bit unorganized, fx. They come in ignore the hosts and just sit on the tables or point the tables where they want.
- Linear-active people are strict about rules. Since TGI Fridays have many rules from its “Non-negotiable brand standards”, I observed that my colleagues from this dimension follow and observed this rules more strictly than others. This sometimes creates conflict for me that belongs to Reactive culture who is very people oriented and rules are sometimes applied depending who and what situation I am dealing