might fruitfully focus on this approach to enhance our understanding of the field
through a process of iterative augmentation of knowledge generation.
Transformational leadership theory is also capable of accommodating the full
range of leader behaviours by conceptualising both transformational and
transactional leader behaviours. This breadth of scope lends transformational
leadership a contextual flexibility that means it can be used as a measurement
tool for understanding leader behaviour and leadership outcomes in the wide
range of organisational contexts (e.g. differing: organisational focus such as
catering, events or accommodation; organisational size; leader behaviour /
leadership style; nature of customers e.g. leisure / business) that exist in the
hospitality sector.
Significantly, transformational leadership, through its Inspirational Motivational
(IM) dimension, addresses a key issue in hospitality management, that of
employee work motivation. Inspirational Motivation (IM) describes the capacity of
transformational leaders to inspire, motivate and provide and shape meaning for
employees by emphasising priorities, purpose and a vision for goal achievement
(Avolio et al. 1991; Bass 1999). For service staff experiencing challenging
employment characteristics (e.g. low pay, long and anti-social hours, unstable
and seasonal employment, low job status, lack of career progression opportunities
and poor levels of employment benefits), the presence and influence of an
inspirational leader who can provide or enhance work meaning, motivate them to
perform well and increase their levels of job satisfaction may be welcomed.
These findings from the review of the generic and hospitality-specific leadership
literatures informed the decision to draw upon the Inspirational Motivational (IM)
dimension of transformational leadership theory to measure motivational
leadership.
Regarding work motivation, this can be measured using both attitudinal and
behavioural measures (Ambrose and Kulik 1999: 232). The review of hospitality
leadership research identified three attitudinally-based variables that can each be
regarded as manifestations of employee work motivation. Employee job
satisfaction and affective organisational commitment are frequently used in both
the general and hospitality-specific organisational psychology and organisational
behaviour research while the third attitude measure, work meaning, is drawn
from transformational leadership theory (Avolio and Bass 2004a: 96; Bass and
Riggio 2006: 6).