leadership and motivation in hospitality

Primary
Theoretical Focus
(n = 46)

Summary of findings

Behavioural
(n = 19)

Too much heterogeneity in specific approaches and foci to

draw meaningful conclusions. Three studies use competing

values approaches and two use implicit leadership theory – no

consistency within these respective approaches, however.

Contingency
(n = 3)

Two papers focus on the influence of cultural (in)congruity on
dyadic leader-member relations; the other found that a task-
orientated leadership style would be most appropriate for the
hospitality industry.
Leader-Member
Exchange (LMX)
(n = 8)

Correlate a number of organisational, work and leadership

factors with the nature of LMX (Leaders-Member Exchange)

relationships.

Transformational
leadership (TL)
(n = 12)

2 theoretical papers; 3 papers modelling TL, work roles and

communication; 3 measuring relationships between TL and a

range of outcomes; 2 on TL and burnout; 1 on employee

empowerment; and 1 examining emotional intelligence as an

antecedent of TL.

Power-influence
(n = 1)

There are significant relations between leader power bases
(sources of power, e.g. position and personal) and
subordinates’ job stress.
Servant leadership
(n = 1)

Servant leadership in hospitality has the potential to

contribute to a number of industry and societal issues.

Discussion paper
(n = 1)

Keegan (1983) discussed leadership and hospitality in a

societal context. Suggests that stimulation and motivation

are most important dimensions of leadership in the hospitality

sectors.

Conceptual /
Literature Review
(n = 1)

Pittaway et al. (1998) is not an empirical paper but sought to

evaluate hospitality leadership studies based on the

epistemological assumptions and paradigmatic approaches

used in the papers they reviewed.

Source: author

focus Table 3-2 Summary of hospitality leadership studies by primary theoretical

theoretical focus

The following sections examine in detail the identified hospitality-leadership
articles utilising core leadership theory: firstly, early articles published during the
1970s are discussed and thereafter the section is structured around the
categories presented in Table 3 - 1 and Table 3 - 2. The article then proceeds to
examine the evolution of hospitality-leadership studies. Pittaway et al.’s (1998)
recommendations for a framework for future leadership research in the hospitality
sectors.