Leadership in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

is director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration at the University of New Orleans, where he teaches courses in hotel and restaurant management and tourism. He holds a B.S. in engineering, an M.B.A., and a doctorate in economic, all from Tulane University. Before assuming his current position, he was assistant dean of the University of New Orleans College of Business Administration, in charge of the M.B.A. program. He has also worked in various management positions with the General Electric Company and was previously on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration at Emory University. G. Kent Stearns holds a B.S. from Michigan Technological University, an M.B.A. from Xavier University, and a J.D. from Chase College of Northern Kentucky State University. A member of the faculty at the University of New Orleans School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration, he teaches hotel law and accounting. What management style is most effective with hotel and restaurant employees?EVERYONE AGREES that management has the responsibility for providing effective leadership to employees. Many managers, however, are puzzled and confused when it comes to choosing the most appropriate style of leadership. This is a question of great importance to the hospitality industry. People-related problems are, and always will be, of major importance because of the labor intensiveness of the industry and because service, either directly or indirectly, is the indisputable ingredient for success. From the local fast food outlet to the international luxury hotel, employees make the difference. Most conscientious managers in the hospitality industry read articles or attend seminars on &dquo;people&dquo; management. To their consternation, two things often happen: the leadership techniques of the textbook and the classroom do not always work in practice, and competent experts often suggest conflicting solutions to personnel problems.Although frustrating, this confusion is more understandable when we consider the complexities of people and the imprecision of management as a science. Management is not an exact science. It tends to be &dquo;soft&dquo; and not capable of measurement as precise as that in the &dquo;hard&dquo; sciences like physics and chemistry. But it is a science; it is more than an art.Our industry's people problems are compounded by this confusion and also by the lack of systematic leadership research pertaining to the hospitality industry. The purpose of this article is: (1) to bring some order to the seemingly conflicting opinions concerning leadership style;(2) to report on the results of hospitality-industry field research as it relates to problems of leadership; and (3) to suggest a strategy that can be helpful in choosing the most appropriate leadership style for your organization. Leadership and the SituationThe characterization by McGregor of contrasting leadership styles as Theory X and Theory Y has become well known to practicing managers. A Theory X manager is autocratic and...

What does the Industry need to know about Chinese Hospitality Leadership?

“…Rapid hospitality growth has brought substantial changes and challenges to the business and economic environment. Contingency theory was used to examine how different environments, conditions and organization styles impact on leadership effectiveness (Fiedler, 1978;Nebel and Stearns, 1977). It has also received considerable research attention later by other scholars (Porreca, 1990;Arnold, 1994;Hazard, 1989).…”

The Human Dimension

“…Two streams of research have examined HRM practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. In one stream, a number of studies examined individual HRM practices (Exhibit 2) such as recruitment and selection (Anderson, Provis, and Chappel 2003;Garavan 1997;Ineson 1996;Janes 2004;Martin and Grove 2002), empowerment and involvement (Brymer 1991;Corsun and Enz 1999;Dewald and Sutton 2000;Fulford and Enz 1995;Hales and Klidas 1998;Lashley 1995aLashley , 1995bLashley , 1999Lashley , 2000Sparrowe 1994), leadership and managerial styles (Anastassova and Purcell 1995;Deery and Jago 2001;Hales and Tamangani 1996;Lee-Ross 1993;MacFarlane 1982;Nebel and Stearns 1977;Purcell 1987;Tracey and Hinkin 1994;Worsfold 1989a), performance appraisal (Umbreit 1986(Umbreit , 1987Umbreit, Eder, and McConnell 1986;Woods, Sciarini, and Breiter 1998), and wages (Lee and Kang 1998).…”

Leadership Styles for Foodservice Managers

“…Numerous studies (Christou & Eaton, 2000;Goodman & Sprague, 1991;C. H. C. Hsu, 1995;Kay & Russette, 2000;Nebel & Stearns, 1977;Ogbeide, 2006;Okeiyi, Finley, & Postel, 1994;Perdue, Woods, & Ninemeier, 2000;Tracey & Hinkin, 1994 have been conducted to investigate leadership and/or competencies needed by hospitality management graduates to be effective. Most of these studies were based on the opinions of the industry leaders and hospitality program educators.…”