Pygmalion leadership: Theory and application to the hotel industry

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the role of Pygmalion leadership and the influences of employees’ trust in a leader, trust in an organization, and job engagement on task performance in the hotel industry. Through examining Pygmalion leadership, trust, and engagement in the literature, this research establishes and tests a model to identify the interrelation among four dimensions of Pygmalion leadership (e.g., climate, output, input, and feedback), trust in a leader, trust in an organization, job engagement, and task performance. Using data collected from hotel employees, this study finds that climate, output, and feedback are critical for nurturing two dimensions of trust that enhance job engagement and task performance.     

Developing a new Multi‐Nation tourism region: Thai perspectives on the Mekong initiatives

This article examines Thailand's recent tourism policy and its attitudes towards international tourism development collaboration in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Thailand is the major tourist destination country and gateway for international tourists visiting the region, and is a leader of Mekong tourism developments. This paper considers the Thai perspective on its tourism development, and examines current co‐operative activities in the Mekong region in the context of its own tourism industry. A number of research needs are sketched out as a proposed framework for future studies.     

Using a Model of Emotional Intelligence Domains to Indicate Transformational Leaders in the Hospitality Industry

ABSTRACT

In the workplace, teamwork, collaboration, and excellent interpersonal communication are traits of successful leaders. Transformational leaders, utilizing their emotional intelligence (EI) abilities, are successful in employing these effective leadership skills. Using the dimensions of transformational leadership and the domains of EI, a model was developed indicating the direct relationship between the two constructs. Additionally, a pilot study was conducted to demonstrate that students in hospitality undergraduate programs do not possess the level of EI needed to be successful transformational leaders. These findings demonstrated the need to incorporate EI instruction into orientation and training programs.     

Leisure co‐participant preferences of the elderly: Age‐homogeneity versus age‐heterogeneity

Abstract

Leisure participation often occurs in the company of others. Therefore, identifying the nature of preferred others is important in understanding antecedent conditions which facilitate the leisure experience. A major characteristic in determining co‐participant preferences of the elderly is the preferred age of others involved in the activity. This study was conducted to determine whether older individuals prefer to interact with age‐peers or with younger individuals when participating in 19 selected leisure activities. Results indicated a preference for age‐heterogeneity in interaction. However, old respondents were more likely to select old co‐participants than were young respondents.     

Reexamining the significance of childhood recreation patterns on adult leisure behavior

This study is the examination of the impact of childhood participation levels in outdoor recreation on the activity level of that individual as an adult. The study is based on a stratified random sample of adult residents in eight northeastern Iowa counties. Forty‐five outdoor recreation activities were used to determine the “carry‐over” of participation from childhood to adulthood. The results indicate a direct effect of the childhood level of participation on adult level of participation. Only eight of forty‐five activities seem to carry over; therefore, prediction of specific activity carryover is very limited. Implications for educating for leisure and aspects of socialization are discussed.     

Paradoxical leadership and hospitality employees’ service performance: The role of leader identification and need for cognitive closure

Based on the social identity theory, this study examined the relationship between paradoxical leadership and employees’ service performance in the hospitality industry. Data were collected from a multisource, time-lagged survey of 72 leaders and 556 employees in eight full-service hotels in China. Using hierarchical linear modeling, paradoxical leadership was found to be positively related to employees’ leader identification, which consequently enhanced their service performance. Furthermore, the level of an employee’s need for cognitive closure moderated the relationship between paradoxical leadership and leader identification such that paradoxical leadership exerted a stronger positive influence on leader identification for those employees with a lower need for cognitive closure. These findings have implications for both paradoxical leadership and hospitality management practices.     

Leadership dyads in the cruise industry: the impact of cultural congruency

Multiculturalism continues to permeate the management literature as an imperative issue in today's workplace. The cruise industry is highly diverse, with leaders often interacting with subordinates whose national origin is different from their own. Past research suggests that differences in national culture may significantly impact the process of leadership evaluation and subsequently how subordinates respond to their leaders. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if such a process takes place in the cruise industry. Using a diverse sample of cruise line managers (n=367), a comparison of congruent and incongruent leaders/subordinate dyads was conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine how cultural congruence impacted perceived leadership style (consideration and initiating structure), trust, satisfaction and commitment to the leader. The results indicate that subordinates in congruent dyads evaluated their leaders significantly higher on consideration behaviors, and reported higher levels of trust and satisfaction with their leader, than those in the incongruent group. These findings suggest that national culture systematically impacts how subordinates within the studied sample evaluate, and subsequently feel about their leaders. The results are discussed and recommendations are made for leaders within the cruise environment.     

Attitudes toward outdoor recreation development: An application of social exchange theory

A research project was undertaken within a multi‐county region in southeastern Ohio to ascertain the attitudes of local residents toward future outdoor recreation development within the area. A systematic random sample of 1493 respondents was drawn from a five‐county region to test a theoretical perspective developed from selected components of social exchange theory. The findings demonstrated that the respondents held very favorable attitudes toward outdoor recreation development. Multivariate analysis of the data revealed that the theoretical model was basically supported. The findings are discussed from both applied and theoretical perspectives.     

Ethnic factors and the use of public outdoor recreation areas: The case of Mexican Americans

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of subculture, marginality, and perceived discrimination on use of selected public outdoor recreation areas. The assimilation perspective from the sociology literature provided theoretical guidance for the study. These concepts were treated as different types of social distance (cultural distance, socioeconomic distance, and intergroup distance). Each was hypothesized to affect the use of outdoor recreation areas. Data for this analysis came from telephone interviews conducted with 1057 households in Maricopa and Gila counties in Arizona. The analysis was conducted using a subsample of respondents of Mexican ancestry. The results support the socioeconomic, or marginality, hypothesis. There was less support for the subcultural, or ethnicity, hypothesis. There was no support for the perceived discrimination hypothesis. Research implications and recommendations are discussed.     

“Just trained to be a chef,not a leader”: A study of head chef practices

ABSTRACT

Hierarchical manners and taxing work complicate the picture of the restaurant industry, a sector in great need of personnel. There is little scientific research on daily work in restaurants. Through interviews and observations in restaurant kitchens, three head chef practices were detected: “Master the materiality” is a stipulation for leading kitchens, but does not imply leadership aspirations; “show and guide” is teambuilding through which standards are reinforced by the presence of leaders while allowing coworkers some freedom; and “overview and foresight” involves nonhierarchical supervision by head chefs during service. These practices make sense to head chefs as they enhance product quality and their reputations as professionals. The study points to a horizontal leadership in the restaurant industry and a possible new order for growth and development.     

Future Issues in Sales,Marketing, and Revenue Management in Greater China: What Keeps You Up at Night?

ABSTRACT

“Recognizing the current global economic crisis, what do you feel are the key impacts it will have on (sales, marketing, or revenue management) in the hospitality industry in the next 5 years within the Greater China region?” This was the question asked in a Delphi study with 37 hotel industry leaders in Greater China and a follow-up Thought Leaders Roundtable. The results identified the top five impacts in each of the disciplines and the Roundtable provided insights into how to address them. Additionally, how long these impacts will affect the region was determined.     

Outdoor recreation participation and views on resource development and preservation

Abstract

Views on the preservation of resources versus their development for recreation are compared among participants in three types of outdoor recreation: “appreciative”; activities (cross‐country skiing, hiking, and canoeing); “consumptive”; activities (fishing and hunting); and “mechanized”; activities (motorboating, snowmo‐biling, and trail biking). The results from a 1984 questionnaire survey conducted in Edmonton and Calgary, Canada, indicate a stronger preservationist orientation among participants in appreciative activities, whereas (with the exception of hunters) participants in consumptive and mechanized activities hold stronger pro‐development views. These differences cannot be attributed to simultaneous variations in socioeco‐nomic characteristics or environmental attitudes among the recreational groups. The findings suggest that differences in outdoor recreational activity preferences represent an important source of variation in views about appropriate levels of preservation versus development of Alberta's natural and wildernesss resources.     

Editor's note

The relationship between work and leisure has most often been described in terms of three basic models. First, the spillover model suggests that one's choice of leisure is affected by interests and attitudes developed during work. Second, the compensation model holds that leisure choices are the opposite of one's work activities, thus providing satisfaction not realized in the work context. Third, according to the segmentation model, work and leisure are distinct life domains and do not interact. Occasionally, a fourth perspective is added: Work and leisure are mutually influential. Evidence for the first three perspectives is mixed. Moreover, there is a units‐of‐analysis problem in studying work and leisure; that is, what about work and leisure is comparable? A patterned socialization model of work and leisure that encompasses and augments these perspectives is presented in this article. Evidence from the outdoor recreation activities of a sample of workers in the machining and tooling industries of western Pennsylvania is consistent with the position that work and leisure influence each other and that both are the result of prior socialization. The units‐of‐analysis problem is solved to some extent for this group of informants by comparing their work with machines and their leisure experiences with machines. Finally, machinists who engage in more outdoor recreation activities using machines are more satisfied with their leisure, in general.     

Early-Life Outdoor Experiences and an Individual's Environmental Attitudes

This study investigated the effects of early-life experiences on an individual's environmental beliefs. Data from a survey of 533 university undergraduate students from 20 areas of academic study were analyzed using sequential regression to determine the degree to which current environmental beliefs could be explained by early childhood experiences. Results showed that four of the seven independent variables (appreciative outdoor activities, consumptive outdoor activities, media exposure, and witnessing negative environmental events) explained 14% of the variance in the eco-centric/anthropocentric beliefs. Three of the independent variables (early-life participation in mechanized outdoor activities, education, and involvement with organizations) were not significant predictors of eco-centric/anthropocentric beliefs. Implications for research and practice were discussed.     

Transformational leadership and turnover intention: The mediating effects of trust and job performance on café employees in Thailand

ABSTRACT

Immediate managers are the number one predictor of employee turnover. Immediate managers’ transformational leadership style might reduce turnover intention through the employees’ trust in their manager and their perceived job performance. To support the contention, a study was conducted among 187 employees of cafés in Bangkok, hypothesizing that transformational leadership would negatively predict turnover intention and that trust and job performance would mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intention. Results support the hypotheses. Transformational leadership seems to have an impact to reduce turnover intention and organizations may benefit from development programs to instill transformational leadership style among their immediate managers.     

Recreation research and planning in the federal republic of Germany: A commentary

Abstract

German recreation planning is strongly oriented toward the maintenance and provision of outdoor recreation areas. The rapidly growing consumption of outdoor recreation activities within a densely populated area has led to refined procedures of evaluating landuse potential and distributing outdoor facilities within environmental constraints. One such procedure is the use of attractivity models. Such models utilize a matrix of social, aesthetic, physical, and infrastructure attributes to arrive at a ranking of attractivity for given landscapes. The rankings are the basis of general landuse decisions and outdoor recreation investment procedures.     

Leadership Issues and Challenges in the Tourism Industry: A Hong Kong Perspective

This study examines current leadership issues and challenges in the tourism industry with a particular focus on Hong Kong, a trend-setting locality for the industry. Employing qualitative research, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 highly respected industry leaders, all having long-established careers involving extensive local and global experience. These leaders represent a wide variety of sectors of the tourism industry. Study findings highlighted specific skills (business knowledge, communication, self-reflection), personal characteristics (determination, open-mindedness) and excellent relations with other parties (team support, respect) as key attribute requirements of industry leaders. The industry's universal “people orientation” emerged as the dominant issue that requires particular leadership skills with regard to interpersonal relations and communications. The emergence of new technologies and changes among employees were identified as the two key industry trends that require changing leadership skills. The implications of these findings are discussed and areas for future research highlighted.     

A multilevel investigation of the cascading effect of entrepreneurial leadership on employee creativity: Evidence from Chinese hospitality and tourism firms

This study aims to elucidate the cascading effect of entrepreneurial leadership on fostering employee creativity in hospitality and tourism firms. Drawing upon multiple theories (e.g., the affective events theory and conservation of resources theory) and utilizing a multilevel mediation model, this study predicts and examines the cross-level indirect relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee creativity, which is sequentially transmitted through employees’ surface acting and work-related flow. Based on a 2-wave longitudinal design, survey data were obtained from multiple sources consisting of 47 leaders and 352 employees in Chinese hospitality and tourism firms. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analysis provides empirical support for the cross-level mediation model. This study is among the first to provide empirical evidence of the cross-level effect of entrepreneurial leadership on workplace creativity via surface acting and work-related flow in the service industry, which enriches the leadership literature in the tourism discipline.     

Weather Studies in Outdoor Recreation and Nature-Based Tourism: A Research Synthesis and Gap Analysis

ABSTRACT

The impact of weather on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism has received increasing attention from the research community during the past ten years. This article synthesizes the results of those inquiries, categorizing their predominant themes and identifying knowledge gaps. One hundred eighty-four weather-related articles drawn from a cross-section of international journals served as the foundation for this work. The research synthesis identified three recurring themes: weather-related variables that influence outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism, the importance of geographic research context, and prevailing activity types. A gap analysis indicated an abundance of underinvestigated topics in weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. The article concludes with recommendations for future weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism developed from the predominant themes uncovered in the research synthesis and research needs discovered in the gap analysis.