Assessing the effects of leadership styles on employees’ outcomes in international luxury hotels

Abstract

This study examines the effects of transformational, transactional, and non-transactional leadership on hotel employees' outcomes including extra effort, perceived efficiency, and satisfaction with managers. Employees from eleven 4-star hotels in Spain provided the collected data. A series of statistical analyses (1) identify the elements of three leadership styles using a multi-factor leadership questionnaire (MLQ-5X); (2) examine the effect of leadership styles on employees' outcomes. The results of this study indicate that "idealized attributes" of transformational leadership and "contingent reward" from transactional leadership are the most important factors that positively affect all three outcomes (i.e., extra effort, perceived efficiency, and satisfaction); and (3) to assess the moderating effect of different types of ownership of hotel properties on the relationship between styles of leadership and outcomes of employees' activities other than these two elements, the significant factors indicating positive or negative relationships vary depending on the types of individual outcomes as well as ownership of hotel properties. The discussion sections indicate theoretical and practical implications of the findings.