Cultural perceptions of ethical leadership and its effect on intention to leave in the independent hotel industry

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cultural perceptions of ethical leadership and its effect on intention to leave in the independent hotel industry

AU - Nazarian, Alireza

AU - Zaeri, Ehsan

AU - Foroudi, Pantea

AU - Afrouzi, Amir Reza

AU - Atkinson, Peter

PY - 2021/11/23

Y1 - 2021/11/23

N2 - PurposeStudies have shown that due to the high direct and indirect costs of staff-turnover there is a need for managers to use approaches which engender a feeling that the organisation is fair to its employees and consequently reduce intention-to-leave. However, to understand how to apply research findings and theories from different parts of the world, we need to understand how employees’ perceptions of such factors as ethical leadership and organisational justice are affected by national culture. Therefore, we compared the impact of ethical leadership on intention-to-leave through justice, loyalty and satisfaction among employees of independent12 hotels from two GLOBE cultural clusters.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1561 questionnaires were received from independent hotel employees, which were analysed using SEM. Data were collected in the USA, UK, Italy and Spain whose national cultures fall into two different GLOBE regional clusters.FindingsOur results show similarities and differences between countries and within and between clusters. No relationship was found between procedural justice and intention to leave in any of the four countries. Ethical leadership had no significant impact on job satisfaction and organisational justice in the UK, which contrasts with results in the other three countries. Our findings also show that distributive justice has a significant relationship with intention to leave in the US and UK (Anglo cluster), whereas no specific relationship was found between these two variables in Italy and Spain (Latin European cluster).Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature of ethical leadership and its application to the hotel industry in two culturally different GLOBE clusters. This study shows how the relationships between organisational variables are affected by national culture and emphasises the importance for hotel managers of being aware of the specific characteristics of the culture of the country in which they are operating.© 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper published in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

AB - PurposeStudies have shown that due to the high direct and indirect costs of staff-turnover there is a need for managers to use approaches which engender a feeling that the organisation is fair to its employees and consequently reduce intention-to-leave. However, to understand how to apply research findings and theories from different parts of the world, we need to understand how employees’ perceptions of such factors as ethical leadership and organisational justice are affected by national culture. Therefore, we compared the impact of ethical leadership on intention-to-leave through justice, loyalty and satisfaction among employees of independent12 hotels from two GLOBE cultural clusters.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1561 questionnaires were received from independent hotel employees, which were analysed using SEM. Data were collected in the USA, UK, Italy and Spain whose national cultures fall into two different GLOBE regional clusters.FindingsOur results show similarities and differences between countries and within and between clusters. No relationship was found between procedural justice and intention to leave in any of the four countries. Ethical leadership had no significant impact on job satisfaction and organisational justice in the UK, which contrasts with results in the other three countries. Our findings also show that distributive justice has a significant relationship with intention to leave in the US and UK (Anglo cluster), whereas no specific relationship was found between these two variables in Italy and Spain (Latin European cluster).Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature of ethical leadership and its application to the hotel industry in two culturally different GLOBE clusters. This study shows how the relationships between organisational variables are affected by national culture and emphasises the importance for hotel managers of being aware of the specific characteristics of the culture of the country in which they are operating.© 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper published in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.

U2 - 10.1108/IJCHM-05-2021-0643

DO - 10.1108/IJCHM-05-2021-0643

M3 - Article

SN - 0959-6119

JO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

JF - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

ER -