New Hotel Industry Research Finds Hotel Managers’ Commitment to Quality Improves Employees’ Performance
Ithaca, NY (PRWEB) May 10, 2009 — When managers demonstrate their personal commitment to service quality, front-line hotel employees follow their lead, states new hotel industry research published in the May 2009 edition of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CQ). Researchers Ronald A. Clark, Michael D. Hartline, and Keith C. Jones surveyed 743 employees in 199 hotels and concluded that when managers demonstrate an empowering leadership style, they create an environment that leads employees to share the organization’s values–thereby improving service.
The hospitality industry research study, “The Effects of Leadership Style on Hotel Employees’ Commitment to Service Quality”, is the featured article in the May CQ and is available at no charge from Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research, which publishes the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/quarterly/).
The study matched up managers’ and employees’ views about their hotel’s commitment to quality. In addition, the researchers asked employees about their shared values, role clarity, and job satisfaction. They found that a directive leadership approach fails to drive service quality. On the other hand, an empowering leadership style promotes the shared values that are critical for service excellence. The researchers were surprised to find that a participative management style did not promote shared values, and they suggest that managers evaluate the extent to which they are actually involving employees in decision making.
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