Value Congruence in the Egyptian Hotel Industry: The Role of Transformational and Transactional Leadership

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Hotel Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Suez Canal University

2 Hotels studies department, faculty of tourism and hotels, Suez Canal University

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating leader-follower value congruence in the Egyptian hotel industry.  The impact of employees’ cultural values (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism vs. collectivism) on their perception of the appropriate leadership style (transactional and transformational leadership style) was theoretically discussed and empirically tested. To date, no studies have sought to link these two constructs (leadership styles and employees' cultural values), and therefore no model exists to theoretically and/or practically link these concepts within the hospitality industry in Egypt, a gap this paper aims to fill. A structured questionnaire derived from an extensive literature review was completed by employees in five star hotels. A total of 500 responses were obtained. One hundred uncompleted questionnaires were eliminated leaving 400 usable questionnaires with a response rate of 80%.  Reliability of the variables was analyzed by employing Cronbach’s alpha method, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to test the dimensional structure of the study variables, and finally, Path analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to assess the research hypotheses.  The results of the current study give evidence that might help hotel managers to adopt certain leadership styles to fit with the employees’ cultural values. The implications of the current study results were then discussed and interpreted.

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