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

Abstract

Purpose Studies have shown that due to the high direct and indirect costs of staff turnover, there is a need for managers to use approaches that engender a feeling that the organisation is fair to its employees and consequently reduce the intention to leave. However, to understand how to apply the 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 the national culture. Therefore, this study aims to compare the impact of ethical leadership on the intention to leave through justice, loyalty and satisfaction among employees of independent hotels from two Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) cultural clusters. Design/methodology/approach A total of 1,561 questionnaires were received from independent hotel employees, which were analysed using structural equation modelling. Data were collected in the USA, the UK, Italy and Spain whose national cultures fall into two different GLOBE regional clusters. Findings The 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. The study findings also show that distributive justice has a significant relationship with the intention to leave in the USA and the UK (Anglo cluster), whereas no specific relationship was found between these two variables in Italy and Spain (Latin European cluster). Originality/value This 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.

Can hotel employees arise internal whistleblowing intentions? Leader ethics, workplace virtues and moral courage

“…Ethical leadership refers to the presentation of normatively proper behavior through personal acts and interpersonal interactions (Nazarian et al, 2021), as well as the encouragement of such behavior by followers through two-way communication, reinforcement and decision-making (Fan et al, 2021). This is called ethical leadership theory (ELT) (Brown et al, 2005).…”

“…Ethical principles are close to organizational virtuousness (Nazarian et al, 2021;Schwepker and Dimitriou, 2021). These principles were practiced within service organizations to create a positive organizational image (Farooqi et al, 2017;May-Amy et al, 2020).…”

“…This most likely results from the fact that these concepts remain only loosely defined (Khasawneh et al, 2020). Therefore, studies need to address virtues and their extended traits and examine their influence and outcomes in business settings (Nazarian et al, 2021). Otherwise, recent studies have focused on ethical leadership in the hospitality sector in different countries.…”

“…The management practices of the hotels are interested in running business-honest operations, and they strive to avoid unlikely behaviors (Kalemci et al, 2019). Hotel employees are also expected to handle ethical leadership practices (Nazarian et al, 2021;Wood et al, 2021), which also promote a supportive organizational culture to do the right things during the course of actions while respecting the different factors that might promote a justification of unethical practices (Nicolaides, 2019;Simões et al, 2019). Therefore, the current research intends to bridge a new and different complex association that has been conceptualized into a unique single model to identify the effects of ethical leadership on organizational virtuousness, hence the effect of the last factor on the intention to engage in internal whistleblowing acts.…”

“…, 2019). Hotel employees are also expected to handle ethical leadership practices (Nazarian et al. , 2021; Wood et al.…”