Relationship between Transformational Leadership Style and Operational Performance of Hospitality Industry in Kenya: A Case Study of Star Rated Hotels in Nairobi County
Keywords:
Transformational Leadership, Leader Competence, Motivation, Communication, Individualized Consideration, Operational Performance, Hospitality Industry, Star Rated Hotels, Nairobi County.Abstract
Leadership styles denote to systematic patterns of behavior engaged by organizational leaders when dealing with other employees. Some of the commonly acknowledged leadership styles are transformational and transactional leadership styles. Leadership is a situation where one individual influences others to act in a certain manner for the common good of an organization's objectives. Leaders help organizations achieve set objectives by directing the operations through influencing their followers and determine how well the resources of an organization are utilized towards realization of organizational objectives. The hospitality industry in Kenya has not emerged very strong and its performance is behind as compared to its peers. The poor performance of the hospitality industry has consistently missed the government revenue target. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of transformational leadership style on operational performance of hospitality industry in Nairobi. The study objectives were to determine the influence of leader competence, effect of communication, influence of motivation and effect of individualized consideration on operational performance of hospitality industry in Nairobi. The study was informed by Taylor's Motivational Theory, Fredrick Herzberg's Two Factor Theory, Resource based view (RBV) and Communication Accommodation Theory. This was done by expounding on how the theories relate to transformational leadership styles and operational performance. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study population target was 10,420 employees in star rated hotels in Nairobi County. The sample size was 385 respondents. The study used questionnaires to obtain data. Data was presented using tables, charts and figures. Regression results showed that leader competence and operational performance are positively and significant related (r=0.111, p=0.030). The findings further revealed that communication and operational performance are positively and significantly related (r=0.131, p=0.007). It was further established that motivation and operational performance were positively and significantly related (r=0.315, p=0.000). Similarly, results showed that individualized consideration and operational performance were positively and significantly related (r=0.138, p=0.005). Based on the findings above the study concluded that leader competence, communication, motivation, individualized consideration significantly influence the operational performance of hospitality industry.
Keywords: Transformational Leadership, Leader Competence, Motivation, Communication, Individualized Consideration, Operational Performance, Hospitality Industry, Star Rated Hotels, Nairobi County.
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