The impact of CEO servant leadership on firm performance in the hospitality industry
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 9 May 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of servant leadership to examine the influence of chief executive officer (CEO) servant leadership on firm performance in the hospitality industry. It examined the mediating role of the service climate and the moderating role of competitive intensity in the relationship between CEO servant leadership and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple regression was used to analyze multi-wave, multi-source data from 92 hotels in China. A moderated path analysis was used to test the moderating effects.
Findings
CEO servant leadership positively influenced firm performance via the service climate in the hospitality industry. Competitive intensity strengthened the direct effect of the service climate on firm performance, and the indirect effect of CEO servant leadership on firm performance via service climate.
Research limitations/implications
The findings offer managerial insights into CEO succession, service management and human resource management.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to investigate how and when CEO servant leadership might shape firm outcomes in the hospitality industry. Theoretically, the findings enrich our understanding of how CEO leadership might shape firm-level outcomes.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by several grants: Research on Evaluation and Internal Advancing Mechanism of Food Enterprises’ Corporate Social Responsibilities (12XGL007), Research on the New Urbanization Development Strategy in Promoting Sustainable Domestic Demand (23620140023), Research on the Route Design and Strategy Choice of New Urbanization Inclusive Development in China (12&ZD100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71202095), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (No. S2012040007820), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 13wkpy13) and the National Social Science Program (13BGL072).
Citation
Huang, J., Li, W., Qiu, C., Yim, F.H.-k. and Wan, J. (2016), "The impact of CEO servant leadership on firm performance in the hospitality industry", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 945-968. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2014-0388
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited