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This work examines the relationship between transformational leadership and enablers and results of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model 2013 and the relationship between the EFQM model elements (enablers and results).

The work employs partial least squares (PLS) and empirical data from 102 hotels.

Transformational leadership is key to facilitate the enablers of the EFQM model (strategy, people, partnership and processes) and improve customer, employee and social results and organizational performance.

The present work expands previous studies that focus on analyzing the link between enablers and results of EFQM by showing that transformational leadership is an appropriate leadership style to foster the EFQM model elements. It empirically supports the view that transformational leadership is a facilitator that can foster the EFQM enablers and improve results in hotels. Thus, it also sheds light on the controversial link between transformational leadership and various performance measures (customer, employee and social results and organizational performance).

This work analyses quality management (through the European Foundation for Quality Management-EFQM-model) and transformational leadership in hotels in Spain.

The study analyses 102 5-star and 5-star large luxury hotels that answer a questionnaire on transformational leadership and the EFQM model. It analyses the degree of importance of quality and transformational leadership in hotels, the significant differences between groups of hotels (according to stars, size, modality and type of product) and the association between transformational leadership and quality.

The results show the levels of quality and transformational leadership, minor significant differences between groups and an association between the two variables. In general, chain-affiliated hotels have a higher level of leadership and a more advanced employee and process management than independent hotels. Also, those hotels that focus on a vacational product show a lower attention to the strategy dimension in the EFQM model. The number of employees is not an important factor to adopt quality. Finally, transformational leadership allows hotels to advance in the development of quality management.

Although there are studies on quality management that show the importance of leadership for quality, there are few studies that examine transformational leadership and quality in the same study, mainly in the tourism industry, and especially in the case of the hotel industry.