Effective hotel leadership: the MLQ and its effects on LMX, extra effort, effectiveness, satisfaction, commitment, motivation and turnover intentions

Abstract

This study focused on staff perceptions of effective hotel leadership. Data were collected by questionnaires from 306 hotel employees from a Norwegian hotel chain (purposive sample). The staff evaluated their closest supervisor’s leadership style on the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X-Short; Avolio & Bass, 2004). The 36 items measure nine leadership dimensions. Furthermore, the Leader-Member Exchange Scale (LMX-7; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) was included to measure the relationship between subordinates and their leader. Perceived leadership effectiveness was measured by three sub-scales: “Staff’s willingness to make an extra effort” (3 items); “Perceived leadership effectiveness” (4 items) and “Satisfaction with leadership” (2 items) from the MLQ. Moreover, “Satisfaction with work and life” (2 items), “Motivation” (2 items); and “Commitment” (3 items) were included from the QPSNordic (Pakkin et al, 2008).