Management principles in hospitality and tourism: freshmen students' preferences.

Abstract

Research into implicit leadership theories has revealed that people’s conceptualizations of good and bad leadership, based on their experiences, have impacts on how they perceive leadership. This paper presents results from a study of 148 freshman Hospitality and Tourism Management students’ preferences of management principles. It focuses on dichotomy principles in three dimensions, how tasks are defined (Functionalism vs. Idealism), how decisions are reached (Conflict vs. Harmony), and how organizational resources are utilized (Organic vs. Mechanic). The main findings were that there were large differences in the students’ preferences and four characteristic groups were identified, though explaining the differences by mainly demographic variables was problematic. The findings and their implications are discussed with regard to industrial and educational implications and further research.