Possibility of applying Nordic leadership to work context in Thailand’s hospitality industry

Abstract

Will Thai people who work in the hospitality industry be interested in the ideal of Nordic leadership, the leadership style that originated from the happiest countries in the world? This thesis aims to investigate Thai employees and managers who work in hospitality-related careers’ preferred leadership traits and their opinions on characteristics of Nordic leadership, and use these findings to analyze the possibility of applying Nordic leadership to work context in Thailand’s hospitality industry.

A quantitative method has been used in order to collect the data from people who work in the hospitality industry in Thailand. The survey was conducted using an online platform, with a total of 139 respondents, 82 managers and 57 employees, participating in the survey.

The results indicated that there were similarities in Thais and Norwegians’ preferred leadership traits in most factors. However, masculinity was the factor that Thai people still moderately prioritized, while it was the least wanted factor within Norwegian employees. Thai people agree with how Nordic leadership encourages employees' participation in decision-making, even so, most respondents still think that the decision-maker role should be for leaders only. The preferred organizational structures between the two countries are also different, since Thai people still value hierarchy in their organization, in contrast with Nordic leadership which has a flat organizational structure as one of the identities.

Keywords: Nordic leadership, implicit leadership theory, cross-cultural differences, hospitality industry, Thailand