Situational Leadership in Hospitality Essay Example

are in the senior positions. There are three schools of thought about leadership, the trait, the behavior and the situational approach (Cole, 2005). In early research, the role of situation or context in leadership was largely overlooked, where acknowledgement was made over time along with new approaches introduced.

(Vroom & Jago, 2007)All situational theories of leadership hold one crucial assumption: ‘variables can be found moderating the relationship between leadership and organizational and individual outcomes’. (Brown, 1996, p52) That is, changing leadership style can eventually change organizational outcome. Although different leaders do have different way of doing things, which leads to their major preferred leading style, situational theories believe that an effective leader can lead under any circumstances, given that he or she can manage all leadership styles, and would put different style in use accordingly. Cole, 2005) There are quite a few leadership theories under the situational approach (Cole, K 2005; Miller et al, 2007), situational leadership is however widely referred as the Hersey and Blanchard’s theory, which was first introduced in 1969, based on a curvilinear relationship rather than a simple linear relationship, between directive behavior and relationship behavior.

(Graeff, 1997)Over years of modification, which includes both decorative and substantive changes, the followings are established:There are four styles of leadership, with variable degree of directive and relationship behavior of a leader, namely telling (S1), explaining (S2), participating (S3), and delegating (S4). There are also four levels of task-readiness, with variable degree of competency and willingness of a follower towards one task. They are low competency and willingness level (R1), growing competency and willingness level (R2), satisfactory competency but low willingness level (R3), and high

competency and willingness level.Leaders should vary leadership style in match of developmental need of the followers, that is, S1 in match of R1, S2 in match of R2, and so forth. (Cole, K 2005; Ralph, 2004) Moreover, readiness level is only task-specific. Follower can be in R1 for one task, but R4 for the other.

Follower can also be in all four levels of task-readiness at the same time. That is to say, leader should adapt a great deal of flexibility in their leadership style not only for individual follower, but also for individual task. (Cole, 2005)Hospitality examples of situational leadership can be frequently seen in induction, where new associates are often start with low willingness towards tasks (mostly because does not know how) and little or no skill (R1). However, new associates are sometimes already experienced workers of the field, with high competence and highly motivated due to the new environment (R4).

Even they are all new to the organization, it does not mean that they all need high degree of directing, telling them what to do and how to do a specific task (S1).By adapting situational leadership, trainers will apply leadership style according to individual skill level. In short, leader behavior should be adapted for the circumstance/situation to meet the needs of the follower, which seems rationally practical. However little credit had been given by researchers or the scholars of the field, as not enough evidence was found in studies to support the model.

(Clark & Clark, 1999) Many scholars criticized situational leadership as being ‘conceptually ambiguous, empirically weak, theoretically unsound, and internally inconsistent’. Ralph, 2004, p152; Graeff, 1997; Blank et al, 1990)

Its one central thesis of situational variable (the maturity of follower) was also its core limitation (essentially ignored other situational variables). (Vroom & Jago, 2007) However, few researchers believed that situational leadership is practical and applicable because of the following advantages (Ralph, 2004): Firstly, it illustrates there is no one best way to lead, that is, no ‘one for all’ leading style.Secondly, it is intelligible yet inclusive, where other theories often seem distanced and too complex from real life practice, as scholars do not put them in the same language spoken by practitioners. (Gatling, 2005) Thirdly, when other leading variables are hard to define, the maturity of follower is accountable for its objectivity, task-focusing, and follower-orienting nature. Furthermore, although it is not easy for a leader to change leadership style to meet individual need (Sergiovanni, 979), there is at least guidance provided for leader what to adapt under individual situation.

Although with limitations, situational leadership can be a useful introductory tool for new leader or manager (Clark & Clark, 1999) With increased industry complexity and competition, hospitality organizations have to overcome six major barriers to give their best practice, namely changing guest demand, limited resources, limited human resources, lifestyle (as the operation is anti-social hours), lack of competitive benchmarking, and location. Hwang and Lockwood, 2006) Among all six, the human resource barrier, featuring high level of turnover and lack of skilled staff, had always been, and will continue to be the primary challenges at all time. As a result, training become crucial in all organizational level, where all personnel include front-line staff is responsible for some degree of the training and leading duties. This creates

an enormous need for quick and easy leadership. With a model contains directory action for each situation set, which is easy to understand yet quick to adapt, situational leadership looks relatively favorable and attractive to hospitality industry.However, as mentioned above, there is no one best leadership style for all situations; likewise, there is no one best leadership theory for all practices.

Even though situational leadership provides easy entry to leading, its fundamental weaknesses have limit leaders to apply it into a more complex practice. As leaders or managers move forward to more complex leading practices, other leading theories must be consulted to achieve greater effectiveness in leading. To conclude the above, a more effective way to manage people is to lead, to motivate them towards the organizational goal.The need for leadership in hospitality is never been bigger, due to rapid competition and the human resource challenge. Situational leadership can be used as a effective tool for entry-level leaders.

However, as more complex leadership practice is required, other leadership theories should be consulted. References: ?Blank, W, Weitzel JR & Green SG 1990, ‘A Test of the Situational Leadership Theory’, Personnel Psychology, vol. 43, Iss. 3, pp579-597 ? Brown, FO 1996, ‘The Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale: A construct validation study’, Occupational Psychology, University of Washington, USA ?Clark, KE & Clark, MB 1999, ‘Definitions and Dimensions of Leadership’, Choosing to Leader, Center for Creative Leadership, Ohio ? Cole K, 2005, ‘Providing Leadership’, Management-theory and practice , 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, NSW ? Gatling A, 2005, ‘In casual-dining segment, opportunities abound for frontline-leadership training’, Nation's Restaurant News, Vol. 38, Iss.

31, p22-24 ? Graeff, CL 1997, ‘Evolution of situational

leadership theory: A critical review’, Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8, Issue 2, pp153-171 ?House, RJ Hanqes, PJ Javodan, M Dorfman, PW & Gupta V, 2004, Culture, Leadership, and Organization: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, USA ? Hwang, LJ & Lockwood A, 2006, ‘Understanding the challenges of implementing best practices in hospitality and tourism SMEs’, Benchmarking, Vol. 13, Iss. 3, pg337 ? Ralph, EC 2004, ‘Developing Managers’ Effectiveness: A Model With Potential’, Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, p152-163 ? Testa, M 2001, ‘Hospitality leaders: Do they know how their employees feel about them? ’, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, vol.

42, Iss. 6, pp80-90 ?Miller, JE, Walker, JR & Drummond KE 2007, ‘The Supervisor As Leader’, Supervision in the Hospitality Industry: Applied Human Resources, 5th Ed, John Willey & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey ? Vroom, VH & Jago, AG 2007, ‘The Role of the Situation in Leadership’, American Psychologist Special Issue: Leadership, Vol. 62, Iss. 1, pp17-24 ? Whitelaw, P & Morda, R 2004, ‘Leadership in the hospitality Industry: Boadecia vs. Attila-Bring it on! ’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, vol. 11, no.

2, pp139-148 ? Sergiovanni, T 1979, ‘Is leadership the next great training robbery? ’, Educational Leadership, Vol. 36, Iss. 6, pp388-394.