Impact of Leadership on Innovation: Evidence from the Hotel Industry

Ana Jovičić Vuković; Jelena Damnjanović; Nataša Papić-Blagojević; Ivana Jošanov-Vrgović; Snježana Gagić

doi:10.7595/management.fon.2018.0008

Ana Jovičić Vuković Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad
Jelena Damnjanović Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad
Nataša Papić-Blagojević Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad
Ivana Jošanov-Vrgović Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad
Snježana Gagić University of Business Studies, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Banja Luka

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7595/management.fon.2018.0008

Abstract

Research Question: The paper investigated a relationship between innovation and transformational/transactional leadership, as well as the impact of these two leadership styles on innovation. Motivation: As there are small number of studies that have examined the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on innovations within the hospitality industry and in Serbia, the need for investigation is imposed. The paper draws on methodology and works of Bass and Avolio (1997), Hogan et al. (2011) and Nasution et al. (2011) which are, in this paper, applied to the context of hotel industry. The results of this study will expand theory in this field and it could be used as a significant practical guide for hotel management in order to achieve business improvement. Idea: In today's turbulent business environment the ability of the organization to innovate been the decisive factor of surviving, creating and maintaining competitive advantage on the market and also a critical factor in improving what the organization does. The aim of this research is to determine the predictive effect of transformational and transactional leadership on innovations within hotel industry in Serbia. Data: The study included 512 employees in 57 tree, four and five-star hotels in Serbia. Convenient sampling method was applied. The questionnaire used measured the attitude of the employees towards innovations and transformational and transactional leadership, as well as socio-demographic variables Tools: Data was prepared and analysed using statistical software IBM SPSS 24.0. Statistical data processing methods used in this paper are descriptive statistics, the reliability of the instrument, correlation and regression analysis. Findings: The research results show that both transformational and transactional leadership predict innovations, where transformational leadership style is a stronger predictor and better correlate with innovations. The results show that transactional leaders may also encourage innovativeness, but within the frames of the tasks already set. They can also motivate the employees by using different methods such as stimulative rewards, but that they are primarily focused on task execution. Contribution: The results can be used in making future decisions, measures and standards related to human resources management, as well as the development and promotion of innovative activities in hotels.

Author Biographies

Ana Jovičić Vuković, Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad

Ana Jovičić Vuković is a lecturer at Novi Sad School of Business. She completed PhD studies in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences. She acquired a bachelor 's and a master 's degree at two different faculties in fields of Tourism and Hotel Management and Business Economics. She worked as research associate in projects funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Republic of Serbia. As a result of the projects she published more than 50 scientific papers in international journals and conferences in the field of tourism and hotel management. Her research interests are HR management, innovation management and sustainable toruism.

Jelena Damnjanović, Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad

Jelena Damnjanovic, PhD, was born in 1975 in Serbia. As the best student in her generation at the Department of Economics Jelena was the winner of the Royal Norwegian Award for the highest academic achievements in 2000. Following her undergraduate studies in Pristina, her graduate studies in international economics (MA and PhD) were in Belgrade. Currently, she is the director of the Novi Sad School of Business (Novi Sad, Serbia) and the professor of international business at the same School. Her major academic interests are in international economics, European Union and its enlargement, transnational corporations, foreign direct investments, globalisation, international trade and competition. Jelena is the author and co-author of four textbooks, more than 40 academic papers (including contribution to the Palgrave Encyclopaedia) and a participant in international and government projects.

Nataša Papić-Blagojević, Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad

Nataša Papić Blagojević, PhD is a Professor of applied business studies and Deputy Director for student affairs at Novi Sad School of Business, Republic of Serbia. Occupational fields are Economic Statistics and application of statistical methods in economic research. As a professor, she teaches several subjects, such as Quantitative Methods in Business, Financial and Actuarial Mathematics and Business Statistics. She finished PhD studies at University of Niš, Faculty of Economics in June 2015.

Ivana Jošanov-Vrgović, Novi Sad School of Business, Novi Sad

Ivana Josanov-Vrgović is a lecturer at Novi Sad School of Business. She is the author of the large number of scientific papers and the author of numerous seminars and trainings in the field of communication, human resources management and organizational behavior. Also she is an active participant in numerous domestic and international conferences. In scientific research, she tries to prove the correlation between different aspects of individuals, groups and organizations and organizational performance, as well as the connection between high-quality human resource management practices and organizational performance

Snježana Gagić, University of Business Studies, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Banja Luka

Snježana Gagić, PhD is an Associate professor at University of Business Studies, Faculty Of Tourism and Hotel Management in Banja Luka as well as a Professor at College of Management And Business Comunications in Sremski Karlovci. She is independent expert and founder od Five Star Experience counsulting agency for HoReCa sector with expertise in: restaurant staff training, setting the restaurant service standards, and food and wine pairing, as well.

She received her PhD in the filed of tourism from the University of Novi Sad, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management. Her major in the research is catering industry.

She is an author of forty papers published in international and national journals. She has over forty presentations at international and national scientific conference. Furthermore, she is an author of two books: Basis of Hospitality (2014) and Food and Beverage service (2016).