Leadership Skills and Challenges in Hospitality Management Education
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Leadership Skills and Challenges in Hospitality Management Education Valentini Kalargyrou University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Education Commons, and the Hospitality Administration and Management Commons Repository Citation Kalargyrou, Valentini, "Leadership Skills and Challenges in Hospitality Management Education" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1200. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2754245 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND CHALLENGES IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT EDUCATION by Valentini Kalargyrou Bachelor of Business Administration and Accounting Athens University of Economics, Greece 1990 Master of Science University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Hospitality Administration William F. Harrah's College of Hotel Administration Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 3383979 Copyright 2009 by Kalagyrou, Valentini INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform 3383979 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC AH rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Valentini Kalargyrou 2009 All Rights Reserved Dissertation Approval D The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas January 16 ,2009 The Dissertation prepared by Valentinl Kalargyrou Entitled Leadership Skills and Challenges in Hospitality Management Education is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality Administration Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examination Commi, Graduate College Faculty Representative/ 1017-52 ii ABSTRACT Leadership Skills and Challenges in Hospitality Management Education by Valentini Kalargyrou Dr. Robert H. Woods, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Hotel Management University of Nevada, Las Vegas Leaders in hospitality management education face diverse challenges in today's competitive and changing environment. Evolving demands from superiors, financial challenges, and faculty and students increasing demands, create a turbulent environment in which administrators must thrive. One of the keys in being effective leaders is the application of the necessary leadership skills. Often, administrators are faculty members that do not have leadership experience and mostly their preparation and skill development are almost non-existent, mainly on- the job training. Since, skills are abilities that can be developed formal training must be in place before the entrusting of administrative duties. The purpose of this study is threefold: to examine the required skills that make administrators in hospitality management education effective, study challenges faced by hospitality management administrators, and explore the advantages and disadvantages of hiring professional managers or deans and department chairs in academic leadership positions. iii This study applied qualitative methods, an e-mail survey and a focus group. Fifty faculty members and administrators participated in the study. The data were analyzed in three levels; the first level of analysis included the examination of the aggregate data of all fifty cases, the second level the analysis of opinions within each group of faculty and administrators, and the last level compared and contrasted the opinions of the two groups for similarities and differences. Faculty and administrators ranked business skills as the most important leadership skills followed by cognitive, interpersonal, personal values, and strategic skills. Specifically, they unanimously ranked communication skills as the most important leadership skills and indicated that the method of communicating depends on the audience and the content of the message. Ethics and fairness were the prevalent personal values as well as recognition that leadership should be able to understand faculty's interpretation of fairness. Leadership challenges included fiscal challenges, administrative, curriculum and program development, dealing with faculty, increased diversity of faculty and students, and technological challenges. Finally, the majority of participants preferred deans and department chairs instead of professional managers in academic leadership positions because of the uniqueness of the academic culture, and the lack of the available resources to recruit competent professional managers. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of Problem 2 Purpose of Study 4 Significance of Study 5 Framework and General Research Questions 7 Limitations 9 Definition of Terms 9 Organization of Dissertation 11 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 12 Introduction , 12 Leadership Studies 14 Academic Leadership Research 31 Leadership in Hospitality 35 Differences between Scholar and Administrative Roles 38 Educational Leadership Development Programs 39 Business and Higher Education 42 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 45 Introduction 45 Research Questions 46 Population and Sample 46 Instrument 48 Data Collection 49 Data Analysis 53 Focus Group 56 Summary 58 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 59 Introduction 59 Research Question 1 59 Research Question 2 122 Research Question 3 137 v CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 150 Introduction 150 Leadership Skills 150 Leadership Challenges 158 Deans Instead of Managers 162 APPENDICES 167 Appendix I Questionnaire 167 Appendix II Questionnaire 170 REFERENCES 171 VITA 185 VI LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Summary Profile of Sample Frame: Aggregate Personal Information 60 Table 2 Summary Profile of Sample Frame: Aggregate Professional Information.... 61 Table 3 Summary Profile of Sample Frame: Administrators Personal Information .. 64 Table 4 Summary Profile of Sample Frame: Faculty Personal Information 65 Table 5 First Level of Analysis: Aggregate Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 71 Table 6 Second Level of Analysis: Aggregate Ranked Frequencies of Top 10 Leadership Skill 72 Table 7 . Final Level of Analysis: Aggregate Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 73 Table 8 First Level of Analysis: Faculty Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 91 Table 9 Second Level of Analysis: Faculty Ranked Frequencies of Top 10 Leadership Skills 93 Table 10 Final Level of Analysis: Faculty Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 96 Table 11 First Level of Analysis: Administrators Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 99 Table 12 Second Level of Analysis: Administrators Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 100 Table 13 Final Level of Analysis: Administrators Ranked Frequencies of Leadership Skills 103 Table 14 Comparison of Leadership Skills between Faculty and Administrators- First Level of Analysis 107 Table 15 Comparison of Leadership Skills between Faculty and Administrators- Second Level of Analysis 109 Table 16 Comparison of Leadership Skills between Faculty and Administrators- Final Level of Analysis 111 Table 17 Summary Profile of Focus Group Sample: Personal Information 113 Table 18 Summary Profile of Focus Group Sample: Professional Information 114 Table 19 Aggregate Ranked Counts of Leadership Challenges 126 Table 20 Faculty Ranked Counts of Leadership Challenges 127 Table 21 Administrators Ranked Counts of Leadership Challenges.. 128 Table 22 Comparison of Leadership Challenges between Faculty and Administrator 138 Table 23 Ranked Counts of Opinions about Professional Managers vs. Academics 143 Vll Table 24 Important Factors in Decision-Making for Having Academics in Leadership Positions 144 Table 25 Important Factors in Decision-Making for Having Professional Managers 148 vui LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Leadership Skills 69 Figure 2 Business Skills 70 Figure 3 Cognitive Skills 82 Figure 4 Interpersonal Skills 85 Figure 5 Personal Values 88 Figure 6 Strategic Skills 90 Figure 7 Leadership Challenges 124 Figure 8 Professional Managers vs. Academics : 140 IX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I wish to express great gratitude and enormous love