IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p4922-d1092875.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Responsible Leadership and Innovation during COVID-19: Evidence from the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Mehmet Yildiz

    (Business School, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia)

  • Nicola Pless

    (Business School, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia)

  • Semih Ceyhan

    (Business School, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara 06760, Turkey)

  • Rob Hallak

    (Business School, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia)

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis provides an opportunity for sustainable renewal and requires responsible leaders who are responsive to stakeholder needs and able to innovate in light of new challenges. This study draws on stakeholder theory and responsible leadership theory to examine (a) the challenges industry leaders face as a result of COVID-19 and (b) their innovative responses in light of their responsibilities to stakeholders and society. We conducted a corpus linguistics study based on high-volume media websites reporting tourism and hospitality news on leadership and innovation. We applied a stakeholder and social responsibility lens to the data analysis. We discovered that, despite the challenges that leaders faced, some transcended self-interest or integrated self-interest with consideration for the interest of others and formed partnerships with other stakeholders resulting in win-win solutions. In particular, we found evidence of leaders who (1) responded to the needs of owners, employees, customers, and community stakeholders and (2) developed not only incremental innovations but substantial ones benefitting stakeholders in business and society. We discuss responsible leadership as a pathway for transforming the tourism and hospitality industry towards a more sustainable and community-centred ‘new normal’. Based on our findings, we present recommendations for future research and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehmet Yildiz & Nicola Pless & Semih Ceyhan & Rob Hallak, 2023. "Responsible Leadership and Innovation during COVID-19: Evidence from the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4922-:d:1092875
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4922/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4922/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mahmoud El‐Haj & Paul Rayson & Martin Walker & Steven Young & Vasiliki Simaki, 2019. "In search of meaning: Lessons, resources and next steps for computational analysis of financial discourse," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3-4), pages 265-306, March.
    2. Julia Wells Novy & Banny Banerjee & Pamela Matson, 2021. "A Core Curriculum for Sustainability Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Zhiyong Han & Qun Wang & Xiang Yan, 2019. "How Responsible Leadership Motivates Employees to Engage in Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment: A Double-Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Tulika M. Varma, 2021. "Responsible Leadership and Reputation Management During a Crisis: The Cases of Delta and United Airlines," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 29-45, September.
    5. Massimo G. Colombo & Evila Piva & Anita Quas & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2016. "How high-tech entrepreneurial ventures cope with the global crisis: changes in product innovation and internationalization strategies," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7), pages 647-671, October.
    6. Xinyue Zhang & Dian Li & Xintong Guo, 2022. "Antecedents of Responsible Leadership: Proactive and Passive Responsible Leadership Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    7. Suparak Suriyankietkaew & Krittawit Krittayaruangroj & Nacharee Iamsawan, 2022. "Sustainable Leadership Practices and Competencies of SMEs for Sustainability and Resilience: A Community-Based Social Enterprise Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-36, May.
    8. Melissa A. Wheeler & Timothy Bednall & Vlad Demsar & Samuel G. Wilson, 2022. "Falling Apart and Coming Together: How Public Perceptions of Leadership Change in Response to Natural Disasters vs. Health Crises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Sylvelin Foldøy & Trude Furunes & Åse Helene Bakkevig Dagsland & Annie Haver, 2021. "Responsibility beyond the Board Room? A Systematic Review of Responsible Leadership: Operationalizations, Antecedents and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-41, September.
    10. Hongdan Zhao & Qiongyao Zhou, 2019. "Exploring the Impact of Responsible Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment: A Leadership Identity Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Jie He & Alastair M. Morrison & Hao Zhang, 2019. "Improving Millennial Employee Well-Being and Task Performance in the Hospitality Industry: The Interactive Effects of HRM and Responsible Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Katarina Giritli Nygren & Maja Klinga & Anna Olofsson & Susanna Öhman, 2021. "The Language of Risk and Vulnerability in Covering the COVID-19 Pandemic in Swedish Mass Media in 2020: Implications for the Sustainable Management of Elderly Care," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, September.
    13. Wang, Yanxia & Shen, Tao & Chen, Yang & Carmeli, Abraham, 2021. "CEO environmentally responsible leadership and firm environmental innovation: A socio-psychological perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 327-340.
    14. Carla Freire & Joana Gonçalves, 2021. "The Relationship between Responsible Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, April.
    15. Quan Lin & Yingchang Huang & Ruojin Zhu & Yue Zhang, 2019. "Comparative Analysis of Mission Statements of Chinese and American Fortune 500 Companies: A Study from the Perspective of Linguistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-18, September.
    16. D. Coldwell & T. Joosub & E. Papageorgiou, 2012. "Responsible Leadership in Organizational Crises: An Analysis of the Effects of Public Perceptions of Selected SA Business Organizations’ Reputations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 133-144, August.
    17. Sigala, Marianna, 2020. "Tourism and COVID-19: Impacts and implications for advancing and resetting industry and research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 312-321.
    18. Ariana Chang & Tian-Shyug Lee & Hsiu-Mei Lee & Jing Wang, 2023. "The Influence of Responsible Leadership on Strategic Agility: Cases from the Taiwan Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, February.
    19. Nicola Pless, 2007. "Understanding Responsible Leadership: Role Identity and Motivational Drivers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 437-456, September.
    20. Christian Voegtlin, 2011. "Development of a Scale Measuring Discursive Responsible Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 57-73, January.
    21. Nicola Pless & Thomas Maak, 2011. "Responsible Leadership: Pathways to the Future," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 3-13, January.
    22. Geoff Mulgan, 2006. "The Process of Social Innovation," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 145-162, April.
    23. Christian Voegtlin, 2016. "What does it mean to be responsible? Addressing the missing responsibility dimension in ethical leadership research," Post-Print hal-01481471, HAL.
    24. Thomas Maak & Nicola M. Pless, 2006. "Responsible Leadership in a Stakeholder Society – A Relational Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 99-115, June.
    25. Pham, Tien Duc & Dwyer, Larry & Su, Jen-Je & Ngo, Tramy, 2021. "COVID-19 impacts of inbound tourism on Australian economy," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    26. Colin C. Williams & Aysegul Kayaoglu, 2020. "COVID-19 and undeclared work: impacts and policy responses in Europe," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(13-14), pages 914-931, October.
    27. Ki Baek Jung & S. M. Ebrahim Ullah & Suk Bong Choi, 2021. "The Mediated Moderating Role of Organizational Learning Culture in the Relationships among Authentic Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange, and Employees’ Innovative Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-12, September.
    28. Pimlapas Pongsakornrungsilp & Siwarit Pongsakornrungsilp & Akawut Jansom & Sydney Chinchanachokchai, 2022. "Rethinking Sustainable Tourism Management: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic to Co-Create Future of Krabi Tourism, Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    29. Wei Xuecheng & Noor Hazlina Ahmad & Qaisar Iqbal & Bai Saina, 2022. "Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Development in East Asia Economic Group: Application of Social Exchange Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    30. Amlan Haque & Nahina Islam & Nahidul Hoque Samrat & Shuvashis Dey & Biplob Ray, 2021. "Smart Farming through Responsible Leadership in Bangladesh: Possibilities, Opportunities, and Beyond," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xinyue Zhang & Dian Li & Xintong Guo, 2022. "Antecedents of Responsible Leadership: Proactive and Passive Responsible Leadership Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    2. K. V. James & R. G. Priyadarshini, 2021. "Responsible Leadership: A New Paradigm for Organizational Sustainability," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 46(4), pages 452-470, November.
    3. Cheng, Ken & Wei, Feng & Lin, Yinghui, 2019. "The trickle-down effect of responsible leadership on unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating role of leader-follower value congruence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 34-43.
    4. Sylvelin Foldøy & Trude Furunes & Åse Helene Bakkevig Dagsland & Annie Haver, 2021. "Responsibility beyond the Board Room? A Systematic Review of Responsible Leadership: Operationalizations, Antecedents and Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-41, September.
    5. Said Id Bouichou & Lei Wang & Hafiz Muhammad Basit Feroz, 2022. "How corporate social responsibility perceptions affect employees’ positive behavior in the hospitality industry: moderating role of responsible leadership," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(2), pages 413-446, June.
    6. Christof Miska & Mark E. Mendenhall, 2018. "Responsible Leadership: A Mapping of Extant Research and Future Directions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 117-134, March.
    7. Hui Lu & Weiting Xu & Shaohan Cai & Fang Yang & Qingqing Chen, 2022. "Does top management team responsible leadership help employees go green? The role of green human resource management and environmental felt‐responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 843-859, July.
    8. Katrin Muff & Coralie Delacoste & Thomas Dyllick, 2022. "Responsible Leadership Competencies in leaders around the world: Assessing stakeholder engagement, ethics and values, systems thinking and innovation competencies in leaders around the world," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 273-292, January.
    9. Bilal Afsar & Ahsen Maqsoom & Asad Shahjehan & Sajjad Ahmad Afridi & Adnan Nawaz & Hassan Fazliani, 2020. "Responsible leadership and employee's proenvironmental behavior: The role of organizational commitment, green shared vision, and internal environmental locus of control," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 297-312, January.
    10. Carla Freire & Joana Gonçalves, 2021. "The Relationship between Responsible Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, April.
    11. Afriyadi Cahyadi & József Poór & Katalin Szabó, 2022. "Pursuing Consultant Performance: The Roles of Sustainable Leadership Styles, Sustainable Human Resource Management Practices, and Consultant Job Satisfaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, March.
    12. Thomas M Maak & Nicola M Pless & Christian Voegtlin, 2016. "Business Statesman or Shareholder Advocate? CEO Responsible Leadership Styles and the Micro-Foundations of Political CSR," Post-Print hal-01480535, HAL.
    13. Vincent Giolito, 2015. "Toward a unified "Theory Y" of leadership: Leader self-awareness, ethics and integrity as key attributes of positive leadership," Working Papers CEB 15-043, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    14. María Helena Jaén & Ezequiel Reficco & Gabriel Berger, 2021. "Does Integrity Matter in BOP Ventures? The Role of Responsible Leadership in Inclusive Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 467-488, October.
    15. Louis W. Fry & Eleftheria Egel, 2021. "Global Leadership for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, June.
    16. Hongdan Zhao & Qiongyao Zhou, 2019. "Exploring the Impact of Responsible Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment: A Leadership Identity Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Christian Voegtlin, 2016. "What does it mean to be responsible? Addressing the missing responsibility dimension in ethical leadership research," Post-Print hal-01481471, HAL.
    18. Muzhar Javed & Muhammad Amir Rashid & Ghulam Hussain & Hafiz Yasir Ali, 2020. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on corporate reputation and firm financial performance: Moderating role of responsible leadership," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1395-1409, May.
    19. Nicola M. Pless & Atri Sengupta & Melissa A. Wheeler & Thomas Maak, 2022. "Responsible Leadership and the Reflective CEO: Resolving Stakeholder Conflict by Imagining What Could be done," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 313-337, September.
    20. Naveed Ahmad Faraz & Fawad Ahmed & Zhengde Xiong, 2024. "How firms leverage corporate environmental strategy to nurture green behavior: Role of multi‐level environmentally responsible leadership," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 243-259, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4922-:d:1092875. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.