The role of leadership in crisis management in hotels: a case study into Covid-19 crisis management
Vainio, Laura (2021)
Vainio, Laura
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060213729
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060213729
Tiivistelmä
The aim of the thesis was to research the role and importance of leadership in crisis man-agement, especially focusing on hotels. This topic was chosen because it is highly relevant to the current situation of the world where the Covid-19 crisis has had devastating effects on the tourism/travel and accommodation industries. The objectives were to gain an insight into what the role of leadership is in a crisis, what leaders can do to prepare for a crisis and how does leadership affect the workforce during a crisis situation. This thesis is research oriented and it was not commissioned.
The theoretical framework is based on two themes; the first one being leadership and the second one is crisis management. The first theoretical part presents the definition of leader-ship, the difference of a leader and a manager, a framework upon which leadership behav-iour is reflected throughout the thesis, the importance of good leadership and for a broader perspective into the topic, the most common or well-known leadership styles and theories are briefly introduced. The second theoretical part looks into crisis management and what it is, its processes, what types of crises there are that can affect the hotel industry, examples of the effect the Covid-19 crisis has had on the industry and what the role of leadership in crisis management is.
Furthermore, after the theoretical part, a study was conducted with a qualitative research method of interviewing industry professionals in leadership positions. The aim of the inter-views was to get an in-depth understanding of practical knowledge of current leaders within the industry, who are managing the Covid-19 crisis, and reflect the answers on the theoreti-cal frameworks presented.
The interviews showed many consistencies with the theory presented, especially in terms of what the interviewees stated the role of leadership in a crisis is. The findings show that leaders need to first and foremost focus on their employees to keep them functional as cri-ses affect the employees largely as well, have emergency and action plans ready in order to be able to respond to crises more efficiently and that certain leadership qualities, such as calmness, fluent communication and the ability to make informed but quick decisions, are strongly highlighted during crisis situations.
In conclusion, it was deduced that leadership and leadership behaviour in crisis manage-ment is of crucial importance, because leaders are responsible for the safety of not only customers but staff as well and they have to be able to keep the operations of the hotel functional while also keeping the hotel profitable.
The theoretical framework is based on two themes; the first one being leadership and the second one is crisis management. The first theoretical part presents the definition of leader-ship, the difference of a leader and a manager, a framework upon which leadership behav-iour is reflected throughout the thesis, the importance of good leadership and for a broader perspective into the topic, the most common or well-known leadership styles and theories are briefly introduced. The second theoretical part looks into crisis management and what it is, its processes, what types of crises there are that can affect the hotel industry, examples of the effect the Covid-19 crisis has had on the industry and what the role of leadership in crisis management is.
Furthermore, after the theoretical part, a study was conducted with a qualitative research method of interviewing industry professionals in leadership positions. The aim of the inter-views was to get an in-depth understanding of practical knowledge of current leaders within the industry, who are managing the Covid-19 crisis, and reflect the answers on the theoreti-cal frameworks presented.
The interviews showed many consistencies with the theory presented, especially in terms of what the interviewees stated the role of leadership in a crisis is. The findings show that leaders need to first and foremost focus on their employees to keep them functional as cri-ses affect the employees largely as well, have emergency and action plans ready in order to be able to respond to crises more efficiently and that certain leadership qualities, such as calmness, fluent communication and the ability to make informed but quick decisions, are strongly highlighted during crisis situations.
In conclusion, it was deduced that leadership and leadership behaviour in crisis manage-ment is of crucial importance, because leaders are responsible for the safety of not only customers but staff as well and they have to be able to keep the operations of the hotel functional while also keeping the hotel profitable.