The Role of Authentic and Transformational Leadership Styles in enhancing Employees’ Psychological Capital in the international hospitality industry

Sammanfattning: This Master´s thesis was primarily focused on examining the role of authentic and transformational leadership styles in enhancing the psychological capital (PsyCap) of employees in the international hospitality industry. We aimed to deepen our understanding of the relationship between these leadership styles and employee PsyCap, and to explore how this relationship is moderated by contextual factors within the industry. The study adopted a qualitative approach, which is less commonly used compared to previous research, by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with leaders and employees in International Hospitality Organizations. The findings of our study align well with previous and existing research, suggesting that authentic and transformational leadership styles play a role in enhancing employee PsyCap. Thus, the authors further suggest that the findings provide implications that the relationship between the leadership styles and employee PsyCap is influenced by contextual factors such as cultural context. A crucial insight from this study is that the characteristics of these two leadership styles can be expressed in a variety of ways which are dependent on the contextual factors, requiring leaders to adapt how they demonstrate their characteristics due to the moderating role of contextual factors. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge on leadership, employee well-being, HR-management, and psychology, and provides practical managerial implications for leaders primarily working in the international hospitality industry. For future research, a more comprehensive examination of the moderating role of contextual factors is suggested, with a focus on elements such as organizational culture, national culture, and a deeper exploration of how these factors support the study's assertion that there is variability in the relationship between leadership style and employee PsyCap. Essentially, contextual factors may have a moderating role in this relationship, requiring leaders to adapt their actions associated with authentic and transformational leadership traits. This highlights the multidimensional nature of how authentic and transformational leadership characteristics can be expressed dependent on context and underlines that further investigation is needed.