Leadership style of Myanmar hotel managers: Culture as a hindrance in moving towards democratic/ participatory style from autocratic style

Abstract

This research investigated the leadership styles of hotel managers in Yangon, Myanmar. Since this research can be considered as one of the pioneer studies in the selected subject, it is exploratory. The primary purpose was to provide an overview of manager leadership styles from the perspective of the research participants. This research used attributes and aspects of three leadership styles - autocratic, democratic and paternalistic as a base to determine the manager leadership styles. The research adopted a qualitative approach and a semi-structured interview method was used in collecting data. In total, nine managers and 24 employees from seven different organisations participated in the research. The research found that the leadership style of managers reflects the attributes of the 'autocratic style' and 'paternalistic style' overwhelmingly.