Organizational value and participatory leadership for sustaining the competitive advantages of hospitality and tourism companies

Abstract

In light of the market uncertainty for hospitality and tourism companies caused by COVID-19, which even led to the legal closure of borders, a study model is proposed. Our model considers market uncertainty as a moderator of the principles of business management. This moderator leads to a sustainable competitive advantage through organizational values, participative leadership, market orientation and innovative intensity. The viability of the proposed model has been analyzed with a mixed methodology using the Smart-PLS tool, on the one hand, and two fsQCA-based samples of hospitality and tourism companies located in Spain and South Korea, on the other hand. The results show the relevance of participative leadership supported by organizational values in obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage. This will help the tourism sector to adapt to future health pandemics. Market uncertainty has not affected participative leadership in achieving this sustainable competitive advantage.