The Role of Organisational Commitment, Leadership Style, Strategic Human Resources Practices and Job Satisfaction Towards Sustainable Tourism Industry: Comparative Study in the UAE and Malaysia

Abstract

The role of organisational commitment, leadership and strategic human resources practices towards developing a sustainable tourism industry has received limited attention under multi-country perspective. The aim of this research project is to concentrate on testing hypothesis derived from theories presented by leading scholars regarding the potential impact of organisational commitment, leadership style, strategic human resources practices and job satisfaction towards developing sustainable tourism industry, using cross-sectional data from the UAE and Malaysia. The research is empirically motivated where the survey is to be conducted among managers and employees from different tourism service providers in the UAE and Malaysia. Convenience sampling and a survey of questionnaires have been utilised in both countries. Although several assumptions and judgements have been tested regarding the foundation of sustainable tourism, there were still very few empirical research gaps on the comparative study with regard to strategic human resources aspects in preparing a sustainable tourism industry. The research findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the independent variables, such as organisational commitment, leadership style, strategic human resources practices and job satisfaction with the dependent variable, sustainable tourism in both countries. The findings also revealed the antecedents of creating sustainable tourism industry by concentrating on human resources practices which is deemed to contribute to the UAE and Malaysian tourism industry. This explains the necessity for intra-country cooperation (between the UAE and Malaysia) for the preparation of a favourable environment and mobilisation of strategic human resources for sustainable tourism growth.