In Search of green-based sustainable competitiveness and green transformational leadership in small and medium-sized hotel firms: a case in south Asian context

Abstract

The global hotel industry, including Sri Lanka, has embraced green initiatives for more than two decades to sustain a competitive edge. However, environmental commitment varies by organizational capabilities, resources, and target markets, leading to differences in individual hotel competitiveness. In this context, it is significant to understand what is meant by green initiatives and their sustainable competitiveness from the Sri Lankan hoteliers’ perspectives as green can have multiple interpretations and perceptions from the specific organizational culture of a hotel. In this context, the concept of transformational leadership also cannot be ignored. Presently, there is a scarcity of empirical research that explores what is meant by going green from a transformational leadership perspective and what matters in achieving green-based competitiveness that offers both financial and non-financial performance advantages to hotel firms in the Sri Lankan context. In order to fill this void in empirical literature in the Sri Lankan context, the study explored various meanings attached to green-based sustainable competitiveness from a means-and-ends perspective as it relates to transformational leadership in the hotel industry by drawing a purposive sample and undertaking qualitative interviews with the hotel industry professionals. The qualitative data narratives were analyzed thematically, which resulted in a unique set of competitive themes in green initiatives, which highlighted lean culture, stakeholder relationships, and continuous innovations as an organizational orchestration dimension while guilt culture and religiosity as customer orchestrations dimension of competitive advantage in green strategy in the industry. More importantly, the effect of Green Transformational Leadership can be seen in the better, Green-based sustainable competitiveness in the SME sector. The study sheds interesting insights and implications for the hotel industry.