A systematic and critical review of leadership styles in contemporary hospitality: a roadmap and a call for future research

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of leadership styles in the hospitality industry. It also demonstrates theories used in hospitality leadership styles research, identifies the main outcomes and highlights gaps for future research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a comprehensive review of the 79 articles on leadership styles in the hospitality context spanning over 13 years (2008–2020) and extends the scope in distinctive means. Findings: This review has demonstrated that leadership styles research in hospitality has made progress in the past 13 years; however, there are conceptual and empirical overlaps among different leadership styles in hospitality. There is a lack of research on antecedents and integrating theories in studies. This review has revealed that several leadership styles have not been rigorously examined in hospitality research with their outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The search strategy used to find articles published in Web of Science about leadership styles in hospitality was restricted to title to boost the accuracy of the subsequent literature. Practical implications: By following the guidance presented in this review, the authors expect to advance and maintain hospitality leadership research to provide substantive insights into the context of hospitality leadership over the coming years. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to undertake a comprehensive understanding of various leadership styles in the hospitality context. This study provides a comprehensive projected research agenda to demonstrate theoretical discourses and empirical research. Overall, this critical review presents a holistic idea of the focus of the prior studies and what should be highlighted in future studies.