Marriott International, Inc. is a one of the leading and most reputable lodging companies that operate globally. The first Marriott restaurant was opened by J. Willard and Alice Marriott in Washington, DC, in 1927 (Marriott, 2015). Marriott International appeared as the hotel and restaurant chain in 1993.
Today, Marriott holds its properties in more than 80 countries. The annual revenues of the company are more than $12 billion, and the business success depends on the prominent leadership (Marriott management philosophy, 2015, p. 2).
This paper aims to present the analysis of the prevalent leadership style typical of executives and directors in Marriott International; to discuss the connection between the leadership style and ethical practices; to determine possible ethical problems; and to propose appropriate solutions to address identified leadership issues.
Prevalent Leadership Style in Marriot International
Marriott International is the franchising company that operates in many countries all over the world. This aspect influences the leadership style followed in the company. As a result, top-level leaders who promote the mission of the company perform as transformational leaders.
Still, middle and lower-level leaders in many hotels and restaurants over the globe are inclined to act like relations-oriented and change-oriented leaders (Marriott management philosophy, 2015). Therefore, the prevalent leadership style in Marriott International differs depending on the hierarchy and culture.
Leadership Model of Top Managers
The distinctive leadership style followed in the company is associated with activities of such persons as J. Willard Marriott, the founder of the company, and his son J.W. Marriott, Jr., the current Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Marriott International.
Mr. Marriott started developing his leadership abilities while promoting the family business, and then, he became Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest global company in the hospitality industry (Marriott, 2015). Today, Mr. Marriott is known for his transformational leadership style. Another prominent leader in the company is Arne M. Sorenson, Marriott International President and Chief Executive Officer (Marriott, 2015).
Mr. Sorenson also follows the principles of the transformational leadership style promoted by Mr. Marriott because it is based on the ideas of inspiration, motivation, and innovation valued by the company. Transformational leaders combine the advantages of change-oriented and relations-oriented leadership behaviors while stimulating employees intellectually. They also focus on individualization or employees’ interests and needs correlated with the company mission (Zopiatis & Constanti, 2012, p. 87).
According to the theory of transformational leadership proposed by Bass in the 1980s, transformational leaders communicate and act in such a way that they stimulate feelings of trust, respect, and admiration in followers (Yukl, 2014). Mr. Marriott and Mr. Sorenson are examples of transformational leaders because they pay much attention to developing policies according to which employees’ culture, diversity, and values as addressed in order to motivate them work for the benefit of themselves and the company.
According to Bass’s theory, effective transformational leaders also work as transactional leaders, focusing on management and rewards (Yukl, 2014). This approach was also followed by Mr. Marriott, who developed principles of the hands-on management and worked to inspire managers and employees regularly.
Leadership Style in Marriott Hotels Globally
There are more than 350,000 employees working at Marriott International not only in the United States but also globally. As a result, the hierarchy of leaders in the company is complex, and persons for leading positions are hired to demonstrate particular leadership styles.
If directors in Marriott hotels are expected to show social and emotional skills typical for transformational leaders, middle-level managers are usually relations-oriented leaders who have developed skills in managing the diverse workforce, promoting cooperation, and developing the positive employee relations (Marriott management philosophy, 2015, p. 3; Tavitiyaman, Weerakit, & Ryan, 2014, p. 192).
Moreover, launching a range of leadership programs for managers, leaders in Marriott expect that middle-level managers can also manage change and promote innovation typical for franchising companies (Marriott, 2015). However, theories do not explain how effectively a relations-oriented leader can cope with promoting the change and innovation (Yukl, 2014). Still, the practice and the Marriott experience demonstrate that relations-oriented leaders have developed communication skills that are important for explaining the necessity of a change, promoting the innovation, and helping employees adapt to transitions.
How Leadership Shapes Ethical and Unethical Practices
The transformational leadership typical for Executive Chairman and CEO as well as other top leaders of Marriott International has the certain impact on developing ethical practices in the company. In its turn, the relations-oriented leadership has a significant impact on the actual operations and management in hotels and restaurants of the chain globally.
Critical Outcomes of the Leadership Style
While focusing on the transformational leadership adopted at Marriott International, it is possible to state that the main positive outcome of such behavior to the organization is the opportunity to motivate employees to see the benefits for the company as personal benefits. Thus, they work to promote the company’s progress depending on the cooperation, the mutual understanding, and the respect (Knani, 2014, p. 2; Marriott management philosophy, 2015).
All leaders in Marriott hotels, regardless their leadership style, are expected to use developed emotional and social skills with the focus on the emotions management and problem-solving skills (Marriott management philosophy, 2015; Riggio & Reichard, 2008, p. 171). This approach is the key to the leaders’ success in the company.
Transformational leaders usually demonstrate the developed emotional skills because they can refer to emotions of employees while motivating and inspiring them to act according to a particular pattern (Riggio & Reichard, 2008, p. 170). This ability to recognize and understand emotions and perceptions in Marriott leaders allows increasing in employees’ satisfaction and retention as positive outcomes.
Also, much attention is paid to communication practices that are followed by leaders to contact employees and used to develop interpersonal relations at lower levels. Friendliness is the key to communication at all levels, and this approach is discussed as advantageous by De Vries, Bakker-Pieper, and Oostenveld (2010).
Thus, the usual task of CEO at Marriott International is to communicate reasons for changes and new policies in the friendliest manner while focusing on the opinions of the decision-making group and stimulating them to become aware of outcomes and benefits or to debate the question actively. The other strength of the transformational leadership is in the fact that the communication style can be both argumentative and supportive (De Vries, Bakker-Pieper, & Oostenveld, 2010, p. 376).
Such leaders’ social qualities and communication style made Marriott International achieve the success based on the opportunity to promote changes in different cultures, to create the unified vision among the employees despite their diversity, and to assign appropriate tasks to appropriate persons.
However, while discussing the results of the leadership style, it is possible to focus on weaknesses and such professional and ethical questions as dominance, the developed ideology, and the centralized authority (Yukl, 2014). The opinion of Mr. Marriott remains to be dominating in discussing strategies and possible changes, the mission of the company is oriented to developing the ideological vision of Marriott International, as well as its values (Marriott, 2015).
Thus, employees are treated as belonging to the specific community and culture. On the one hand, such outcome of the transformational leadership leads to creating the strong organizational culture and ethics. On the other hand, such result can be regarded as negative to stimulate the company’s further progress and inside relations. The effects of the relations-oriented leadership should also be discussed because these outcomes demonstrate the success of interpersonal interactions between leaders and employees in Marriott hotels directly.
When leaders focus on employees’ opinions and perceptions according to the principles of the relations-oriented leadership, it is possible to predict problems in communication and contribute to the talent retention (Schyns & Schilling, 2013, p. 139; Yukl, 2014). If employees have an opportunity to contact their managers regarding problematic issues directly, with the help of e-mails or in meetings, as it is at Marriott International, the outcomes of positive leadership increase.
Ethical and Unethical Practices
The theory of the ethical leadership states that effective leaders are able to influence behaviors of their employees while promoting the ethical practices and developing values associated with the company’s mission and general visions of morality. Transformation leaders are often effective in developing codes of conduct for the organization in order to predict any unethical behaviors and practices (Wernick & Von Glinow, 2012, p. 730).
At Marriott International, such ethical standards are listed as the equal treatment of all employees; respect for the stakeholders’ interests; and commitment to ethical norms. Promoted values and principles include transparency, integrity, and honesty (Marriott business conduct and corporate responsibility, 2015, p. 5).
It is expected that leaders serve as ethical role models who demonstrate the consistency between proclaimed values and behaviors. According to the theory of transforming leadership by Burns, effective leaders, like directors at Marriott International, should motivate employees to follow their principles of justice and honesty while appealing to their moral values (Yukl, 2014).
Situations, when leaders can develop favoritism or discrimination toward employees, are prohibited at Marriott International. In addition, hostility, discrimination, and stealing are also forbidden in the company, and all employees participate in unified training sessions to learn the ethical principles followed in Marriott International hotels.
Unethical practices are also associated with the cases of destructive leadership in those Marriott hotels where managers fail to follow the relations-oriented leadership style and focus on performance, productivity, and task completion while creating the unnecessary job tension and the employees’ emotional exhaustion (Schyns & Schilling, 2013, p. 140).
Thus, job satisfaction of employees decreases significantly. The intensive job tension is a result of the destructive leadership and ineffective communication strategies used by managers. In the U.S. facilities and offices, leaders pay attention to developing the supportive and emotional electronic and face-to-face communication (Marriott, 2015).
In Marriott International hotels globally, destructive leadership, the focus on unethical practices, and the choice of authoritative communication style are associated with cultural and ideological barriers, and leaders see tension as the only way to manage diverse employees and address Marriott International quality standards.
Leadership Problems in Marriot International
The focus on such positive leaders’ behaviors as transformational leadership and relations-oriented leadership cannot guarantee that Marriott International does not face leadership problems. The reason is in the fact that more than 4,000 properties are opened in about 80 countries, and not all middle-level leaders follow the relations-oriented leadership style appropriate for working with the diverse staff.
In spite of the fact that the relations-oriented leadership with the elements of the changed-oriented leadership is the target for managers and directors in many Marriott hotels, the choice of the leadership style often depends on the culture of different countries (Zopiatis, A., & Constanti, P. (2012). As a result, in those hotels where the top management is presented only by nationals, the percentage of directors following the authoritative and task-oriented leadership styles is the highest one.
In spite of the focus on culturally appropriate interactions with employees, communications associated with these leadership styles are usually ineffective because of ignoring employees’ interests and prioritizing the performance results. There are many Marriott hotels in different countries where the top management is presented by only Americans or only nationals.
Although both strategies can lead to positive results associated with respecting the diverse workforce and culture or promoting the company’s vision, such approaches can cause problems (Zopiatis & Constanti, 2012, p. 87). The issues are related to managing diversity, understanding cultural differences, and creating the unique company’s vision (Knani, 2014).
Having summarized the discussion of leadership issues associated with the activities of Marriott International hotels, it is possible to determine the following problems that require the further solution: (1) presence of ineffective leadership styles in Marriott International hotels globally; (2) the ineffective communication between Americans taking the leading positions in Marriott International hotels in different cultures and employees represented by nationals; and (3) the negative impact of the followed ineffective leadership patterns on ethical practices in Marriott International hotels.
Solutions to Identified Leadership Problems
The solution to the problem of following ineffective leadership styles at the middle and lower levels can be based on providing clear guidelines for appointed leaders regarding the followed visions and values, preferred communication styles, and appropriate management approaches. Thus, the candidates of newly appointed leaders should be approved by the members of the special committee.
As a result, the procedure of appointing persons to leading positions in local hotels will be improved, addressing the need for unifying the leadership style. Evaluation of the implemented procedures’ effectiveness is an important stage, and it is necessary to pay much attention to monitoring the activities and successes of leaders in local Marriott hotels to conclude whether decisions made by these persons correspond with the expected leadership style (Marriott, 2015).
It is possible to predict that the improvement of the recruitment and approval procedures will lead to advancing the management in Marriott hotels globally with the focus on supporting positive relations between leaders and the staff. Another leadership problem that needs to be resolved at Marriott International is the ineffective communication of leaders and employees in hotels and restaurants when these persons have the different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
This problem is also associated with the use of ineffective leadership styles in Marriott hotels globally, where the top management is presented by nationals (Tavitiyaman et al., 2014). The solution to this problem depends on the revised approach to appointing directors and managers in Marriott hotels. The company needs to discuss the opportunity to selecting persons for leading positions in Marriott International hotels and restaurants with different ethnic backgrounds, including nationals and persons having the experience of working in Marriott hotels located in the United States.
The most efficient approach to promoting the leadership ideals among all managers at Marriott International is to improve the existing leadership training program. Currently, managers and directors at Marriott International have the opportunity to receive a necessary training to develop such leadership skills as communication, organization, and management skills along with skills in leading change and managing diversity.
Still, this program needs to be further enhanced to address the problem of leadership in highly diverse environments. Thus, the effectiveness of this solution can be measured with the focus on evaluating the leaders’ communication based on questionnaires and interviews with the personnel.
Conclusion
Marriott International is an actively developing international company that demonstrates the leadership excellence in almost all spheres. The promoted transformational leadership is an effective choice for ruling such large company having its ideology and vision.
However, problematic fields include the leadership skills showed by directors and managers in Marriott hotels regionally. Therefore, it is essential to provide recommendations for the leaders of Marriott International on improving the approach.
It is important to control the recruitment of directors for top positions in local Marriott hotels in order to contribute to preserving the unique organizational culture and developing the principles of the transformational leadership. Thus, top managers in Marriott International can be discussed as successful transformational leaders, and regional managers also use benefits of the relations-oriented leadership.
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