The qualities of hotel managers that promote information technology implementation

Information technology (IT) has become a vital part of convention hotel functions. Daily operations rely heavily on IT. Furthermore, IT plays a significant role to differentiate the product from competitors. In order to implement the appropriate IT successfully, hotel managers must assess their needs and understand the impact of IT. The purpose of this study was to investigate hotel managers' roles and characteristics associated with successful IT innovation and implementation. Two questions that guided this study are: (1) What, if any, are the common characteristics of hotel managers who have innovated and implemented IT as specified by the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) survey? (2) What, if any, is the relationship between leadership behaviors and perceptions of hotel manager regarding IT innovation and implementation? Research questions were addressed by descriptive and inferential statistics analysis of a survey consisting of 42 items. The survey instrument consisted of 3 parts: (a) The LPI developed by Kouzes and Posner (30 items), (b) questions about IT innovation and implementation (8 items), and (c) demographics (4 items). The survey instrument was mailed to 171 hotel managers of 5 convention hotels in downtown Los Angeles. Collected data were evaluated by using a cross-tabulation method and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Five effective leadership score from LPI survey and response of the IT innovation and implementation were compared to find common characteristics and the relationship between leadership behaviors and IT innovation and implementation.;The data from the literature review identified specific roles of hotel managers who promote IT implementation. Also, the data gathered from the survey instrument revealed common characteristics of hotel managers who promote IT innovation and implementation: They shared the ability to inspire a shared vision and enable others to act. Surprisingly, only a few managers were actively involved in IT innovation and implementation. The study provided a guideline to hotel managers to become an effective leader of IT innovation and implementation. One recommendation is that hotels should encourage more hotel managers to innovate IT implementation to promote leadership in the hotel industry. Further research is recommended on a multirater assessment of leadership behaviors and its relationship with IT implementation in the hotel industry.