The multinational hotel industry in Sub-Saharan Africa lacks diversity in leadership appointments and development, with most senior positions held by white men, who are often expatriates from developed countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors contributing to this persistent lack of diversity.
This qualitative study includes semi-structured interviews with senior managers and industry experts, as well as participant observation. Drawing on Bourdieu's relational framework, the study examines the interplay between individual, organisational and industry factors that influence the lack of diversity in the hotel industry.
Three themes, constituting the key contributing factors, emerge from the empirical data: the mindsets of hotel property and brand owners about the value of local talent; the need for leadership candidates to have global exposure; and the need for leadership candidates to have specific competencies, including the ability to identify and act on opportunities found through professional networks and institutional relationships.
The findings from this study will help government and business understand the power dynamics in the hotel industry in Sub-Saharan Africa and take steps to address longstanding imbalances.
The paper offers an original contribution by applying Bourdieu's relational framework to leadership diversity in the multinational hotel industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. The integration of postcolonial and decolonial perspectives with leadership development theory is novel and advances understanding beyond descriptive accounts of expatriate dominance.
