Perceptions of organizational structure in the hospitality industry: Consequences for commitment, job satisfaction and perceived performance

The discussion about characteristics of organic and mechanistic organizational modes and their effects has a long history within organizational writing and research. The mechanistic mode has its roots in traditional bureaucratic organizations with autocratic leadership, where managers are given a great responsibility to run the organization. Research in the hospitality field indicates that traditional leadership styles are dominant. Research also indicates that the industry has employees who have high-quality values, are highly motivated and seek learning possibilities, and thus may be looking for more open, organic organizational modes in which to work. This study investigates the tension between organic and mechanistic organization forms in the hospitality industry and the relationships of both to individual employees' commitment, job satisfaction and performance. The experience and effects of organizational modes are investigated in 54 hotel units with 734 managers and employees. The findings indicate that managers' and employees' perceptions of their work environments are different; employees find the organization to be less organic. The experience of both organic and mechanistic organizational modes is positively associated with subjective performance evaluation, commitment and job satisfaction. Interaction effects are also analyzed, and suggest that only when a well-structured mechanistic organizational form is present will organic organizational forms be beneficial. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to previous and future hospitality research. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.