Sustainable leadership and work behavior in hotel businesses: The influence of perceived environmental corporate social responsibility

Despite the growing emphasis on sustainability in the hospitality industry, there is a notable gap in understanding how sustainable leadership influences employee work behavior, particularly through the lens of perceived environmental corporate social responsibility (PECSR), an area that has yet to be fully explored in the context of hotel businesses. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of sustainable leadership on sustainable work behavior among employees in hotel businesses with a particular focus on perceived environmental corporate social responsibility as a mediator. This study focuses on full-time employees working in five-star hotels in Egypt, with a total of 352 valid responses collected. The data were analyzed using WarpPLS software, a user-friendly tool for the PLS-SEM approach adopted. The findings indicate that sustainable leadership has a positive impact on employees' sustainable work behavior and their perceptions of environmental corporate social responsibility. Additionally, the study shows that PECSR not only positively influences employees' sustainable work behavior but also serves as a mediator in the relationship between sustainable leadership and sustainable work behavior. This study contributes to sustainability and leadership literature in the hospitality industry. It demonstrates that sustainable leadership’s impact on employee behavior is partially mediated by employees’ perceptions of their organization’s environmental responsibility, enriching leadership theories with insights from corporate social responsibility and organizational behavior. Practically, the research offers hotel managers actionable insights on integrating sustainability into leadership practices, emphasizing the importance of transparent communication about CSR initiatives, leadership training, and aligning sustainability with organizational strategies to enhance employee engagement and foster sustainable work behavior.