Is CEO servant leadership key for hotels to be entrepreneurial? The mediation of internal social capital across family and non-family firms

Purpose Entrepreneurial orientation is critical to staying ahead in the current competitive hospitality industry. Drawing on the theories of social capital, socioemotional wealth and upper echelons, this study aims to highlight the mechanisms through which CEO servant leadership enhances entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, this paper examines (1) the mediating role of internal social capital in the CEO servant leadership–entrepreneurial orientation relationship and (2) the moderating role of family and non-family firms. Design/methodology/approach Our hospitality industry sample frame was based on several databases (SABI, Camerdata, INE). Large and medium-sized hotels with more than 30 employees in the Canary and Balearic Islands (Spain) were targeted. After eliminating duplicate cases and entities no longer in business, 597 hotels remained. Complete information was obtained for 176 hotels. To test our hypotheses, structural equation modeling based on partial least squares (PLS) and Smart PLS 4 was used. Findings Our results revealed that CEO servant leadership was positive for entrepreneurial orientation, mediated by internal social capital through its three dimensions: structural, relational and cognitive. In addition, the results also showed that the relationships observed were generally stronger in family firms than in non-family firms. Practical implications Our study shows that CEOs of family and non-family firms can improve the practice of servant leadership through implementing appropriate management selection and training policies. Originality/value Our findings advance the servant leadership literature, currently dominated by individual- and group-level research, by providing empirical evidence that CEO servant leadership has a positive impact on firm-level variables (internal social capital and entrepreneurial orientation). In addition, using multigroup analysis, we are able to study the moderating role of family and non-family firms.