Leaders’ STARA Competencies and Green Innovation: The Mediating Roles of Challenge and Hindrance Appraisals

The hospitality sector is undergoing a rapid digital change due to smart technology and artificial intelligence. This presents both possibilities and problems for the development of sustainable innovation. Yet, little is known about how leaders’ technological competencies affect employees’ capacity to engage in environmentally responsible innovation. This study addresses this gap by examining how leaders’ competencies in smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA) shape employees’ green innovative behavior in hotels. Anchored in person–job fit theory and cognitive appraisal theory, we propose that when employees perceive a strong alignment between their skills and the technological demands introduced by STARA, they are more likely to appraise such technologies as opportunities (challenge appraisals) rather than threats (hindrance appraisals). These appraisals, in turn, mediate the link between leadership and green innovation. Convenience sampling was used to gather data from staff members at five-star, ecologically certified hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. According to structural equation modeling using SmartPLS, employees’ green innovation behaviors are improved by leaders’ STARA abilities. Crucially, staff members who viewed STARA technologies as challenges (i.e., chances for learning and development) converted leadership skills into more robust green innovation results. Conversely, employees who perceived these technologies as obstacles, such as burdens or threats, diminished this beneficial effect and decreased their desire to participate in green innovation. These findings highlight that the way employees cognitively evaluate technological change determines whether leadership efforts foster or obstruct sustainable innovation in hotels.