EXPRESS: A Review of Upper Echelons Theory in Hospitality: General Managers as an Overlooked Echelon

General Managers (GMs) play a critical yet under-theorized role in hospitality, bridging strategic intent with daily operations. This study examines hospitality GMs to identify boundary conditions of Upper Echelons Theory (UET). Drawing on 92 studies across three domains, GM characteristics, leadership styles, and succession, we show the GM role exposes UET's locational, dispositional, situational, and temporal assumptions as boundary conditions, not universal principles. The locational assumption becomes conditional when strategic and operational authority converge in one role. The dispositional assumption must account for dynamic competence, value expression, leadership adaptability, and gendered recognition of traits. The situational assumption requires modeling context as co-constituted by GM behavior and governance. The temporal assumption requires institutional continuity for influence to accumulate. Building on these refinements, we propose an Upper Echelons Framework for GMs in Hospitality, clarifying UET’s causal logic in high-contact service settings.