The role of leader in formation of organizational culture in service enterprises

ABSTRACTTHE ROLE OF LEADER IN FORMATION OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE INSERVICE ENTERPRISESAhmet BAYTOKDepartment of Business AdministrationAfyon Kocatepe University, The Institute of Social SciencesMay 2006Advisor: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Halil SAYLILeadership and organizational culture, in today?s business world, are the basicdeterminants of formation of operational processes of enterprises, its management andchange. While leadership manages the human factor at organizational level, organizationalculture, on the other hand, guides and controls it. Leadership and organizational culture areimportant when they are considered as complementary to each other.This study theoretically and empirically examines the determination of the role ofleadership in formation of culture in service organizations. In the scope of this study, animpact model of service leader in the formation of organizational culture has been developed.In the development of the model, first, personal characteristics of service leaders andmanagerial functions were identified and then depending on these functions, organizationalculture which was exhibited in the structure of organizational culture formed by the serviceleader was examined and finally a questionnaire survey was conducted among employees toreveal the role of service leader in formation of organizational culture. Qualitative andquantitative methods are employed together in the studies to form the model. By consideringthe uniqueness of organizational culture, the study was conduct in a hotel in tourism industrywhich is a part of service industries.According to study results, it was found out that organizational culture in serviceenterprises requires customer focus, high quality standards, team work and empowerment ofemployees. On the other hand, depending on the structure of service, employees in enterprisesexpect to be empowered.