The critical role that national culture and ethical leadership play in fostering employee commitment to service quality in the hotel industry

ABSTRACT The hotel industry is the most diverse and fastest growing industry in the world, offering its companies tremendous opportunities for international expansion and immersion in different cultures. However, this creates several obstacles that block the way to success. Through the years, the industry has been facing countless ethical scandals, such as national origin discrimination and sexual harassment, among others, which occur due to the lack of ethical leadership. Another major problem for the hotel industry that is directly associated with both the absence of ethical leadership and an ethical cliate is the decreased employee commitment to service quality. Hardly any hospitality studies focused on employee commitment to service quality. Furthermore, only few hospitality studies examined how ethical leadership translates across different cultures and how it affects the ethical climate in organisations. The scope of this study is to stress the importance of ethical leadership and how it can be used to tackle those critical challenges that the hotel industry has been facing. This is a theoretical study offering an in-depth analysis of ethical leadership. The proposed conceptual model is based on existing literature on ethical leadership, ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality. The cultural and cross-cultural issues are carefully examined and their role in leadership is assessed. The study proposes several strategies that could be used to successfully implement strong ethical leadership and foster a positive ethical climate when operating internationally. It also explains how these variables work together to inspire hotel employees and increase their commitment to service quality.


Introduction
A number of ethical scandals and related lawsuits during the past decade have revealed the presence of serious ethical issues in the hotel industry.
Hotel ethical scandals include, but are not limited to, cases of sexual harassment, different types of discrimination, lack of workplace diversity, violations of international business and cross-cultural norms, environmental injustice and sustainability, marketing and pricing, theft, and blame shifting, all over the world (Dimitriou, 2013, p. 2).
Recent studies brought to light some alarming facts and statistics regarding sexual harassment in the hotel industry. A study conducted by Cosmopolitan revealed that the food and service hospitality fields hold the highest rates of reported sexual harassment cases of women compared to other industries (Vagianos, 2017). Female hotel employees' sexual harassment cases are mostly caused by co-workers, supervisors and hotel guests (Meetingsnet.com, 2017). A study conducted by UNITE HERE Local 1 (2016) found that "58% of hotel workers and 77% of casino workers surveyed have been sexually harassed by a guest" (p. 4), and that "49% of housekeepers reported having had guest(s) answer the door naked, expose themselves, or flash themselves" (p. 3). The examples mentioned above not only reveal a lack of ethical leadership in the hotel industry, but also intensify the need for the creation and promotion of a positive ethical climate in hotels around the world. A strong ethical climate establishes goodwill, value, commitment and trust for stakeholders (Peterson & Ferrell, 2005).
Ethical leadership has been suggested as a leadership style for achieving success and has attracted the hospitality industry's attention (Schwepker & Dimitriou, 2021). Hardly anyone could ignore the significant costs, both monetary (e.g. expensive settlement amounts) and non-monetary (e.g. loss of stakeholders, serious damage to a company's image, etc.) that derive from all the related lawsuits and the unethical manner of conducting business in the hotel industry. Many positive effects have been associated with ethical leadership. Not only does it have a positive impact on a number of job outcomes such as ethical behaviour, job performance, organisational commitment and job satisfaction, to name a few, but also reduces turnover intention, counterproductive work behaviour, work stress and abusive supervision (Bedi et al., 2016). Despite the various studies offered in the literature which focused on ethical leadership, there has still not been enough attention on critical factors like the national origin of leaders as well as other cultural issues that come into play and how they can impact them and their ethical leadership style. Especially since this is such a diverse and global kind of industry and things can get pretty messy when companies attempt to expand on an international level. In fact, there are plenty of challenges associated with it that have not been addressed yet. There are also limited studies that deal with the proper and actual implementation of ethical leadership and how it can positively impact employee commitment to service quality and help foster a positive, healthy and ethical climate in organisations.
The purpose of this study is to close that gap by stressing the importance of ethical leadership and how it can be used to tackle those critical challenges that the hotel industry has been facing for so long. The main goal is to help the industry understand how to implement ethical leadership successfully, and explain how beneficial it is from various perspectives to establish ethical principles and values, foster a positive ethical climate, and place emphasis on employee commitment to quality service in hotels. This is a theoretical study aimed at building a conceptual model based on existing literature on ethical leadership, ethical climate, cross-cultural studies and employee commitment to service quality. It starts by introducing a number of ethical scandals that have been reported. Then, I explain what leads to the quest for ethical leadership, and analyse the challenges of the cultural differences among different countries as well as the cross-cultural issues and how they relate to ethical leadership which are all so important for hoteliers to consider. Two very important effects of leadership, ethical climate and employee commitment to quality service in hotels, are evaluated. A model is used to reflect how all these variables are connected to each other and to explain to industry leaders how to carefully approach ethical issues in the international arena to excel and achieve the desired results.

Hotel ethical scandals and related lawsuits through the years
The lack of ethical leadership is a serious problem that the hotel industry has been suffering from for years as it has resulted in countless ethical scandals and lawsuits, bringing all kinds of injustices to light. What is most interesting is the fact that it has touched hotels of all segments (luxury, midscale, etc.), types (airport hotels, resorts, etc.) and star-rating categories (3-star, 4-star, etc.). The cases that are included in Table 1 are some examples of the many lawsuits that have reached the courts and have raised many concerns in the world of hotels on how to fight these litigations and prevent them from proliferating. They cover a five-year period (from 2018 to 2022) and are sorted by year starting in a descending order.

What leads to the quest for ethical leadership?
A number of reasons have contributed to the quest for ethical leadership and the factors that will help foster a positive ethical climate in the hotel industry. First of all, there are external factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as the strong emphasis on regulatory compliance which puts a lot of pressure on businesses to follow government, state, federal and local laws, and immigration and employment, discrimination, liability regulations that are geared towards the implementation of business ethics. In fact, that also explains why many companies tend to include critical information about ethical issues on their websites to satisfy accreditation, or other purposes, but if someone takes a closer look, they will very quickly realise that there is no actual substance to, or implementation of, the stated policies. As Teng and Cheng (2021) note, regardless of the standard operation procedures that most tourism and hospitality organisations have established, they are not actually followed. Then, there are internal factors that should be noted such as the nature of this industry.
Unlike most other industries, the hotel industry is a service industry which includes the characteristics like intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability (Kotler et al., 2010). The nature of this industry is also very diverse, operating on a global level and characterised on many occasions by seasonality and low-paid employees. In fact, Stevens (2011) attributes the high levels of reported unethical and dishonest occurrences to the challenges that the hotel profession has. More specifically, she noted that temptation stems from the part-time employees involved, the recurrent dealings with money, the long hours that they are asked to work and the unexpected events that may occur. Hanrahan (2020) supports that the hospitality industry is a perfect target for employee theft, including the removal of cash, inventory, the unauthorised use of a facility, discounts and more. Goh and Kong (2018) contend that employee theft tends to occur among the younger demographics. Their study of Australian Generation Z (born after 1995) undergraduate students at the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School found that the major reason for employee theft in hotels is the experience of adrenaline. The second reason was low wages. The third most important reason was revenge for unfair treatment. The fourth reason was the undergraduate students' why-paywhen-it-is-free mentality. Furthermore, the study revealed that job stress is a huge challenge that hotel employees face. On top of that, stress acts as a strong motivating factor that encourages them to steal as it helps them relieve all that stress (Goh & Kong, 2018).
However, I contend that these high levels of unethical and dishonest behaviour that have been increasing through the years cannot only be justified by the challenges of the profession, but they do bring much deeper issues to the surface. A closer look and more careful analysis of the industry itself reveals that a significant number of "bad apples" are hired, employed, hold key managerial positions in hotels around the world and engage in all kinds of unethical behaviours. Here are a couple of examples which clearly illustrate how true and valid this statement is. A manager working at Jiji, Inc., a Holiday Inn franchisee located in Batesville, discharged an employee when she informed him of her pregnancy on the first day of her job and replaced her with a non-pregnant employee. As part of the settlement, the hotel was asked to pay USD 20 000 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC, 2014). A manager of the Wynn Las Vegas not only provided a female employee with requested leave for her needed medical treatment, but he also discharged her due to her disability. It all happened when that employee informed her manager that her ovarian cancer had returned and requested leave to undergo surgery and to recover from the procedure (EEOC, 2017). In addition, according to the EEOC (2017), the Wynn Las Vegas hotel discriminated against a class of similarly aggrieved employees based on their According to court records, when a girl briefly left her hotel room in the Hyatt Hotels Corporation in the early morning to call a friend, she was approached by a 58-year-old Bahamian local, who started a conversation and then lured her to a closed poolside cabana. He overpowered and raped her. By this time, her father had already gone looking for his daughter and found her using mobile phone technology. He entered the cabana to find the sexual assault in progress. The rape was immediately reported to authorities and the attacker was arrested and charged with statutory rape. Therefore, the Hyatt Hotel corporation faced a federal lawsuit in Florida for the alleged sexual assault of a minor at one of its resorts in the Bahamas (Halberg, 2022).

Racial discrimination and harassment
For over a year, a Black housekeeper employed by the Mooresville Hampton Inn referred to white employees in racially derogatory terms, regularly chastised them and interfered with their ability to perform their jobs. When the white employees reported this to the company on multiple occasions, the employer allowed the harassment to continue and escalate. The harassment resulted in emotional distress for several of them, one of whom quit her job citing a hostile work environment (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2022).

Sexual harassment
The hotel manager of Lodging Lane Hospitality sexually harassed a female housekeeper for months. He requested sex and inappropriately touched the housekeeper. When she complained about his behaviour, the manager ignored her and fired her shortly thereafter (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2021a).

Religious discrimination
The Solé Miami resort hotel accommodated a Jewish employee's observance of the Sabbath for more than ten months after she began her job. When a new supervisor came aboard, however, the employee was scheduled to work on Saturdays. When the employee missed work due to her religious practices, Solé Miami immediately terminated her employment (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2021b). Gender-based wage discrimination According to court records, Aimbridge Hospitality paid a male guest service representative USD 15.25 per hour while paying a female front desk supervisor and female guest service representatives USD 11 or less per hour. Aimbridge eventually began paying female supervisors USD 16 per hour, but unlawfully reduced the pay rate of the male representative rather than increasing the rates for female representatives, as the law required (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2021c).

Sexual harassment
A male hotel manager at Hawthorn Suites targeted two female Latin American housekeepers. He harassed them by cornering and groping them when they were alone cleaning hotel rooms, mocking them for objecting to the assaults and making sexual comments. One of the housekeepers quit out of fear for her safety. Afterward, the other housekeeper reported the harassment to the general manager, who cut her work hours drastically and denied her a raise given to other housekeepers (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2020a).
In 2020, an operator of the DoubleTree Hotel in Jefferson City violated federal law when they allowed a male room inspector to sexually harass a female housekeeper by making offensive sexual comments and inappropriate physical contact (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2020b).

Disability discrimination
An employee of the Red Roof Inns' corporate call center in Springfield, Ohio expressed interest in a promotion to a newly available position there. Red Roof Inns refused to accommodate the employee's efforts to learn more about and compete for the promotion, declaring it would be a waste of his time to apply because his visual impairment could not be accommodated (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2020c).

Racial discrimination and harassment
When Albert Law checked into the Hilton Richmond Downtown and was waiting in the lobby, a security guard approached him asking "Do you belong here?" and demanding to see his room key and identification. As the only Black person seated near several white people -none of whom was asked the same question -Law was offended and claimed it was blatant discrimination (Woodyard & Oliver, 2020).

Disability discrimination
According to court records, Hyatt Corporation refused to accommodate an employee with a back impairment. As a front desk agent, prolonged standing aggravated the employee's impairment and caused him severe pain. The employee requested that the hotel permit him to sit while working at the front desk. Initially, the hotel granted his request, but after two weeks refused to allow the employee use of a chair and failed to accommodate his disability. Hyatt paid USD 100 000 in pay and benefits to settle the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination suit (EEOC, 2019a).
In 2019, Verona Resort and Spa in Tamuning, paid USD 15 871.56 to settle a lawsuit for refusing to allow an employee with gestational diabetes to wear open-toed shoes and to be able to sit while doing her duties as a front desk agent. Verona refused to provide a reasonable accommodation after she made the request and fired her, claiming her pregnancy impacted her ability to perform her job (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2019b).

Gender-based wage discrimination
Courtyard Monroe Airport Hotel faced a pay discrimination lawsuit because female employees were paid women less than males. All the female guest representatives received USD 11 or less per hour while their only male counterpart received USD 15.25 per hour (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2019c).

Disability discrimination
The IHG Army Hotel in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, was sued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2018c) for disability discrimination when a employee was fired for being absent while recovering from a seizure which had occured while she was at home the night before a scheduled day off. She contacted her supervisor to request two additional days off to recover from the seizure. Her supervisor granted the request and scheduled a meeting with the employee before her next shift. During that meeting, the employee's supervisor and the hotel manager fired her for disability-related absences coupled with their fears and stereotypes about epilepsy (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018a).
continued on next page disabilities. In another case, managers at the RCH Colorado refused to hire four older women applicants in the positions of slot attendant and cocktail server (EEOC, 2016). The applicants got the hotel involved in a wage and sex discrimination lawsuit because, out of the 14 applicants for the slot attendant position, only the three oldest female applicants were not hired. They also refused to hire the oldest cocktail server, who was 63 years old. Moreover, prior to the sale of Fortune Valley, casino managers went around and took photos of employees on the casino floor. These photos were later used by the hotel to screen out older, less attractive employees. EEOC's investigation found a significant disparity in the hiring of female applicants and/or applicants age 40 and older. What is even more alarming is not the increasing number of "bad apples" that are employed in the hotel industry, but the strong impact they have on others. Dimitriou and Ducette's (2018) study on the factors impacting the ethical behaviour of hotel employees found that the major factor that contributes to the ethical behaviour of hotel employees is the ethical behaviour of their peers, followed by the ethical behaviour of their managers. Greenberg and Baron (2008, p. 68) argue that "although very few managers openly promote unethical behaviour, may do so unwittingly with respect to the examples they set for their subordinates". Deshpande et al. (2006, p. 208) add that "successful managers often serve as role models for others and their actions often create norms for the workplace". Velthouse and Kandogan (2007, p. 162) point out that the literature tells us that the one consistent component in an organization's ethical behaviour is the attention and involvement of the organizational leader. Therefore, it is critical that managers at every level take a more active and vigilant role regarding ethical behaviour. Various studies (Singhapakdi & Vitell, 1990;Jones & Kavanagh, 1996;Lantos, 1999) stress the key role that peer influence plays on ethical behaviour. As Keith et al. (2003, p. 261) note, "it appears that one's peers have a significant impact on employees' ethical behaviours toward their firm, customers, and competitors". So, if one hotel employee is slacking, stealing or engaging in any unethical behaviour, that opens the doors to others to join in, especially when no rules are in place and no discipline is enforced. Things get much more serious when that "bad apple" is their superior, the role model, the person they look up to. When the person in charge exhibits inappropriate behaviour and uses injustice, double standards and other unethical means to run a department, then they promote and encourage unethical behaviour, and foster an unethical, negative and unhealthy climate in the workplace through their own example. If someone takes into consideration that this situation not only exists in one hotel department, e.g. the front office, but also in other areas such as the food and beverage department and housekeeping, it is easy to understand how quickly things can get out of control.
I believe that the road to building ethical hotel working environments starts at the top and that ethical leadership is the key that can positively impact a hotel company on so many levels as well as truly create a better future for this industry. There are a number of positive effects associated with ethical leadership. Schwepker and Dimitriou's (2021) study found that customer-contact employees' views of their supervisor's use of ethical leadership behaviours is related to lower levels of ethical ambiguity and job stress. More specifically, when customer-contact employees perceive their supervising manager is practising ethical leadership behaviours, they are better at instilling customer's trust and confidence in their service, quickly providing service, performing dependably and accurately, and providing individualized attention to customers' concerns (Schwepker & Dimitriou, 2021, p. 8). Their study also found that perceived ethical leadership behaviours positively influence performance quality. Ethical leadership is positively related to customer orientation, ethical values, person-organisation fit and commitment to service quality . As an active enabler of various positive behaviours (Kalshoven et al., 2013;Lee et al., 2017;Li & Bao, 2020), ethical leadership is also positively connected with a number of job outcomes including job performance, organisational commitment and job satisfaction, among others (Bedi et al., 2016). According to Shafique et al. (2019), ethical leadership has strong positive effects on employee creativity, intrinsic motivation, psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing. Javed et al. (2017) found a significant relationship between ethical leadership and employee creativity. They explained that due to the fact that creativity is a non-routine task and is high risk, employees need support from leadership.
The positive relationship between ethical leadership and employee creativity demonstrates that ethical leaders who are characterized by traits such as trustworthiness, fairness, and balanced decision can influence their employees to be engaged in creative behaviour (Javed et al., 2017, p. 846).
Their results also show a significant relationship between ethical leadership and psychological empowerment.
Moreover, ethical leadership is found to have a close association with organisational innovation (Shafique et al., 2019), a concept that has been acknowledged as one of the major factors for a firm's success (Elrehail et al., 2018), and is

Year Category
Ethical scandal 2018 Disability discrimination The Embassy Suites hotel in San Diego was sued for disability discrimination for not providing an effective accommodation for a female employee with asthma and fired her instead (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), 2018a). The case was settled when Merritt Hospitality, LLC and HEI Hotels and Resorts, LLC, agreed to pay usd 125 000 and provide other injunctive relief (EEOC, 2018b).

Racial discrimination and harassment
The SLS South Beach MIami hotel was ordered to pay USD 2.5 million along with additional training to settle a race, colour and national origin lawsuit for wrongfully terminating Black Haitian dishwashers and replacing them with light-skinned Hispanics from a staffing agency. According to the dishwashers' testimony, their supervising chefs referred to them as "slaves" and scolded them for speaking Creole, even among themselves, while Hispanic employees were allowed to speak Spanish (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018c). the key factor that promotes individual and organisational-level positive performance outcomes (Shafique et al., 2019). Ethical leadership can also contribute to a strong reputation. Zhu et al. (2014) sugguest that when ethical leadership is strong, it has an indirect and positive effect on a firm's reputation through corporate social responsibility (CSR), but not when it is weak. In addition, ethical leadership positively influences the ethical climate, which in turn will contribute to effective organisational members' commitments to their organisation and fewer turnover intentions (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015). Collins (2021) contends that ethical leadership improves job satisfaction, enhances emotional commitment and protects employees from burnout. Schwepker et al. (2019) found that ethical leadership positively influences the ethical climate of customer-contact service employees, which in turn reduces their service sabotage behaviour and increases their commitment to service quality. But, most importantly, a range of studies (Mayer et al., 2009;Walumbwa et al., 2011;Mayer et al., 2012;Arain et al., 2016) suggest that ethical leadership motivates employees to exhibit positive work behaviours in the workplace.

ethical leadership
According to Kul (2017, p. 564), "ethical leadership centred on ethical values in leadership approaches was introduced in the early 2000s as a new style of leadership". Brown et al. (2005, p. 120) define ethical leadership as "the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making". Most studies that focus on ethical leadership try to conceptualise this term by describing the characteristics of ethical leaders and/or how ethical leaders must behave. Here are some examples: Brown and Treviño (2006) describe ethical leaders as people who are honest, caring, moral and make fair and sound decisions. They communicate regularly with their followers on issues related to ethics, set clear ethical rules and policies and enforce discipline (positive and negative) to make sure the rules are followed. Ethical leaders are not restricted to words, but put into practice all the principles that they preach and become role models that their subordinates can look up to. Behavioural scientists place special emphasis on the integrity and honesty of ethical leaders (Dickson et al., 2001;Eubanks et al., 2012). Ponnu and Tennakoon (2009, p. 22) point out that "ethical leaders must focus more effort on creating the right conditions and organizational culture, which is also the organizational soil, to foster the development of ethical behaviour than on building a compliance infrastructure". Nicolaides (2019, p. 3) suggests that "ethical leadership tends to model the desired ethical behaviour to a hotel's employees and engenders an ambience in the workplace that is replete with integrity, credibility and respect". He also noted that "ethical leadership comprises two basic elements. Ethical leaders must act and make ethical decisions and then it must be visible in the way they interact with people on a daily basis, in their approaches and in the manner in which they lead their organizations" (p. 6). According to Fuchs (2019, p. 1), ethical leadership "emphasizes ethical role modelling, principled decision-making, leader integrity and ethical treatment of others". Brown and Mitchell (2010, p. 584) view ethical leaders as moral leaders who "walk the talk and talk the walk, patterning their behaviour and organizational processes to meet moral standards". As a matter of fact, few would disagree that when it comes to ethical leaders, justice and fairness are not just two concepts deriving from an ethical theory developed by John Rawls (1971), an American philosopher. They are major principles that ethical leaders apply in every aspect of their lives and are proud to do so. Being ethical is their way of life and the values they set for their companies are the very values they believe in and abide by in their own lives (Sims & Brinkman, 2002). Taking all the above into consideration as well as the need to offer an in-depth analysis of ethical leadership and how it impacts the hotel industry in several ways, and combining it with my knowledge and expertise, I define ethical leadership as the kind of leadership that establishes moral and ethical values within the organisation, monitors, controls and ensures their successful implementation on an international level, enforces positive and negative discipline procedures, is based on the principles of organisational justice and global business ethics, and is fostered by honest, upfront, genuine and fair individuals full of integrity and ethos who lead by example and inspire their followers to emulate their ethical behaviour. It is important to note that here ethos is "a Greek word which refers to a person of high moral standards" (Dimitriou, 2017, p. 45). Aristotle, the Ancient Greek philosopher, is well-known for developing virtue ethics and placing an emphasis on aretē, which means being moral, ethical and virtuous (Bartlett & Collins, 2011). In my definition of ethical leadership, strong emphasis is placed on the fact that ethical leaders are able to foster this kind of leadership on an international level with great ease and outstanding excellence by fully respecting, recognising and successfully dealing with all the challenges that are associated with the global expansion of hospitality organisations.
While the literature offers mostly Western perspectives, it should be noted that ethical leadership also plays a key role in Chinese societies (Pellegrini & Scandura, 2008). There, it is based on the Confucian philosophy "which emphasizes that leaders are role models whose actions will be emulated by subordinates" (Resick et al., 2011, p. 437) and is broadly explained and analysed as paternalistic leadership. Thus, we do realise how much ethical leadership is valued by many different countries and civilisations. Furthermore, as Çelik et al. (2015) mention, ethical leadership has been examined in terms of leadership processes, leader behaviours, the relationship with the audience and organisational outputs, and it is only recently that it has been linked to unethical behaviours in the workplace, which has led governments to enforce new rules and regulations that would support studies in this field.
Another crucial factor that determines ethical leaders' effectiveness is their personality. For example, not being genuinely nice to others, always putting their own personal interests first, remaining egoistic, stubborn, narrow-minded, or getting involved in "dirty" games to achieve success, can be a recipe for disaster and sets the foundation for unethical leadership. Ethical leaders "are community-or people-oriented and aware of how their actions impact others" (Keating et al., 2007, p. 8) which clearly shows their importance and key role in any organisation, hospitality or otherwise. For Brown and Treviño (2006), the antecedents of ethical leadership include individual personal characteristics (e.g. neuroticism, conscientiousness, moral reasoning) and situational variables (e.g. role playing and ethical context). Rowe (2014) found that a key antecedent of ethical leadership is maternal influence and that ethical leaders were more likely to bring better organisational performance and to achieve greater personal rewards. Rahaman et al.'s (2019) study investigated how leaders' attitudes toward ethical behaviour, subjective norms about ethical behaviour and perceived behavioural controls may contribute to ethical intentions and in turn ethical leadership. Their results reveal that when leaders have a favourable attitude toward ethical behaviour and perceive behavioural control, their intention to act ethically is likely to increase, in turn fostering the demonstration of their ethical leadership. Sharma et al. (2019, p. 715) note that "ethical leaders exhibit a high level of truthfulness. This assumes significance for inspiring a sense of leader honesty and trustworthiness and accepting the leader's vision". They also concluded that organisational leaders must possess the following personality attributes: values and ideals, honesty and integrity, people orientation and responsibility, decision-making and communication that empowers their role as ethical leaders. When Mayer et al. (2012, p. 164) examined the antecedents of ethical leadership by testing whether one source of motivation for leaders to exhibit ethical behaviours arises from a self-defining knowledge structure, the so-called moral identity, they found that "moral identity can act as a source of motivation for leaders to behave in a manner consistent with a self-schema organized around a set of traits (e.g. honest, caring, compassionate, hard-working) associated with a moral prototype". Their most important message though was that not only do leaders have to be moral individuals, but [they] also have to go one step further and actively model ethical behaviours and use reward and punishment systems to influence followers' behaviours. Thus, companies that can hire and/or train ethical leaders are more likely to create ethical and interpersonally harmonious work environments (Mayer et al., 2012, p. 167). Treviño et al. (2000) talk about the two pillars of ethical leadership: (1) a moral person and (2) a moral manager and present the following equation: moral person + moral manager = a reputation for ethical leadership They also noted that "these ideas about a dual pillar approach to ethical leadership are not brand new" and that "the emphasis on reputation goes back to Plato" (Treviño et al. 2000, p. 129), who was a famous Greek philosopher and student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle (Biography, 2018). Several other authors have also addressed this dual pillar approach to ethical leadership. Brown and Mitchell (2010, p. 584) note that [t]he moral person dimension refers to the qualities of the ethical leader as a person. Strong moral persons are honest and trustworthy. They demonstrate a concern for other people and are also seen as approachable.
Employees can come to these individuals with problems and concerns, knowing that they will be heard. Moral persons have a reputation for being fair and principled.
Lastly, moral persons are seen as consistently moral in both their personal and professional lives. The moral manager dimension refers to how the leader uses the tools of the position of leadership to promote ethical conduct at work. Strong moral managers see themselves as role models in the workplace. They make ethics salient by modelling ethical conduct to their employees. Moral managers set and communicate ethical standards and use rewards and punishments to ensure those standards are followed. In sum, leaders who are moral managers "walk the talk" and "talk the walk", patterning their behaviour and organizational processes to meet moral standards. Tu et al. (2017, p. 232) say that being a moral person, an ethical leader is expected to possess ethical traits, such as honesty, integrity and trustworthiness, and to display these attributes consistently. A moral manager suggests that an ethical leader makes ethical decisions, discusses ethical discipline with employees, holds employees accountable for their behaviours, encourages two-way communication among followers and punishes those who violate ethical rules. Some people confuse ethical leadership with authentic leadership and perceive them as similar. Part of the confusion lies in the fact that authentic leadership is still quite new as a concept and there is a lack of a proper definition as people view it from their own perspectives (Dimitriou & DiGaetano, 2016). Luthans and Avolio (2003, p. 243) defined authentic leadership as a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviours on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development. Walumbwa et al. (2008, p. 94) define it as a pattern of leader behaviour that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development. Ilies et al. (2005) define leadership as a four-component construct, consisting of self-awareness, unbiased processing, authentic behaviour/actions and relational authenticity. Kernis's (2003, p. 14) interpretation of behaving authentically is "acting in accord with one's values, preferences, and needs as opposed to acting merely to please others or to attain rewards or avoid punishments through acting falsely". May et al. (2003, p. 247) note that whether or not leaders' intentions to act authentically lead to authentic moral actions is influenced by their courage to engage in these actions regardless of the social pressures to do otherwise. To sustain authentic moral acts in the face of extreme adversity requires the leader to be resilient in dealing with difficult moral issues. In Luthans and Avolio's (2003) eyes, authentic leaders, apart from being confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, moral, ethical and future-oriented, are also true to themselves. According to Dimitriou and DiGaetano (2016), there is a general consensus among authors that the major trait of authentic leaders is that they do not fake their leadership. Shamir and Eilam (2005) say that authentic leaders do not hide their "true" or "real" self. When placed in a leadership position, they are themselves. As a matter of fact, Bill George (2003), in his book on authentic leadership, contends that people follow them because they know exactly where they stand with them. He also highlighted how consistent and self-disciplined these leaders are. Lorenzo and Aurora (2022) note that authentic leadership encourages self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing and an internalised moral perspective of information and the relations with respect to the leaders working with their subordinates, consequently cultivating positive self-improvement. Their study also found that authentic leadership was "a critical indicator of good faith and trust in the organization and that hopefulness and trust in the organization interceded the connection among authentic leadership and work commitment" (p. 11). They also reported a positive relationship for authentic leadership, job satisfaction and employee engagement. Gardner et al. (2021) support that authentic leaders may become vulnerable, but that this helps build trust and brings all the benefits associated with it. They also expressed their concerns about being authentic at work as it may lead to adverse career outcomes in some organisations. Yamak and Eyupoglu's (2021) study reveals that authentic leadership has a positive impact on innovative service behaviour as well as on the positive psychology of front-line employees. Wang and Xie's (2020) study on the hospitality industry found that authentic leadership predicts service employees' emotional labour strategies and impacts subordinates' emotional regulation by increasing deep acting and decreasing surface acting. Thus, they concluded that managers should be authentic.
However, I argue that not all authentic leaders are ethical, as others (e.g. George, 2003;Luthans & Avolio, 2003) may believe. In fact, some of them may be unfair, unjust and immoral, but as true authentic leaders, they have no issues or reservations showing their true colours to others and engaging in behaviours and actions that are authentic, yet highly unethical. That is the most critical difference between ethical leaders and authentic leaders. Ethical leaders are always authentic.

The challenges of the cultural differences among different countries
Recognising the fact that different countries have different cultures is certainly not something new. However, when it comes to conducting business in a foreign country, overlooking or underestimating the cultural aspects can become a huge challenge which could lead to serious problems. Greenberg and Baron (2008, p. 62) give the following examples: In China, using pirated software is considered acceptable. In Indonesia, bribing an official is considered an acceptable cost of doing business. In Japan, you cannot conduct business unless you give the other party a small gift. In North America, of course, all such acts would be frowned upon and considered illegal and/or unethical. The need to address this issue becomes even more apparent when taking into consideration how diverse and global the hotel industry is and the great international career opportunities it can offer to industry professionals. Let us take, for example, an American hotel chain that has expanded overseas with a number of properties in various different countries. According to the American rules and standards, the position titles stated on employees' name tags should be written in English. This policy is expected to be enforced in all of its properties around the world. However, several position titles written in English may mean a totally different thing in another language, which can be very tricky and cause serious problems. For instance, take the simple term "trainee" which in American English means that a hotel employee is undergoing their internship and is currently being trained. However, in Belgium "trainee" is interpreted as "prostitute". In this case, it would be a dilemma whether employee name tags should use the American terminology because the hotel company is American, or whether they should be translated into the vernacular.
From a theoretical perspective, someone can easily identify the narrow-mindedness that is associated with a strong case of ethnocentrism which clouds managers' judgment as a result. Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English (1989) offers two definitions for the term ethnocentrism: (1) the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own group and culture accompanied by a feeling of contempt for other groups and cultures; and (2) a tendency to view alien groups or cultures in terms of one's own. According to Leininger (1994), every culture has a way of viewing the world through its own lens. That is definitely a huge concern that should not be ignored or underestimated.
Furthermore, it should be noted that cultural diversity does not only play among different countries, but also in a culturally diverse country. Let us take the United States of America as an example where the following sub-cultures exist: African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics. These are groups of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. They differ in terms of their nationality, race, religion, behaviour, attitudes, preferences and beliefs. For instance, the US Hispanic market consists of Americans of Cuban, Mexican, Central American, South American and Puerto Rican descent (Kotler et al., 2017).

Cross-cultural issues and ethical leadership
The issue of whether the ethical leadership components are similar across cultures or not is very controversial. Some non-hospitality researchers (Resick et al., 2006) found that there are certain ethical leadership elements commonly found in Western countries which are also widely accepted and determine the effectiveness of a leader in different cultures. These are "character/integrity, altruism, collective motivation, and encouragement" (p. 354). Whereas, other non-hospitality researchers argue that "for a deeper understanding of ethical and unethical leadership, it is vitally important to analyse how society and sector cultures shape ethical and unethical leadership perceptions and if there may exist cross-culturally and cross-sectorally concordances" (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014, p. 344). I agree with Brown and Treviño's (2006) opinion that even though ethical leadership seems to be universal, the significance of some of its major components may vary. I also claim that when it comes to examining ethical leadership through the lens of the hotel industry, not only does the uniqueness of each culture dictate the kind of ethical leadership that will be applied, but it also becomes a source of key ethical concerns that must be considered and addressed. The hotel industry in its entirety attracts people from all walks of life, making it the most diverse employer in the world (Woods & King, 2010). Additionally, hotel properties spread, expand and operate on a global level as the number of hotels that big companies acquire keeps increasing. The combination of these two key hotel industry characteristics significantly complicates one's ability to master the art of ethical leadership to achieve the creation of a positive ethical climate, and strongly justifies the need for the current study and its contribution to the hospitality literature. (Resick et al., 2011). Even fewer studies (Resick et al., 2006) have been devoted to the examination and analysis of the impact that cultural issues have on someone's effort to successfully implement ethical leadership. The whole issue of ethical leadership gets much more complicated when some researchers (Keating et al., 2007) argue that ethical leadership means different things to different cultures and is therefore defined, approached and interpreted in various ways in each case. As Dimitriou (2016, p. 125) notes, "hospitality organizations that operate around the world may have the same company standards, but the cultural norms and ethical values and beliefs within some of those countries can be significantly different". Donaldson (1996, p. 48) introduced two theories regarding implementing ethics abroad. On one hand, there is the so-called cultural relativism which dictates that "no culture's ethics are better than any other's; therefore there are no international rights and wrongs". Based on this theory, hotel leaders would be eager to follow the specific country's ethical standards because "failing to do as the locals do means forfeiting business opportunities" (ibid.). On the other hand, there is ethical imperialism, "which directs people to do everywhere exactly as they do at home" (Donaldson, 1996, p. 51). According to this theory, hotel leaders should use the ethical standards of their country of origin as their guide to success and impose them in any country. However, Donaldson (1996, p. 52) recognised how extreme both theories are, and suggested three principles that could bridge the gap: "a) Respect for core human values, which determine the absolute moral threshold for all business activities; b) Respect for local traditions; and c) The belief that context matters when deciding what is right and what is wrong". In India, for example, it is acceptable and preferred to hire a family member instead of another candidate who may possess better qualifications, but is not part of the family. On the contrary, in the United States such an act is highly unethical and against the law (Greenberg & Baron, 2008).

Even though Western and Eastern societies are equally concerned and interested in ethical leadership, limited studies have focused on what characteristics are needed, what steps must be made and what it actually takes to be able to promote ethical leadership in different cultures
When it comes to applying ethical hotel leadership in a country other than the country of origin, the key is to acknowledge and respect the existence of cultural differences between the two. Hotel leaders must recognise, appreciate and respect the fact that different countries have their own unique cultural issues, rules and policies which should be taken into careful consideration before they step in to take over a company that operates on foreign soil. For example, applying democratic (also known as participative) leadership is not always effective. In fact, this leadership style "will not be appropriate in a work culture which does not place a high value on personal achievement" (Kanungo & Mendonca, 1996, p. 277). Therefore, it is imperative for hotel leaders to thoroughly investigate what is acceptable or not in that environment prior to implementing any kind of leadership strategies.
There is also another significant factor which must not be overlooked when examining ethical leadership through the lens of culture. More specifically, Resick et al. (2006) note that when it comes to leaders, different cultures have different views on what makes them most effective. For example, they supported that "protecting one's reputation and saving face are extremely important among Middle Eastern societies" (Resick et al., 2006, p. 355) and that Nordic European societies favour leaders who are "encouraging, expressive, and foster an environment of teamwork" (ibid.). Furthermore, it is well-known that a dominant leadership style in developing countries is the so-called "paternalistic" one which requires intense control and supervision over employees (Kanungo & Mendonca, 1996;Dickson et al., 2003). However, Western countries do not approve of such a leadership style as it contradicts their cultural beliefs. Kanungo and Mendonca (1996) reveal that developing countries have very different leadership needs compared to other countries due to the cultural issues that come into play. Similarly, Brown and Treviño (2006, p. 613) contend that "although the content of ethical leadership appears to be universal, the importance attached to key aspects of ethical leadership may vary". According to Dickson et al. (2003, p. 739), cultures of developing countries are characterised as "being higher on power distance, having strong family bonds and a sense of fatalism, and expecting organizations to take care of their workers as well as the workers' families". Kanungo and Mendonca (1996) note that charismatic leaders in developing countries need to provide moral leadership by integrating traditional religious values with pragmatic considerations. Sims and Gegez's (2004) study compared the attitudes towards business ethics among five countries: Israel, Turkey, the United States, Australia and South Africa and found that although there is common ground and similarities regarding business ethics among these countries, Turkey is very different compared to the others.
When it comes to the implementation of ethical leadership, the development of codes of ethics is essential as they are considered a valuable tool in fostering change in corporate cultures (Braswell et al., 2009). However, as Vitolla et al. (2021, p. 2) note, [a]lthough ethical issues are relevant throughout the world, the process of adopting and implementing ethical codes differs significantly in different countries due to the divergent control cultures and methods of contrasting opportunistic and unethical behaviours. More specifically, their study evaluated the influence of national culture, measured through Hofstede's six dimensions of culture (as cited in Morrison et al., 2018) on the quality of the code of ethics: (1) the role of power distance; (2) individualism versus collectivism; (3) masculinity versus femininity; (4) uncertainty avoidance; (5) long-term versus short-term orientation; and (6) indulgence versus restraint. Their study tested a sample of 191 companies in 29 different countries and five different continents and found that five dimensions out of six directly affected the quality of the code of ethics. Indeed, this clearly shows how the quality of ethical codes is strongly influenced by the context in which the company operates. The cultural context defines values and beliefs that organisations must take into serious consideration when carrying out their activities. That is another validation of the importance of carefully examining national culture as a powerful factor which impacts ethical leadership. Especially when there are such significant differences between cultures. Values, rules of social behaviour, perceptions and service are different in Asian versus Western cultures (Reisinger & Turner, 1997). People from individualistic countries have different motives and behaviours compared to collectivist ones (Mill & Morrison, 2012). Moreover, "collectivist cultures such as Asian, Mediterranean, and Latin American cultures favour closer distance and higher levels of contact than that of individualistic cultures of northern Europe and North America" (Mill & Morrison, 2012, p. 263). Men from masculine societies like Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, some Latin countries and most Englishspeaking countries always take more assertive and dominant roles, while women take more service-oriented and caring roles" (ibid.). That reveals a lot about the kind of approach to ethical leadership that different genders from different countries would take. Someone could also argue that in terms of power distance, Asian, African and Latin American countries which have large power index scores, indicating the existence of inequalities that can influence their residents' approach to injustice and discrimination compared to people from Nordic and Englishspeaking countries that have lower scores.

ethical climate
Various definitions, mainly from non-hospitality researchers, have been used to explain the concept of ethical climate. Ethical climate is defined as "the prevailing perceptions of typical organizational practices and procedures that have ethical content" (Victor & Cullen, 1988, p. 101). Engelbrecht et al. (2005, p. 20) define an ethical climate as "the moral atmosphere of a social system characterised by shared perceptions of right and wrong, as well as assumptions about how moral concerns should be addressed". Saygili et al. (2020, p. 27) define ethical climate as "the cumulative total of the perceptions related to common practices and behaviours that organization members observe and are affected in the decision-making processes in the organization" and support that it "determines ethical behaviours required in organizations and relevant expectations of employees. In addition, it helps employees to do what is appropriate by showing admissible and inadmissible behaviours in the organization". Dinçer et al. (2021Dinçer et al. ( , p. 1443) define ethical climate as the perceptions that determine how individuals in the organization make decisions and what is right and wrong. In other words, ethical climate determines which behaviours are ethical within an organization. In addition, it helps to determine the appropriate criteria to behave when unethical behaviour is encountered within the organization. According to Cullen et al. (1989), the company's ethical climate is one of the components of the organisational culture and its role is to help determine (1) which issues organisation members consider to be ethically pertinent and (2) what criteria they use to understand, weigh and resolve these issues. There are nine theoretical ethical climate types: 1) self-interest; 2) company profit; 3) efficiency; 4) friendship; 5) team interest; 6) social responsibility; 7) personal morality; 8) company rules and procedures; and 9) laws and professional codes (Bulutlar & Öz, 2009). Koodamara et al. (2021, p. 244) point out that the ethical climate is a function of three ethical criteria, i.e. instrumentalist attitude, principled attitude, and a caring attitude. The instrumentalist attitude is characterized by self-interest. Principled attitude gives importance to rules in decisionmaking. A caring attitude considers the well-being of others. Wimbush et al. (1997, p. 740) contend that for service-intense organisations, "service is an integral dimension of ethical climate". Cullen et al. (1989) note that a good fit between the organisation's ethical climate and its strategy is a requirement for its effectiveness and that it is also important for the enforcing mechanisms and decision-making processes to suit the climate. Koodamara et al.'s (2021) study found that ethical climate is negatively related to unethical behaviour. Birtch and Chiang's (2013) study revealed that ethical climate is a significant predictor of unethical behaviour. More specifically, students with positive perceptions about their business school's ethical climate were unwilling to engage in unethical actions and behaviours. They also found that an ethical climate creates a psychological environment that motivates and encourages people to behave ethically (Birtch & Chiang, 2013). Tokmak (2020) suggests that there is a positive and significant relationship between ethical climate and innovative behaviours of the employees in health institutions. In other words, "ethical climate perception positively affects employees' perspectives on innovation" (Tokmak, 2020, p. 60). Zhang and Cao (2021, p. 8) found that a caring ethical climate had a significant negative impact on all three dimensions of silence (i.e. acquiescent, defensive and indifferent). Thus, they advised business managers to try to foster a caring climate where they can pay close attention to their employees and listen carefully to their suggestions. They also encouraged managers to achieve that goal "by building a corporate culture in which team activities are organized and interest groups (e.g. speech group, sports groups, photography group) are developed".
The literature offers a great variety of benefits deriving from a company's positive and ethical climate. Verbeke et al.'s (1996) study revealed that a company's ethical climate drives its values and encourages expected behaviours which, in turn, lead to influencing the ethics of its employees. Some researchers uphold that employees closely follow company policies and rules in working environments which foster and promote an ethical climate (Wimbush & Shepard, 1994;Bulutlar & Öz, 2009). Other studies found that employees prefer working for companies that have a positive ethical climate (McFarland, 2003;Valentine & Barnett, 2003). A strong ethical climate establishes good will, value, commitment and trust for stakeholders (Peterson & Ferrell, 2005). Donaldson and Davis (1990) say that improvements to the organisational climate can include better employee morale, teamwork and productivity.

ethical climate and ethical leadership
According to Khokhar et al. (2020, p. 473), "it is the responsibility of leaders to create a suitable working environment in the organization. For that, a climate based on ethical ground is necessary, to examine the ethical aspects of organizations". Several studies point out the significant role that leaders play in fostering an ethical climate in an organisation (Dickson et al., 2001;Mayer et al., 2009). However, the majority of these studies were conducted in non-hospitality environments and concentrated on the different ways that the relationship between ethical climate and ethical leadership can be approached. Schminke et al. (2005, p. 138) insist that two variables can determine how strong that relationship will be: (1) "the extent to which a leader utilizes his or her capacity for moral reasoning" which is an individual variable, and (2) "the age of the organization" which is a contextual one. Other researchers (Dickson et al., 2001;Lu & Lin, 2013) found that an important factor influencing the ethical climate of an organisation is the leader's ethical behaviour. Brown et al. (2005) note that one of the components of ethical leadership is to create fair and ethical working environments where ethical behaviour is rewarded and unethical behaviour punished. A number of studies (Neubert et al., 2009;Mayer et al., 2010;Shin, 2012;Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015;DeConinck et al., 2016;Kul, 2017;Al Halbusi et al., 2020;Enwereuzor et al., 2020) in non-hospitality settings found a positive relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate. Khokar et al.'s (2021) study on administrators of educational institutions found that their ethical leadership behaviour has a strong impact on ethical climate. More specifically, ethical climate is positively and significantly influenced by ethical leadership. Demirtas and Akdogan (2015) note that when leaders are candid, ethical and reliable, they become role models which directly affect the ethical behaviour of their subordinates and promote and sustain a positive ethical climate in their organisations. Pucic's (2015) study reveals that there is a positive relationship between the perceptions that followers have about their leaders' ethical leadership and how they rate the fairness climate of the organisation. He argued that ethical leadership can be implemented much more effectively and has a more powerful impact on the followers in working environments where a strong ethical climate prevails. Shin (2012) notes that in organisations with a strong ethical climate, employees have a clear understanding of how they must behave and what is considered ethical and appropriate behaviour and what is not.
The ethical climate and ethical leadership of organisations vary significantly from one country to another. When Kuntz et al. (2013) conducted a study of professionals from two different countries (New Zealand and Russia) and compared their responses, they discovered that the New Zealand participants were the ones that came out on top for their extensive experience of ethical climate and ethical leadership in their organisations. Moreover, Engelbrecht et al. (2005) suggest that strong ethical leadership leads to the fostering of a positive ethical climate. I contend that the same rule also applies to hotel settings. This article also takes it one step further and points out that in hotels where unethical leadership prevails, a negative ethical climate will be cultivated, which will in turn bring about a number of adverse outcomes to everyone involved with these companies, be they guests, employees, stakeholders, suppliers or others.

employee commitment to service quality
Employee commitment to service quality is a form of attitudinal commitment and is defined as the strength of an individual's dedication to providing quality service to the customers of an organisation (Ahmed & Parasuraman, 1994). Peccei and Rosenthal (1997, p. 69) define employee commitment to service quality as "the relative propensity of an individual to engage in continuous improvement and to exert effort on the job for the benefit of customers". According to Peccei and Rosenthal (1997) one of the strongest motivational factors for employees to commit to quality service is non-monetary compensation in the form of recognition and approval, while job routinisation is its most negative antecedent. They also supported that employee commitment to quality service is a "non-calculative phenomenon driven and motivated above all by expressive, moral altruistic concerns, rather than by overtly instrumental considerations" (p. 80). Other studies (Tsaur et al., 2004;Ukil, 2016) have found a positive relationship between employee empowerment and service quality. However, another factor that reduces employee commitment to service quality is customer complaints expressed in an angry tone (Tao et al., 2016).

ethical leadership and employee commitment to service quality
According to Ellinger et al. (2013), what impacts employee commitment to service quality apart from employee development initiatives is the behaviour of managers. Ethical leaders lead by their own example and provide positive discipline for a job well done and for exceptional ethical behaviour. When ethical leaders reward impeccable service, they actively show their commitment to service quality efforts (Ashill et al., 2008). This speaks volumes to their employees, as it shows that their leaders do mean what they say and practise what they preach. Thus, employees tend to copy that commitment to service that their role models exhibit. It inspires them and gets them to provide outstanding service and successfully handle even the most challenging interactions with guests, not because they have to, but because they want to. This is consistent with Schwepker and Hartline's (2005, p. 388) findings which show that "ethical control plays a major role in shaping employee responses that are known to be essential to high-quality service delivery". Sun et al.'s (2012) study found that formal training, coaching and rewarding, job satisfaction, commitment to the organisation, job performance and organisational citizenship behaviours are positively related to the commitment to the service quality of frontline service employees. They explained that "developmental interventions and reward systems can help employees deliver high-quality service by providing them with the skills, resources and motivation to meet customer demands. A firm's employee development practices and reward systems ultimately influence customers' service experience" (p. 1464). Dimitriou and Schwepker's (2019) study on customer-contact employees in lodging properties found a positive relationship between ethical leadership and employee commitment to service quality. More specifically, when those employees perceived their managers as ethical, they tended to be more committed to providing quality service.

ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality
There are hardly any studies in the hospitality literature devoted to the relationship between ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most unexplored and neglected areas in the hotel industry. Thus far, there exists only one study  conducted on customer-contact employees in lodging properties which found that when employees perceive their organisation to promote and support an ethical climate, they are reluctant to engage in actions that could be detrimental to guests, ruin their guest experience and sabotage the service delivery. Most notably, though, that study revealed that the promotion of ethical climate has the power to increase the customercontact employees' commitment to deliver a quality service experience (ibid.). This allows us to believe and support that there is a positive link between ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality in hospitality settings. Especially when taking into consideration that where an ethical climate prevails, there is a code of ethics in place which clearly explains what the expected behaviour is towards guests, co-workers, the organisation, the profession and to achieving exceptional quality of service. In fact, "many firms have taken steps to create [a] more ethical climate by enacting and enforcing codes of ethics, policies, and directives that specify, discourage, monitor, and correct unethical behaviour" (Schwepker & Hartline, 2005, p. 389). However, as Schwepker and Hartline (ibid.) note, "the firm's ethical climate is primarily a function of code internalization and the use of punishment for ethical violations". Code internalisation creates an environment that promotes ethical values that are respected, valued, supported and shared among employees (Wimbush & Shepard, 1994;Vardi, 2001;Schwepker & Hartline, 2005). According to Jaworski (1988), the internalisation process helps employees make those ethical rules, policies and values their own, adapting them and following them in their daily operations. As a result, I believe that this has a direct impact on the quality of service that those employees will produce. Surprisingly, though, non-hospitality-related studies (Schwepker & Hartline, 2005) found that there is no relationship between ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality and that the one does not affect the other.

Conceptual model
This article proposes a model which reflects the strong positive relationship that exists between ethical leadership and ethical climate as well as the key role that cultural aspects play in the success of this relationship. It also shows the strong positive impact that ethical leadership and ethical climate have on employee commitment to service quality. More specifically, the model (Figure 1) suggests that ethical leadership results in a positive ethical climate in a hotel setting. However, it must be noted that this model does not test the role of ethical climate as an intermediate variable because, in this case, the focus is not on the indirect effect of ethical leadership on the employee commitment to service quality. Furthermore, unlike other industries and settings where this relationship has been tested and applied in the past, this study stresses the importance of the cultural aspect which plays a key role and should not be underestimated or ignored. Since the hotel industry is so diverse and has operations across the globe, it would be naïve to support the positive relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate without respecting and taking into consideration the critical cultural differences that are found from country to country and from continent to continent. The model illustrates that where people come from, the environments and the cultures they grew up in and the values, attitudes and beliefs that they have truly matter, and shape and define their ethical leadership style and the way they handle things. Ethical leaders have the ability to increase employee commitment to service quality through their own behaviour and the various strategies they use to track and monitor employee performance and compliance to company policies, and thus reward outstanding behaviour and results. Fostering an ethical climate where justice prevails encourages and motivates employees to be the best they can be, thus strengthening their commitment to the service quality which is so vital for hotels.

The role of national culture and ethical leadership in a positive ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality
Many hotel leaders around the world make the common mistake of placing more emphasis on inanimate things such as the buildings, the curtains, the furniture, etc., and failing to recognise that in the hotel industry it is the people who matter most. Hotel managers and employees are much more valuable and precious as they are the ones delivering the service, significantly contributing to the guests' experience through the so-called "moments of truth". This is a key hotel leadership principle that applies to all cultures and should never be underestimated.
Since the hotel industry is expanding and operates on an international level and deals with a great variety of cultures, implementing ethical leadership can become very challenging. It is also crucial to note that there is no perfect cross-cultural recipe which could easily be used to solve issues and address ethical dilemmas. The reason is very simple. Not only do hotel leaders have to face a great variety of contradictory cultural differences, but they also have to deal with various other fronts, ranging from internal (their hotel guests and employees) to external (the economic, political and legislative environment). Therefore, hotel leaders must appreciate the uniqueness of each situation and learn to carefully plan ahead by examining all parameters before they design and develop their course of action. Trying to please everyone is an illusion. It is imperative to put things into perspective when trying to solve a problem in a way that will best suit all the parties involved.
Fostering ethical leadership in a hotel is directly related to the implementation of ethical practices and standards that everyone must follow. An effective way to achieve this is by creating a detailed code of ethics for the company that all  (2008) argue, having a code of ethics in place is certainly not enough. Instead, they suggest that it would be more successful for a company to create an integrated ethics programme where the code of ethics would be accompanied by a set of additional mechanisms such as an ethics officer, ethics training, etc. Of course, that requires careful and proper planning, the resources needed to support such an initiative and strong disciplinary systems that will be ready to be enforced. Barsh and Lisewski (2008) suggest that a formalised ethical programme can narrow the gap between the stated organisational culture and practice, which in certain cases can become very powerful in lawsuits and can even lower fines. They also contend that ethical values can be used both to balance the organizational culture and legitimize managerial action, because it can help to align those actions with the goals of the program[me]s that enhance quality, customer service, diversity, trust among stakeholders, and strategic planning (Barsh & Lisewski, 2008, p. 35). Going back to the question that was posed earlier regarding which culture's ethical rules the hotel leader should respect in their efforts to promote ethical leadership, a careful evaluation of the country's culture that hosts the hotel compared to the nationality of the company will reveal the answer. The personality and character development of the hotel leader will also play a key role. One important element that must be highlighted though is that once this critical decision is made, the hotel leader's responsibility is to concentrate on increasing awareness. Once all the ethical rules and policies are carefully created, the next step is to ensure that, through training, all members of the company become fully aware of what these rules are and how they should be followed.
One important clarification that must be made at this point is that having ethical values such as integrity, fairness, honesty, loyalty, respect and concern for others, etc. is truly important and as we have seen, it is also one of the main prerequisites for being a successful ethical leader. However, the ethical norms must be considered as well and undoubtedly there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in this area. For example, in many fields, including the hospitality industry, female hospitality managers are paid only 80% of what their male counterparts get for the same position with the exact same credentials, working experience, knowledge and expertise. This is a fact that holds true in many countries around the world. So, how can a leader be fair when the whole system supports and sustains this unfair norm? Moreover, why, since this is the cause of major frustration for many female managers and employees and is clearly wrong, does it keep happening and no one does anything to change it?
To implement ethical leadership in the lodging industry, there are additional recommendations to be made. From a strategic management perspective, hotel leaders must ensure that key aspects of their ethical leadership are strongly reflected on both the mission and vision statements of the hotel company. Consistency is very important across every part of the hotel company's strategic direction, especially in cases where the company expands into a foreign country for the first time. Also, keeping the lines of communication open to ensure that everyone involved is on the same page is a critical factor for success. Great ethical hotel leaders value and appreciate the importance of leading by example. When the hotel leader behaves ethically and shows in practice clear signs of integrity, honesty, genuine care for the company and his people and becomes a true source of inspiration, empowerment, motivation and support, they set the tone for the kind of working environment that they want to create.
Even if all of these elements are there, success is still not guaranteed until the leader takes the extra step to make it clear and convey to every member of the hotel that ethical violations will not be tolerated and immediate disciplinary action will be enforced without any exceptions. According to Miller et al. (2007) a common trap that many leaders fall into is being too lenient at the beginning when enforcing rules in their efforts to win their employees' favour. Another equally wrong approach is to inform people of the action that will be taken against violators, but not carrying it out (ibid.). To avoid such critical mistakes, hotel leaders must be smart enough to set a clear course of disciplinary action (both positive and negative), inform everyone about it from the very start and take all measures needed to follow through. This is how outstanding ethical hotel leaders create their path to fostering a positive climate in hotels, increasing their employees' commitment to service quality and leading their companies to success. This is the kind of success that is achieved through hotel employees who are inspired by their ethical leader and who strive to be the best they can be, not because they have to, but because they want to. The impact that such an attitude and level of employee commitment has on guests is amazing, exceeding their expectations, creating customer loyalty and a huge appreciation and respect for the hotel, regardless of what part of the world it is located in. It also helps build and promote a very positive hotel image and reputation, an image that proudly shows how much that hotel respects different cultures, is mindful of other countries' customs, norms, values and ethical standards and effectively promotes international hospitality ethics. This is what makes ethical leadership so valuable, so unique and so much more significant than other leadership styles in the hotel industry.
I contend that investing time, money and effort in fostering a positive ethical climate should be one of the top priorities of the hotel industry internationally and will truly pay off in the long run as the benefits it will bring will far outweigh the costs. Some of these benefits include more satisfied employees, reduced employee turnover intention, better quality guest experience and increased profits for the company (Cheng et al., 2013;Knani, 2014). What is more, Schwepker's (2001) study on salespeople reveals that their perceptions of a positive ethical climate were positively associated with their job satisfaction and organisational commitment, and negatively related to their turnover intention. Predominantly though, an ethical climate strengthens employee commitment to service quality in hotel settings .

Conclusion
Globalisation of the hotel industry as well as the nature and the distinctive characteristics that this service industry consists of are among the major reasons that have raised serious ethical concerns and dilemmas in recent years. Normally, someone would expect that, as Alas (2006, p. 243) argues, the "dimensions of national culture could serve as predictors of how people desire high ethical standards in a particular society". However, things become complicated when hotel companies which successfully operate on a national level decide to expand internationally and are exposed to cultures with different values, philosophies and beliefs to their own. Plenty of studies have been devoted to ethical leadership, but very few deal with the critical issue of what it actually means to implement ethical leadership in different cultures (Resick et al., 2011). Even fewer studies have focused on the impact that a country's culture has on the ethical practices hotel leaders use to foster a positive ethical climate in their organisations. Throwing into this already complex cocktail, the hotel leaders' personalities, their approach to ethics and their personal leadership style can turn this issue into a great challenge. Indeed, ethical hotel leadership is more imperative now than ever and knowing how to effectively implement it is key. The increasing number of hotel ethical scandals fully justifies the hotel industry's need to find people with integrity and to conduct its business in an ethical and responsible manner in all of the brands, segments and locations around the world.
This article proposes a way forward for hotel leaders on how to successfully and effectively handle these kinds of cultural and ethical challenges in this ever-growing part of the hospitality industry. The first step is the realisation of the importance of analysing the broader sociocultural, political, legal and economic environments of the country in which hotel leaders are asked to operate. Failing to carefully examine and thoroughly investigate the culture of the country that they are about to enter could result in critical violations of that country's ethical standards. There is also the issue of the culture, the country, the nationality and the environment that leaders come from which must also be taken into consideration as it plays a major role on their decisionmaking and the way they will handle things in the workplace.
This article highlights the necessity for careful planning and implementation of ethical rules and standards that need to be addressed in a very strategic, methodological and professional manner to be successful. Hotel leaders must be ethical themselves and know how to lead by example prior to developing ethical policies and standards in the hotel companies they run. On top of that, they need to have specific traits and characteristics such as broad-mindedness to be successful and have the willingness to take a strategic approach in their efforts to foster a positive ethical climate and increase employee commitment to service quality. It may be a lot of hard work, but it is certainly worthwhile both on an individual and a global level. On one hand, the hotel company will enjoy the benefits deriving from establishing an ethical working environment and promoting strong employee commitment to service quality. On the other hand, all the individual efforts combined will create a better future for the hotel industry internationally. Great ethical leaders are wise enough to operate on a local level while also thinking and having a vision on the broader, global picture. Very few people have the ability to see both the "tree" and the "forest" and carefully weigh both perspectives before making a decision, and these are the kind of ethical hotel leaders that this industry is lacking and really needs.