Impact of Local Politics on Performance of Hospitality Industry:

Abstract

When organizations are formed, they attempt to operate in a style that meets the needs of their immediate environment. Despite that, some organizations operate in a manner that can lead to conflict with the communities in which they operate. Nonetheless, there is scarce empirical confirmation on the relationship between local context and performance of organizations. This study wanted to determine the relationship between managerial cognition of the local context and performance of hospitality industry. Specifically, it sought to assess the impact of cognition of local politics on performance of star-rated hotels in Kenya. A mixed-methods survey of 450 managers from 150 hotels categorized into 3, 4, and 5-star hotels was conducted using structured questionnaires while an interview guide was used to collect data from 12 key informants in the hospitality industry. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS software version 26 and null hypotheses tested using binary logistic regression model results. It was found that cognition of local politics did not significantly influence the odds of performance. Based on these findings, it is concluded that local politics significantly influence organizational performance. It is recommended that the hospitality industry takes into account local politics in strategic decisions.