Learning under pressure: learning strategies, workplace climate, and leadership style in the hospitality industry

In this study we explored the relationship among learning strategies, leadership style, and work environment for middle managers in the hospitality industry. We found an association between learning strategy and workplace climate; we also found an association with leadership style, but to a lesser extent. In the hospitality industry, a deep learning strategy was linked to a heavy workload, while surface (disorganised) learning strategies were associated with a transactional (reward oriented) leadership style. These somewhat surprising findings suggest the need for further research into the conditions under which workload and leadership style can enhance a (deep) strategy to learning.