Core Values and Organizational Sustainability in the Hotel Industry: Evidence From Kampala, Uganda

This study examined whether core values predict organizational sustainability in four- and five-star hotels in Kampala, Uganda. Guided by the Resource-Based View (RBV) and stakeholder theory, it used a pragmatic, sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. A structured questionnaire was returned by 280 employees, supervisors, and managers (89.5% of 313 sampled), and 10 key informants were interviewed. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modelling (SEM), and thematic analysis. The core values construct was valid and reliable (AVE = 0.629; CR = 0.894). The sustainability construct was only partly validated: one item produced an improper solution (a Heywood case), and AVE remained marginally below the 0.50 threshold after the model was re-estimated. SEM showed no statistically significant direct effect of core values on organizational sustainability (β = −1.149, p = .394), but the estimate is imprecise and should be read with caution. Interviews indicated that values contribute to sustainability when leadership commitment, written policies, staff training, and daily routines turn them into practice. This points to an indirect pathway that was not tested statistically. The study concludes that, in this sample, the presence of core values did not by itself predict sustainability. Hotel managers should build values into performance management, training and operations, and industry bodies and policymakers should encourage guidelines that link corporate values to sustainability practice.