Entrepreneurial Skills in Leadership and Human Resource Management Evaluated by Apprentices in Small Tourism Businesses

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to evaluatethe leadership skills and entrepreneur's or owner/manager's ability to motivateapprentices and other young employees. Specifically, the article investigatesyoung employees' perceptions about leadership and motivational behaviour insmall- and medium-sized hotels. Design/methodology/approach – The first part of the paper provides aliterature review of entrepreneurial skills in general and human resourcemanagement in particular. The second part presents a survey that was carriedout in 2003 in the Alpine region of South Tyrol to assess apprentices'evaluation of entrepreneurial leadership behaviour in small- and medium-sizedhotels. Findings – The findings show that entrepreneurs in small- and medium-sizedhotels cannot meet young employees' job expectations – difficulties incommunication and planning as well as low motivation and insufficient careeroptions are mentioned as core problems in tourism enterprises. Research limitations/implications – It is argued that some stakeholdergroups within an enterprise, such as young trainees or apprentices, might havedeeper insights into entrepreneurial processes and leadership skills. However,more research is needed to support these findings as the study is limited byits sample size and focus on the Alpine region of South-Tyrol, Italy. Practical implications – The results suggest that entrepreneurs shouldestablish better motivational structures within their enterprises. Inparticular, they must consider that the development of career paths is a veryimportant instrument in motivating young apprentices to work in the tourismindustry. Originality/value – This paper investigates the main characteristics ofsmall business entrepreneurs in tourism and reports associated skills in themanagement of human resources. This paper also presents a survey that wascarried out in 2003 to assess the evaluation of trainees of leadershipbehaviour in small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs).(Publication abstract)