Entrepreneurial skills in leadership and human resource management evaluated by apprentices in small tourism businesses

Purpose ? The purpose of this article is to evaluate the leadership skills and entrepreneur's or owner/manager's ability to motivate apprentices and other young employees. Specifically, the artical investigates young employees' perceptions about leadership and motivational behaviour in small- and medium-sized hotels. Design/methodology/approach ? The first part of the paper provides a literature review of entrepreneurial skills in general and human resource management in particular. The second part presents a survey that was carried out in 2003 in the Alpine region of South Tyrol to assess apprentices' evaluation of entrepreneurial leadership behaviour in small- and medium-sized hotels. Findings ? The findings show that entrepreneurs in small- and medium-sized hotels cannot meet young employees' job expectations ? difficulties in communication and planning as well as low motivation and insufficient career options are mentioned as core problems in tourism enterprises. Research limitations/implications ? It is argued that some stakeholder groups within an enterprise, such as young trainees or apprentices, might have deeper insights into entrepreneurial processes and leadership skills. However, more research is needed to support these findings as the study is limited by its sample size and focus on the Alpine region of South-Tyrol, Italy. Practical implications ? The results suggest that entrepreneurs should establish better motivational structures within their enterprises. In particular, they must consider that the development of career paths is a very important instrument in motivating young apprentices to work in the tourism industry. Originality/value ? This paper investigates the main characteristics of small business entrepreneurs in tourism and reports associated skills in the management of human resources. This paper also presents a survey that was carried out in 2003 to assess the evaluation of trainees of leadership behaviour in small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs).