It is appropriate to talk about leadership in services organizations? Toward a possible innovative paradigm

Through the use of a qualitative research methodology, the present work enquires whether in the actual scenery talking about leadership in companies and services would still make sense. The study arises from the growing importance that tertiary companies have assumed during the last decade, and from the direct relation between frontline staff and customers, who – as it is well known – distinguishes tertiary organizations from manufacturing organizations. Through a systematic review of the literature some guidelines will be hypothesized, in order to define a replicable innovative directional paradigm in services companies, motivating how the role of leadership should be at the same time cleared out by some traditional variables and enriched with alternative features.