Employee Ownership and Sustainable Development in Tourism: A Case in North Cyprus

Employee ownership systems influence both the economic and social contexts of organizations and have the potential to contribute to sustainable development. This paper examines the contributions of an employee‐owned hotel to sustainable development in North Cyprus. Data were collected through face‐to‐face interviews with employees and managers and by analyzing the relevant documents. The employee ownership system was found to have a positive socio‐economic impact on the development of sustainable tourism. The employee ownership system enabled the hotel to establish strong and long‐term relations with the local community by generating new and stable local employment, fairly distributing business opportunities in their local community, improving the locals' quality of life and preserving an iconic built resource of the island. The factors that helped the new ownership system at the hotel to be successful in this case are identified as ethical leadership, people‐centered human resource practices, autonomy, collaboration with the local community and customers, and political willpower. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment