The Adaptive Leadership-Emotional Cybernetics (ALEC) Framework: A Systems-Based Lens on Consumer Adoption and Sustainable Growth in Hospitality Technology Startups

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Research in Business, Management and Finance

Year: 2026

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The Adaptive Leadership-Emotional Cybernetics (ALEC) Framework: A Systems-Based Lens on Consumer Adoption and Sustainable Growth in Hospitality Technology Startups

Raya Al-Harthy, Raya Al-Harthy, Azza Al-Busaidi, Khalid Al-Nabhani, Souzan Hannawi

ABSTRACT:

This conceptual paper develops a systems-based explanation of how adaptive leadership and emotional cybernetics jointly influence consumer adoption and sustainable growth in hospitality technology startups operating within the experiential tourism economy. Drawing on organisational cybernetics and the Viable System Model, systems thinking in tourism, emotional intelligence, and adaptive leadership theory, the paper introduces the Adaptive Leadership-Emotional Cybernetics (ALEC) Framework. Emotional cybernetics is defined as a multi-level organisational capability to sense, interpret, and regulate emotional feedback loops across internal (team, culture) and external (consumer, market) domains. The framework proposes that adaptive leadership capabilities generate emotional cybernetics capability in hospitality technology startups, which in turn affects consumer emotional trust and emotional agency in relation to hospitality platforms. Integrating insights from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), technology readiness, and trust-based adoption research, the framework reframes adaptive leadership as an emotional governance function and embeds consumer emotional trust and agency within a systems-based adoption model, positing that these emotional states drive adoption intentions, continued platform use, and sustainable growth. Five testable hypotheses are proposed to guide future empirical validation. Practical implications are offered for founders, investors, and policymakers aiming to develop emotionally intelligent and resilient hospitality technology ventures aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Keywords: Consumer Emotional Trust; Emotional Governance; Experiential Tourism; Viable System Model