CoDiDA Project Research Presented at the International IEOM 2026 Conference

The study examines how leader competencies contribute to organizational effectiveness
through communication and trust, with employee satisfaction used as a measurable
organizational outcome. The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study among
employees of a large hotel group operating in the Croatian and Central European markets.
The results show that democratic leadership is strongly associated with employee satisfaction,
but that this relationship is predominantly indirect. Communication and trust jointly mediate
78% of the total relationship between democratic leadership and employee satisfaction.
The study contributes to leadership research by conceptualizing leader competencies as
organizational capabilities and identifying communication and trust as key mechanisms
through which democratic leadership creates value in the hospitality sector. The findings
highlight the importance of developing communication competencies and trust-building
capabilities in the selection, assessment, and development of leaders, with the aim of
strengthening employee satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.

The paper contributes to the objectives of the CoDiDA project by providing empirical
insights into the role of leaders’ communication competencies and employee trust in shaping
employee satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. These findings provide a relevant
foundation for the project’s research on leadership and for developing recommendations for
people management in organizations undergoing digital transformation.