Introduction:

Organizations at the end of the twenty-first century produced unexpected and unprecedented changes in strategy and departments due to the demands that have been met in organizations and uncertainty at work. It is necessary to reconsider the traditional view of the business image, because it is impossible to identify all the features necessary to achieve organizational goals, and there is an increasing interest in traditional work, so it is necessary to promote the proactive behaviors of departments in hotels to create a positive work environment, and avoid negative consequences, as work becomes more dynamic and decentralized, proactive behavior and initiative become more important in determining the capabilities of strategic organizations, and introducing new images of departments that reduce the control function, and organizations will increasingly rely on personal initiatives For managers to identify problems, proactive behavior can be a high-impact concept and not just another management feat, which in turn leads to increased organizational effectiveness and strategic capacity building that enables hotel organizations to chart the path to excellence and success in a sustainable manner.

First Topic: Research Methodology

First: The Research Problem:

The problem is evident through the lack of strategic capabilities of the tourism sector, especially hotels in the city of Baghdad, and the lack of adoption of modern concepts that characterized people who have proactive behavior, as well as the weakness in the capabilities of these hotels by not using the methods and dimensions of proactive behavior to improve their cognitive, absorptive and transformative abilities. This problem was clarified from the initial survey of the researched hotels, and a number of secondary questions branched out from the mentioned problem:

1. Do the hotel managers and their employees have a conceptual and intellectual perception of proactive behavior across its dimensions (proactive personality, personal initiative, individual innovation, taking responsibility)?

2. To what extent are the hotels surveyed able to achieve their capabilities (cognitive, absorptive, transformative)?

Second: The Importance of the Research:

The importance of the research can be seen as being based on two variables that distinguish it from other researches and studies corresponding to it in the same discipline, and the importance of the current research included the following:

1. Increasing the Iraqi and Arab libraries so that the research becomes a reference that can be used by other researchers.

2. Demonstrating the importance of accommodative behavior and strategic capabilities in the studied hotels.

3. Although there are many researches and studies that have included these variables, there is no existence or limitation of the existence of these variables according to the visions of researchers in hotel and tourism organizations.

Third: Research Objectives:

1. Our current research engages in the reduction and elimination of classic and routine processes in the tourism and hotel sector.

2. Identify the potential and methods of proactive behavior among the hotel managements in question.

3. Demonstrating the effect relationship between the major and secondary research variables.

Fourth: The hypothetical outline of the research:

The hypothetical outline of the research was designed in line with the statistics of the intellectual and scientific literature related to the main and secondary research variables, and it clarifies the effect relationship between the research variables, as the hypothetical scheme includes the following:

1. The independent variable (proactive behavior) and addressing four sub-dimensions (proactive personality, personal initiative, individual innovation, and taking responsibility).

2. The adopted variable (strategic capabilities) and the inclusion of three sub-dimensions (cognitive abilities, absorptive capabilities, and transformational capabilities).

Figure (1) Hypothetical Research Scheme

Source: Prepared by the researcher

Fifth: Research Hypotheses:

The researcher developed a set of hypotheses consistent with the intellectual literature and the research objectives were proved, which are as follows:

Main Hypothesis: There is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior and its dimensions in building strategic capacities, and this hypothesis branched into secondary hypotheses, which are:

1. There is a significant influence relationship for proactive behavior through the dimension of proactive personality in strategic capacity building.

2. There is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior through the dimension of personal initiative in strategic capacity building.

3. There is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior through the individual innovation dimension in strategic capacity building.

4. There is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior through the dimension of taking responsibility in strategic capacity-building.

Sixth: Research Population and Sample:

The research population included hotels (Babylon, Palestine, Baghdad), while the research sample was selected, as it was limited to (board members, commissioned manager, department managers, division managers), and the sample was intentional.

Seventh: Data Collection:

The researcher relied on obtaining data and information to accomplish this research in both theoretical and field aspects, relying on a set of methods, which are as follows:

1. Theoretical aspect: The researcher relied on scientific sources such as researches, theses, and university theses, as well as sources of Internet networks.

2. Field aspect: The researcher relied on the questionnaire to survey this aspect, the main tool for collecting data and information by including primary and secondary variables for the research and measuring it from the dimensions of proactive behavior represented (proactive personality, personal initiative, individual innovation, and taking responsibility) based on a study (Parker, & Collins, 2010) and a study (Al-Jubouri, 2021). As for the dimensions of strategic capabilities, the researchers relied on a study (Al-Karawi, et al., 2021, p: 36-37).

Eighth: Limitations of the Research:

1. Spatial boundaries of the research: The spatial boundaries of the research were the hotels (Babylon, Baghdad, Palestine) in the city of Baghdad.

2. Time limits of the research: The field survey was conducted in November and December 2024.

Second Topic: Theoretical Framework

First: Proactive Behavior:

1. The concept of behavior: Crant, J. Michael, 2000, p: 436 explained that proactive behavior, which embodies the essence of different styles, can be defined as taking the initiative to improve existing conditions or create new ones, as it involves challenging the status quo rather than passively adapting to the current conditions, as it enables employees to engage in proactive activities as part of their job behavior in which they meet the requirements of the basic job. The researchers also defined proactive behavior as an initiative and self-work behavior adopted by employees in order to overcome difficulties and achieve goals. (Urbach et al, 2019). From the point of view of Grant et al., 2008, p: 5, he defined it as the expected actions taken by employees to influence themselves or the environment, i.e. creating or controlling the situation by taking the initiative, or predicting events rather than responding to them. As for (Al-Shammari & Fatlawi, 2022, p. 8) it is defined as self-directed work-related behaviors that aim to improve and change the state of the organization and the individual self, meaning taking the initiative to improve current conditions and rely on the analysis of the work environment Predicting future changes, then solving problems and removing obstacles before they occur and providing appropriate solutions to them. While Hou & Huang (2021, p: 129) defined it as a forward-oriented, direction-shifting, and spontaneous action, which may not be entirely beneficial to the organization, but it may have a destructive rather than constructive effect.

2. Dimensions of Proactive Behavior:

A. Proactive personality:

It is the tendency to make a meaningful personal expression to achieve the desired result, and it is one of the many components (comprehensive proactiveness) about facing difficult situations, as the proactive personality contributes to controlling the environment by engaging in reaction-seeking behaviors, which is the opposite of the personality that deals with situations when they appear, and proactive personalities anticipate the desired outcome, work on it actively, and seek to address the unideal results. (Patterson, Mariah. N, 2018, p: 14-15).

B. Personal Initiative:

Previous research has revealed that personal initiative is positively associated with the generation and presentation of ideas to the suggestion system as well as the quality of creative ideas (Binnewies, Sonnentag, 2007, p: 437).

Personal initiative refers to a behavioral syndrome that leads to an individual taking an active and principled approach to work and going beyond what is formally required in a particular job, and personal initiative involves overcoming obstacles or problems and continuing to face them, and creative behavior often means deviating from routine work style (Binnewies, Gromer, 2012, p:103).

C. Individual Innovation:

It is individual contributions, embodied in a tangible renewal in which the individual tries to develop a soul and society, and takes the form of an idea, service, or technical innovation, and is based on the capabilities and abilities that individuals possess that can be employed to serve those around them and develop their local communities (Al-Rijal, 2023, p. 337). The innovative person is usually motivated by self-achievement, as he is not driven by external motivations, nor is the difficulty of problems hindering his progress, but he has an internal reality that pushes him to love what he does, and to be keen to achieve his goals that are related to himself. That is, what he accomplishes is self-realization (Fethiye & Boudiar, 2022, p. 58). Individual innovation is reflected in a number of components, including the first: advocacy, which involves the process of the idea to express, share, and disseminate a set of ideas to other individuals, which means the application and implementation of new ideas in the organization, as well as the search for further improvement of existing procedures. Second: Building ideas that contain processes of combining existing ideas with new ideas to reach solutions to problems, and third: Discovering opportunities, i.e. awareness of opportunities that lead to finding new things before problems occur (Chatchawan et al., 2017, p: 155).

D. Responsibility:

Taking responsibility plays an important role in providing new insights to the organization by encouraging innovation and enhancing the sustainability of the organization (Moon et al., 2008, p: 3). The researchers have focused on understanding the factors that positively influence responsibility, and these factors can be classified into two types: contextual factors such as perception of the openness of senior management's perceptions, working group standards, and organizational justice, and the second factor at the individual level such as self-efficacy, sense of responsibility for facilitating change and the power of experts, sense of duty, and pursuit to achieve achievement (Kim and Johnson, 2014, p: 131).

Second: Strategic Capabilities:

Organizations need diverse and interconnected capabilities across all organizational functions to create value, as these capabilities vary between organizations depending on many internal and external factors. Strategic capabilities are the skills or resources that help an organization thrive and get ahead of its competitors, and it is the ability of the organization that allows it to grow and stay in the market influenced by the organization's competencies.

1. The Concept of Strategic Capabilities:

Strategic capabilities are defined as the unique internal skills and processes that an organization possesses that contribute to determining its appropriate strategies in order to achieve the organization's superior performance over its competitors (Johnson, et at, 2017, p:77). It is also defined as complex sets of accumulated skills and knowledge that enable organizations to coordinate activities and utilize their resources to generate economic value and achieve and maintain better performance (Joyce et al, 2015, p:27) . It was also defined as the sophisticated, distinctive, and scarce resources that make a difference tothe organization (Lakhdar, 2023, p. 6).

2. Dimensions of Strategic Capabilities:

A. Cognitive ability: It is the potential ability of an individual manager to perform one or more mental activities, and individuals differ in the ability to allocate attention resources accurately to respond to emergencies in the environment, and cognitive abilities and predictions are the tendency of individuals to adapt to the environment by relying on alertness, awareness, and cognitive flexibility (Helfat and Peteraf, 2015, p: 835). Current research on managerial perception focuses primarily on the relationship between strategic beliefs and competition outcomes, and most scientists have discovered the cognitive dynamics that occur in organizations based on research in strategic management by analyzing perception most often (Vecchiato, 2016, p: 122). Individuals with greater cognitive abilities have a higher speed of information processing, usually measured as a reaction to basic cognitive tasks at the behavioral level, people who are inquisitive about information and problem-solving that can enhance organizational creativity, and cognitive processes associated with intelligence level (I Putu, Ni, 2020, p: 115).

B. Capacity:

Absorptive capacity is the identification, assimilation, transformation and exploitation of the value of new information and knowledge, so that the organization can gain competitive advantage, flexibility, the ability to innovate, and obtain superior performance (Todorova & Durisin, 2007, p:779) based on the concept of (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). When organizations have good absorptive capacity, organizations can identify external knowledge well, transform and use that knowledge faster, and then take steps toward better performance (Pu k, Liu W, 2023, p:2).

C. Transformative Capacity:

It is the ability to organize work, reorganize, and move toward a new and more sustainable state, and it is also the ability to effectively dismantle existing systems while creating and building viable alternatives. There are four types of capacities needed to address the dynamics of transformation: supervision (responding to uncertainty and risks through self-regulation, monitoring and continuous learning). and multi-actor coordination) (Wolfram, & Farrelly, 2019, p:437-444).

Third Topic: The Field Aspect of the Research

First: The research population and sample:

The researcher selected the research community represented by hotels (Babylon, Palestine, Baghdad), where the research sample was determined in an intentional way amounting to (45) individuals from the leaders of the mentioned hotels, namely (members of the Board of Directors, Authorized Manager, Department Managers, and Division Managers), and the questionnaire was distributed to them, as (42) questionnaires were retrieved from them, and after examining them, it was found that there were (2) questionnaires that did not meet the admission conditions that were excluded, so that the number of valid questionnaires is (40) questionnaires, and Table (1) shows the distribution process.

Table (1) Distribution of the questionnaire to the sample members

Source: Prepared by the researcher

Second: Questionnaire Design Method:

The researcher relied on two aspects in designing the questionnaire:

First: Job Data: Job Title, Educational Level, Years of Service.

Second: A number of (35) paragraphs distributed among the two research variables.

The researcher used the five-point Likert scale (Likert), which consists of five points: (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree).

Third: The Truth and Consistency of the Research:

The alpha-Krumbach coefficient was used to confirm the validity of the stability, and Table 2 shows that it has a high degree of stability, as it can be relied upon to conduct this research.

Table (2) Values of the stability coefficient (alphaKrombach)

Source: Prepared by the researcher

Fourth: Testing the Effect of the Main Hypothesis:

To test the main hypothesis, multiple linear regression analysis was used to verify the impact of proactive behavior in its dimensions on strategic capacity building, and Table (3) shows this.

Table (3) The Impact of Proactive Behavior in Strategic Capacity Building

Source: Preparing the researcher based on the SPSS program

Table (3) showed that there is a significant effect of the dimensions of proactive behavior in strategic capacity building, as the calculated values of (F) ( 133.515) for the model generally reached a significance level of (0.000) less than the significance level of (0.05), thus accepting the main hypothesis (there is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior and its dimensions in strategic capacity building).

Conclusions and Recommendations:

First: Conclusions:

The analysis that included the practical aspect of the research clarified, so the researcher reached some conclusions, which are:

1. There is a significant impact relationship for proactive behavior and its dimensions (proactive personality, personal initiative, individual innovation, responsibility), and this shows the extent to which the potential of proactive behavior in the hotels studied and capacity building is strategic.

2. Proactive behavior contributes to building the strategic capabilities of the hotels under investigation through individual innovation, which in turn leads to the acceptance, assumption and fulfillment of responsibility in an accurate and clear manner.

3. It turns out that personal initiative has a clear and tangible role in reaching a perceived capacity building that contributes to the development of the hotels researched.

4. Taking responsibility has been a positive reflection in achieving a transformative and innovative capability that distinguishes their organization from other similar organizations.

5. Proactive personality has been found to have a limited impact on the hotels studied, although this dimension occupies a large space in its contribution to strategic capacity-building decision-making.

Second: Recommendations:

The researcher shows a set of recommendations based on scientific conclusions, which are:

1. Seeking to make the most of proactive behavior methods to achieve rapid response, and achieve a proactive ability with which to perceive, absorb, and transform routine work into creative innovative works that achieve excellence and competition.

2. Working to establish a proactive approach to build a proactive personality based on the organization's culture of taking responsibility to face future risks.

3. Reducing and limiting the commitment of hotel administrations to instructions that do not achieve the desired goal, and working to encourage the spirit of initiative in receiving ideas and solutions through which the hotel organization can achieve its future fees.

4. The need to involve all individuals within the hotel in decision-making, and this generates and encourages them to take responsibility.