How does despotic leadership thwart frontline employees’ role-related service behaviors? A psychological empowerment perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to develop a research model that proposes a relationship among customer power, psychological empowerment and voice behavior of frontline employees (FLEs). The model also suggests that managerial openness, as a result of the manager–employee interface, contributes by mediating the effect of customer power on psychological empowerment. As a result of the job characteristic–employee interface, task interdependence is suggested as a moderator in the relationship between psychological empowerment and voice behavior.Design/methodology/approachTo analyze the data, a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling procedure using LISREL 8.5 were used. Next, the conditional process modeling was fitted to test the moderated mediation hypotheses. In this stage, the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating effect of task interdependence voice behavior were tested with bootstrapping methods.FindingsThe results showed a significant relationship between customer power and FLEs’ voice behavior, establishing psychological empowerment as an intervening mechanism. Thus, customer power can be a signal of appreciation for passive and job uncontrollability to service employees. The findings also suggested the mediating role of managerial openness, which delivered a negative effect of customer power on the FLEs’ psychological empowerment. Task interdependence enhanced the link between psychological empowerment and voice behavior.Research limitations/implicationsThe specific service sector chosen for this study was retail banks. Furthermore, the study was undertaken among the FLEs of banks in South Korea. Having FLEs self-report on managerial openness raises a general concern that those employees with little experience may not have fully understood whether a manager’s current behaviors are open-minded and empowering. Lastly, the perceptions of customer power, psychological empowerment, managerial openness, task interdependence and voice behavior that all came from FLEs naturally raises concerns about the influence of method bias in these results.Practical implicationsThe significant negative and indirect relationship observed between the perception of customer power and employees’ voice through managerial openness and employees’ psychological empowerment suggested that the double deviation effect of customer power on employees’ psychological empowerment through the interface between customer and employee (customer power) and manager and employee (managerial openness). This study provides insight into the management of service customer–employee and manager–employee interactions to encourage employee psychological empowerment.Originality/valueThe main emphasis of the model is on the so-called voice behaviors that FLEs exhibit as an overall consequence of various service employee interfaces. The management of FLEs has been extensively discussed in the services marketing literature. However, few research studies have attempted to link and combine the effect of various interfaces to which employees are exposed on employees’ voice behavior. In this study, three interfaces that the FLEs are always exposed to were examined simultaneously: that of the employee and the customer (perceived customer power), the interface of the employee and the manager (managerial openness) and that of the employee and his or her job characteristic (task interdependence).

This research effort aims to address the indispensable factor of employee voice, which impacts employee behavior and causes negative emotions. Despotic leadership is a crucial constituent of the workplace and impedes performance-related outcomes. Psychological empowerment facilitates positive behavioral outcomes, including employee voice and performance. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by explaining the role of employee voice in despotic leadership, psychological empowerment and employee performance. The banking sector of Pakistan is one of the remarkable sectors that provides employment and financial services, but it faces various controversial employee issues including leadership, psychological, and behavioral issues that impede performance. This research paper contributes to bridging the research gap in explaining how employee performance is influenced by despotic leadership and psychological empowerment with the mediation role of employee voice. Despotic leadership is an essential element in determining the working environment; psychological empowerment is important for employees’ behavior that predicts employee performance. Most importantly, employee voice has central importance in at the workplace that predicts and impacts employee performance. employee voice creates the working environment that the firm desires. The mediating role of employee voice tends to establish the relationship between despotic leadership, psychological empowerment and employee performance. The current paper focuses on front-line employees of bank in Punjab, as data was collected by employing a simple random sampling technique; the sample size was 310 employees from different banks in different cities. The collected data was later analyzed on Smart-PLS 4.0 for relationship assessment. The results depicted that despotic leadership negatively impacts employee voice and employee performance, while psychological empowerment positively influences employee voice and employee performance and is mediated by employee voice. Limitations and future research recommendations are given in the conclusion section.

Purpose Drawing on and extending the socially embedded model of thriving, this paper aims to investigate how and when customer participation promotes hospitality frontline employees’ engagement in extra-role service behavior. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave questionnaire survey was carried out among frontline service employees and their immediate supervisors in a four-star business hotel in Eastern China. Path analysis using Mplus 8.3 examined a multilevel moderated mediation model. Findings Customer participation has a positive effect on frontline employees’ experience of thriving, which in turn promotes their engagement in extra-role service behavior. Nevertheless, supervisors’ negative affect weakens the positive effect of customer participation. Practical implications Hotels could implement employee assistance programs, arrange training on emotional regulation and positive psychology and create a fun work environment to help alleviate supervisors’ experience of negative affect so as to lessen its adverse effect on frontline employees’ perception of customer participation. Originality/value First, this work is one of the few studies exploring how customer participation affects frontline employees’ well-being (in terms of thriving) and extra-role service behavior, which advances extant value co-creation literature. Second, the moderating role of supervisors’ negative affect enriches the limited understanding of when customer participation might not bring firm benefits. Third, by uncovering customer participation as an antecedent of employee thriving, this study extends thriving research that only attends to contexts located within organizations.

Research on despotic leadership and its impacts on the behavior of front-line employees (FLE) in service organizations is nascent. Drawing on the social cognitive theory of morality, we develop and test a model in two service settings investigating the direct and indirect effects of despotic leadership on three FLE deviant work behaviors. In Study 1, using a multi-wave, multi-data source research design with data derived from banks, telecommunications, and training/education service organizations in Pakistan, we demonstrate the ecological validity of our constructs. In Study 2, using a multi-wave, multi-source longitudinal research design, we investigated these relationships in hotels located in Pakistan and confirmed the results found in Study 1 and also investigated the sustainability of deviant work outcomes. Cumulatively, we found support for the direct effects of despotic leadership on FLE deviant work behaviors. Moral disengagement acted as a partial mediator of these relationships and moral identity moderated the mediated relationship between despotic leadership and FLE deviant work behaviors via moral disengagement. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of despotic leadership and FLE deviant work behaviors in service settings. We contribute to the front-line services literature stream by focusing on the supervisor and FLE interaction and highlighting research and practice implications.

PurposeRelying on the theories of substitutes for leadership and psychological empowerment, this study aims to explore how perceptions of customer positive feedback can substitute for managers’ transformational leadership in driving frontline employees’ psychological empowerment and, in turn, task performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the research hypotheses with frontline employees working in 17 equipment rental stores. Employees completed a questionnaire about customer positive feedback, transformational leadership and psychological empowerment, and supervisors completed a separate questionnaire about employees’ task performance. A total of 178 employee-supervisor dyads formed the final sample of the study.FindingsThe results provided support for our hypotheses. Psychological empowerment fully mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and task performance. Moreover, customer positive feedback moderated the indirect relationship between transformational leadership and task performance such that it was significant and positive only when customer feedback was low.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the service marketing literature by showing that customer positive feedback can substitute for managers’ leadership in helping frontline employees feeling more in control of their work and psychologically empowered. Another useful contribution for practitioners is that customers may have a positive impact on frontline employees’ motivation state, which past research has little explored.

Fueling the intrapreneurial spirit: A closer look at how spiritual leadership motivates employee intrapreneurial behaviors

This study was conducted to examine the probable effect of perceived empowerment on job performance and the sample of research consisted of 230 participants working in tourism sector as front-line employees. The outcomes of this study indicated that psychological empowerment was positively correlated with employee job performance and employees' job performance were mostly effected from self-determination and impact dimensions of empowerment. Moreover, tests were conducted to analyze the significant differences in participants' perception of empowerment and job performance according to their demographic characteristics. There was a significant difference between perceived empowerment and gender, age and work experience whereas there was no significant difference between empowerment and education levels. On the other hand, the relationship between job performance and work experience was supported however no relationship was found between job performance and gender, age and education level of the participants. Trying to find out what might possibly lead front-line employees to increased job performance, it can be claimed that psychological empowerment still turns out to be a central issue and therefore this research makes useful contributions to the current knowledge by entirely investigating the direct effect of perceived empowerment on employee job performance in hospitality industry where especially front-line employees spend most of their time directly with customers.

PurposeThis study investigates the role of personal resource (i.e. psychological empowerment) in reducing the negative impact of emotional exhaustion of frontline employees on their engagement. It also examines the moderating effects of ethical climate and transformational leadership in mitigating the negative influence of emotional exhaustion on engagement among frontline service employees (FLEs).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 671 frontline employees from financial services sector. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical regression analysis (HRA) were used to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsResults show that the impact of emotional exhaustion on employee engagement is greatly affected by psychological empowerment. Transformational leadership moderates the negative effects of emotional exhaustion on psychological empowerment, while ethical climate weakens the negative impact of emotional exhaustion on employee engagement.Practical implicationsService firms need to provide enough autonomy to emotionally exhausted frontline employees so that they feel valued. The emotionally exhausted employees can be engaged if they are empowered to discharge their job most effectively and a climate is ensured which can keep them motivated toward accomplishing their targets. A fair and just treatment shall boost their morale to perform better and to strengthen their staying intentions.Originality/valueThe novelty of our study lies in examining and fostering engagement among emotionally exhausted FLEs. It shows that job resources at the individual level (i.e. psychological empowerment), team level (i.e. transformational leadership) and organizational level (i.e. ethical climate) can help in encouraging work engagement among emotionally exhausted FLEs.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of perceived organizational support (POS) on boundary-spanning behaviors (BSBs) among frontline employees in the hospitality industry. It also considered perceived supervisory support (PSS) as a moderating factor within a conceptual model.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from 651 full-time hospitality employees across 12 hotels in China. The analysis of the data used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings revealed that POS influences hospitality boundary spanners’ BSBs, specifically external representation (ER), internal influence (II) and service delivery (SD). In addition, PSS moderates the relationship between POS and these frontline employees’ behaviors.Practical implicationsThis study offers practical strategies for hospitality professionals to enhance frontline employees’ BSBs and foster supportive workplaces that drive employee excellence. These strategies encompass cultivating a supportive organizational culture, implementing supportive measures, fostering a sense of belonging among employees and ensuring supervisors’ well-being and competence in supporting their teams during daily interactions. These actions effectively motivate customer-contact employees to excel in their performance.Originality/valueFostering a helpful attitude in frontline employees is crucial for service firms’ success. Hospitality organizations must provide support to achieve this. Few studies have explored how organizational support contributes positively to the BSBs of customer-contact employees. This study goes beyond oversimplification and delves into the nuanced interplay between perceived support (POS and PSS) and hospitality frontline employees’ BSBs, focusing on ER, II and SD. The moderated mediating model enhances the understanding of support dynamics in the organizational context.

In order to survive the fiercer competition, more and more service firms emphasize front-line employees' role of creating excellent customer experience by displaying positive emotions during the service interactions. However, the underlying mechanisms for the relationship between transformational leadership and front-line employees' emotional labor remain unclear. Drawing upon the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study develops a conceptual model in which transformational leadership influences front-line employees' emotional labor through the mediator of psychological empowerment. By collecting data from 436 employees in five call centers, we tested our model and hypotheses through PROCESS 3.3 macro for SPSS developed by Hayes. The results show that transformational leadership shows positive and negative effects on deep acting and surface acting, respectively. The positive effect on deep acting is partially mediated by psychological empowerment, while the negative effect on surface acting is fully mediated by psychological empowerment. Specifically, two dimensions of psychological empowerment (impact, self-efficacy) play negative mediating roles between transformational leadership and surface acting, while impact, self-determination, and self-efficacy play positive mediating roles of transformational leadership and deep acting. The findings advance our understanding about how transformational leadership influences front-line employees' emotional labor by introducing psychological empowerment as a mediator.

PurposeDrawing on the theoretical underpinnings of job crafting, this study aims to investigate how and when internal marketing orientation (IMO) promotes employees’ positive word of mouth (PWOM).Design/methodology/approachThe two-wave, multisource data came from frontline employees and their supervisors in a hotel located in Eastern China. The hypothesized relationships were tested with Mplus with multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results reveal that IMO encourages frontline employees to change the task, cognitive and relational boundaries of their jobs. Nevertheless, it is through relational crafting that IMO ultimately affects employees’ PWOM, especially when they work with supervisors high in felt responsibility for constructive change (FRCC).Research limitations/implicationsTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to investigate how organizations and supervisors can work together to encourage frontline employees’ PWOM.Practical implicationsThe findings carry important implications for practitioners on how to encourage frontline employees’ PWOM in the service sector.Originality/valueFirst, this research adds to the limited knowledge of how organizations and supervisors can work together to promote frontline employees’ PWOM in the service sector. Second, by proposing job crafting as a key intermediary mechanism underlying IMO’s impact on employee PWOM, this research not only offers a new theoretical perspective to understand how to promote frontline employees’ PWOM but also sheds new light on the underlying mechanisms through which IMO exerts its influence on frontline employees. Third, supervisors’ FRCC as a boundary condition of IMO can help service organizations more effectively capitalize on IMO to motivate frontline employees’ engagement in job crafting and subsequent PWOM.

Assessing the effectiveness of empowerment on service quality: A multi-level study of Chinese tourism firms

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the antecedents of frontline employees’ boundary-spanning behaviors in the hospitality industry. Anchored in transactional stress theory, affective events theory and motivation theories, a conceptual model was built to explore the impacts of hindrance stressors on boundary-spanning behavior.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from frontline employees in the hospitality industry in the USA. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used.FindingsThe findings revealed that despite hindrance stressors’ negative indirect impact on frontline employees’ boundary-spanning behaviors, intrinsic motivation worked effectively to reduce hindrance stress and influence subsequent emotions leading to boundary-spanning behaviors.Practical implicationsThis study provides substantial and detailed strategies for hospitality practitioners who are pressed to alleviate the hindrance stressors from which frontline employees frequently suffer, foster employees’ positive emotions and ease negative emotions while promoting boundary-spanning behaviors. Cultivation of employees’ intrinsic motivation and emotional management is encouraged, as is effective organizational structure and management intervention. All of these are deemed helpful in buffering employees’ work-related stress while motivating them to go above and beyond their nominal duties.Originality/valueVery few studies have examined how “bad” hindrance stressors affect boundary-spanning behaviors. Rather than suggesting that hindrance stressors are relevant only to counterproductive behaviors, this study extends both the stress and boundary-spanning literature by uncovering the impact of hindrance stressors on frontline employees’ boundary-spanning behaviors while accounting for the roles of workers’ motivation and emotion.

Nurses' service behaviors have critical implications for hospitals. However, few studies had adequate ethical considerations of service behaviors and accounted for how organizational or individual antecedents can induce nurses to engage in service behaviors. In addition, they mainly focused on the one side of role-prescribed or extra-role service behavior. This study aims to explore the chained mediation effect of ethical climate and moral sensitivity on the relationship between organizational ethical leadership and nurses' service behaviors and to examine the relationship, from a comparative view, of the role-prescribed service behavior and extra-role service behavior. In all, 476 nurses from three tertiary hospitals were investigated with the Ethical Leadership Scale, Ethical Climate Scale, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and Service Behavior Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the data. SPSS and Mplus statistical software was used in the data analysis. Approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee at School of Nursing, Hebei Medical University. Data privacy and confidentiality were maintained and assured by obtaining subjects' informed consent to participate in the research before data collection. The effects of ethical leadership on nurses' service behaviors are mediated by two variables in turn: ethical climate and nurses' moral sensitivity. Ethical climate and moral sensitivity partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and nurses' role-prescribed service behavior and fully mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and nurses' extra-role service behavior. Organizational ethical leadership positively affected ethical climate, which positively affected nurses' moral sensitivity and affected both their role-prescribed service behavior and extra-role service behavior.

Purpose This study investigates the relationship between authentic leadership and employee work engagement, focusing on the mediating role of psychological empowerment among frontline employees in Ghana’s Food and Beverage (F&B) industry. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a descriptive time-lagged research design to capture temporal relationships among the variables. Data were collected from 315 non-managerial staff across 25 food and beverage establishments in Ghana at three separate intervals: authentic leadership at Time 1, psychological empowerment at Time 2, and employee work engagement at Time 3. Participants were selected using simple random sampling, and data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Both psychological empowerment and employee work engagement were modeled as reflective–formative second-order constructs. Findings The study found that authentic leadership positively and significantly relates to both psychological empowerment and employee work engagement. Also, the study’s findings revealed that psychological empowerment significantly and positively predicts employee work engagement. Further, psychological empowerment served as a partial mediator in the relationship between authentic leadership and employee work engagement. Originality/value This study advances leadership research by applying a reflective–formative second-order modeling approach to examine psychological empowerment as the mediating mechanism linking authentic leadership to employee work engagement in Ghana’s (F&B) sector—an underexplored context characterized by high-pressure service demands and resource constraints. It provides new insights into the mechanisms through which leadership style influences employee outcomes in frontline service environments.