How Servant Leadership Leads to Employees' Customer-Oriented Behavior in the Service Industry? A Dual-Mechanism Model.

Mengru Yuan,Jingtao Fu,Wenjing Cai,Xiaopei Gao

doi:10.3390/ijerph17072296

Abstract

Although servant leadership has been acknowledged as an important predictor of employees’ behavioral outcomes in the service industry, there is still no cohesive understanding of the positive association between servant leadership and employees’ customer-oriented behavior (COB). This research, drawing on cognitive affective processing system theory (CAPS), empirically investigates the influence of servant leadership on employees’ COB by exploring two mediators (i.e., organizational identification and vitality). We conducted two studies in China, using a cross-sectional design to survey employees in service-oriented technical organizations (Study 1) and a time-lagged design to survey hospitality employees with frontline service jobs in star-level hotels (Study 2). Across both samples, we found that servant leadership enhanced employees’ COB by simultaneously increasing their organizational identification and vitality. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and practice.

Highlights

Employees engaging in customer-oriented behavior (COB) are becoming increasingly critical in service-oriented organizations [1]
According to previous research that suggests the benefits of servant leadership in facilitating employees’ desirable outcomes in the service industry [3], we propose a positive relation between servant leadership and employees’ COB
The results showed adequate fit: χ2 [111] = 262.31, p < 0.01; CFI = 0.95; IFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.07, which demonstrated a better fit to the data than alternative models: two-factor model (χ2 [117] = 438.09; CFI = 0.88; IFI = 0.88; RMSEA = 0.10), and one-factor model (χ2 [118] = 833.63; CFI = 0.74; IFI = 0.74; RMSEA = 0.15)

Summary

Introduction

Employees engaging in customer-oriented behavior (COB) are becoming increasingly critical in service-oriented organizations [1]. Increasing numbers of organizations seeking to differentiate themselves on the basis of superior customer service require their frontline service workers to display appropriate behaviors that meet the expectations of customers and deliver the service as well as increase customers’ satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty [2] In this regard, scholars have investigated the predictors of COB and highlighted the role of certain leadership styles (e.g., transformational leadership and empowering leadership) in fostering the quality of service that employees deliver to their customers. Because a leader is the proximal influencer in social environments, how leader behavior is a model that influences employees’ behaviors is important to understand [3] Along this line of research, a growing number of studies have suggested the benefits of servant leadership as a useful leadership approach to stimulate employees producing such desirable outcomes as service quality and organizational citizen behaviors [4]. Referring to “developing employees to their fullest potential in the area of task effectiveness, community stewardship, self-motivation, and future leadership capabilities” [5] (p. 162), servant leadership is a people-centered leadership style that

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion