Knowledge Sharing Climate as a Mediator between Servant Leadership and Team Performance

Abstract

Purpose: This research is an empirical study designed to examine the mediating role of knowledge sharing climate on the relationship between the servant leadership and team sales performance.Design/Methodology/Approach: Survey data were collected from direct sales representatives of a large cosmetics company in South Korea, and sales team performance data were obtained from the participant company after three months. The unit of analysis was at the team level, and the individual questionnaires were aggregated at the team level. The final sample was 67 teams (1,884 individuals). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis and a bootstrapping approach were used to test the hypotheses.Findings: Results showed two key findings: 1) servant leadership positively affected the knowledge sharing climate of the team; 2) the knowledge sharing climate mediated the relationship between servant leadership and team sales performance. This means that the servant leadership displayed by a supervisor increased team performance by promoting the knowledge sharing climate of the team.Originality/Value: The mechanism of how servant leadership affects team performance is still not well understood. This paper highlights servant leadership as a precursor of a knowledge sharing climate and demonstrates the mediating role of knowledge sharing climate on the link between servant leadership and team performance.