Why and when servant leadership spurs followers to speak up: A conservation of resources perspective

Purpose This study aims to determine the possible role of servant leadership (SL) in meliorating critical issues in the contemporary hospitality industry by synthesizing literature on SL, examining benefits and deriving future research propositions. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of SL in hospitality was conducted to analyze, categorize and synthesize the state of research. A nomological framework of SL in hospitality was created, and research gaps were identified. Future directions and propositions were derived to investigate the antecedents of SL by applying the person-situation theoretical approach, and second, to address contemporary challenges in the industry. Findings SL theory in hospitality is examined across various themes with focus on outcome effects related to firm performance, and across different cultures, with observed dominance in Asia. All analyses demonstrate the positive effects on employers and firms and thus confirm the relevance of adopting SL in hospitality. A notable gap in hospitality research is the lack of empirical investigation of SL antecedents. Such an investigation is crucial in promoting related behaviors. Practical implications This study identifies the benefits of SL, especially in addressing contemporary issues, such as sustainability, talent shortage, competition, growing demand for experience and retention of hospitality graduates. Recommendations are elaborated for hospitality educators and industry managers to revise leadership practices. Originality/value This study is the first to review SL in hospitality and determine its role in ameliorating critical issues in the field.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative framework of servant leadership and employees’ perception of inclusion. The authors argue that servant leadership embodies an inclusive leadership philosophy that is in a position to facilitate feelings of belongingness and uniqueness among diverse employees.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model capturing the effect of servant leadership in shaping climates for inclusion, is developed. The authors elaborate on research streams focussing on climates for inclusion, and examine servant leadership as a potential predictor of inclusion. In this respect, the authors posit that inclusive practices mediate the servant leadership and inclusion relationship, while leaders’ inclusiveness beliefs moderate the servant leadership and inclusive practices relationship.FindingsThe model introduces mediating mechanisms that intervene in the indirect relationship between servant leadership and climates for inclusion. In so doing, the authors seek to identify how organizational practices supported through servant leadership behaviors address employee needs for belongingness and uniqueness. The model predicts multi-level beneficial outcomes for social identity groups.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies a bundle of organizational practices facilitating employees’ perceptions of inclusion, by placing an emphasis on how servant leaders can enact and implement practices in view of attaining inclusiveness pursuits.Social implicationsServant leadership is inclusive by empowering diverse employees and fostering equitable and more humane workplaces, as well as by being more sensitive to various societal expectations.Originality/valueThe paper is intended to explore precisely how servant leadership can help inclusive ideals to thrive in diverse work environments.

Purpose Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study analyses how servant leadership and high-performance work systems (HPWS) provide employees with valuable resources that help them cope with work demands and preserve or increase personal and job resources, which in turn enhances their work-life balance (WLB) and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 253 hotel workers from Gran Canaria was surveyed. The study used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses. Findings Both servant leadership and HPWS positively affect employees’ job satisfaction. Additionally, WLB plays a mediating role in explaining how servant leadership and HPWS can increase employees’ job satisfaction. Practical implications Our findings offer practical guidance for hotel managers on implementing strategies that foster employee well-being and enhance performance through a combination of servant leadership and HPWS. Originality/value This study is among the first to investigate the mediating role of WLB between servant leadership, HPWS and job satisfaction in the hospitality sector. By applying COR theory, it offers new insights into the interaction between personal and job-related resources and their impact on employee outcomes.

PurposeDrawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to explain why certain voice types prevail while other voice types are inhibited in the presence of abusive supervision.Design/methodology/approachThis paper surveys extant literature on abusive supervision, employee voice and COR theory and provides propositions linking abusive supervision and types of voice behaviours.FindingsThe paper develops a conceptual model linking abusive supervision and three types of subordinate voice behaviours – prosocial, defensive and acquiescent voices. It identifies psychological distress as a mediator andlocusof control as a moderator to this relationship.Originality/valueThis paper deepens our present understanding of abusive supervision and voice relationship by explaining why only certain voice types prevail with abusive supervision while others do not. While extant literature concluded abusive supervision only as an inhibitor of voice behaviours, the present study identifies how abusive supervision could both inhibit and motivate different voice behaviours. Further, it links abusive supervision to multiple voice types, diverting from extant literature linking abusive supervision to only constructive voice. Lastly, this study contributes to resource acquisition strategies within COR theory.

Regardless of where they are, humans are inherently human. In this study, we explore the relationship between compassion, mindfulness, and servant leadership contributing to an overall feeling of safety. Adopting a humanistic approach to human resource management, we examine how compassion and mindfulness intersect under the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. Our investigation focuses on understanding how servant leadership facilitates the cultivation of mindfulness through compassion. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we analyze data gathered from 360 workers across diverse occupational sectors. Our findings provide empirical support for the hypothesis that compassion, manifested as a response to suffering, enhances mindfulness levels in the workplace. Specifically, we observe that organizations promoting servant leadership principles are conducive to higher levels of mindfulness among employees. Practically, our study underscores the importance of designing work contexts that prioritize compassion and servant leadership. By doing so, organizations can foster a positive work environment that promotes mindfulness and enhances workplace safety. Our research contributes to the management literature by offering empirical evidence on the role of servant leadership in cultivating compassion and mindfulness, thereby advancing the discourse on workplace safety and organizational well-being.

The current paper proposes to study the role of servant leadership in enhancing harmonious passion among employees, and further to ascertain if harmonious passion acts as a mediating mechanism linking servant leadership and service innovative work behavior (IWB). This study also recognizes the importance of creative self-efficacy as the boundary condition between harmonious passion and service IWB. Data were collected from employees working in four- and five-star hotels of Pakistan with a sample of 220 participants. Research findings provided justification for the mediating effect of harmonious passion for servant leadership-service IWB linkage. Furthermore, the relationship between harmonious passion and service IWB was strengthened to the extent that harmoniously passionate employees showed higher creative self-efficacy. Practitioners looking to enhance harmonious passion and service IWB can do so by developing the servant leadership qualities of managers. This paper carries value as the literature pertaining to harmonious passion is still small but increasing and enriches knowledge in understanding the role of servant leadership as reaping the service IWB benefits of harmonious passion among employees in the hospitality industry.

Servant leadership has gained significant attention among academic researchers for the positive role it has played in organizational settings. Missing from research has been the role of servant leadership in promoting positive outcomes of frontline employees in hospitality research. Therefore, this paper proposes a conceptual model in which servant leadership via harmonious passion for work (HPW) can impact IWB among frontline employees in the hotel industry of Pakistan. Using self-administered questionnaire, data in this study will be obtained from the full-time frontline employees working in hotels located in four states of Pakistan. Structural equation modelling will be used for assessing the direct and indirect effects for this study. This is one of the first studies that discusses an under-researched mediating mechanism such as HPW in the linkage between servant leadership and IWB. This study emphasizes the potential role of HPW as a strong motivational factor for employees’ critical outcomes such as IWB. Similarly, this study argues that servant leadership has the potential to create such a climate in the workplace that can enhance employees’ HPW thus increasing their IWB in the hotel industry.

Many authors on servant leadership (SL) claim that there exists a direct positive relationship between SL and organizational performance, but empirical evidence for this has thus far been lacking. There are indications, however, that introducing SL in an organization has a positive influence on mediating factors of performance, which in turn lead to better organizational performance. There is empirical evidence that applying the high-performance organization (HPO) framework does lead to increased organizational performance. As SL deals with behaviors and attitudes of managers, it is a reasonable assumption that SL has a certain influence on management quality, one of the factors of high performance included in the HPO framework. In this respect, one or more HPO factors might be mediating factors between SL and organizational performance. This article evaluates empirically the relation between SL, organizational performance, and the HPO framework. A theoretical proposition of these relations was made and, based on a sample of 116 managers and employees of Vrije Universiteit medical center, the levels of SL, HPO, and performance in Vrije Universiteit medical center were measured. This case study showed no evidence of a direct positive relation between SL and organizational performance. There was evidence of SL having an influence on the factors in the HPO framework but this influence was different on various organizational levels. It was concluded that the role of SL in the case organization was inconsistent.

This study presents a model for the impact of servant leadership on work engagement of staff in academic settings. Moreover, the paper introduces intrinsic motivation, psychological ownership, and person-job fit as intervening mechanisms between servant leadership and work engagement. Our data were gathered from academic staff working in twelve Palestinian universities. We used partial least squares SEM to investigate the hypotheses. Results indicate that the link between servant leadership and academics’ work engagement is not straightforward. Intrinsic motivation, psychological ownership, and person-job fit of academic staff had a full mediating effect among the examined variables. The paper provides evidence that servant leadership is a promising style for higher education. Moreover, the paper offers important implications for administrators and policymakers in higher education about the role of servant leadership in promoting academics’ work engagement.

Subject . The article focuses on two perspective directions of research in theoretical managerial thought. One of the directions is social entrepreneurship that exists in the field of entrepreneurship. The other one is servant leadership that describes an emerging concept in the field of leadership. Purpose . The purpose of the study is to formulate the tasks developing the management theory that is based on the symbiotic relationship between social entrepreneurship and servant leadership. Methodology . The scholars introduce new methodological approach to research and contribute to the conceptual development of management. The authors analyze and consolidate the interconnection and interpenetration of social entrepreneurship and servant leadership. Results . The article provides an overview of the main essence of social entrepreneurship and its general features. They distinguish social entrepreneurship from “traditional” one as well as from other cognate activities like “social activism”. Moreover, the work considers external and internal antecedents influencing the social entrepreneurship development. The following part of the article is devoted to the development of a new avenue in the leadership area. The authors describe fundamental changes in the management paradigm, in particular transformations in the leadership views. The article also addresses the major specifics of the servant leadership ideology and indicates the significance of servant leaders. Finally, the authors focus on the role of servant leadership in social entrepreneurship. They highlight the basic attributes that show the similar value orientations both for servant leader and social entrepreneur. Conclusions . In conclusion, the attempt to find interrelationships of certain directions from the classic management theory would be one of the contemporary trends in management theory development.

The main objective of this paper is to investigate how servant leadership affects organizational trust with the mediating role of technological innovation. In this paper we discussed that technological innovation played a vigorous role in all types of organizations and leadership having the qualities of a servant also played a vital role in achieving the trust because trust is the most crucial element for an organization. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used in conducting the study. The data for this study was taken from public and private organizations that are engaged in providing products and services to their customers. 370 questionnaires were distributed among different respondents. 310 useable respondents were selected and the questionnaire includes close-ended questions related to leaders, organization and technological factors. Cross-sectional quantitative research design was adopted. The purposive sampling technique was used for this study. Findings of this study shows that the mediating the variable "technological innovation" strengthens the affiliation among autonomous "servant leadership" and "organizational trust" dedicated to their work, and this is so beneficial to the organisation.Implications based on these finding, the study enticement the attention of mangers concerning the role of Servant Leadership, trust in the organization and flourishing the employee creativity with the help of technological innovation. This study suggests that servant leadership is an important factor that influences organizational trust because trust is the most crucial component and technological innovation with servant leadership qualities emerged to achieve trust. Keywords: Servant Leadership, Technological Innovation, Organizational Trust. JEL Classifications: M1, 03, M0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.10183

Communal solidarity in extreme environments: The role of servant leadership and social resources in building serving culture and service performance

Leading for multidimensional sport employee well-being: the role of servant leadership and teamwork

The constructs of servant leadership (SL) and emotional intelligence (EI) have gained considerable interest in the discipline of managerial leadership, both within academic discourse and in the human capital management and development arena. However, empirical evidence showed the need for further research on both constructs using the mixed methods approach. The purpose of this research was to explore the role of an integrated servant leadership and emotional intelligence leadership skills program in enhancing leadership performance in Zimbabwe’s commercial banking sector. A mixed methods research triangulation concurrent design was adopted for the research study conducted from 2014 to 2015. A survey questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 211 middle, senior and executive managerial staff in the commercial banking sector. SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected from a purposive sample of eight senior to executive managers using a structured interview guide and multimedia recording equipment. The qualitative data were analyzed using NVIVO version 10 software package to create themes. The findings showed that servant leadership and emotional intelligence characteristics complement each other and both constructs can be integrated into a managerial leadership program used to develop leadership soft skills or competencies. The findings also showed that both SL and EI skills had a positive influence in enhancing the managers’ effectiveness in undertaking leadership responsibilities and on leadership qualitative performance measures such as articulating vision and strategy, building and sustaining productive organizational culture, development and retention of talent, enhancing employee engagement, improving stakeholder relationship management, retaining bank customers, promotion of diversity, value creation and community involvement. The study led to the development of an integrated SL and EI soft skills leadership program and model which, if implemented, could lead to leadership skills development and performance enhancement. Keywords: leadership, competencies, servant leadership and emotional intelligence. JEL Classification: E58, G21, M12

This study has suggested the measures to overcome employees` mannerism and to form psychological capital through servant leadership of managers in travel agencies. The results through sample analysis aimed at 163 general employees of travel agencies in Seoul have been drawn as follows. First, in the analysis of relationship between employees` mannerism in travel agencies and psychological capital, only unconscious attitude has proved to have a negative influence on hope and optimism. Second, servant leadership has proved to improve passive attitude of mannerism, which ameliorates self-efficacy, recovery and optimism among psychological capital. Lastly, servant leadership has turned out to produce regulating effect to decrease recovery as for employees in mannerism who have a tendency toward stability orientation. These results originate from the study on the role of servant leadership toward employees` psychological attitudes. A follow-up study should proceed to qualitatively improve a research on employees` mannerism in travel agency and psychological capital.