Servant Leadership Behavior Research Articles

Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale in the Context of University Student Start-Ups

Entrepreneurship and leadership are included as important subject among scholars. Great entrepreneurs have to be great leaders, since they need to have a strong vision, motivate and influence others. The purpose of this paper is to verify the validity and reability of servant leadership behaviour scale in the context of student start-ups. The participants of the study consisted of 300 students who have been working for their start up in Ciputra University Surabaya, Indonesia. Confirmatory factor analysis have been performed to verify the undimensionality and validity of the scale. It is found that the scale can be used in the context of students start up, yet one dimension and 17 indicators should be eliminated from the scale.
 Keywords: servant leadership, student start-ups, servant leadership behaviour scale, entrepreneurship

Servant leadership behavior: Effects on leaders’ work–family relationship

We examined the process of leaders’ resource loss through servant leadership behavior (SLB) based on conservation of resources theory. Participants were 72 department managers each paired with 1 of their subordinates, who were employed by 5 enterprises in Eastern China. We used the experience sampling method, and asked the department managers to complete a 10-day diary survey. The employees filled in a conscientiousness scale. A multilayer linear model was used for data analysis. The results showed that as participants’ SLB led to daily resource loss, the relationship between their work and their family life deteriorated. In addition, employee conscientiousness acted as an escape valve, slowing the loss effect of SLB, and indicating that servant leaders experience less resource loss and emotional exhaustion when employees have a strong sense of responsibility. These results broaden understanding of, and provide new i

Servant Leadership: Impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Knowledge Sharing Behavior

This study aims to investigate the effect of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior and knowledge-sharing behavior. It further explores servant leadership for its potential mediation of work engagement and moderation of self-efficacy in organizational citizenship behavior and knowledge-sharing behavior. Time-lagged data was collected from 264 respondents from Pakistan’s banking sector via convenience sampling. The relationships between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior, servant leadership and knowledge-sharing behavior were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results of this analysis reveals that the effect of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior and knowledge-sharing behavior is significant in that work engagement acts as a mediator, and follower’s self-efficacy plays the role of moderator. Based upon social exchange theory, the study supports that servant leadership increases citizenship and knowledge-sharing behavior. In addition, the study provides an understanding of how servant leadership mediates work engagement for pragmatic synergetic outcomes in a Pakistani context. The study’s implications and limitations are also discussed, and suggestions for future research are noted.

Servant leadership, trust and knowledge management in sport organisations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of servant leadership on knowledge management (KM). A quantitative methods approach was used to gather the data. 423 surveys were completed from the for-profit, non-profit, and public sport sectors. The results revealed that servant leadership behaviours are positively related to KM. The results also show that trust mediates the relationship between servant leadership and KM in these three sectors. The paper also provides an insight into the mediating effect of trust on servant leadership and KM, using a quantitative methods approach. While this is an appropriate method, an in-depth interview approach is also needed to explore and understand these variables through focusing on the lived experience of managers in sport settings.

Improving Service Quality Through Strengthening Servant Leadership, Self Efication, and Education Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Improving Service Quality Through Strengthening Servant Leadership, Self Efication, and Education Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Hizmetkâr Liderlik Davranışının Örgütsel Özdeşleşme ve İşgören Performansı Üzerine Etkisi: Restoran Çalışanları Üzerinde Bir İnceleme (The Effect of Perceived Servant Leadership Behaviour on the Organizational Identification and Performance Of Employees: A Research on Restaurant Employees)

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of perceived servant leadership behaviour of restaurant employees on the organizational identification and performance of employees. Design/methodology/approach: In order to realize the purpose of the research, the theoretical structure of the study was formed via literature research and depending on this structure, three hypotheses were developed. The data needed to test these hypotheses were collected by questionnaire method. The population of the research consists of food and beverage establishments operating in Izmir Province, and the sample is composed of first class restaurant employees. The data were obtained from 392 restaurant employees selected by sampling method. Findings: As a result of the research, it was determined that perceived servant leadership has a positive and significant effect on employee performance and organizational identification level. At the same time, it was determined that employees' perceptions of servant leadership and their level of performance and organizational identification were moderate. Discussion: It can be stated that restaurant managers exhibit behaviors that deal with the problems of the personnel, give priority to their career development, wishes and needs and act in line with ethical principles in the process of achieving the objectives of the business. If the managers exhibit servant leadership behavior may increase the organizational identification and performance levels of the employees.

Hizmetkâr Liderliğin Örgütsel Özdeşleşmeye Etkisinde Örgütsel Adaletin Aracı Rolü (The Mediating Role of Organizational Justice in the Effect of Servant Leadership on Organizational Identification)

Purpose – This research has been carried out to determine the effect of servant leadership behaviors exhibited by the leaders in the service sector on organizational identification and organizational justice and the mediating role of organizational justice between these two variables. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of the study consisted of 750 participants in the service sector in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Yalova and Bursa. The questionnaire was distributed to the employees in person and some of them were sent via e-mail and online survey system. The collected data was analysed by frequency, reliability, correllation, confirmative factor analyzes and also structural equation modelling. Findings – The findings indicate that servant leadership is positively correlated with organizational identification and organizational justice. In addition, organizational justice has a mediating role in the relationship between servant leadership and organizational identification. It was evaluated that the research will contribute to the studies conducted on the service sector and will give insight to researchers and managers about servant leadership, organizational identification and organizational justice levels. Discussion – The relationship between servant leadership and organizational justice was found to be stronger than the relationship between servant leadership and organizational identification. In the study, it was determined that organizational justice has a partial mediator effect in the relationship between servant leadership and organizational identification. In order to generalize the results of the research which is limited to the data obtained from 750 people working in the service sector, it has been suggested to make similar studies on larger sample groups and compare the results.

Servant leadership, leader gender, and team gender role: Testing a female advantage in a cascading model of performance

AbstractWe integrate the theory of gender role congruity with extant research on servant leadership to propose and test a moderated process model in which we hypothesize that servant leadership's effects on outcomes are stronger when implemented by women, and when it takes place within teams high in feminine gender role composition. Specifically, we theorize that servant leadership's communal emphases on stakeholders and relationships align with female role prototypes, which should lead to female advantages for job performance through the proposed serial mediators of prosocial motivation and follower servant leadership behaviors. We test this moderated, serial‐mediation model in a temporally lagged field study with a multi‐organizational sample including 109 teams. We find evidence that the mediated process model is moderated at the first stage such that in teams higher in feminine gender role composition, servant leadership has greater direct effects on prosocial motivation, as well as indirect effects on follower servant leadership and performance. We do not find support for our hypothesis that a similar moderated effect would emerge for leader sex; instead, we find that the effect of servant leadership on follower servant leadership, and subsequently to performance, is stronger for women leaders than it is for men. The implications of these findings for the servant leadership and role congruity literatures are discussed.

Leading others to go beyond the call of duty

PurposeInterest in servant leadership has grown exponentially over the past decade as evident in the surge of academic- and practitioner-oriented publications on the subject. While prior research has shown that servant leadership leads to citizenship behavior, no study has explored the ethical pathway as the underlying influence process despite the fact that servant leadership is an ethical approach to leadership. On the basis of social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine psychological ethical climate as a key mediator between servant leadership and citizenship behavior.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 123 leader–follower dyads from eight high-performing firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange, and analyzed using multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results showed that the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) (both for OCBI and OCBO) is mediated by psychological ethical climate.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrates the value of using a servant leadership approach in order to foster a psychological ethical climate and increase OCBs. As such, the authors highlight the importance of a systematic approach to develop servant leaders in organizations.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the understanding of the ethical mechanism that explains the relationship between servant leadership and follower outcomes. Drawing on social learning theory, the findings show that servant leaders are ethical climate architects through their role modeling behaviors and interactions with followers.

Servant Leadership and Innovative Behaviour: An Empirical Analysis of Ghana’s Manufacturing Sector

In the competitive global market, innovation is vital to a firm’s longevity. To this end, organisations seek new and alternative ways to motivate employee innovation. This study examines the role of servant leadership as an antecedent to innovation. Drawing on the social identity model, this study examines the effect of servant leadership, team-member exchange (TMX) and perceived insider status on employee innovative behaviour. Primary data were collected from six manufacturing companies in Ghana. Using a sample of 213 employees and their immediate supervisors, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the discriminant validity of our measurement model. Hierarchical multiple regression was then used to determine direct and interaction effects, followed by bootstrapping tests to identify mediation and moderated mediation effects. The results showed that servant leadership and TMX are significantly related to perceived insider status. The bootstrapping indirect test and Sobel test demonstrated that perceived insider status mediates the relationship between servant leadership and innovative work behaviour. Moreover, the mediated relationship is only significant when TMX is low. This study empirically validated servant leadership as an antecedent to employee innovative behaviour. The findings demonstrated that perceived insider status is a mediating mechanism in this relationship, with TMX as its boundary condition.

How Mindfulness and Servant Leadership Affect Customer-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Service Climate as Potential Mediator

One aspect of competitive advantage that is now the main focus of the company is human resources. To improve the performance of organizations related to service excellence, it takes work behavior that exceeds the demands of work, namely Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior. This article is Proposal for Doctoral Colloquia that aims to prove the variables that influence Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior and obtain a model of the structural relationship between Mindfulness, Servant Leadership, Service Climate, and Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior. This study is explanatory survey research with a mixed-method approach. The participants of this study are the supervisor of railway transportation provider in Jakarta, Indonesia. The sampling technique is multistage sampling (a combination of cluster sampling and stratified sampling). The data will be collected by self-report surveys. The data will be analyzed by using Structural Equation Modelling with Lisrel 8.7 software. The results from this study will be proved and built a structural model of the effect of mindfulness and servant leadership on Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior through a service climate. The novelty of this study is the addition of contextual factors such as service climate as a mediator variable in testing the effect of mindfulness on workplace outcomes such as Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior and the influence of servant leadership on Customer Oriented-Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and the development of dispositional mindfulness instrument for Indonesian employees.

Servant leadership and innovative behavior: a moderated mediation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the cross-level effect of servant leadership on employee innovative behavior by studying the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of team reflexivity.Design/methodology/approachThis research collected data from 199 dyads of employees and their direct supervisors in 55 work units, and tested a cross-level moderated mediation model using multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe findings suggest that thriving at work mediates the relationship between servant leadership and innovative behavior. The results also show that team reflexivity positively moderates the relationship between servant leadership and thriving at work and the mediating effect of thriving at work.Practical implicationsThe empirical findings suggest that organizations should make efforts to promote servant leadership and encourage team reflexivity. Moreover, managers should make efforts to stimulate employees’ thriving at work, thereby facilitating employee and organizational development.Originality/valueThis research identifies thriving at work as a key mediator that links servant leadership to innovative behavior and reveals the role of team reflexivity in strengthening the effect of servant leadership on employee innovative behavior.

Why Positive Leader Behavior is Good for Job Performance: A Mediation Study

This paper develops a conceptual framework depicting the relationships between positive leader behavior (represented by transformational, authentic and servant leader behaviors), organizational vir...

From Organization Sustainability to Community Sustainability: Servant Leadership and Community Citizenship Behavior

From Organization Sustainability to Community Sustainability: Servant Leadership and Community Citizenship Behavior

On the Servant Leadership Behaviors Perceived in Voluntary Settings: The Influences on Volunteers’ Motivation and Organizational Commitment

Building on the functional approach theory, the current study empirically examined the influences of servant leadership behaviors on volunteers’ motivations and on their organizational commitment feelings. In addition, it also examined servant leadership’s indirect influences via those motivations on volunteers’ commitment feelings. To test its hypotheses, the study used the data collected from 385 volunteers. The research has found out that the degree of perceived servant leadership behaviors affected both participants’ motivation to volunteer and their affective and normative commitments feelings toward their organizations. Furthermore, as one of the six dimensions of the motivation concept suggested by the functional approach theory, only the protective motive partially mediated the influences of perceived servant leadership behaviors on the volunteers’ normative commitment attitudes. The study discussed the possible rationales under these research findings and made some future research proposals. The study hopes that its findings, through responding to expectations of their voluntary members, help voluntary organizations to be more effective and efficient in their recruiting and sustaining efforts.

Development and validation of servant leadership scale in Spanish higher education

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. First is the validation of a scale to measure the servant leadership of the university leaders. Second is to analyze how servant leadership affects the career satisfaction and life satisfaction of the academics.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey of 148 academics at universities located in Spain collected in May 2018, a couple of models were conducted using structural equation model techniques: a confirmatory factor analysis of second order in order to assess the leadership scale and a mediation model to assess how servant leadership impacts on the life satisfaction through career satisfaction.FindingsResults reveal that leadership is a multi-dimensional construct having dimensions namely: behaving ethically, development, emotional healing, empowerment, pioneering, relationship building and wisdom. The total effect of servant leadership on life satisfaction is null due to a competitive mediation of career satisfaction.Originality/valueResearch on servant leadership has primarily focused on business organizations through extensive search in peer-reviewed databases the authors could not find a scale to measure servant leadership behavior in higher education. Additionally, the study assesses the role of career satisfaction as mediator between servant leadership and life satisfaction. Existing research has called for further research into both career and life satisfaction. Life satisfaction research has been criticized on the grounds that it has mainly overlooked the work/organizational settings. Moreover, the authors could only find little research into life satisfaction in higher education, that too in context of students.

Bridging the micro-macro gap: A multi-layer culture framework for understanding entrepreneurial orientation in family firms

Prior research on the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in family firms heavily relied on structural family-level characteristics but neglected the contribution of the business system. This may inhibit the current debate as it limits our understanding of the organizational mechanisms through which “familiness” is translated into EO. To elaborate the adolescent theory of EO in family firms and motivate future work on the topic, this article seeks to bridge the micro (family)-macro (firm-level EO) gap by introducing a multi-layer culture framework. Using an interpretivist single case study design, the theoretical utility of that framework is demonstrated by capturing the lived experiences of both family and nonfamily managers involved in shaping the organizational culture of a second-generation German family firm. The model that emerged from the analysis of archival and ethnographic interview data cuts across analytical levels and illustrates, in a fine-grained manner, how the identified cultural concepts operate and interact to stimulate EO. Specifically, it shows that family values of altruism and preservation are translated into EO by an organizational culture characterized by long-term and involvement orientation as well as psychological safety and empowerment climates. The model further uncovers the specific underlying processes of cultural transmission, such as building a quasi-family, demonstrating servant leadership behaviors, providing a written self-image, and applying value-based recruitment principles.

The Effect of Servant Leadership on Psychological Empowerment and Organizational Identification

Purpose – The aim of this study is to determine the effects of servant leadership on psychological empowerment and organizational identification. Design/methodology/approach – Within the context of quantitative research approach, data collected from 309 hotel employees by questionnaire. Reliability of data measured with Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient where the Factor analysis were performed to check validity. Validity analysis has followed by Correlation and Regression analyses in which research hypothesis were tested. Findings – Results of the study assign that there is a significant relationship among servant leadership, psychological empowerment and organizational identification. Furthermore, results also support pre-assumptions suggesting that servant leadership behaviours significantly affect psychological empowerment of employees and their identification process with the organization. Within this context, empowerment and vision sub-dimensions of servant leadership contribute psychological empowerment of hotel employees. Additionally, visionary and humility behaviours of servant leaders increase the organizational identification level of them. Discussion – Entrepreneurs in hospitality industry those who want to deliver high quality service should consider to employ servant leaders/executives in order to have more empowered and identified employees. Also, contributions of servant leaders are an important field for the academicians, since they can create a positive and creative service philosophy among staff and can heighten service quality.

Servant leadership

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument intended to measure servant leadership behavior in the Chinese hospitality industry.Design/methodology/approachAfter reviewing the literature, a scale of nine dimensions with 81 items was generated and then subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using a sample of 600 participants from a polytechnic college and hospitality industry, resulting in 6-factor-33-item solution. The derived measure was then shortened to 24 items by using item response theory (IRT). Drawing on the data from 440 respondents in the hospitality industry, this 6-factor-24 item measure was subsequently validated with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the test of construct validity.FindingsDifference in factors has been found between this instrument and western-developed scales. This study resulted in 6-dimension-24-items scale. These dimensions were named integrity, self-sacrifice, building community, empowering people, emotional healing and visioning. This servant leadership scale was demonstrated to have good internal consistency reliability and strong construct validity.Originality/valueThis is the first study that used IRT as a statistic tool to shorten a servant leadership scale and also this study provided additional support to cultural psychology theory.

Personality traits and personal values of servant leaders

PurposeServant leaders focus on their direct reports to enable them to grow to be independent and autonomous leaders. The purpose of this paper is to understand the way personal values and personality traits collectively influence this other-centered behavior. This will go a long way to unravel this unique style of leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe study surveys managers and their direct reports. Leaders rated their personality trait and personal values, while their direct reports rated the leader’s servant leadership behaviors. Age, educational level, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism of leaders were used as controls. The study also checked for endogeneity threats.FindingsUsing a sample of 81 leaders and 279 of their direct reports, the study finds that the personal value of benevolent dependability relates negatively to servant leadership behaviors. In addition, the personality traits of agreeableness and openness/intellect moderate the relationship between benevolent dependability and servant leadership behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings shed important insights into what motivates servant leaders to engage in other-directed behaviors, thereby enabling future research into individual characteristics that define servant leaders.Originality/valueAlthough studies have examined how values and personality traits influence leadership behaviors, no research has examined both types of individual differences in a single study. Studies examining the individual differences of servant leaders are few, and this study answers the call by Liden et al. (2014) to examine individual characteristics that are both personality based (traits) and malleable (values).