Trickle-down Model Research Articles

Health-oriented leadership communication matters: a trickle-down model to enhance employees' health and well-being during turbulent times

PurposeThis study explored how organizational leaders at different hierarchical levels may communicatively enhance employees' health and well-being. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, it proposed a model that connects health-oriented leadership communication at supervisory and executive levels with remote workers' self-care and stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collected through a survey of 363 full-time United States (US) employees were analyzed to test the model.FindingsResults showed health-oriented communication at the two leadership levels directly influenced employees' self-care, which in turn reduced their stress levels. Further, executive leaders' health-oriented leadership communication indirectly impacted remote workers' self-care through its positive association with supervisors' health-oriented leadership communication.Practical implicationsThis study offers much-needed guidelines for executive leaders, supervisors and communication practitioners seeking to meet employees' growing expectations for a healthy work environment in today's post-pandemic era.Originality/valueAlthough the literature has established organizational leadership as a vital determinant for a healthy workforce, few studies have explored leaders' health-specific communication to enhance employee health. This study is the first to conceptualize health-oriented leadership communication at dual hierarchical levels and uncover its influence on employees. The results suggested the importance of health-oriented leadership communication across hierarchical levels in building a healthy workplace.

Socioemotional Wealth and Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Test of a Trickle-Down Model

Socioemotional Wealth and Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Test of a Trickle-Down Model

Two sources of influence: a conditional trickle-down model of service performance in China

ABSTRACT We proposed and tested a conditional trickle-down model underpinned by social exchange theory and social information processing theory. Using a sample in China, we found that LLX and service-oriented HPWS were positively related to service leadership and competition climate, respectively. Additionally, we found that service leadership and competition climate enhanced the positive influences of each other on employee service performance. We then demonstrated the conditional trickle-down effects on employee service performance transmitted through the interaction between service leadership and collective competition climate. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The cultural drive of innovative behavior: cross-level impacts of Leader-Employee’s Zhong-Yong orientation

ABSTRACT Despite numerous antecedents to innovative behaviours, how those behaviours occur and develop in indigenous Chinese contexts is mostly unknown. This study focuses on Zhong-Yong orientation, a significant Chinese cultural element that features ‘moderation’, the practice of which indicates solving problems in impartial, appropriate, and non-aggressive ways. Acting with moderation means to seek balance and to pursue properness. In addition, there is ‘conformity’, which indicates having a holistic view, focusing on harmony and balance, and being consistent with the environment. We use Bandura’s social learning theory as an overarching framework to build a trickle-down model. In this model, leaders’ Zhong-Yong orientation enhances members’ innovative behaviours by promoting the members’ own Zhong-Yong orientation. The relevant data come from 93 teams (i.e., 93 leaders and their 402 members) from six Chinese companies; cross-level analyses also provide support for our model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed later in the study.

A trickle-down model of organizational embodiment and the impact of supervisor neuroticism

AbstractThe majority of supervisor organizational embodiment (SOE) research has focused on its role as an important boundary condition in the context of leadership and management studies. In a multi-source field study, we seek to extend this research stream by examining an antecedent and outcome of SOE. Specifically, we leverage social cognitive theory to develop and test a trickle-down model of organizational embodiment across three organizational levels (i.e., upper-level managers, middle-level supervisors, and lower-level employees). Subsequently, we propose and demonstrate that manager organizational embodiment (MOE) trickles down and positively impacts SOE. In turn, SOE trickles down and positively impacts employee organizational embodiment. Furthermore, supervisor neuroticism strengthens the relationship between MOE and SOE when supervisor neuroticism is relatively high compared to relatively low. The findings provide evidence for a trickle-down model of organizational embodiment. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research are discussed.

The Trickle-Down Effects of Inclusive Leadership on Employees’ Innovative Behavior: The Joint Moderating Effects of Vicarious Learning and Organizational Inclusion Climate

The supervisor-subordinate dyad has been well articulated in the framework of inclusive leadership and employee outcomes. Applying a multisource dataset from China, the present study develops a trickle-down model of inclusive leadership across three hierarchical levels (i.e., top managers, supervisors, and employees). Building on social learning theory and social exchange theory, the study found empirical support for the assumptions that both top management and supervisory inclusive leadership have a positive effect on employees’ innovative behavior. In addition, the findings support the proposition that supervisor's inclusive leadership mediates the effects of top manager's inclusive leadership on employees’ innovative behavior. The study also verified that vicarious learning and organizational inclusion climate jointly moderate the relationship between the top manager's inclusive leadership and the supervisor's inclusive leadership. The contribution, limitations, and future directions are also discussed.

The Trickle-Down Effect of Responsible Leadership on Employees' Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Evidence from the Hotel Industry in China.

Based on the trickle-down effect model, social learning theory and trait activation theory, this study explores the mechanisms of multi-level responsible leadership on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors in the hotel industry in China. The results show that responsible leadership positively influences employees’ pro-environmental behaviors; mid-level responsible leadership significantly mediates the positive relationship between high-level responsible leadership and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors; and the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility positively moderates the relationship between responsible leadership and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. The results of this study provide empirical support for further analysis of the “black box” of responsible leadership on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors, fill the gap of the trickle-down model in leadership, and provide new directions for sustainable value creation in hospitality industry organizations.

The Emergence of Value-Based Leadership Behavior at the Frontline of Management: A Role Theory Perspective and Future Research Agenda.

The importance of value-based leadership such as authentic, ethical, and servant leadership is inconspicuous. However, the benefits of these leadership approaches are often only explained through the behaviors of their followers. As such, limited research has communicated the leader’s motivation for pursuing such leadership behavior, resulting in such discourse to escape theorizing. We draw upon role theory and paid attention to the role of higher-level management (leadership) through the trickle-down model to underline their importance in the organization. We then expand this role theory framework by synthesizing research to explain the emergence of value-based leadership behavior at the frontline of management. In doing so, we aim to provide a stronger explanation of the emergence of value-based leadership in organizations. We conclude this analysis by guiding future research in the form of propositions to investigate the psychological process and organizational factors to empirically examine the proposed role framework.

Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy Model of Motivation as an Alternative Model for Examining Ethical Leadership Behaviors

Incessant occurrences of character failure of people in leadership positions that have characterized organizations in recent years call for critical examination of leadership behaviors. The Social Learning Theory and Trickle-Down Model are some of the common approaches previously used to analyze ethical leadership behaviors. However, the challenges with how these models inspire ethical behaviors call for further examination of the issue. Using a multidisciplinary integrative literature review, we present Vroom’s Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy (VIE) Model of Motivation as an alternative model for examining ethical leadership behaviors. The VIE Model provides clarity regarding how leaders are motivated to behave ethically. We utilize ideas from the VIE model in conjunction with Starratt’s Three-Step Approach to develop a unique framework for examining ethical leadership behaviors. Our model highlights the importance of a leader’s values in creating organizational ethical values that eventually translate into professional ethical values. Using the motivational approach to inspire ethical leadership will drive organizational members to internalize ethical behavior as a conviction rather than complying with a set rule.

The role of top-level supportive leadership: A multilevel, trickle-down, moderating effects test in Chinese hospitality and tourism firms

This study explores and tests the role of top-level supportive leadership on both individual and group members in hospitality and tourism firms, examining the trickle-down model of top-level supportive leadership through not only middle-level supportive leadership, but group cohesion and also moderation of top-level supportive leadership on both middle-level supportive leadership–service quality and group cohesion–service quality relationships, which extend and enrich the trickle-down model of leadership. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to assess a sample of 2009 employee–supervisor pairs across 112 departments in 35 Chinese hospitality and tourism firms. The results suggest that top-level supportive leadership relates positively to employees’ service quality, which trickles down through middle-level supportive leadership, excepting group cohesion; top-level supportive leadership strengthens the positive effect of middle-level supportive leadership on employee service quality, triggering positive effects of group cohesion.

The fish rots from the head down: a test of the trickle-down model of abusive supervision

Purpose A major paradigm shift focusing on the dark side of leadership has generated lots of concern for organizations as leadership has cascading effects on employees’ behaviour. This study aims to understand negative behaviours in the organization as a system of interrelated interaction initiated from the top which trickles down to employees. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the theories of social exchange and norms of reciprocity, social learning and displaced aggression, this study models how and when abusive supervision relates to employees’ task performance. The model is empirically tested and extended to cover mediation and moderation processes. Drawing data from 218 bank supervisors and employees, this study uses the structural equation modelling to analyse a trickle-down model of abusive supervision. Findings Results from multi-waved, multi-sourced data indicated a mediating effect on the abusive supervision–performance relationships and provided support for employees’ guilt proneness and emotional dissonance as moderators. Overall, the results provided support for a moderated mediation relationship in the trickle-down model. Originality/value This study provides new knowledge into the potential boundary conditions of employees’ guilt proneness and emotional dissonance in affecting the relationship between abusive supervision, counterproductive work behaviour and task performance.

The tone at the top: a trickle-down model of how manager anger relates to employee moral behaviour

ABSTRACT The question of how leaders’ expressions of anger influence employees have been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. So far, however, research on the consequences of angry leadership has predominantly focused on the effects of supervisor expressions of anger, neglecting the potential influence of higher-level managerial anger. In this study, we integrate the emotions as social information theory with the adapted elaboration likelihood model to examine how manager anger trickles down across organizational hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and employees) to affect employee moral behaviour. Results of a multi-source field study conducted in Chile demonstrate that perceptions of manager moral behaviour and supervisor servant leadership serially mediate a negative relationship between manager anger and employee moral behaviour. Furthermore, counter to our predictions, trait negative affectivity of supervisors did not moderate the trickle-down relation of manager anger on employee moral behaviour. Our research elucidates the process by which manager anger can “set the tone” in an organization and trickle down across hierarchical levels to predict the moral behaviour of employees.

A Trickle-down Model of Abusive Supervision and Firm Performance in Family and Non-Family Firms

Social-exchange theory predicts higher-level leaders’ abusive supervision to trickle-down to lower-level leaders’ abusive supervision. We develop and test an extension to this conception by suggest...

The Trickle-Down Effect of Abusive Supervision: The Moderating Effects of Supervisors’ Task Performance and Employee Promotion Focus

Drawing on both social learning theory and conservation of resources theory, our research examines the trickle-down effect of abusive supervision across three hierarchical levels: managers, supervisors, and employees. Specifically, we investigate the positive relationship between abusive manager behavior and emotional exhaustion through abusive supervisor behavior. In addition, we explore supervisor task performance as a situational factor and employee promotion focus as an individual factor in the relationship between abusive supervisor behavior and emotional exhaustion. Using data from 190 supervisor–subordinate dyads, the results provide support for our trickle-down model of abusive supervision. Moreover, our results show that the positive relationship between abusive supervisor behavior and emotional exhaustion is stronger when supervisor task performance or employee promotion focus is high. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Following an Uneven Lead: Trickle-Down Effects of Differentiated Transformational Leadership

Drawing from conservation-of-resources theory, we examine a trickle-down model of differentiated transformational leadership (leaders treating followers differently) across three hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and supervisors’ followers). Specifically, we develop a model in which manager differentiated transformational leadership increases department unit stress (i.e., the managers’ group of followers), which then translates into increased differentiated supervisor transformational leadership. The latter then again positively predicts team unit stress (i.e., the supervisors’ group of followers) and, eventually, results in decreased team helping behavior of supervisors’ followers. We tested this model using data from a large, multisource field study. The results provide support for our trickle-down model in that department managers’ differentiated transformational leadership decreased team helping behavior two hierarchical levels below the manager via increasing department unit stress (Stage 1 mediator), supervisor differentiated transformational leadership (Stage 2 mediator), and team unit stress (Stage 3 mediator).

Diversity and democratization of Dior in Australia: Social factors in fashion modification in the 1940s–50s

Christian Dior’s 1947 ‘New Look’ collection has been widely examined for its influence on both haute couture and clothing styles in the 1950s. In the Australian context, Margaret Maynard examined how the New Look was marketed through the ideological positioning of women’s roles in the domestic sphere. This marketing campaign was spearheaded by two business syndicates who brought a series of French Fashion Parades to Australia in the late 1940s through the 1950s. Despite the hype around the parades, just how much the fashions were adopted by the wider public has not been measured. Australians did not adopt the New Look unchanged, instead local sensibilities, climate and culture meant modification was inevitable. Through examining home-sewing patterns, photographs of key cultural events and images from popular magazines from the period, this article establishes how the New Look was modified in the Australia. Results show that despite the many women who were eager to embrace the new fashion, many more were reticent, clinging in particular to the shorter hemlines they had adopted during the war years. This led to a hybrid style that both followed the French lead and suited Australian society. French designers, keen to expand their business empires through licensing, responded to these adaptions, incorporating elements into their later collections. This represented a step away from the trickle-down model. This changing dynamic gave Australian customers the confidence to demand more from the fashion designers and to adapt fashion to suit the Australian context. By examining the impact of Dior’s New Look through the lens of ordinary Australian women, the influences of both the designer and his customers on the evolution of post-Second War World are exposed.

How Senior Leaders Shape the Values of Org. Members: A Trickle-down model of cultural leadership

We all know organizational culture is formed and developed by founders or executive leaders, but how that effort cascades down to lower level leaders and influence lower level managers is not so we...

Serving Followers and Family? A Trickle-Down Model of How Servant Leadership Shapes Work Performance

Previous studies have identified servant leadership as an important driver of organizational effectiveness. However, so far little research attention has been given to whether servant leadership di...

A trickle-down effect of subordinates’ felt trust

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between managers’ and supervisors’ trust in subordinates and team cooperation and to suggest that the downward flow of trust affects team employees.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from supervisor-employee dyads from a multisource field study.FindingsFeeling trusted by managers has an indirect effect on team cooperation through feeling trusted by supervisors. In addition, there was a strong positive relation between feeling trusted by supervisors and team cooperation when team size was smaller, but a weak positive relation when team size was larger.Practical implicationsIn order for subordinates to feel trusted, management leaders must implement actions that include: delegation and empowerment, participative decision-making and listening with respect and full attention. It is also suggested that the team size should not be too large.Originality/valueWe integrate theories of social exchange, social information processing, social learning and attraction-selection-attrition to test a trickle-down model of how trust in subordinates cascades down through management levels and ultimately affects team cooperation.

Serving followers and family? A trickle-down model of how servant leadership shapes employee work performance

Previous studies have identified servant leadership as an important driver of organizational effectiveness. However, so far little research attention has been given to whether servant leadership displayed by leaders across an organization's hierarchy can increase the effectiveness of its members. In this study, we integrate prosociality models with role motivation theory to examine how manager servant leadership trickles down to affect employee work performance as well as the role of supervisor family motivation in influencing the trickle-down process. Using a matched sample of employees and their supervisors from three companies in the Dominican Republic, multilevel structural equation modeling results show that manager servant leadership trickles down to inspire supervisor servant leadership, which in turn increases employee prosocial motivation and subsequent work performance. Furthermore, supervisor family motivation buffers the trickle-down mechanism in that the effect on employee work performance is weaker for supervisors with high levels of family motivation. Our research breaks new ground by shedding light on how and when servant leadership trickles down to shape employee work performance.