Workplace Deviant Behavior and Its Demographic Relationship Among Taiwan's Flight Attendants

ABSTRACT

Employees' workplace deviant behaviors prevail in organizations, yet relevant studies are insufficient. The purpose of the study is to identify the pattern and extent of workplace deviant behavior among flight attendants and examine the relationship between demographic characteristics and this behavior. Survey data collected from 303 flight attendants in Taiwan shows that workplace deviant behavior can be categorized into three dimensions: organizational deviance toward organization, organizational deviance toward work and interpersonal deviance. In particular, gender and airlines make a significant difference in organizational deviance toward organizations. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Effects of Employees' Uniform on Company Image and Employees' Self-perceptions and Customers' Perceptions

The purpose of the study is to investigate how different styles of employee uniforms affect customers' perceptions of the hotel image and employees' self-perceptions. The results of the study indicated a significant relationship between uniforms and employees' job performance. Significance also existed between employees' job satisfaction and styles of uniform. A significant relationship between styles of uniform and customers' perception of employee performance was found as well.     

Moderating effect of work–family conflict on the relationship between leader–member exchange and relative deprivation: Links to behavioral outcomes

This study intends to explore the moderator of work–family conflict on the relationship between leader–member exchange and relative deprivation, and simultaneously examine the impact of relative deprivation on employees' behavior (including effort behavior and service sabotage). Questionnaire survey was conducted in 14 international tourist hotels in Taipei. Of the returned sample, 379 questionnaires are effective. The result indicates that high quality leader–member exchange relationship has negative impact on employees' relative deprivation. Also, relative deprivation has significant impact on effort behavior, and service sabotage. Furthermore, work–family conflict is found to have moderating effect on the relationship between leader–member exchange and relative deprivation. This study fills the research gap in the hospitality literature regarding the effect of work–family conflict on the relationships among leader–member exchange, employees' relative deprivation, and work behaviors. It also sheds the light on work–family conflict literature by extending leader–member exchange theory to leader–employee relationship.     

Investigating employees' deviant work behavior in the hotel industry during COVID-19: Empirical evidence from an emerging country

Employees in the hotel industry are among the most vulnerable groups that have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anchored on the general strain theory, transactional theory of stress and coping, and theory of justice, this study investigates the mechanism through which hotel employees' perceived job insecurity affects their deviant work behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey method was used to collect three-wave sample data from 988 hotel employees in popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. Multivariate data analysis reveals a positive relationship between perceived job insecurity and deviant work behavior, and this relationship is mediated by psychological distress. Furthermore, abusive supervision positively moderates the association between psychological distress–deviant work behavior and the indirect influence of perceived job insecurity on deviant work behavior through psychological distress. These findings are useful for hotel managers seeking to manage and develop employees in a global health crisis such as COVID-19.     

Hotel Employees' Perception of Green Practices

This study examined how hotel employees perceive green practices. Data was collected from 220 employees working in eight green certified hotels in Orlando, Florida. Study results from an importance–performance analysis revealed that the surveyed employees rated their hotels' performance in green practices lower than the importance levels. A positive correlation was found between the employees' organizational commitment and their perception on the company's green practices. The relationship between the respondents' key demographic characteristics and their perception of green practices was also investigated. Lastly, implications for hotels are discussed to assist the companies to promote and train green practices among their employees.     

Deterrence and leadership factors: Which are important for information security policy compliance in the hotel industry

Hotels have developed information security policies to deal with information security incidents, and managers are interested in how to enhance employees' compliance with these policies. This study examines how deterrence perception and managers' leadership influence employees' intention to comply with information security policies. Two rounds of surveys were conducted to collect data from Chinese hotel employees. The results show that perceived deterrent certainty has a positive effect. On the other hand, ethical leadership has a significant indirect effect with the second-round compliance intention. Abusive supervision does not have positive effects, even when managers' intent is motivational. Our study is among the first to examine the effect of managers' leadership on information security compliance intentions in the hotel industry. Our study also provides important strategic guidelines for by informing hotel managers that ethical leadership should be practiced as a means of enhancing employees' information security policy compliance.     

Perceptions of casino dealers toward organizational justice: Are there any gender differences?

The emphasis on equity and diversity is vital for businesses to flourish. Promoting workplace equality, essential to enhance employees' satisfaction in delivering excellent service quality, requires understanding of the perception of employees as well as the problems they face. This study examines whether gender equality exists among frontline casino employees, the degree to which inequality is experienced and the consequence of such perceptions, through face-to-face, in-depth interviews with the dealers in Macao. The theory of organizational justice is adopted. Results revealed that perceived inequality and injustices were stronger among the male dealers. Male dealers perceived stronger distributive and procedural injustices than females, while female dealers perceived stronger interactional injustice than males. The perceived injustices resulted in various negative work attitudes among employees. Recommendations to improve work attitudes and counterbalance the inequities are proposed.     

Effect of hotel employees’ workplace friendship on workplace deviance behaviour: Moderating role of organisational identification

This study aims to explore the effect of friendships at workplaces (including friendship opportunities and friendship prevalence) on the workplace deviance behaviour (including production deviance, political deviance, property deviance, and personal aggression). This study included an examination of organisational identification for moderating relationships. The surveyees were employees and supervisors in five-star hotels in Taiwan who were willing to cooperate with the survey; each supervisor managed ten employees. A purposive sampling method, a non-probability sampling method, was employed. A total of 600 employee questionnaires were distributed, and the number of valid questionnaires was 357. The results reveal the following: (1) the friendship opportunities and friendship prevalence of hotel employees negatively influenced production deviance and (2) friendship prevalence of hotel employees negatively influenced political deviance, property deviance, and personal aggression. Moreover, organisational identification moderates the relationship between hotel employees’ workplace friendship and deviance behaviour. Management implications and follow-up suggestions are proposed based on the study results.     

The Moderating Effect of Leader-Member Exchange in the Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Performance

Abstract

Self-efficacy has been confirmed empirically as a determinant of performance and its utility has been demonstrated for such workplace functions as succession planning and team building. The effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) have also been studied in terms of such a construct's effect on subordinate performance. This study considers the potentially moderating effect of LMX on food-service managers' self-efficacy and their workplace performance. While the relationship between self-efficacy and performance has been established in diverse fields, this study indicates the causal linkage is also strong in foodservice management. Moreover, it appears that LMX is a strong moderator, affecting those with higher levels of self-efficacy most significantly.     

Good or bad staff? Hotel employees' core self-evaluations impacting service effort and service sabotage considering leader-member exchange moderation

This research investigates the impact of hotel employees' core self-evaluations on their service effort and service sabotage behaviors. Included is examination of leader-member exchange moderating relationships. The study was conducted with the participation of employees of eight Taiwanese five-star hotels. Convenience sampling was used in obtaining data from 295 employees. Analysis using regression based methods shows that (1) stronger employee core self-evaluations are associated with higher service effort; (2) stronger employee core self-evaluations are negatively related to service sabotage; (3) leader-member exchange moderates the relationship between employee core self-evaluations and service effort; and (4) leader-member exchange moderates the relationship between employee core self-evaluations and service sabotage. Implications for managerial practice, research limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Revisiting hospitality's marginal worker thesis: A mono-occupational perspective

This article re-examines the literature on workplace deviance in the context of employment relations in the hospitality industry and presents data from a qualitative study. Intertwining various manifestations of deviance apparent in business management research, sociological literature and that reported in hospitality industry studies, this paper further applies these contexts to investigate the professional experiences of a sample of chefs from Australia. In summary, the findings suggest that while deviance, in its various forms, is an intrinsic occupational idiosyncrasy, and that deviant practices indeed are commonplace in the hospitality industry, workers within the industry are conscious of the negative effects these images have on occupational image. Structural shortcomings including organisational, occupational and industry regulation appear, at least partially, responsible for a cycle of deviance. These findings might assist researchers and practitioners in their endeavours given the efforts of industry leaders and hospitality educators to enhance and professionalise the industry's image.     

Justice and trust’s role in employees’ resilience and business’ continuity: Evidence from Egypt

Resilience is increasingly recognized as a means of reducing the effects of disasters on tourist destinations. However, there is limited understanding of the contextual factors that promote resilient attitudes and behaviors among employees of tourism and hospitality organizations, which in turn lead to business recovery and success. Using a capital-based approach, this study explores the impact of employees' resilience – as manifested by hardiness, resourcefulness and optimism– on two indicators of business continuity: perception of job insecurity and creative performance. The mediating effects of distributive justice and trust in the organization are also tested to establish how they affect this relationship. Data were gathered from 960 employees in tourism and hospitality organizations affected by terrorist attacks in Egypt. Using results obtained through structural equation modeling, we demonstrate a direct relationship between employees' resilience and business continuity, with distributive justice and trust partially functioning as mediators. The implications and limitations are discussed.     

Hourly Employee Retention Factors in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry

Abstract

Hourly employee retention in the quick service restaurant industry has long been a major area of concern for both operators and multi-unit restaurant decision makers. While numerous studies concentrated on managers' perceptions on why employees leave, few have explored the employees' perceptions on employment characteristics that kept them from changing jobs. The study employed a self-administered questionnaire and asked 233 quick service restaurant employees in the Midwestern region of the United States to rate the importance of and their experience with 20 employment characteristics of their job. The findings revealed that the most important employment characteristics were nice people to work with, humane approach to employees, and hourly wages. In addition, the study showed statistically significant differences between the level of importance and the level of experience attached to 18 out of 20 employment characteristics, which could explain the high turnover and low retention of employees in the industry. Implications for management are discussed.     

Effects of hotel employees' perception of wage justice: the case of South Korea

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the results of the previous studies on the relationship between wage justice and employees' attitude are also found within Korean hotels that have adopted a unique wage system. The data were collected through a survey done with employees of five Korean hotels. The results are similar to those of previous studies. However, the present study found that employees' satisfaction with the wage system is also important, and job insecurity partially affects the relationship between wage justice and employees' attitude as well as the relationship between employees' satisfaction with the wage system and their attitude. Managerial implication, limitations and directions for future studies are suggested.     

Ethical leadership and its impact on service innovative behavior: The role of LMX and job autonomy

This study examined the effect of ethical leadership on service innovative behavior of employees at small and medium sized tourist hotels in Uttarakhand, India. It has forwarded an integrated model that highlights the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' service innovative behavior while interacting through leader-member exchange and job autonomy. Using a sample of 468 customer contact employees and their 117 supervisors, hierarchical regression was conducted to establish the relationship. Findings of the study revealed that ethical leadership promoted service innovative behavior of the hotel employees mediated through leader-member exchanges. Further, it was also found that the level of service innovative behavior was commensurate to the perception of employee job autonomy. Based on the study findings, implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Employee Commitment and Restaurant Profitability

Abstract

A pilot study was conducted in two Las Vegas restaurants. Both restaurants were operating at a loss and suffering from a lack of employee commitment. Previous research has identified a relationship between effective people management and a firm's financial success. In response to managers' request, this study applies qualitative methods to explore the underlying reasons for the lack of employee commitment. The study concluded that the employees did not identify with their companies' values, which was manifested in their complete lack of internalization levels of commitment. Management implications include the need to communicate the companies' values to the employees and the establishment of a service culture in order to create employee and customer loyalty.     

Extra-role service under pressure in the hospitality industry: The role of mindfulness

Extra-role service is currently the keystone that supports hotels' ability to compete. At the same time, extra-role service depends on the discretionary behavior of some employees who perform their duties in a context of stress. Our study investigates the effect of a stressor such as performance pressure on extra-role service, using employee engagement as a mediator and mindfulness level as a moderating variable. Through structural equation modeling, we analyze data from 300 frontline hospitality employees. The results show a negative effect of increases in performance pressure on employees extra-role service behavior through their engagement. We therefore suggest that performance pressure can turn into a threatening stressor in hospitality work environment. We also confirm that the employee's mindfulness level moderates this relationship, compensating for nearly the entire negative effect of this specific stressor on employee engagement. Managers will find key insights that help them to stimulate high-quality service in hospitality organizations.     

Driving employees to serve customers beyond their roles in the Vietnamese hospitality industry: The roles of paternalistic leadership and discretionary HR practices

Our research primarily seeks to assess how paternalistic leadership behaviors – authoritarianism, benevolence, and morality – influence extra-role customer service via employee work engagement as a mediator. The data for our research model were gleaned from four- or five-star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. To test the hypotheses of the research model, structural equation modelling was employed. Our research findings cast light on the mediation mechanism of employee work engagement for the positive relationships between benevolence and morality components of paternalistic leadership and extra-role customer service behavior, as well as for the negative relationship between authoritarian behavior and extra-role customer service behavior. Additionally, benevolent and moral behaviors were found to attenuate this negative association between authoritarian behavior and extra-role customer service. Discretionary HR practices were proved to play the moderating role for the relationships between the three paternalistic leadership behaviors and employee work engagement in that discretionary HR practices fortified the positive link between benevolent or moral behavior and work engagement and alleviated the negative link between authoritarian behavior and work engagement.     

An examination of the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its internal consequences

The purpose of this study is to examine the links between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its internal consequencesusing the hotel employees' CSR perception, Quality of Working Life (QWL), affective commitment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and job performance. Although CSR has been widely studied from the perspective of employees, no previous study has related it to QWL in the field of hospitality research. Applying relevant theories, the study empirically substantiates the connection between the constructs and provides theoretical and practical implications. The results, drawn from data collected from hotel employees in upscale hotels in South Korea, show that hotel employees' CSR perception of the firm positively influences their QWL, affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior, which, in turn, enhance their job performance.     

Abusive supervision and deviance behaviors in the hospitality industry: The role of intrinsic motivation and core self-evaluation

Workplace deviance poses a significant challenge in the hospitality and tourism industries. Based on conservation of resources theory, we develop a model proposing relationships between abusive supervision and frontline employees' deviant behaviors via their intrinsic motivation and core self-evaluation. We validate it with two surveys targeting 200 and 600 hotel frontline employees. Results confirm the detrimental impacts of abusive supervision on frontline employees’ deviant behaviors and the helpful mediating and moderating impacts of their intrinsic motivation and core self-evaluation. Courses of action are proposed to reduce the various human and financial costs at the individual, organizational, social and societal levels.