Job demand stressors and employees’ creativity: a within-person approach to dealing with hindrance and challenge stressors at the airport environment

Given the competitiveness of twenty-first-century airport landscape, catalyzed by airports’ evolution toward multi-service, and market-driven firms, a thorough investigation into employees’ creativity and its antecedents at the airport environment is warranted. Adopting the two-dimensional job demand stressors – outcome relationships framework and the cognitive-relational theory of stress, the current study interrogated the challenge (i.e. workload and time pressure)/ hindrance (i.e. role conflict and role ambiguity) stressors – creativity curvilinear relationships, and the buffering effects of within-person resources – dispositional mindfulness, and core self-evaluation. Using multi-sourced, cross-sectional data from employees in three airports in Ghana, the research findings showed creativity to have a U-shaped relationship with role ambiguity and role conflict, but with time pressure the relationship was an inverted U-shape. Employees’ workload showed a near-linear relationship with creativity, flattening at high levels of workload. Core self-evaluation displayed itself as an effective buffering component on role ambiguity – and time pressure – creativity relations but not role conflict and workload. Dispositional mindfulness interacted with role ambiguity, role conflict and time pressure – creativity relations, but not workload. To optimize employees’ creative performance, the study findings make a strong case for attending to individual-level factors necessary for stressors management. Further implications and recommendations are discussed.     

Burnout processes in non-clinical health service encounters

This study employs Bagozzi's (1992) reformulation of attitude theory (appraisal → emotional response → behavior), to examine the antecedents and outcomes of burnout in a healthcare environment where healthcare workers are engaged in the novel context of non-clinical health service encounters. The findings identify significant relationships between job demand stressors (role overload, role conflict, role ambiguity and interpersonal conflict), symptoms of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), affective job outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and behavioral job outcomes (service recovery performance and turnover intentions) and extend our understanding of these phenomena in the largely unexplored yet important context of non-clinical health service delivery. The major implication for hospital managers is to ensure that non-clinical healthcare workers have adequate information pertaining to their job-related duties and responsibilities since role ambiguity is the only characteristic of the non-clinical work environment that influences subsequent appraisal (depersonalization), emotional response (organizational commitment) and behavior (service recovery performance) in the conceptualization of appraisal → emotional response → behavior.     

Servant leadership,organisational trust,and bank employee outcomes

Using servant leadership and social exchange theories as the theoretical frameworks, our study proposes and tests a research model that investigates trust in organisation (TIO) as a mediator of the impact of servant leadership on three critical outcomes. These outcomes are intention to be late for work (ILW), creative performance, and service recovery performance. Data obtained from frontline bank employees in three waves at one-week apart and their managers in Saint Petersburg in Russia were used to test the aforementioned relationships. The results demonstrate that TIO is an immediate outcome of servant leadership. TIO gives rise to lower ILW and higher creative and service recovery performances. The aforesaid findings reveal that servant leadership mitigates ILW and boosts both creative and service recovery performances only through TIO. Implications for theory and practice are discussed in our paper.     

The Impact of Moral Stress Compared to Other Stressors on Employee Fatigue, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover: An Empirical Investigation

Moral stress is an increasingly significant concept in business ethics and the workplace environment. This study compares the impact of moral stress with other job stressors on three important employee variables??fatigue, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions??by utilizing survey data from 305 customer-contact employees of a financial institution??s call center. Statistical analysis on the interaction of moral stress and the three employee variables was performed while controlling for other types of job stress as well as demographic variables. The results reveal that even after including the control variables in the statistical models, moral stress remains a statistically significant predictor of increased employee fatigue, decreased job satisfaction, and increased turnover intentions. Implications for future research and for organizations are discussed.     

The employee-organization relationship, organizational citizenship behaviors, and superior service quality

This study proposes a model of customer-contact service employee management that examines organizational citizenship behaviors as critical links between aspects of the employee-organization relationship (perceived organizational support, organizational identification) and customers’ perceptions of service quality. In addition, it investigates the role of job autonomy in providing the necessary behavioral discretion for employees to be able to perform citizenship behaviors. The hypothesized model was partially supported. Theoretical and managerial implications are explored.     

The Development of Tertiary Services in the Economy,Labour Market and Employment

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of selected antecedents on the service recovery performance of frontline employees using data from frontline bank employees in Turkey. The results of the path analysis indicate that trait competitiveness, intrinsic motivation, and role ambiguity are significant antecedents of frontline employees' service recovery performance. Results also suggest that the significant consequences of service recovery performance are job satisfaction and intention to leave. The results of the other hypothesised linkages demonstrate that intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and role ambiguity are significantly associated with frontline employees' job satisfaction. In addition, the current empirical findings provide support for the notion that role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion are significant predictors of intention to leave. Limitations of the study, managerial implications, and implications for future research are discussed.     

Workplace gossip and frontline employees’ proactive service performance

Managers are interested in promoting frontline employees’ proactive behavior because proactivity is crucial for organizational success. This study examined the link between perceived workplace gossip and employees’ (targets’) proactive service performance by focusing on the mediating role of employees’ harmonious passion and the moderating role of perceived job social support. Using time-lagged survey data from 218 supervisor-subordinate dyads in a commercial bank in China, we found that perceived workplace gossip negatively influences employees’ proactive service performance, and that this relationship is mediated by reduced harmonious passion. In addition, perceived job social support attenuates the negative relationship between perceived workplace gossip and harmonious passion, with harmonious passion having a mediating effect on the relationship between perceived workplace gossip and proactive service performance. These results provide new directions for understanding workplace gossip, harmonious passion, proactive service performance, and job social support. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Frontline service employees’ customer-related social stressors, emotional exhaustion, and service recovery performance: customer orientation as a moderator

This study investigates the structural relationships among customer-related social stressors (disproportionate customer expectation, ambiguous customer expectation, disliked customers, and customers?? verbal aggression), emotional exhaustion, and service recovery performance, with customer orientation (CO) serving as a moderator between customer-related social stressors and emotional exhaustion as well as emotional exhaustion and service recovery performance. The study uses data collected from a survey of 1,014 frontline service employees in Korea??s tourism service sectors. The results indicate that customer-related social stressors positively influence emotional exhaustion; emotional exhaustion negatively influences service recovery performance; and CO acts as a moderator. CO moderates both the effects of customer-related social stressors on emotional exhaustion and those of emotional exhaustion on service recovery performance, by weakening the effects for higher CO employees. This study contributes to both theory and practice by combining the four constructs of customer-related social stressors, emotional exhaustion, service recovery performance, and CO in addition to examining their relationships while focusing on customer-related factors.     

The Role of Customer Orientation as a Moderator of the Job Demand–Burnout–Performance Relationship: A Surface-Level Trait Perspective

This study expands upon previous research on the antecedents (job demands and job resources) and outcomes of frontline employee burnout, and examines the role of customer orientation (CO) in the burnout process. Using data from frontline bank employees in New Zealand, we investigate both the direct relationships of CO to burnout and job outcomes (job performance and turnover intentions) and the buffering role of CO concerning the relationships between job demands, burnout, and job outcomes. The study results show that burnout mediates the effects of job demands and job resources on job performance and turnover intentions. Besides being directly related to burnout and job performance, CO also buffers the dysfunctional effects of job demands on burnout and job outcomes. Implications of the results are discussed and future research avenues are offered.     

The effect of customer participation on service providers' job stress

There have been conflicting explanations of how customer participation affects service providers' job stress. This study explores the relationship between the two. Survey data from 293 customer-contact employees at 64 restaurants in Taiwan indicate that customer participation is positively related to perceived job stress and perceived workload, implying that it is inappropriate to explain job stress from the perspective of partial employees. Moreover, while customer participation increases the level of job stress, workload is only a superficial explanation for the relationship. The real explanation is role conflict, which is associated with changes in job characteristics. Implications of these findings for managing customer participation are subsequently discussed.     

Effects of service orientation on job embeddedness in hotel industry

This research aims to develop and analyze a model that depicts work engagement (WE) as a mediator of the relationship between job embeddedness and service orientation. Specifically, the model examines external environmental factors (EEFs) as moderator of the effects of service orientation and job embeddedness in the hospitality industry. All data used for this study were gathered in Iran from hotels frontline employees with a two-weeks’ time lag. These relationships mentioned above were analyzed using AMOS 22.0. It was discovered in the results that WE was indeed a partial mediator and that EEFs indeed moderated the effects of service orientation on job embeddedness with adequate empirical support. The implications of the findings for the managers, the study limitations, and future research recommendations were also discussed.     

Does gender moderate the effects of role stress in frontline service jobs?

By focusing on gender differences in structural relationships rather than differences in levels of constructs, this study extends Babin and Boles' [Babin B. J., Boles J. S. Employee behavior in a service environment: a model and test of potential differences between men and women. Journal of Marketing 1998;62:77–91.] research examining the effects of role stress on customer-contact employees' various job outcomes to a new context (frontline bank employees in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). Results indicate that gender has a moderating role on the relationships between role ambiguity and self-efficacy, and role conflict and job satisfaction. Cultural norms may play a role in the way gender moderates these relationships.     

Smart technology and service employees’ job crafting: Relationship between STARA awareness,performance pressure,receiving and giving help,and job crafting

Owing to the rapid spread of smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA), service jobs are being replaced by these technologies. Despite the potential effect of STARA awareness on employee outcomes, surprisingly few studies have explored its role service employees' work outcomes. Addressing this gap, our research assessed the mediating relationship between STARA awareness, performance pressure, and job crafting, as well as the moderating effects of help-receiving and help-giving on this relationship. We conducted a quantitative study for 301 South Korean service employees using surveys collected at two points in time. The results indicated that service employees' STARA awareness positively affected job crafting through performance pressure. Furthermore, the association between STARA awareness and performance pressure was more prominent for higher levels of help-receiving than for lower levels of help-receiving. Help-receiving further moderated the indirect effect of performance pressure on the STARA awareness and job crafting relationship. While the mitigating effect of help-giving was not supported, we observed a significantly positive association between STARA awareness and performance pressure only when help-receiving was high and help-giving was low. These findings contribute to the literature on technology in the retailing sector by uncovering how STARA awareness affects service employees’ performance pressure and job crafting and the roles played by help-giving and help-receiving in this relationship.     

Artificial intelligence as a boundary-crossing object for employee engagement and performance

The study proposes AI-powered tools and applications as boundary-crossing objects to examine how AI performance can affect employees' job engagement, service and job performance. Job security is modelled as a moderator in the boundary-crossing process. Several theories including boundary crossing, goal setting and self-regulation are drawn on to posit these relationships. The study was undertaken with Australia-based full-time employees who had experience with AI-powered tools at work. The results show that AI performance had a significant effect on job engagement, and employee service performance, which were significantly related to job performance appraisal. Job engagement and service performance exhibited significant mediation effects between AI and job performance. The moderation effect exerted by job security was significant in enhancing employees’ job engagement and service performance. The study contributes to service research and human resource management literature. The findings have implications for service marketers and human resource practitioners.     

Error management culture: impact on cohesion,stress, and turnover intentions

An error management culture involves organizational practices related to communicating about errors, sharing error knowledge, quickly detecting and handling errors, and helping in error situations. Building on error management research, this study examined the influence of organizational error management culture on the turnover intentions of frontline service employees. The study also investigated the underlying mechanism that links this culture with turnover intentions. Data were collected from 345 frontline employees of hotels in Turkey. Structural Equation Modeling results revealed that employee perceptions of organizational error management culture have a direct and significantly negative impact on their turnover intentions. Furthermore, results showed that this relationship is mediated through perceived group cohesion and work stress. Using the job demands-resources model as a theoretical framework, this study revealed that organizational error management culture leads to increased group cohesion; increased group cohesion lowers work stress; and lower work stress lowers turnover intentions. This study contributes to the services management literature by demonstrating how organizational error management culture impacts employee turnover intentions.     

Investigating the immediate and long-term effects of job stressors on frontline service employees

Two studies investigate the immediate and long-term effects of job stressors on frontline service employees (FSEs). Using cognitive appraisal theory, we develop and test a conceptual model of two job stressors (crowding and emotional labor) that affect coping strategies and job outcomes. Study 1, which is a field experiment, investigates the immediate effects of crowding in a single firm. Study 2 extends the findings of Study 1 and investigates the long-term effects of emotional labor and crowding on FSEs across multiple firms. The results show that crowding has a negative impact on coping strategies and job-related outcomes. In addition, emotional labor can lead to long-term negative outcomes, such as emotional exhaustion and decreased job retention, for some FSEs. Consequently, service organizations should consider strategies or tactics that prevent high levels of customer crowding and help FSEs deal with emotional labor.     

Socio-emotional and operational demands on service employees

Enacting appropriate behaviors often requires service employees to suppress genuine emotions and/or express other emotions, genuine or contrived. Managing emotions to act in a socially appropriate manner constitutes a form of labor: emotional labor. If labor demands exceed the resources of the employee, burnout arises, with negative consequences for overall psychological well-being and job performance. Similarly, task related activities engender role stress, which can also lead to burnout. Both task related role demands and socio-emotional demands are likely to be omnipresent in interpersonal interactions in service settings. Accordingly, this study sets out to investigate the simultaneous impact of these job demands on burnout in front line service professionals. Based on survey data collected from allied health service workers, the study findings strongly suggest that both socio-emotional demands and task related role demands are significant determinants of workplace stress and that their simultaneous effects on employee burnout can be large.     

The effects of two directions of conflict and facilitation on frontline employees’ job outcomes

This study investigated the effects of two directions of conflict and facilitation simultaneously on job performance, job satisfaction, and affective organisational commitment based on data obtained from frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus. As expected, family–work conflict dimished job performance, while family–work facilitation enhanced job performance. Contrary to our prediction, conflict between work and family domains intensified job performance. The results of the path analysis revealed that work–family facilitation increased job satisfaction, while family–work facilitation triggered affective organisational commitment. The findings pertaining to the relationships between job performance, job satisfaction, and affective organisational commitment were in the hypothesised directions. Also, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the four-factor model that consisted of work–family conflict, family–work conflict, work–family facilitation, and family–work facilitation was superior compared with other models tested. Implications of the empirical findings and their future research directions are discussed in our study.     

Innovating under stress: The role of commitment and leader-member exchange

This study sheds light on the relationships between workplace stressors and employee innovation by jointly considering mediating processes and boundary conditions. Using the challenge-hindrance model, we combine social exchange and conservation of resources theory to propose that challenge (i.e., role overload) and hindrance (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) stressors exert positive and negative indirect effects, respectively, on employee innovation through affective organizational commitment. We further posit that the strength of these relationships depends on the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX). In support of these predictions, a time-lagged study of 134 employees from various Canadian firms found affective commitment to mediate the differential relationships of challenge and hindrance stressors to employee innovation. Moreover, when LMX was high, the positive effects of role overload were enhanced while the negative effects of role ambiguity and role conflict were attenuated. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.     

Service climate and employee service performance: exploring the moderating role of job stress and organizational identification

Drawing on a sample of 368 frontline employees and 45 managers from five Chinese banks, this study examined the relationship between service climate and frontline employee service performance, including in-role and extra-role performance, and the difference of this relationship considering the moderating role of employee's emotional experience (job stress and organizational identification). Empirical results indicated the positive effect of service climate on service performance as hypothesized. Moreover, job stress negatively moderated the relationship between service climate and extra-role performance, while organizational identification positively moderated the climate–performance relationship.