Does emotional labor moderate customer participation and buying?

Two studies examined whether employees’ emotional labor as perceived by customers, moderates the relationship between customers’ participation and money spent. In Study I, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with customers to examine participation during shopping as well as customers’ awareness of their service employees’ behaviors. The interviews revealed two types of customer participation: emotional engagement and physical effort. Based on Study I, Study II investigated 114 customers, and the moderating role of perceived employees’ emotional labor on the relationships between customer participation and spending money. Even when customers were highly involved in the purchasing process, they spent less money when they observed employee inauthenticity as manifested in Surface Acting. However, Deep Acting positively moderated the relationship between customer participation and spending money. These findings help shed light on the circumstances in which customer participation is strengthened (leading to greater spending) or weakened.     

Work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behavior: the role of job satisfaction and decision authority

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, Am Psychol 44:513–524, 1989), social exchange theory (Blau, Exchange and power in social life, 1964) and the job demand-control model (Karasek, Adm Sci Q 24:285–308, 1979), this study uncovers the theoretical mechanism that explains the relationship between work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). First, this study focuses on how employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship. Then, we investigate the moderating role of decision authority in the mediated relationship. We employ three-wave data collected from 324 employees in 102 teams to test our hypotheses. Results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) first shows that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between work interference with family (WIF) and OCB. In addition, employees’ decision authority moderates the direct effect of WIF on OCB. Specifically, the negative relationship between WIF and OCB is stronger when employees’ decision authority is high. Moreover, decision authority moderates the indirect effect of WIF on OCB via job satisfaction. Specifically, the negative relationship between WIF and job satisfaction is weaker when employees’ decision authority is high. The results suggest that organizations should give employees enough decision authority over their work, as a high level of decision authority may act as a double-edged sword regarding critical organizational outcomes.     

Work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behavior: the role of job satisfaction and decision authority

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, Am Psychol 44:513–524, 1989), social exchange theory (Blau, Exchange and power in social life, 1964)and the job demand-control model (Karasek, Adm Sci Q 24:285–308, 1979), this studyuncovers the theoretical mechanism that explains the relationship between workfamily conflict and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). First, this study focuses on how employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship. Then, we investigate the moderating role of decision authority in the mediated relationship. We employ three-wave data collected from 324 employees in 102 teams to test our hypotheses. Results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) first shows that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between work interference with family (WIF) and OCB. In addition, employees’ decision authority moderates the direct effect of WIF on OCB. Specifically, the negative relationship between WIF and OCB is stronger when employees’ decision authority is high. Moreover, decision authority moderates the indirect effect of WIF on OCB via job satisfaction. Specifically, the negative relationship between WIF and job satisfaction is weaker when employees’ decision authority is high. The results suggest that organizations should give employees enough decision authority over their work, as a high level of decision authority may act as a double-edged sword regarding critical organizational outcomes.     

Cross‐national assessment of the effects of income level,socialization process,and social conditions on employees’ ethics

Employees often experience ethical dilemmas throughout their service in an organization. This study utilized a multilevel standpoint to address employees’ differences in ethical reasoning. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze responses from 40,485 full‐time employees across 54 countries. Drawing from Durkheim's concepts of the homo duplex, socialization process, and social conditions, this study found a positive relationship between employees’ income level and unethical reasoning. Furthermore, the results indicate that modern social regulation, technological advancement, economic development, and economic change moderate the relationship between income and ethical judgment. The study findings contribute to the Durkheimian model by validating the effects of individual‐ and country‐level factors on employees’ ethicality. Considering that the results contradict Durkheim's initial propositions, another concept and theory are proposed, which may complement Durkheim's arguments. Practical implications for organizations and society are further discussed to reinforce employees’ ethics.     

Promoting employees’ pro-environmental behaviour through empowering leadership: The roles of psychological ownership,empowerment role identity,and environmental self-identity

This study develops a theoretical model to investigate when and why empowering leadership promotes employees’ pro-environmental behaviour (PEB). Synthesising psychological ownership theory and role identity theory, we propose that empowering leadership positively affects the employees’ PEB and that this relationship is mediated by psychological ownership. Furthermore, we examine the moderating roles of empowerment role identity and environmental self-identity in this relationship. By employing 203 leader–follower dyads as a sample, we find that empowering leadership is positively related to employees’ PEB and that employees’ psychological ownership mediates this relationship. Besides, we find that empowerment role identity plays a moderating role in the relationship between empowering leadership and employees’ psychological ownership such that the relationship is positive and significant when empowerment role identity is high but not significant when it is low. Finally, we observe that environmental self-identity moderates the relationship between employees’ psychological ownership and PEB such that the relationship is positive and significant when environmental self-identity is high, but not significant when it is low. Practically, we offer new insight into how and when organisations can leverage the positive effect of empowering leadership in the pursuit of promoting employees’ PEB.     

The Voice Link: A Moderated Mediation Model of How Ethical Leadership Affects Individual Task Performance

This study empirically examines the proposition that ethical leadership may affect individuals’ task performance through enhancing employees’ promotive voice. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from employees and supervisors in a high-tech company located in South China. Analyses of multisource three-wave data from 37 team supervisors and 176 employees showed that ethical leadership could significantly affect individuals’ task performance through promotive voice. Further, it was found that the relationship between ethical leadership and promotive voice was moderated by leader–leader exchange. Specifically, ethical leadership may significantly enhance employees’ promotive voice when leader–leader exchange is low. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Followers’ Innovative Behavior in Organizations: The Role of Transformational Leadership,Psychological Capital and Knowledge Sharing

This study develops and tests a conceptual model of followers’ perceptions of transformational leadership as an antecedent to their innovative behavior in organizations. Specifically, we hypothesize that followers’ innovative behavior can be directly and indirectly influenced by their perceptions of transformational leadership. Knowledge sharing has a mediating effect and followers’ psychological capital has a moderating role in the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ innovative behavior. A total of 212 employees from a diverse range of industries filled out questionnaires. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to analyze the relations. Results reveal that transformational leadership produces positive and significant impacts on followers’ innovative behavior and this relationship is fully mediated by knowledge sharing. Results also indicate that the positive relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ innovative behavior is enhanced only when followers possess high psychological capital. This paper adds to innovation literature by empirically testing the moderating role of psychological capital and the mediating role of knowledge sharing on the link between transformational leadership and followers’ innovative behavior. Implications of the findings for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Is job control always beneficial? Exploring its nonlinearity in creativity and in-role performance

This study draws on resource allocation theory to examine the relationship between job control and two kinds of job performance, namely employee creativity and in-role performance, as well as to investigate whether supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates these two potentially nonlinear relationships. To test the proposed model, we collected data from 234 employees in Indonesia. The results show that job control has an inverted U-shaped relationship with employee creativity, but a U-shaped relationship with in-role performance. Supervisor encouragement of creativity moderates both relationships, such that the control–creativity relationship becomes U-shaped, while the control–in-role performance relationship becomes inverted U-shaped when supervisor encouragement of creativity is high. Implications for managers on how to provide resources to employees are discussed.     

The Effect of Normative Expectations on Employees’ Intrinsic Interest in Creativity: Is There also a Mediating Mechanism?

As the core element of a firm’s innovation capabilities and the source of firm growth, increasing employee creativity is a primary goal of organizations. Based on social cognitive theory, role theory, and creativity theory, this paper investigates the relationship between perception of normative expectations and employees’ intrinsic interest in creativity, as well as explores the role of self-efficacy in this relationship. We use data from a survey questionnaire of 2,035 employees from 185 firms in different geographic locations across China. Our empirical findings reveal that when employees perceive a normative expectation coming from leaders, family or customers, coupled with the fear of failing to satisfy the expectations of those referent groups, it positively and significantly affects their intrinsic interest in creativity. In addition, self-efficacy not only positively and significantly affects employees’ intrinsic interest in creativity, but also plays a partially mediating role in the relationship between the perception of expectation and employees’ intrinsic interest in creativity.     

Leaders’ Core Self-evaluation,Ethical Leadership,and Employees’ Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Employees’ Exchange Ideology

With the increasing demand for ethical standards in the current business environment, ethical leadership has received particular attention. Drawing on self-verification theory and social exchange theory, this study investigated the effect of leaders’ core self-evaluation on the display of ethical leadership and the moderating role of employees’ exchange ideology in the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ job performance (i.e., task performance and organizational citizenship behavior). Consistent with the hypotheses, the results from a sample of 225 dyads of employees and their immediate leaders showed a positive relationship between leaders’ core self-evaluation and ethical leadership. Moreover, the results showed that ethical leadership mediates the effects of leaders’ core self-evaluation on employees’ job performance. Furthermore, we found that employees’ exchange ideology moderates the relationship between ethical leadership and job performance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Do customer participation and cognitive ability influence satisfaction?

Under some circumstances, increased customer participation can enhance customer satisfaction. However, the precise mechanism by which participation might increase satisfaction has not been explored in the literature. This paper considers whether a customer’s cognitive ability might affect the relationship between participation and satisfaction. A causal model has been developed to examine the potential interactive effects of participation and cognitive ability on satisfaction, and a simple quantitative model has been proposed to simulate these effects. The results of both a numerical simulation analysis and a quantitative analysis of case study data indicate a significant main effect of cognitive ability on satisfaction. Additionally, an interactive effect has been observed, whereby higher cognitive ability results in higher satisfaction, given a minimum degree of customer participation in the service. Among this study’s implications is that customers with different cognitive abilities should have different degrees of participation that act to maximize their satisfaction.     

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.     

Prohibitive Voice as a Moral Act: The Role of Moral Identity,Leaders, and Workgroups

Employees’ may view prohibitive voice—that is, expressing concerns about harmful practices in the workplace—as a moral yet interpersonally risky behavior. We, thus, predict that prohibitive voice is likely to be influenced by variables associated with moral and relational qualities. Specifically, we hypothesize that employees’ moral identity internalization—i.e., the centrality of moral traits in their self-concept—is positively associated with their use of prohibitive voice. Furthermore, we hypothesize that this association is stronger when employees enjoy a higher quality relationship with their leader (leader-member exchange). In addition, drawing on the literature on moral symbolism, we hypothesize that workgroup moral identity symbolization—i.e., the extent to which workgroup members symbolically display moral traits—moderates the relationship between moral identity internalization and prohibitive voice in a compensatory manner. That is, workgroup moral identity symbolization enhances employees’ use of prohibitive voice when employees’ moral identity internalization is low. Data collected from hospital employees and their supervisors and coworkers support these hypotheses. These findings suggest new ways to promote prohibitive voice and, thereby, protect organizational stakeholders from harmful behaviors.

     

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.     

Service employees’ deviant behaviors and leader–member exchange in contexts of dispositional envy and dispositional jealousy

Hotels represent a prime service industry. The current study examined the role of leader-member exchange (LMX) on hotel service employees’ deviant behaviors in contexts of dispositional envy and dispositional jealousy. Specifically, we collected two different samples of US hotel employees to examine interactions of LMX with dispositional envy and jealousy on deviant behaviors. The results supported our hypotheses, showing that (1) LMX had a negative relationship with deviant behaviors and that (2) higher levels of dispositional envy and jealousy led to more deviant behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Store Manager–Store Performance Relationship: A Research Note

Despite the critical role that store managers play in linking top management teams and service/retail employees, as well as in fulfilling corporate strategy within chain store environments, service management research infrequently addresses the factors that may promote store managers’ effective exchange relationships within the firm and subsequent effects on store operations and profitability. This study focuses on how store managers’ performance orientation, trust of a regional manager’s capabilities, and organizational commitment affect a manager’s relationships relative to regional managers and frontline employees. The direct effect of store managers’ relationship capacity on store performance is also examined. The results, based on survey data from managers of stores of a retail and service chain and company financial reports, generally support the suggested hypotheses. Specifically, a store manager’s relationship with his/her supervisor has a strong influence on how the manager views the supervisor’s leadership support and leadership style, which ultimately influence store performance (primary goods/service sales and store profits).     

What Have I Done to Deserve This? Effects of Employee Personality and Emotion on Abusive Supervision

Drawing on victim precipitation theory, we propose that certain employees are more likely to perceive abusive supervision because of their personality traits. Specifically, we hypothesize that subordinates’ emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness will be negatively related to perceived abuse from their supervisor and that negative emotions at work will mediate these relationships. We surveyed 222 employees and found that emotional stability and conscientiousness negatively predicted employees’ self-reports of abusive supervision and that this relationship was mediated by negative emotions. Thus, employees lower in emotional stability or conscientiousness are more likely to experience negative emotions, which in turn is related to higher levels of abuse.     

降低养老保险费率会导致养老金收不抵支吗?——基于2001—2015年中国31个省级面板数据的分析

城镇职工养老保险费率不仅影响养老保险基金的自我平衡,也对企业成本及劳动者的参保行为具有重大影响。本文以我国31个省级面板数据为样本,运用可行广义最小二乘法研究城镇职工养老保险费率对基金收支平衡的影响。研究表明:我国城镇职工养老保险名义费率确实偏高,对基金收支平衡存在显著的负向影响,降低城镇职工养老保险名义费率不仅不会导致基金收不抵支,反而会提升基金的收支平衡能力;在确保基金收支平衡的前提下,城镇职工养老保险名义费率可下调至20%。我国城镇职工养老保险实际费率与基金收支平衡之间存在倒U型关系,养老基金平衡能力呈先强后弱趋势;东、中、西部城镇职工养老保险实际费率依次递增,其中东部和西部地区提高养老保险实际费率均能显著提高基金的收支平衡能力,但其影响机理存在较大的差别——东部地区由市场机制决定,西部地区则是由于参保人员多为体制内员工所致。职工养老保险制度参保率对基金收支平衡的影响显著为正,制度赡养率对基金收支平衡的影响显著为负。因此,应尽快实现城镇职工养老保险全国统筹,以确保城镇职工养老保险在缴费阶段和待遇享受阶段的公平。     

How authentic leadership influences employee proactivity: the sequential mediating effects of psychological empowerment and core self-evaluations and the moderating role of employee political skill

This study aims to examine the relationship between authentic leadership and employee proactive behavior. Based on self-determination theory, we argue that such a relationship is sequentially mediated by psychological empowerment and core self-evaluations. In addition, political skill plays a moderating role in the third stage. These hypotheses are validated by a sample of 65 leaders and 275 subordinates from two private enterprises in mainland China. Results show that authentic leadership (Time 1) influences employees’ proactive behavior (Time 3) through the psychological empowerment (Time 1) and core self-evaluations of employees (Time 2), and the relationship between core self-evaluations and proactive behavior is positively moderated by employees’ political skill. In addition, bootstrapping results also verify the moderating role played by employees’ political skill in the indirect relationship between authentic leadership and proactive behavior through core self-evaluations. Theoretical and managerial implications are further discussed in the light of these findings.     

Leaders’ Moral Competence and Employee Outcomes: The Effects of Psychological Empowerment and Person–Supervisor Fit

This study examined how leaders’ moral competence is linked to employees’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Based on a sample of 102 employee–supervisor pairs from seven organizations in South Korea, the results of this study revealed that leaders’ moral competence was positively associated with employees’ task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors toward leaders (OCBS). As expected, employees’ psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between leaders’ moral competence and employees’ task performance and OCBS. Furthermore, person–supervisor fit (PS fit) moderated the relationship between leaders’ moral competence and employees’ psychological empowerment such that the relationships became stronger for individuals higher rather than lower in PS fit.