scholarly journals Abusive supervision in retailing: the mediating role of customer orientation and the moderating roles of contingent reward and contingent punishment

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyong Yang ◽  
Fernando Jaramillo ◽  
Yonghong Liu ◽  
Weiling Ye ◽  
Rong Huang
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Contingent Reward ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
External Stakeholders

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine a customer orientation mechanism through which abusive supervision influences retail salespeople’s job performance; and second, to investigate how abusive supervision’s effects may be moderated by the same leader’s use of contingent punishment and contingent reward. Design/methodology/approach Two studies provide consistent findings. Study 1 used the field survey data from 129 salespeople in 42 retail stores. The proposed moderated mediation model was estimated using the random coefficient modeling technique. Findings were replicated in Study 2, in which data were collected from a sample of 679 US retail salespeople recruited through M-Turk. Findings Results from both studies show that abusive supervision reduces salespeople’s job performance through lowering their customer orientation. Furthermore, the use of contingent punishment from the same supervisor buffers abusive supervision’s detrimental effect, whereas the use of contingent reward augments it. Research limitations/implications The issues the authors address in this research have significant implications for the literature of abusive supervision and retail selling. First, the authors contribute to the abusive supervision literature by pointing it out that the negative effect of abusive supervision can spill over to organizations’ external stakeholders, namely, customers. Previous research on abusive supervision has mainly focused on how abused subordinates exhibit hostile acts directed against the supervisor, coworkers and the organization (Tepper et al., 2017), with little attention paid to abusive supervision’s impact on organizations’ external stakeholders such as customers. This research fills the void by placing impaired customer-orientation as a critical consequence of abusive supervision. Second, this research tests a contingent self-regulation impairment model of abusive supervision and advances our understanding about how the same supervisor’s functional leadership behaviors (contingent reward/punishment) may set contingencies for the effect of abusive supervision on employee outcomes. This investigation clears the doubts about whether the use of functional leadership behaviors along with abusive supervision buffers or aggravates the detrimental effect of the latter. Finally, this study’s findings shed new insights to marketing practitioners, especially in understanding how salespeople may vent their stress on the customers when being abused by their supervisors. Without this in mind, supervisors may not be aware of the consequences of their abusive behavior and may even develop an illusion that such a practice worked. This research shows that abusive supervision can lower employees’ customer orientation, which will hurt the company in the long run. Practical implications The findings intend to provide important guidelines for companies to develop effective workshops and training programs to combat the detrimental effects of abusive supervision in the retailing industry. For example, the findings shed new insights in understanding how employees may vent their stress on the customers when being abused by their supervisors. Without this in mind, supervisors may not be aware of the consequences of their abusive behavior and may even develop an illusion that such a practice worked. Another important managerial implication of this research is that the use of contingent reward after mistreating subordinates can backfire. Supervisor abuses, followed by a contingent reward, send an inconsistent signal to the employee that creates confusion and strain. Inconsistent actions from the supervisor also produce ethical tensions that reduce customer-oriented behaviors and a company’s ability to serve the customer (Friend et al., 2020). These training programs are important methods to combat the detrimental effects of abusive supervision in the workforce. Originality/value This research draws on the contingent self-regulation impairment model as an overarching framework to unpack the relationship between abusive supervision and salespeople’s job performance. Integrating three research streams (i.e. abusive supervision, leadership reinforcement and retail selling), this study proposes customer orientation as a novel mechanism and sheds light on how abusive supervision interplays with contingent punishment/reward to impact salespeople’s outcomes.

How does abusive supervision restrict employees’ feedback-seeking behavior?

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 546-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuangang Shen ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Peixu He ◽  
Yenchun Jim Wu
Keyword(s):  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Feedback Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Member Exchange ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Concept Theory ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the restrictive effect of abusive supervision on employees’ feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) through organizational-based self-esteem (OBSE) and the moderation of this mediation by leader-member exchange (LMX). Design/methodology/approach This study conducted hierarchical regression and path analysis to analyze the 312 manager–employee dyads data gathered from five companies in China. Findings The authors found that abusive supervision had a detrimental effect on employee FSB, partially through OBSE, and that both the direct and indirect effects were moderated by LMX. Practical implications Organizations should seek to inhibit supervisors’ abusive behavior in the workplace. Supervisors should not occasionally mistreat subordinates with whom they have a good relationship. Originality/value This study reveals the underlying influence mechanism of abusive supervision on employee FSB using the self-concept theory and suggests that OBSE is critical in determining how abusive supervision influences employee FSB. Furthermore, LMX quality (especially high LMX) moderates the above mediation.

Do employee responses to organizational support depend on their personality? The joint moderating role of conscientiousness and emotional stability

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg J. Sears ◽  
Yu Han
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Employee Commitment ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects

PurposeThis study explored whether two Big Five traits – conscientiousness and emotional stability – jointly moderate the positive effects of perceived organizational support (POS) on employee commitment and job performance. Drawing on organizational support theory and a self-regulation perspective, we proposed that employees high on both traits will more effectively leverage POS to enhance both their commitment and their performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 141 employees in a multinational transportation security firm. Employees completed measures assessing their POS, personality and affective commitment. Supervisors provided ratings of employees' job performance.FindingsResults indicated that POS exerts a stronger influence on both employee commitment and performance when workers are high on conscientiousness and emotional stability. Moreover, POS was only found to be significantly associated with job performance when employees were high on both traits.Research limitations/implicationsThese results suggest that personality traits play an integral role in influencing workers' perceptions of, and responses to, POS. Specifically, employees who demonstrate a stronger task focus and self-regulation capabilities appear to respond more favorably to POS.Practical implicationsThese findings reinforce the value of implementing HR practices that convey support for employees but also highlight the importance of attracting and retaining employees who are conscientious and emotional stable in order to fully realize the benefits of these practices.Originality/valueRecent evidence indicates that the relationship between POS and employee performance is tenuous. Our results are consistent with a contingency perspective on POS and signal that this may be partly owing to the `influence of individual differences, such as personality traits, in moderating the effects of POS.

Impact of employee's political skill on abusive supervision: does gender matter?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fizza Rizvi ◽  
Akbar Azam
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Political Skill ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Simple Linear Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Ideal Situation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate if employees possessing good political skill face less abusive behavior from their supervisors. Moreover, the gender of the subordinate has been tested as a moderator between political skill and abusive supervision. Cultural and social factors prevailing in the research settings of Pakistan provide an ideal situation to test the relationship between political skill and abusive supervision.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from 178 employees representing different sectors of Pakistani industry. To test the relationship between political skill and abusive supervision, simple linear regression was run and moderation was tested using PROCESS macro.FindingsFrom the analysis, the major findings prove that political skill lessens abusive supervision. Moreover, due to the cultural settings, male subordinates use political skill more proficiently to avoid abusive supervision as compared to female subordinates.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that in order to maintain harmony in the work environment, employees must learn political skill to avoid abusive supervision. Moreover, females must be given more chances to utilize their political skill to get positive outcomes.Originality/valueThis study fills up a significant gap in the literature, as there is scarce literature available that investigates the relationship between political skill and abusive supervision, specifically in Pakistan.

Empowering leadership and job performance: mediating role of psychological empowerment

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 605-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhash C. Kundu ◽  
Sandeep Kumar ◽  
Neha Gahlawat
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Empowering Leadership ◽  
Bootstrap Analysis ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to check the effects of empowering leadership on job performance of employees through the mediation of psychological empowerment.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data were gathered from 418 Indian banking employees. Statistical techniques like factor analysis, multiple regressions and bootstrapping via PROCESS were used to analyze the data.FindingsInitially, the results of multiple regression analysis revealed that empowering leadership behaviors have positive influence on psychological empowerment and job performance of subordinates. Further, bootstrap analysis revealed that the individual dimensions of psychological empowerment serially mediate the effects of empowering leadership behaviors on subordinates’ job performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study indicates that the empowering leadership style is not applicable to Western culture only, but it is also very effective in high power distance cultures like of India. The major limitation of the study is that the data have been gathered from a single source. This may lead to common method variance.Practical implicationsIn banking context, empowering leadership can improve the performance of employees by means of psychological empowerment. Training should be provided to organizational leaders in banks with special focus on facilitating the empowering behaviors among them.Originality/valueThe research studies on measuring the effects of empowering leadership on job performance through mediation of psychological empowerment are very limited.

scholarly journals Service workers’ job performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 1751-1776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongwei He ◽  
Weiyue Wang ◽  
Weichun Zhu ◽  
Lloyd Harris
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Center Service

Purpose – This paper aims to advance the literature by testing the boundary of this relationship with reference to a key construct in employee performance in the service domain: employee customer orientation. Organizational identification refers to employees’ perceived oneness and belongingness to their work organization, and has been argued to be associated with higher employee performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected based on a sample of call center service workers. Employees rated their organizational identification, customer orientation and personality traits. Supervisors independently rated their subordinates’ performance. Variables statistic tools were used to analyze the data and test a series of hypotheses. Findings – It was found that customer orientation strengthens the relationship between organizational identification and service workers’ job performance, and it enhances the mediating effect of organizational identification on the relationship between service workers’ personality trait (i.e. agreeableness) and their performance. Originality/value – This research advances an argument that employee customer orientation moderates the relationship between employee organizational identification and employee job performance in the call center service provision domain. In addition, this is a pioneering study examining the roles of personality traits on employee organizational identification.

A meta‐analysis of the relationship between sales orientation‐customer orientation (SOCO) and salesperson job performance

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 302-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Jaramillo ◽  
Daniel M. Ladik ◽  
Greg W. Marshall ◽  
Jay Prakash Mulki
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Type ◽  
Research Findings

PurposeIn the years since Saxe and Weitz developed a scale to measure the selling orientation and customer orientation (SOCO) of a salesperson, research findings on the effect of SOCO on salesperson job performance have shown mixed results. This article aims to synthesize the findings from the empirical studies to identify the direction and the strength of this relationship. In addition, it aims to investigate the moderating effect of customer type (business or end user consumer) and type of job performance measure used (subjective or objective).Design/methodology/approachResearch questions were addressed by a meta‐analysis of 16 studies containing 17 effect sizes from 3,477 respondents.FindingsMeta‐analysis results reveal an attenuated weighted mean effect size (r) of this relationship of 0.14, with a 90 percent confidence interval of 0.04 to 0.23. The disattenuated mean effect size (rc) is 0.16. Findings also reveal that neither customer type nor type of job performance measures moderated the SOCO and job performance relationship.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough diligence was exercised to reduce selection bias, relevant studies may have been excluded from this meta‐analysis.Practical implicationsStudy findings demonstrate that SOCO is an important predictor of salesperson job performance. High performance occurs when salespeople focus their energy on identifying the customer's individual needs and offer products to satisfy those needs.Originality/valueThis is the first published SOCO meta‐analysis.

When does abusive supervision mitigate work effort? Moderating roles of cognitive reappraisal and rumination

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-479
Author(s):  
Alisher Tohirovich Dedahanov ◽  
Siyuan Miao ◽  
Aleksey Aleksandrovich Semyonov
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Condition ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Work Effort ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Negative Link

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the boundary condition roles of cognitive reappraisal and rumination in the link between abusive supervision and work effort.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 545 highly skilled employees of manufacturing companies. We excluded 161 of these questionnaires because they were incomplete and used 384 questionnaires in the analyses. To assess the validity of proposed hypotheses, we conducted hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsThe results indicate that cognitive reappraisal weakens the negative link between abusive supervision and work effort. Moreover, individuals who ruminate tend to exhibit reduced work effort when they experience abusive behavior from their supervisors.Originality/valueThis study is the first to investigate the moderating roles of cognitive reappraisal and rumination in the link between abusive supervision and work effort. The findings can help organizations understand the situations when abusive supervision decreases levels of work effort among employees and when subordinates maintain their levels of work effort.

Coping with workplace ostracism through ability-based emotional intelligence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arslan Ayub ◽  
Fatima Sultana ◽  
Shahid Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Abdullah ◽  
Nishwa Khan
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Regulation Mechanism ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Workplace Ostracism

PurposeWith a basis in the conservation of resource (COR) theory, this study examines the relationship between workplace ostracism and job performance while also investigating the mediating role of defensive silence and the moderating role of emotional intelligence.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a multisource, three-wave data collection technique to gather data from employees and their peers working in Pakistan's service sector organizations. Data are analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (v 3.2.7) to assess the measurement model and the structural model.FindingsThe findings reveal that the perception of workplace ostracism provokes self-avoidance strategy, defensive silence, which attenuates job performance. However, defensive silence's mediating role is mitigated if employees can draw from their emotional intelligence ability, which induces a self-regulation mechanism that curbs workplace ostracism's negative consequences.Practical implicationsThe study demonstrates how employees in collectivist, high-power distance cultural settings may strategically choose silence by exercising emotional intelligence to enhance job performance.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few efforts that examined defensive silence in non-Western cultural settings. This is also the first study that examined emotional intelligence's role in the proposed moderated mediation framework.

An eye for an eye: does subordinates’ negative workplace gossip lead to supervisor abuse?

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-302
Author(s):  
Muhammad Naeem ◽  
Qingxiong (Derek) Weng ◽  
Ahmed Ali ◽  
Zahid Hameed
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abusive Behavior ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Longitudinal Data Collection ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Drawing upon affective events theory, the authors propose that the subordinates’ negative gossip acts as a targeting affective event which leads to supervisor negative emotions. In turn, such negative emotions provoke supervisors to exhibit abusive behavior toward their subordinates. Additionally, the authors propose that an affective dispositional factor, namely, supervisor emotional regulation, moderates the hypothesized relationships. Using multisource data and a moderated-mediation model, the authors find that the supervisor’s perception of the subordinates’ negative workplace gossip is associated with abusive supervision through the supervisor’s negative emotions. Moreover, the supervisor’s emotional regulation mitigates the relationship between such negative gossip and the supervisor’s negative emotions. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from employees (e.g. subordinates) and their immediate supervisors in organizations representing a variety of industries (e.g. finance, health care, information technology, public safety and human services) located in three cities in China. Respondents were recruited from different professional online forums with the offer of free movie tickets in return for participation. Findings Using multisource data and a moderated-mediation model, the authors find that the supervisor’s perception of the subordinates’ negative workplace gossip is associated with abusive supervision through the supervisor’s negative emotions. Moreover, the supervisor’s emotional regulation mitigates the relationship between such negative gossip and the supervisor’s negative emotions, but not the relationship between the supervisor’s negative emotions and abusive supervision. Research limitations/implications Like all studies, the current one is not without limitations. First, the data were collected using a cross-sectional research design, which limits the interference of causality among the hypothesized relationships in the model. Future research work should apply alternative research designs such as a daily diary or longitudinal data collection (Shadish et al., 2002), in order to support the validity of the study. Practical implications In practical terms, abusive supervision is recognized as a destructive workplace behavior that is costly to organizations (Mackey et al., 2017; Martinko et al., 2013). Thus, it is important for organizational management and practitioners to understand the reasons why supervisors exhibit abusive behavior toward subordinates. Social implications Through this study, higher management must understand harmful effects of subordinates’ workplace negative gossip, it must be recognized as other types of workplace mistreatment (rudeness and incivility), establishment and enforcement of the code of conduct can prevent negative workplace gossip prevalence in the workplace. Originality/value This study has contributed to the organizational behavior literature in several aspects. First, most studies have examined the consequences of abusive supervisor through subordinates victimization, current study contributes in the ongoing stream of research by examining antecedents of abusive supervision through subordinates’ social victimization (e.g. negative workplace gossip) of supervisors.

Personality trait determinants of frontline employee customer orientation and job performance: a Russian study

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 1215-1234
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Ashill ◽  
Rania W. Semaan ◽  
Tanya Gibbs ◽  
Aaron Gazley
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontline Employee

PurposeDespite major market-orientated reforms to enhance the competitive advantage of Russian domestic firms, the antecedents and consequences of frontline employee (FLE) customer orientation (CO) remain poorly understood. Acknowledging this paucity of research, the authors draw upon a hierarchical model of personality to examine personality trait determinants of CO and job performance in the context of the Russian financial services sector.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 186 FLEs using a self-administered survey questionnaire and analyzed using AMOS.FindingsThe results identify which basic personality traits matter in translating FLE CO behavior into higher job performance in the Russian retail-banking sector.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of the study include the generalizability of the findings within one organizational context. Future research should examine whether the found associations hold true for FLEs working in other service sectors in other parts of the country.Practical implicationsStudy findings differ significantly to Western-based research and provide valuable insight into the process that motivates Russian FLEs in a commercial retail setting to perform better in their jobs.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study that employs a hierarchical model of the effects of basic personality traits on FLE CO and job performance in a former socialist/communist economy. We also advance existing research on FLE CO by distinguishing between two types of CO behavior. Findings provide an understanding of those personality traits that affect the ability of Russian FLEs to better satisfy customer needs and to interact and serve customers in an enjoyable way.

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