Exploring the links between ethical leadership, customer orientation and employee outcomes in the context of retailing

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1642-1658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arto Lindblom ◽  
Sami Kajalo ◽  
Lasse Mitronen
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontline Employee ◽  
Employee Job Satisfaction ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress

Purpose – In the increasingly competitive retail environment, retailers’ ability to elevate frontline employees’ customer orientation (CO) can make the difference between the success and failure of their stores. However, the question of how to enhance employee CO is a tricky one. It has been stated that employee CO is a stable work value or disposition that is consistent over time, and therefore, difficult to manage. However, one factor that might be an important driver of employee CO is the retailers’ ethical leadership behaviour. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the links between retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this study, the authors develop five hypotheses about the retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Using structural equation modelling, the authors test the hypotheses using a sample of 208 respondents from the Finnish retail industry. Findings – As a first important contribution, the findings of the present study indicate that frontline employee perceptions of their retailer’s ethical leadership are strongly linked to employee CO. As a second contribution, our results suggest that employee CO is positively related to job satisfaction. As a third contribution, this study shows that frontline employee job satisfaction is negatively related to their turnover intentions. Originality/value – This study contributes to service management and retail marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the links between the ethical leadership of retailers, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions.

Does a retailer’s charisma matter? A study of frontline employee perceptions of charisma in the retail setting

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arto Lindblom ◽  
Sami Kajalo ◽  
Lasse Mitronen
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontline Employee ◽  
Retail Setting

Purpose In today’s retail environment, retailers’ leadership skills can make the difference between the success and failure of their retail stores. Despite the acknowledgment that retailers’ leadership skills and behaviour are important, treatment of the topic within the retail marketing and management literatures is still very limited. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to focus on the relationship between the retailers’ charismatic leadership and frontline employee outcomes. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose of this study, the authors develop hypotheses about the influence of the retailers’ charismatic leadership on frontline employee job satisfaction, self-efficacy, organizational identification and turnover intentions. Using structural equation modelling, hypotheses are tested using a sample of 208 frontline employees from the Finnish retail industry. Findings As a first main contribution, the findings of this study indicate that charismatic leadership has a very strong positive impact on job satisfaction. As a second contribution, this study shows that there is strong positive link between charismatic leadership and the self-efficacy of frontline employees. As a third contribution, this study indicates that charismatic leadership is positively related to organizational identification. And finally, this study indicates that charismatic leadership has a very strong negative impact on employee turnover intentions. Originality/value This study contributes to retail management and services marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the leadership behaviour of retailers and its effectiveness and demonstrating how frontline employees respond to charismatic leadership in the retail setting.

Effects of ethical leadership, job satisfaction and affective commitment on the turnover intentions of accountants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuri Gökhan Torlak ◽  
Cemil Kuzey ◽  
Muhammet Sait Dinç ◽  
Ali Haydar Güngörmüş
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The paper aims to analyze the relationships between ethical leadership (EL), job satisfaction (JS), affective commitment (AC) and turnover intention (TI) that might make accountants quit withdrawal and become productive and useful in private organizations operating in Istanbul. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online survey using a simple random sampling methodology, obtained from 153 accountants working in companies in Istanbul. The methodology included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Findings Concerning direct relationships between EL, JS, AC and TI, EL has significant positive associations with JS and AC, whereas EL has a significant negative association with TI. JS has a significant positive association with AC, whereas JS has a significant negative association with TI. Also, AC has a weak significant negative association with TI. Given indirect relationships among EL, JS, AC and TI, JS and AC mediate the relationship between EL and TI. Finally, a similarity is found when comparing Generation X and Generation Y in terms of overall JS, AC and TI. Research limitations/implications The study is limited solely to companies functioning in Istanbul and incorporates a low number of respondents. Therefore, the results cannot be considered to be accurate for the whole country. The study might guide both private and public organizations in which owners/managers develop strategic plans. Originality/value The study fills the gap in research on organizational behavior where little has existed until now that probes the EL–JS–AC–TI links in Turkey. A few studies measure the TIs of accountants. Furthermore, EL and AC are rarely evaluated in the field of accounting in Turkey.

Investigating leadership and employee well-being in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ataus Samad ◽  
Michael Muchiri ◽  
Sehrish Shahid
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Employee Turnover ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employee Job Satisfaction

PurposeThis article aims to understand the underlying mechanisms through which transformational leadership influences employee job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Specifically, the study explores the mediation role of employee well-being on the relationships between leadership and both employee job satisfaction and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a quantitative research method, data were collected from 280 academics and professional staff from an Australian regional university. The Mplus software was used for data analysis.FindingsThe results showed that transformational leadership had significant positive impact on employee well-being and job satisfaction while it alleviated employee turnover intentions. Furthermore, employee well-being mediated the effect of transformational leadership on employee job satisfaction and turnover intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was cross-sectional, and data were collected from a convenient sample and therefore minimises our ability to generalise the findings to other contexts.Practical implicationsEffective leadership, employee well-being, job satisfaction and employee turnover are of strategic importance in the higher education sector in Australia and internationally. These findings will therefore provide a basis for university policy makers to craft relevant policies that promote effective leader behaviours and enhance employee well-being as they facilitate employee job satisfaction and minimise turnover intentions among higher education sector employees (i.e. academics and professional staff).Originality/valueOur study provides a unique contribution to knowledge as it explains the mediation effect of employee well-being on the relation between transformational leadership a, job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Job related stress and job satisfaction: a comparative study among bank employees

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth George ◽  
Zakkariya K.A.
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress ◽  
New Generation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether job satisfaction and job-related stress differ among employees of different banking sectors. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire were administered to 337 employees from various banks belonging to private sector, public sector and new generation banks. One way ANOVA was conducted to find out whether job satisfaction and job relates stress varied on the basis of three different sectors of banks. Further post hoc test was conducted to find out which sector differs significantly. Findings – Results indicated that employees of different sectors of bank had different level of job satisfaction and job-related stress. Further it was revealed that public sector banks have lower job-related stress when compared to private sector banks and new generation banks; and higher job satisfaction when compared to new generation banks. Practical implications – With the rapid developments and competition in banks, measures should be taken in private sector banks and new generations banks to reduce job-related stress and enhance job satisfaction level of employees. This may also result in increased quality of services and reduced labour turnover in banks. Originality/value – The study is original and empirical in nature. It shows that the job satisfaction and job-related stress differ among employees of different groups of banks in the banking sector. If banking sector is considered as a true representative of the service sector, the results of this study has wider implication in the service industry as a whole.

Stress, Job Satisfaction, Coping, and Psychological Distress Among Emergency Medical Technicians

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Boudreaux ◽  
Cris Mandry ◽  
Phillip J. Brantley
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Autonomic Nervous System ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Consent Document ◽  
Informed Consent Document ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress

AbstractIntroduction:Although several studies link job-related stressors with adverse reactions among emergency medical technicians (EMTs), more standardized research is needed, since much remains unknown about stress responses, coping styles and their consequences for EMTs. This paper presents the results of two studies. Study I investigated the relation between job-related stressors, job satisfaction, and psychological distress, while Study II investigated how coping is related to occupational burnout, job-related stress, and physiological arousal.Hypothesis:Study I: Those EMTs experiencing greater job-related stressors are less satisfied with their jobs and more psychologically distressed.Objective, Study II:To obtain preliminary information about which coping strategies are associated with greater feelings of stress and burnout and more intense autonomic nervous system reactivity.Methods:For both studies, EMTs from a large, urban, public EMS organization in the southern United States were asked to participate. Study I: Subjects completed an informed consent document, a demographics questionnaire, a measure of job stress (the Stress Diagnosis Inventory), a measure of job satisfaction (Job-in-General), and a measure of psychological symptomatology (Symptom Checklist-90, Revised). Pearson product-moment correlations were computed between the measures. Study II: Subjects completed an informed consent document, a demographics/information sheet, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and the Ways of Coping Scale (WOCS). They then completed 30 days of monitoring using the Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) and the Daily Autonomic Nervous System Response Inventory (DANSRI). Pearson product-moment correlations were computed between the measures.Results:Study I: Those EMTs who experienced greater job-related stress also were significantly more dissatisfied with their jobs, more depressed, anxious, hostile, and endorsed greater global psychological distress. Study IT. The Depersonalization subscale on the MBI correlated significantly with the following WOCS subscales: Accepting Responsibility, Confrontive Coping, Distancing, and Escape/Avoidance. Emotional Exhaustion on the MBI correlated significantly with Confrontive Coping, Escape/Avoidance, and Social Support, while data obtained on the 40 subjects who completed the daily monitoring revealed that DSI-Impact, DANSRI-Number, and DANSRI-Impact scores each correlated significantly with Accepting Responsibility, Confrontive Coping, and Escape/Avoidance.Conclusion:A significant portion of an EMT's job satisfaction and psychological well-being is associated with the degree to which they are experiencing job-related stress, and, furthermore, this distress level appears to be clinically elevated. This implies that in-service programs and psychological support services designed to help EMTs manage their job-related stress may improve job satisfaction and decrease psychological distress. The coping styles most consistently associated with maladaptive outcomes were: Accepting Responsibility, Confrontive Coping, and Escape/Avoidance. Thus, subjects who were more likely to handle stress with self-blame, aggression, hostility, and risk taking or with wishful thinking, escape tendencies, and avoidance were more likely to endorse more negative outcomes.

The mediational effect of regulatory focus on the relationships between mindfulness and job satisfaction and turnover intentions

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 494-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha C. Andrews ◽  
K. Michele Kacmar ◽  
Charles Kacmar
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Prevention Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of mindfulness as a predictor of the two components of regulatory focus theory (RFT): promotion and prevention focus. It further examines promotion focus and prevention focus as mediators of the mindfulness-job satisfaction and mindfulness-turnover intentions relationships. Finally, job satisfaction is also examined as a mediator of the mindfulness-turnover intentions relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested using data collected via a snowball approach. Online surveys were distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in a business course. Students were then given the opportunity to earn extra credit by sending the survey to potential respondents. The relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – Support was found for four of the six hypotheses. Prevention focus did not negatively mediate the relationship between mindfulness and job satisfaction as well as the relationship between mindfulness and turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications – One limitations of this research is the placement of mindfulness as an antecedent to promotion and prevention focus. Another plausible alternative is to consider mindfulness as a consequence. An additional limitation is the use of a snowball sampling technique. Future research should examine these findings using employees of a single organization. Originality/value – This research theoretically and empirically links RFT and mindfulness. This study also adds to the limited research empirically linking RFT and turnover intentions, both directly and indirectly via job satisfaction. Finally, this research extends previous research that established the positive relationship between mindfulness and job satisfaction by examining the mindfulness-job satisfaction-turnover intentions relationship.

The impact of emotional intelligence and servant leadership on employee job satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-217
Author(s):  
Pallavi Jha ◽  
Sanjay Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Servant Leadership ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Employee Job Satisfaction ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) and servant leadership (SL) are two variables that have been essential for the organization leaders to ensure a healthy and happy work–life for their subordinates. The purpose of this study to be conducted was for leaders understand the role EI and SL play in maintaining employee job satisfaction and help them to create engaging environment and bring effectiveness in the work productivity of the assets. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative method was used and a total of 150 people were taken as a sample which consisted of several leaders and their subordinates and an emotional intelligence questionnaire by NHS and SL: multidimensional questionnaire was floated to rate the leaders EI and SL behavior comparing it with the leaders self-rating. The result was analyzed using SPSS, Pearson correlation and regression was used to understand the significance level and reliability of all the independent and dependent variables, respectively. Findings Through correlation and regression, it was found that presence of EI and SL style in a leader plays a huge role in employee job satisfaction. It was also found that EI and SL are the substantial predictor which have positive impact over employee job satisfaction. Originality/value The outcome of the study will help the leaders understand the significance that the EI and SL have in their role to maintain employee job satisfaction, as well as the training and development measures for leaders.

scholarly journals Translating emotional insights from hospitality employees’ comments

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Young ◽  
Swapnil Rajendra Gavade
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Hospitality Management ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Employee Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employee Job Satisfaction ◽  
The Usa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use the data analysis method of sentiment analysis to improve the understanding of a large data set of employee comments from an annual employee job satisfaction survey of a US hospitality organization.Design/methodology/approachSentiment analysis is used to examine the employee comments by identifying meaningful patterns, frequently used words and emotions. The statistical computing language, R, uses the sentiment analysis process to scan each employee survey comment, compare the words with the predefined word dictionary and classify the employee comments into the appropriate emotion category.FindingsEmployee responses written in English and in Spanish are compared with significant differences identified between the two groups, triggering further investigation of the Spanish comments. Sentiment analysis was then conducted on the Spanish comments comparing two groups, front-of-house vs back-of-house employees and employees with male supervisors vs female supervisors. Results from the analysis of employee comments written in Spanish point to higher scores for job sadness and anger. The negative comments referred to desires for improved healthcare, requests for increased wages and frustration with difficult supervisor relationships. The findings from this study add to the growing body of literature that has begun to focus on the unique work experiences of Latino employees in the USA.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine a large unstructured English and Spanish text database from a hospitality organization’s employee job satisfaction surveys using sentiment analysis. Applying this big data analytics process to advance new insights into the human capital aspects of hospitality management is intriguing to many researchers. The results of this study demonstrate an issue that needs to be further investigated particularly considering the hospitality industry’s employee demographics.

scholarly journals White and minority employee reactions to perceived discrimination at work: evidence of White fragility?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddy S. Ng ◽  
Greg J. Sears ◽  
Muge Bakkaloglu
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Work Stress ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Settings ◽  
Professional Worker

PurposeBuilding on the notion of “White fragility,” this study aims to explore how Whites react and cope with perceived discrimination at work. Specifically, the authors explore whether: (1) Whites react more negatively than minorities when they perceive discrimination at work and (2) Whites are more likely than minorities to restore the status quo by leaving the situation when they perceive discrimination at work.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were obtained from the Professional Worker Career Experience Survey. In total, 527 working professionals from multiple organizations across the central USA participated in the survey.FindingsThe authors find evidence that Whites experience more negative psychological effects (i.e. lower job satisfaction and higher work stress) from perceived discrimination than minority employees and are more likely to act to restore conditions of privilege by leaving their current job and employer. The stronger negative effects of perceived discrimination for Whites (vs minorities) were restricted to work outcomes (job satisfaction, work stress, turnover intentions from one's employer) and were not evident with respect to perceptions of overall well-being (i.e. life satisfaction), suggesting that White fragility may play a particularly influential role in work settings, wherein racial stress may be more readily activated.Originality/valueConsistent with the notion of White fragility, the study’s results demonstrate that the deleterious impact of perceived discrimination on employee work outcomes may, in some cases, be stronger for White than minority employees.

Enhancing the lodging experience through ethical leadership

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 669-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Klearchou Dimitriou ◽  
Charles H. Schwepker
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Lodging Industry ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Customer Contact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Sabotage ◽  
Person Organization Fit ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeGrounded in ethical decision-making theory, this paper aims to develop and empirically tests a model that examines the relationships between ethical leadership, customer orientation, ethical values person-organization fit, commitment to service quality and service sabotage among customer-contact service employees in the lodging industry.Design/methodology/approachData were electronically collected from a national survey of 316 hotel/motel customer-contact employees.FindingsResults revealed that perceived ethical leadership behavior is positively related to customer orientation, ethical values person-organization fit and commitment to service quality. Customer orientation is positively related to commitment to service quality and mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and service sabotage. Ethical values person-organization fit mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and service sabotage.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is cross-sectional, limited to customer-contact employees in lodging settings and examines merely the employee perspective.Practical implicationsLodging leaders can benefit significantly in many areas by practicing ethical leadership. For example, service sabotage behaviors can be reduced indirectly by aligning the customer-contact employees’ ethical values with those of the organization, as well as when this employee is customer-oriented. An ethical leadership style also can positively influence customer-contact employees’ customer orientation and increase their commitment to service quality. Lodging properties must hire and cultivate managers and supervisors with ethical values.Originality/valueThis research helps to better understand leadership behaviors useful for improving the ethical conduct and performance of customer-contact employees in the lodging industry, while simultaneously improving their commitment to service quality and guest-oriented behavior.

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