Abstract
Previous studies have identified servant leadership as an important driver of organizational effectiveness. However, so far little research attention has been given to whether servant leadership displayed by leaders across an organization's hierarchy can increase the effectiveness of its members. In this study, we integrate prosociality models with role motivation theory to examine how manager servant leadership trickles down to affect employee work performance as well as the role of supervisor family motivation in influencing the trickle-down process. Using a matched sample of employees and their supervisors from three companies in the Dominican Republic, multilevel structural equation modeling results show that manager servant leadership trickles down to inspire supervisor servant leadership, which in turn increases employee prosocial motivation and subsequent work performance. Furthermore, supervisor family motivation buffers the trickle-down mechanism in that the effect on employee work performance is weaker for supervisors with high levels of family motivation. Our research breaks new ground by shedding light on how and when servant leadership trickles down to shape employee work performance.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 158-171 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Vocational Behavior |
Volume | 112 |
Early online date | 25 Feb 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2019 |
Keywords
- Family motivation
- Prosocial motivation
- Servant leadership
- Trickle-down model
- Work performance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Applied Psychology
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
- Life-span and Life-course Studies
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Yasin Rofcanin
- Management - Professor
- Strategy & Organisation
- Centre for Future of Work - Director
- Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS)
Person: Research & Teaching