AMutilevelModelofServantLeadership,IndividualSelfIdentity,GroupCompetitionClimate,andCustomerServicePermanceHowDoesaServantLeaderFueltheServiceFire?Contents01Introduction03Method04Results05LimitstionsandConclusions02TheoreticalBackgroundandHypotheses

Overthelastdecade,anumberofstudieshavehighlightedtransformationalleaders

areofteneffectiveinenhancingfrontlineemployees'serviceperformance.Yet,thevolatileandintangiblecharacteristicsoftheservicecontextleadustoexpectthatservantleadersmaybeevenmoreinfluentialthantransformationalleaders.

SocialIdentityTheoryLeaderscanchangeemployees'behaviorsonlyiftheycanfirstmodifyemployees'self-identity,orthepartofself-conceptthatderivesfromtheknowledgeof,andemotionalattachmenttogroupmembership.01Introduction1Self-IdentityandServicePerformance2GroupCompetitionClimateServantleadershipfiguresmoreprominentlythantransformationalleadershipinshapingfrontlineemployees'self-identityand,inturn,theirserviceperformance.Ahighlycompetitivegroupclimatealsoprovidesunambiguousexpectationsaboutworkrolesandstrongincentivesforemployeestodeliverbettercustomerserviceiftheyarecompetentandwillingtodoso.AmultilevelmodelofservantleadershipservantleadershipCompetitionClimateSocialIdentityMediators

Self-EfficacyGroupIdentificationCustomerServicePerformanceServiceQualityCustomer-FocusedCitizenshipBehaviorCustomer-OrientedProsocialBehaviorTransformationalLeadershipLevel3Level1Level2TheoreticalBackground----SocialIdentityTheory

Itconsiderspeople'sperceptionofandattachmenttogroupmembershipsaskeydeterminantsoftheirthoughtsandbehaviors.Thetheoryinvolvesthreeunderpinningprocesses:socialcategorization:peopleautomaticallyclassifyeachotherintovariouscategoriesbasedonrepresentativefeaturesasawaytomakesenseoftheirsocialenvironmentsocialcomparison:Individualsengageinsocialcomparisonandusethesecategoriestomakejudgmentsaboutstatusandworthsocialidentification:Realizingthattheirownvalueisderivedfromtheirgroupmembership,individualsbecomecommittedtotheirgroupandidentifywiththeothermembers.02TheoreticalBackgroundandHypothesesServantLeadershipandServicePerformance1ServantLeadershipandEmployees'Self-Identity2Employees'Self-IdentityandServicePerformance3GroupCompetitionClimateasaModerator4BackgroundKnowledgeBServantLeadershipandServicePerformanceGoodservantleadersoffertimelyassistancewhileemployeestrytoattainworkgoalsandmasternewskills.Theseeffortsenhanceemployees'abilitytodeliverhigh-qualityserviceandtoadoptnewwaystoservethecustomers.Servantleadersaremorelikelytoconsidertheirfollowerstobecooperativeandconscientiouspartnersandtreattheminanegalitarianway.Hypothesis1:Servantleadershipispositivelyrelatedtoindi-vidualmember'sserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehavior,beyondthebeneficialeffectoftransformationalleadershipEffectiveleadersinservicefirmsoftenencouragefrontlineemployeestolearnthroughtrialanderrorandtoadapttheirfuturebehaviorsaccordinglyACServantLeadershipandEmployees'Self-IdentityAServantleadersshowmorerespectandacceptancetowardtheirfollowers.Andtheyaremorelikelythantransformationalleaderstobeconsideredasingroupmembersbytheirfollowers.Asaresult,employees'efficacybeliefsincreasetoagreaterextentwhenservantleadershipishigh.BServantleadersdisplayastrongdevelopmentalandaltruisticorientation,whichmaystimulateemployees'episodicfuturethinkingandmakeitmorelikelythatemployeesseeeachotheraspartners,ratherthanindependent,idiosyncraticindividuals.Soitshouldbemorestronglyandpositivelyrelatedtogroupidentificationthantrans-formationalleadership.Hypothesis2:Servantleadershipispositivelyrelatedtoindi-vidualmember's(a)self-efficacyand(b)groupidentification,beyondthebeneficialeffectoftransformationalleadership.Employees'Self-IdentityandServicePerformanceAAHypothesis3:Anindividualmember'sself-efficacyispositivelyrelatedtohisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehavior.Hypothesis4:Anindividualmember'sgroupidentificationispositivelyrelatedtohisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehavior.Employeeswithstrongself-efficacybeliefsalsohavemorepositiveaffectatwork,whichisoftenrelatedtocitizenshipbehaviorsdirectedatcustomers.Inaddition,employeeswithmoreefficaciousbeliefsarepronetogobeyondnormaljobrequirements,totakeinitiative,andtobespontaneousandinnovativeinservingcustomers,allofwhichareindicatorsofprosocialbehavioratwork.BHypothesis5:Anindividualmember'sself-efficacymediatesthepositiverelationshipbetweenservantleadershipandhisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehavior.Hypothesis6:Anindividualmember'sgroupidentificationmediatesthepositiverelationshipbetweenservantleadershipandhisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehaviorBAnintegrationoftheprevioushypothesessuggeststhatself-efficacyandgroupidentificationmediatetherelationshipbetweenservantleadershipandallthreemeasuresofemployees'serviceperformance.GroupCompetitionClimateasaModeratorHypothesis7:Groupcompetitionclimatemoderatesthepositiverelationshipbetweenanindividualmember'sself-efficacyandhisorherserviceperformancesuchthatself-efficacyhasastrongerpositiverelationshipwithhisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehavior,whenthegrouphasahighlycompetitivegroupclimate.Hypothesis8:Groupcompetitionclimatemoderatesthepositiverelationshipbetweenanindividualmember'sgroupidentificationandhisorherserviceperformancesuchthatgroupidentificationhasastrongerpositiverelationshipwithhisorherserviceperformance,including(a)servicequality,(b)customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,and(c)customer-orientedprosocialbehaviorwhenthegrouphasahighlycompetitivegroupclimate.Onecriticalcontextualfactorthatstrengthensorweakensthealignmentofidentityandbehaviorsisgroupclimate.Ahighlycompetitiveclimateincreasesthebehavioralstandardaboutwhatgoodperformancemeansacrossallaspectsofcustomerserviceandoffersstrongincentivesforemployeestooutperformtheirpeersiftheyfeelcompetentandhaveanintentiontodoso.sampledesignprocedureAThesamplecomprised248hairstylistsfrom31storesofaChinesechainofhairsalonsandtheircustomers.Duringtheregularworktime,weaskedthestyliststoreporttheirsalonmanager'sservantandtransformationalleadership,theirgroup'scompetitionclimate,andtheirownself-efficacyandgroupidentification.Twooftheircustomerswereinvitedtoratetheirservice.Afterretainingresponsesofthosewithoutmissingdata,weobtainedafinalsampleof238hairstylistsfrom30salonsand470customers.03Method1Store-levelmeasures2Employee-levelmeasures3Customer-levelmeasuresEachhairstylistratedhisorhermanager’sservantleadershiponfourdimensionsappropriateandapplicableinthissetting:empowering,helpingsubordinatesgrowandsucceed,emotionalhealing,andputtingsubordinatesfirst.Ratingsonthefourdimensionswereaveragedasasingleservantleadershipscore.Forgroupidentification,weusedfiveoutofthesixitemsofMaelandAshforth’s(1992)scale.Oneitem(“Ifastoryinthemediacriticizedthissalon,Iwouldfeelembarrassed”)wasexcludedbecauseitwasconsideredinapplicabletothesaloncontext.WeusedeightitemsfromBoruckiandBurke(1999)andLiaoandChuang(2004)toassessservicequality.Forcustomer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,eachcustomerratedfiveitems(Bettencourt&Brown,1997).Fortheanalysisofthesecustomer-ratedperformancevariables,weusedathree-levelnull-modelinthehierarchicallinearmodelingsoftware.BMeasuresWeusedHLMtotestthehypotheses.Forpredictionsregardingcustomerratingsofemployees'serviceperformancebehaviors(Hypotheses1and3–8),three-levelmodels,withcustomers(Level1)nestedinemployees(Level2)nestedinsalons(Level3)wereestimated.ForHypothesis2,thepredictionofemployee-leveloutcomes,weestimatedatwo-levelHLM.Weestimatedbias-correctedconfidenceintervalswithabootstrappingproceduretotesttheindirecteffectspredictions(Hypotheses5and6).CAnalyticalStrategy04

ResultsDescriptiveStatisticsAsanticipated,serviceperformancebehaviorswerecorrelatedpositivelywithservantleadership,transformationalleadership,andself-identityvariables.Self-identityvariableswerealsosignificantlycorrelatedwithservantleadershipandtransformationalleadership.Itappearsthattheleadershipvariableshavestrongerrelationshipswiththeserviceperformancevariablesthanthemediatingself-identityvariables.Model2ofTable2showsthatself-efficacywaspositivelyrelatedtoservicequality(γ=.17，

p<.05),customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior(γ=.19,p<.05),andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior(γ=.26,p<.05)afterwetookintoaccounttheeffectsofservantleadershipandtrans-formationalleadership.Hypothesis3wassupported.groupidentificationwaspositivelyrelatedtoservicequality(γ=.16,p<.05),customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior(γ=.21,p<.05),andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior(γ=.12,p<.05),Hypothesis4wassupported.AsshowninModel1ofTable2,servantleadershipwaspositivelyrelatedtoservicequality(γ=.67,p<.05),customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior(γ=1.02,p<.05),andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior(γ=.75,p<.05)whentransformationalleadershipwasincluded.

Hypothesis1wassupported.Simpleslopetests(Aiken&West,1991)showedthatwhenasalon’sclimatewashighlycompetitive,self-efficacyrelatedpositivelytoservicequality(γ=.36,p<.01),customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior(γ=.34,p<.01),andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior(γ=.38,p<.01).Whenthegroup’sclimatewaslesscompetitive,efficacywasnotsignificantlyrelatedtoservicequality(γ=.04,ns)orcustomer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior(γ=.06,ns).Hypothesis7wassupported.Therelationshipbetweenself-efficacyandcustomer-orientedprosocialbehaviorwasalsoweaker(γ=.20,p<.01).Figure2illustratestheserelationships.2Thispatternofmoderatedrelationshipsdidnotemergefortheinteractionofthecompetitionclimateandgroupidentification.Hypothesis8wasnotsupported.AsTable3shows,servantleadershipwaspositivelyrelatedtoastylist’sratingsofself-efficacy(γ=.51,p<.05)andgroupidentification(γ=.31,p<.05)whenwealsoincludedeffectsoftransformationalleadershipHypothesis2wassupported.AsshowninTable4,samplebootstrappingtestsofindirecteffectsindicatethatservantleadershipwasrelatedsignificantlyandindirectlythroughself-efficacytoservicequality,95%confidenceinterval(CI)[.05,.18],p<.05;customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,95%CI[.04,.19],p<.05;andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior,95%CI[.07,.21],p<.01,aftertakingtheeffectoftransformationalleadershipintoaccount.Table4alsoshowsthatservantleadershipsignificantlyandindirectlyrelatedthroughgroupidentificationtoservicequality,95%CI[.01,.09],p<.05;customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,95%CI[.02,.12],p<.05;andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior,95%CI[.02,.11],p<.05.Wealsofoundthatself-efficacydidnotmediatetherelationshipbetweentransformationalleadershipandservicequality,95%CI[–.07,.02],ns;customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,95%CI[–.08,.02],ns:,orcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior,95%CI[–.09,.03],ns.Buttransformationalleadershipwasrelatedsignificantlyandindirectlythroughgroupidentificationtoservicequality,95%CI[.02,.20],p<.05;customer-focusedcitizenshipbehavior,95%CI[.06,.26],p<.05;andcustomer-orientedprosocialbehavior,95%CI[.07,.23],p<

.01.Hypothesis5and6wassupported.Thedatawerecross-sectional,precludingany