Examining the mechanisms linking transformational leadership, employee customer orientation, and service performance: The mediating roles of perceived supervisor and coworker support

Journal of Business and Psychology

Volumn 25, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 477-492

  Liaw, Yuann Jun ^a   Chi, Nai Wen ^b   Chuang, Aichia ^a  

^a NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY   (Taiwan)

^b NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY   (Taiwan)

Author keywords

Coworker support; Customer orientation; Multilevel analysis; Service performance; Supervisor support; Taiwan; Transformational leadership; Trickle down process

Indexed keywords

EID: 77955092646     PISSN: 08893268     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10869-009-9145-x     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
2. Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling with practice: A review and recommendation two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423.
3. Aryee, S., Chen, Z. X., Sun, L.-Y., & Debrah, Y. A. (2007). Antecedents and outcomes of abusive supervision: Test of a trickle-down model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 191-201.
4. Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (2002). Manual for the multifactor leadership questionnaire (Form 5X). CA: Mindgarden.
5. Avolio, B. J., Zhu, W., Koh, W., & Bhatia, P. (2004). Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: Mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 951-968.
6. Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2005). The crossover of burnout and work engagement among working couples. Human Relations, 58, 661-689.
7. Barger, P. B., & Grandey, A. A. (2006). Service with a smile and encounter satisfaction: Emotional contagion and appraisal mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 1229-1238.
8. Barling, J., Weber, T., & Kelloway, E. K. (1996). Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 827-832.
9. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
10. Barone, M. J., Miniard, P. W., & Romeo, J. B. (2000). The influence of positive mood on brand extension evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 26, 386-400.
11. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
12. Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 207-218.
13. Bass, B. M., Waldman, D. A., Avolio, B. J., & Bebb, M. (1987). Transformational leadership and the falling dominoes effect. Group & Organization Management, 12, 73-87.
14. Bauer, D. J., Preacher, K. J., & Gil, K. M. (2006). Conceptualizing and testing random indirect effects and moderated mediation in multilevel models: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 11, 142-163.
15. Bell, S. J., Meng, B., & Stefani, S. L. (2004). When customers disappoint: A model of relational internal marketing and customer complaints. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32, 112-126.
16. Bell, S. J., & Menguc, B. (2002). The employee-organization relationship, organizational citizenship behaviors, and supervisor service quality. Journal of Retailing, 78, 131-146.
17. Bliese, P. D. (2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In K. J. Klein & S. W. J. Kozlowski (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations (pp. 349-381). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18. Bono, J. E., Foldes, H. J., Vinson, G., & Muros, J. P. (2007). Workplace emotions: The role of supervision and leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1357-1367.
19. Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2003). Self-concordance at work: Toward understanding the motivational effects of transformational leaders. The Academy of Management Journal, 46, 554-571.
20. Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Personality and transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 901-910.
21. Bowen, J., & Ford, R. C. (2002). Managing service organizations: Does having a "thing" make a difference? Journal of Management, 28, 447-469.
22. Brady, M. K., & Cronin, J. J., Jr. (2001a). Customer orientation: Effects on customer service perceptions and outcome behaviors. Journal of Service Research, 3, 241-251.
23. Brady, M. K., & Cronin, J. J., Jr. (2001b). Some new thoughts on conceptualizing perceived service quality: A hierarchical approach. Journal of Marketing, 65, 34-49.
24. Brislin, R. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written materials. In H. C. Triandis & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Methodology (Vol. 2, pp. 394-444). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
25. Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J. W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait effects on self-and supervisor performance ratings. Journal of Marketing Research, 39, 110-119.
26. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
27. Chi, N. W., Chung, Y. Y., & Tsai, W. C. (in press). How do happy leaders enhance team success? The mediating roles of transformational leadership, group affective tone and team processes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
28. Colgate, M. R., & Danaher, P. J. (2000). Implementing a customer relationship strategy: The asymmetric impact of poor versus excellent execution. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, 375-387.
29. Conway, J. M., & Huffcutt, A. I. (1997). Psychometric properties of multisource performance ratings: A meta-analysis of subordinate, supervisor, peer, and self-ratings. Human Performance, 10, 331-360.
30. Cross, M. E., Brashear, T. G., Rigdon, E. E., & Bellenger, D. N. (2007). Customer orientation and salesperson performance. European Journal of Marketing, 41, 821-835.
31. Dean, A. M. (2007). The impact of the customer orientation of call center employees on customers' affective commitment and loyalty. Journal of Service Research, 10, 161-173.
32. Dietz, J., Pugh, S. D., & Wiley, J. W. (2004). Service climate effects on customer attitudes: An examination of boundary conditions. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 81-92.
33. Donavan, D. T., Brown, T. J., & Mowen, J. C. (2004). Internal benefits of service-worker customer orientation: Job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Marketing, 68, 128-146.
34. Ducharme, L. J., & Martin, J. K. (2000). Unrewarding work, coworker support, and job satisfaction: A test of the buffering hypothesis. Work and Occupations, 27, 223-243.
35. Eisenberger, R., Stinglhamber, F., Vandenberghe, C., Sucharski, I. L., & Rhoades, L. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 565-573.
36. Erez, A., Misangyi, V. F., Johnson, D. E., LePine, M. A., & Halverson, K. C. (2008). Stirring the hearts of followers: Charismatic leadership as the transferal of affect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 602-616.
37. Farh, J. L. L., & Dobbins, G. H. (1989). Effects of self-esteem on leniency bias in self-reports of performance: A structural equation model analysis. Personnel Psychology, 42, 835-850.
38. Fox, S., & Dinur, Y. (1988). Validity of self-assessment: A field evaluation. Personnel Psychology, 41, 581-592.
39. Franke, G. R., & Park, J. E. (2006). Salesperson adaptive selling behavior and customer orientation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 43, 693-702.
40. Gumusluoglu, L., & Ilsev, A. (2009). Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation. Journal of Business Research, 62, 461-473.
41. Harris, M. M., & Schaubroeck, J. (1988). A meta-analysis of self-supervisor, self-peer, and peer-supervisor ratings. Personnel Psychology, 41, 43-62.
42. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. New York: Cambridge University Press.
43. Hennig-Thurau, T., & Thurau, C. (2003). Customer orientation of service employees. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 2, 1-32.
44. Hofmann, D. A. (1997). An overview of the logical and rationale of hierarchical linear models. Journal of Management, 23, 723-744.
45. Howard, D. J., & Barry, T. E. (1994). The role of thematic congruence between a mood-inducing event and an advertised product in determining the effects of mood on brand attitudes. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 3, 1-27.
46. Iverson, R. D. (1999). An event history analysis of employee turnover: The case of hospital employees in Australia. Human Resource Management Review, 9, 397-418.
47. James, L. R. (1982). Aggregation bias in estimates of perceptual agreement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 219-229.
48. James, L. R., Demaree, R. G., & Wolf, G. (1984). Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 85-98.
49. Jones, E., Kantak, D. M., Futrell, C. M., & Johnston, M. W. (1996). Leader behavior, work-attitudes, and turnover of salespeople: An integrative study. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 16, 13-23.
50. Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (2003). LISREL 8. 54. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
51. Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 755-768.
52. Jung, D. I., Chow, C., & Wu, A. (2003). The role of transformational leadership in enhancing organizational innovation: Hypotheses and some preliminary findings. The Leadership Quarterly, 14, 525-544.
53. Karatepe, O. M., Yavas, U., & Babakus, E. (2007). The effects of customer orientation and job resources on frontline employees' job outcomes. Services Marketing Quarterly, 29, 61-79.
54. Kark, R., Shamir, B., & Chen, G. (2003). The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 246-255.
55. Keller, R. T. (2006). Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and substitutes for leadership: A longitudinal study of research and development project team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 202-210.
56. Kelley, S. W. (1992). Developing customer orientation among service employees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 20, 27-36.
57. Kirkman, B. L., Chen, G., Farh, J. L., Chen, Z. X., & Lowe, K. B. (2009). Individual power distance orientation and follower reactions to transformational leaders: A cross-level, cross cultural examination. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 744-764.
58. Kotler, P. (1980). Marketing management: Analysis, planning and control (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.
59. Kottke, J. L., & Sharafinski, C. E. (1988). Measuring perceived supervisory and organizational support. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 48, 1075-1079.
60. LeBreton, J. M., & Senter, J. L. (2008). Answers to 20 questions about interrater reliability and interrater agreement. Organizational Research Methods, 11, 815-852.
61. Liao, H., & Chuang, A. (2004). A multilevel investigation of factors influencing employee service performance and customer outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 41-58.
62. Liao, H., & Chuang, A. C. (2007). Transforming service employees and climate: A multilevel, multisource examination of transformational leadership in building long-term service relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1006-1019.
63. Liao, H., & Subramony, M. (2008). Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: Joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 317-328.
64. Lim, B. C., & Ployhart, R. E. (2004). Transformational leadership: Relations to the five-factor model and team performance in typical and maximum contexts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 610-621.
65. MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., & Rich, G. A. (2001). Transformational and transactional leadership and salesperson performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29, 115-134.
66. MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7, 83-104.
67. Masterson, S. S. (2001). A trickle-down model of organizational justice: Relating employees' and customers' perceptions of and reactions to fairness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 594-604.
68. Mathieu, J. E., & Taylor, S. R. (2007). A framework for testing meso-mediational relationships in organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28, 141-172.
69. Menguc, B., & Auh, S. (2008). Conflict, leadership, and market orientation. International Journal in Marketing, 25, 34-45.
70. Menguc, B., Auh, S., & Shih, E. (2007). Transformational leadership and market orientation: Implications for the implementation of competitive strategies and business unit performance. Journal of Business Research, 60, 314-321.
71. Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Mplus: Statistical analysis with latent variables. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
72. O'Hara, B. S., Boles, J. S., & Johnston, M. W. (1991). The influence of personal variables on salesperson selling orientation. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11, 61-67.
73. Phillips, J. J., & Phillips, P. P. (2004). Return to sender: Improving response rates for questionnaires and surveys. Performance Improvement, 43, 40-44.
74. Piccolo, R. F., & Colquitt, J. A. (2006). Transformational leadership and job behaviors: The mediating role of core job characteristics. The Academy of Management Journal, 49, 327-340.
75. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.
76. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Moorman, R. H., & Fetter, H. (1990). Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 1, 107-142.
77. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., & Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, 26, 513-563.
78. Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12, 531-544.
79. Price, J. L., & Mueller, C. W. (1986). Absenteeism and turnover of hospital employees. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
80. Purvanova, R. K., Bono, J. E., & Dzieweczynski, J. (2006). Transformational leadership, job characteristics, and organizational citizenship performance. Human Performance, 19, 1-22.
81. Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
82. Rhoades, L., Eisenberger, R., & Armeli, S. (2001). Affective commitment to the organization: The contribution of perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 825-836.
83. Rosenbaum, P. R. (2002). Observational studies. New York: Springer.
84. Rosopa, P. J., & Stone-Romero, E. F. (2008). Problems with detecting assumed mediation using the hierarchical multiple regression strategy. Human Resource Management Review, 18, 294-310.
85. Saxe, R., & Weitz, B. A. (1982). The SOCO scale: A measure of the customer orientation of salespeople. Journal of Marketing Research, 19, 343-351.
86. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293-315.
87. Schneider, B., Paul, M. C., & White, S. S. (1998). Too much of a good thing: A multiple-constituency perspective on service organization effectiveness. Journal of Service Research, 1, 93-102.
88. Shanock, L. R., & Eisenberger, R. (2006). When supervisors feel supported: Relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 689-695.
89. Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7, 422-445.
90. Sosik, J. J., Avolio, B. J., & Kahai, S. S. (1997). Effects of leadership style and anonymity on group potency and effectiveness in a group decision support system environment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 89-103.
91. Sosik, J. J., & Godshalk, V. M. (2000). Leadership styles, mentoring functions received, and job-related stress: A conceptual model and preliminary study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 365-390.
92. Stock, R. M., & Hoyer, W. D. (2002). Leadership style as driver of salespeoples' customer orientation. Journal of Market-Focused Management, 5, 355-376.
93. Stock, R. M., & Hoyer, W. D. (2005). An attitude-behavior model of salespeople's customer orientation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33, 536-552.
94. Stone-Romero, E. F., & Rosopa, P. J. (2008). The relative validity of inferences about mediation as a function of research design characteristics. Organizational Research Methods, 11, 326-352.
95. Subramony, M., Beehr, T. A., & Johnson, M. C. (2004). Employee and customer perceptions of service quality in an Indian firm. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 53, 311-327.
96. Susskind, A. M., Kacmar, K. M., & Borchgrevink, C. P. (2003). Customer service providers' attitudes relating to customer service and customer satisfaction in the customer-server exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 179-187.
97. Thakor, M. V., & Joshi, A. W. (2005). Motivating salesperson customer orientation: Insights from the job characteristics model. Journal of Business Research, 58, 584-592.
98. Tsai, W. C., Chen, H. W., & Cheng, J. W. (2009). Employee positive moods as a mediator linking transformational leadership and employee work outcomes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20, 206-219.
99. Tsai, W. C., Chen, C. C., & Liu, L. L. (2007). Test of a model linking employee positive moods and task performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1570-1583.
100. Tsai, W. C., & Huang, Y. M. (2002). Mechanisms linking employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1001-1008.
101. Turner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., & Milner, C. (2002). Transformational leadership and moral reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 304-311.
102. Wallace, M., & Weese, W. J. (1995). Leadership, organizational culture, and job satisfaction in Canadian YMCA organizations. Journal of Sport Management, 9, 182-193.
103. Wang, H. U. I., Law, K. S., Hackett, R. D., Wang, D., & Chen, Z. X. (2005). Leader-member exchange as a mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The Academy of Management Journal, 48, 420-432.
104. Whetten, D. A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14, 490-495.
105. Zhang, Z., Zyphur, M. J., & Preacher, K. J. (2009). Testing multilevel mediation using hierarchical linear models. Organizational Research Methods, 12, 695-719.