THE EFFECT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR: THE ROLE OF TRUST IN LEADER AS A MEDIATION AND PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AS A MODERATION

https://doi.org/10.22146/jlo.42946

Diah Astrini Amir(1*)

(1) Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Current organizational behavior studies emphasize the importance of the human aspect. Therefore, leadership as a study of organizational behavior needs to focus on human aspects. The servant leadership (SL) popularized by Greenleaf in 1970 was in line with the idea. SL is explicitly defined as leadership that focuses on serving the needs of subordinates (human aspects). SL is believed to affect subordinate positive behavior which is indicated by organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). However, in the effect of SL on OCB, there is still debate over whether both of them have a direct or indirect impact. The role of organizational context is also not considered in previous studies. This study aims to examine the role of trust in leaders (TIL) as a mediating variable and perceived organizational support (POS) as a moderating variable on the effect of SL on OCB. A total of 238 respondents were collected in the current study in various regions of Indonesia. The results showed that SL had a significant positive effect on OCB. POS was also reported to significantly moderate the effect of SL on OCB. In addition, it was unexpectedly reported that TIL did not mediate the effect of SL on OCB. POS also reported not moderating the effect of SL on OCB through TIL. The arguments in explaining these results are discussed in more detail in the discussion section of this article.

Keywords


servant leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, trust in leader, perceived organizational support.

Full Text:

PDF


References

Abid, H. R., Gulzar, A., & Hussain, W. (2015). The Impact of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors with the Mediating Role of Trust and Moderating Role of Group Cohesiveness; A Study of Public Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 5(3), 234-242.

Asgari, A., Silong, A. D., Ahmad, A., & Samah, B. A. (2008). The Relationship between Transformational Leadership Behaviors, Organizational Justice, Leader Member Exchange, Perceived Organizational Support, Trust in Management and Organizationa Citizenship Behaviors. European Journal of Scientific Research. 23(2), 227-242.

Bambale, J. A. (2014). Relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Review of Literature and Future Research Directions. Journal of Marketing and Management. 5(1), 1-16.

Bandura. (1971). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.

Barbuto, J. E., & Wheeler, D. W. (2006). Scale Development and Construct Clarification of Servant Leadership. Group & Organization Management. 31(3), 300-326.

Blau. (1964). Exchange and Power in Social Life. New Brunswick (U.S.A.) and London (U.K.): Transaction Publishers.

Burke, C. S., Sims, D. E., Lazzara, E. H., & Salas, E. (2007). Trust in Leadership: A Multi-Level Review and Integration. The Leadership Quarterly. 18(6), 606-632.

Butarbutar, I. D., Sendjaya, S., & Härtel, C. E. (2010). The Mediating Effects of Ethical Climate on the Relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. In 24th ANZAM Conference 2010. ANZAM, 1-22.

Casimir, G., Waldman, D. A., Bartram, T., & Yang, S. (2006). Trust and the relationship between leadership and follower performance: Opening the black box in Australia and China. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 12(3), 68-84.

Chan, S. C. H., & Mak, W. M. (2014). The Impact of Servant Leadership and Subordinates' Organizational Tenure on Trust in Leader and Attitudes. Personnel Review. 43(2), 272-287.

Chatbury, A., Beaty, D., & Kriek, H.S. (2011). Servant Leadership, Trust, and Implications for the “Base of the Pyramid” Segment in South Africa. S. Afr. Bus. Manage. 42 (4), 57-61.

Chen, X. P., Eberly, M. B., Chiang, T. J., Farh, J. L., & Cheng, B. S. (2014). Affective Trust in Chinese Leaders Linking Paternalistic Leadership to Employee Performance. Journal of Management. 40(3), 796-819.

Choudhary, A. I., Akhtar, S. A., & Zaheer, A. (2013). Impact of Transformational and Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance: A Comparative Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics. 116(2), 433-440.

Cooper, R. D., & Schindler, S.P. (2014). Business Research Methods 12th. New York: McGrawHill.

Deluga, R. J. (1995). The Relation between Trust in the Supervisor and Subordinate Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Military Psychology. 7 (1), 1-16.

Dennis, R. S., & Bocarnea, M. (2005). Development of the Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 26(8), 600-615.

Dirks, K. T. (2000). Trust in Leadership and Team Performance: Evidence From NCAA Basketball. Journal of Applied Psychology. 85(6), 1004-1012.

Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2002). Trust in Leadership: Meta-Analytic Findings and Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Applied Psychology. 87(4), 611-628.

Dixon, D. L. (2013). Relationships Among Servant Leadership, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and School Climate in Alabama High Schools. A Dissertation. The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA.

Dulebohn, J. H., Bommer, W. H., Liden, R. C., Brouer, R. L., & Ferris, G. R. (2012). A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents and Consequences of Leader-Member Exchange Integrating The Past With An Eye Toward The Future. Journal of Management. 38(6), 1715-1759.

Ehrhart, M. G. (2004). Leadership and Procedural Justice Climate As Antecedents of Unit Level Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Personnel Psychology. 57(1), 61-94.

Eisenberger, R., Fasolo, P., & Davis-LaMastro, V. (1986). Perceived Organizational Support. Journal of Applied Psychology. 71(3), 500-507.

Erdogan, B., & Enders, J. (2007). Support From the Top: Supervisors Perceived Organizational Support as a Moderator of Leader Member Exchange to Satisfaction and Performance Relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology. 92 (2), 321-330.

Fiedler, F. E.(1964). A Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 1 (1), 149-190.

Graham, J. W. (1991). Servant Leadership in Organizations: Inspirational and Moral. The Leadership Quarterly. 2(2), 105-119.

Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. New York: Paulist Press.

Güçel, C., & Begeç, S. (2012). The Effect of The Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Case Study of A University. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies. 4(1), 107-116.

Hair, F. J., Black, C. W., Babin, J. B., & Anderson, E. R. (2014). Multivariate Data Analysis. London: Pearson Education Limited.

Harwiki, W. (2013). Influence of Servant Leadership to Motivation, Organization Culture, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), and Employee’s Performance in Outstanding Cooperatives East Java Province, Indonesia. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM). 8(5), 50-58.

Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership Explain Variance Above and Beyond Transformational Leadership? A Meta Analysis. Journal of Management. 44(2), 501-529.

Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penney, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant Leaders Inspire Servant Followers: Antecedents and Outcomes for Employees and The Organization. The Leadership Quarterly. 24(2), 316-331.

Jung, D. I., & Avolio, B. J. (2000). Opening the Black Box: An Experimental Investigation of The Mediating Effects of Trust and Value Congruence on Transformational and Transactional Leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 21(8), 949-964.

Joseph, E. E., & Winston, B. E. (2005). A Correlation of Servant Leadership, Leader Trust, and Organizational Trust. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 26(1), 6-22.

Laub, J. A. (1999). Assessing the Servant Organization. A Dissertation. Florida Atlantic University.

Lee, K., & Allen, N. J. (2002). Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Workplace Deviance: The Role of Affect and Cognitions. Journal of Applied Psychology. 87, 131-142.

Lewicki, R. J., & Bunker, B. B. (1996). Developing and maintaining trust in work relationships. Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research, 114, 139.

Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant Leadership: Development of a Multidimensional Measure and Multi-Level Assessment. The Leadership Quarterly. 19(2), 161-177.

Liden, R. C. (2012). Leadership Research in Asia: A Brief Assessment and Suggestions for The Future. Asia Pacific Journal of Management. 29(2), 205-212.

Liu, J., Siu, O. L., & Shi, K. (2010). Transformational Leadership and Employee Well Being: The Mediating Role of Trust in The Leader and Self‐Efficacy. Applied Psychology. 59(3), 454-479.

Mathur, G., & Negi, P. (2014). Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Among Employees of Service Sector. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. 191-196.

McAllister, D. J. (1995). Affect-and Cognition-based Trust as Foundations for Interpersonal Cooperation in Organizations. Academy of Management Journal. 38(1), 24-59.

Neubert, M. J., Kacmar, K. M., Carlson, D. S., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2008). Regulatory Focus as a Mediator of the Influence of Initiating Structure and Servant Leadership on Employee Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology. 93(6), 1220-1233.

Newman, A., Schwarz, G., Cooper, B., & Sendjaya, S. (2015). How Servant Leadership Influences Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Roles of LMX, Empowerment, and Proactive Personality. Journal of Business Ethics. 1-14.

Pekerti, A. A., & Sendjaya, S. (2010). Exploring Servant Leadership Across Cultures: Comparative Study in Australia and Indonesia. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 21(5), 754-780.

Pillai, R., Schriesheim, C. A., & Williams, E. S. (1999). Fairness Perceptions and Trust as Mediators for Transformational and Transactional leadership: A Two-Sample Study. Journal of Management. 25(6), 897-933.

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Moorman, R. H., & Fetter, R. (1990). Transformational Leader Behaviors and Their Effects on Followers' Trust in Leader, Satisfaction, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly. 1(2), 107-142.

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(3), 513-563.

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of Method Bias in Social science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539-569.

Reinke, S.J. (2003). Does the Form Really Matter? Leadership, Trust, and Acceptance of the Performance Appraisal Process. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 23(1), 23-37.

Reinke, S.J. (2004). Service Before Self: Towards A Theory of Servant Leadership. Global Virtue Ethics Review, 5(3), 30-57.

Sendjaya, S., Sarros, J. C., & Santora, J. C. (2008). Defining and Measuring Servant Leadership Behaviour in Organizations. Journal of Management Studies. 45(2), 402-424.

Sendjaya, S., & Pekerti, A. (2010). Servant Leaderhip as Antecedent of Trust in Organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. Vol. 31, No.7, 643-663.

Smith, C. A., Organ, D. W., & Near, J. P. (1983). Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Its Nature and Antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology. 68(4), 653-663.

Smith, B. N., Montagno, R. V., & Kuzmenko, T. N. (2004). Transformational and servant leadership: Content and contextual comparisons. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 10(4), 80-91.

Stone, G. A., Russell, F. R., & Patterson, K. (2004). Transformational vs Servant Leadership: A Difference in Leader Focus. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 25(4), 349-361.

Tan, H. H., & Tan, C. S. (2000). Toward the Differentiation of Trust in Supervisor and Trust in Organization. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126(2), 241-260.

Trivers, G. A. (2009). Servant Leadership Effects on Trust and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. A Dissertation. Argosy University Seattle.

Van Dierendonck, D. V., & Nuijten. (2010). The Servant Leadership Survey: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure. Journal Business Psychology. 26, 249-267.

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant Leadership: A Review and Synthesis. Journal of Management. 37(4), 1228-1261.

Vondey, M. (2010). The Relationships Among Servant Leadership, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Person-Organization Fit, and Organizational Identification. International Journal of Leadership Studies. 6(1), 3-27.

Walumbwa, F. O., Hartnell, C. A., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant Leadership, Procedural Justice Climate, Service Climate, Employee Attitudes, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Cross-Level Investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology. 95(3), 517-529.

Wang, H., 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. Academy of management Journal. 48(3), 420-432.

Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work.

Williams, W. A. (2012). The Impact of Servant Leadership on Follower Outcomes: Testing The Mediating Roles of Stewardship Cimate and Trust. A Dissertation. University of Missisippi.

Wu, L. Z., Tse, E. C. Y., Fu, P., Kwan, H. K., & Liu, J. (2013). The Impact of Servant Leadership on Hotel Employees Servant Behavior. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(4), 383-395.

Zehir, C., Akyuz, B., Eren, M. S., & Turhan, G. (2013). The Indirect Effects of Servant Leadership Behavior on Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Job Performance: Organizational Justice as a Mediator. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science. 2(3), 1, 2147-4478.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jlo.42946

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 12625 | views : 7164

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Copyright (c) 2019 Journal of Leadership in Organizations



Journal of Leadership in Organizations

Journal

Editorial Team
Focus and Scope
Peer Review Process
Publication Ethics
Screening for Plagiarism      

Authors

Author Guidelines
Submission Guidelines               
Online Submissions
Copyright Notice
Privacy Statement   
Author Fees            

Reviewer

Reviewer Guidelines      
           

Reader

General Search
Achieves
Author index
Title index                       

 

 

Journal of Leadership in Organizations (JLO), with registered number ISSN 2656-8829 (Print) and ISSN 2656-8810 (Online), is published by the Center for Leadership Studies, Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The content of this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

© 2019 Journal of Leadership in Organizations