A longitudinal analysis of an accelerating effect of empowerment on job satisfaction: Customer-contact vs. non-customer-contact workers. (August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Gyumin; Kim, Peter Beomcheol; Perdue, Richard R.
• Is Part Of: International journal of hospitality management. Volume 57(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2016-08
• Subjects: Longitudinal analysis -- Empowerment -- Job satisfaction -- Customer-contact; Hotel management -- Periodicals; Restaurant management -- Periodicals; Food service management -- Periodicals; Hôtels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Restaurants -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Services alimentaires -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Food service management; Hotel management; Restaurant management; Periodicals; 647.94
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.05.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0278-4319

Abstract

Abstract: The primary purpose of this paper is to examine whether the impact of empowerment on job satisfaction increases as time changes, and whether this impact is stronger for customer-contact employees than non-customer-contact employees. This study employs a Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) technique to test research hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset from an annual employee opinion survey conducted by a hospitality company in the United States for three consecutive years; 67 work teams consisting of 1534 employees are the unit of analysis. This study finds that the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction is more salient for customer-contact employees, and the effect of empowerment accelerates over the years regardless of the nature of work. Implications of the findings are discussed for researchers and industry practitioners alike.