Gain without pay causes lazybones' loss: The influence of formal and informal leader–member relationships on customer service performance. Issue 3 (19th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Wen; Liu, Jingli; Shang, Xiaopu
• Is Part Of: Chinese management studies. Volume 12:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 634
• Page End: 657
• Publication Date: 2018-04-19
• Subjects: Leader–member exchange -- Leader–member guanxi -- Co-worker service-oriented OCB -- Loafing tendency -- Customer service performance; Industrial management -- China -- Periodicals; 658.400951
• DOI: 10.1108/CMS-03-2017-0057
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-614X

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: Building on social informational processing theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical model of moderated mediation in which social loafing tendency serves as an intervening mechanism that explains associations among two dimensions of leader–member relationships (formal and informal relationships, namely, leader–member exchange and leader–member guanxi) and customer service performance. Design/methodology/approach: The authors designed a field study to test the hypotheses presented in this paper. A survey of 304 supervisor–employee pairs and matched customers generally provide support for this model. Findings: The authors found that social loafing tendency played a mediating role between leader–member relationships and customer service performance. Co-worker service-oriented OCB moderated the positive relationship between leader–member guanxi and loafing tendency. Research limitations/implications: More samples should be collected from both private and state-owned company. Both the informal and formal leader–member relationships should be unanimously included in examining how the leader–member relationships influence focal employee's attitude and behavior, particularly in societies where the informal relationship plays noticeable role. Practical implications: Managers should properly deal with formal and informal relationship with subordinates. Originality/value: The influence of leader–member guanxi on employees and organization is controversial in extant literature. In some sense, this finding contributes to extant literature by further clarifying the influence of guanxi on the focal employee's performance.