How Service Managers Can Shape Frontline Employees' Organizational Values to Reduce Person-Role Conflicts

Publication Type
Contribution to conference
Authors
Selzer, V. L., Schumann, J. H., Büttgen, M., Ates, Z., & Komor, M.
Year of publication
2016
Published in
Marketing in the age of data. Proceedings of the EMAC conference 2016
Conference name
EMAC conference
Conference location
Oslo, Norway
Conference date
May 24-27, 2016
Abstract

Role conflicts are a common problem of frontline employees (FLEs) in service settings, thus, identifying leadership behavior that reduces role conflicts of FLEs is important. This study tests the effectiveness of transformational leadership (TFL) styles on person-role conflict, organizational values (customer and team orientation) as mediating factors, and the moderating effect of uncer-tainty avoidance (as one cultural value) in the context of service occupations. Results show that the effectiveness of TFL styles differs, while organizational values mediate the TFL styles – person-role conflict link and uncertainty avoidance moderates it. The study suggests that, contrary to general assumptions, not all TFL styles are equally effective. The inclusion of organizational values provides a new explanation for the effectiveness of TFL. In addition, individual cultural values appear to be relevant in terms of handling role conflicts in order to ensure a high level of job performance.

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