Test of a mediation model of psychological capital among hotel salespeople

This paper aims to propose and test a research model that examines psychological capital as a mediator of the effect of servant leadership on lateness attitude, intention to remain with the organization, service–sales ambidexterity and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors.

Data were gathered from hotel salespeople using a three-wave design with a two-week time lag between each wave in Iran. In total, 26 supervisors assessed salespeople’s service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used in the assessment of the direct and mediating effects.

The findings reveal that psychological capital functions as a full mediator of the influence of servant leadership on the aforementioned outcomes. Specifically, servant leadership fosters salespeople’s psychological capital. Such employees in turn display reduced lateness attitude and express an increased intent to remain with the organization. They also have favorable perceptions of service–sales ambidexterity and exhibit service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors at elevated levels.

Top management of hotels should be committed to the philosophy of servant leadership because salespeople under the umbrella of this leadership style are high on psychological capital. Under these circumstances, such employees can exhibit service–sales ambidexterity by contributing to delivery of exceptional service and enhancing customer satisfaction. They can also contribute to the organization’s competitive advantage via service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors.

This study makes a significant contribution to the extant hospitality research by testing psychological capital as a mediator between servant leadership and the previously mentioned consequences.