Exploring the moderating role of job stress on the relationship between ethical leadership and employee job performance

Kanakarn Phanniphong, Sirinya Wiroonrath, Laongsri Niangchaem, Khahan Na-Nan, Vipaspon Thammarakkitanon

Article ID: 4338
Vol 8, Issue 8, 2024

VIEWS - 204 (Abstract) 138 (PDF)

Abstract


This study addresses the present limited understanding of the complex relationship between ethical leadership, job stress, and employee job performance in the hotel business. This study shows that job stress moderates the association between ethical leadership and employee job performance, underlining the necessity for more research in the industry. The present study fills a crucial research void in our understanding of the complex interaction between these factors. The study utilizes a sample of 292 employees in the accommodation and hotel industry. Prior to commencing data collection, the questionnaire underwent thorough validation and reliability testing to ensure that the instrument met all specified criteria and demonstrated robustness. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the study reveals substantial findings. It has been discovered that ethical leadership has a direct and positive effect on employee job performance. Notably, job stress emerges as a significant moderating variable that affects the relationship between ethical leadership and employee job performance. This highlights the crucial role that job stress plays in determining outcomes. The research indicates that reducing workplace stress and fostering ethical leadership can result in improved employee job performance. In addition, the study highlights the importance of social learning theory in enhancing employee job performance, with job stress and ethical leadership serving as significant moderating factors.


Keywords


ethical leadership; employee job performance; job stress; moderating effect; accommodation; hotel industry

Full Text:

PDF


References


Abdelmoteleb, S. A. (2019). A New Look at the Relationship Between Job Stress and Organizational Commitment: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(3), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9543-z

Abreu, J. (2018). The dark side of leadership. Daena: International Journal of Good Conscience, 13(2), 493–500.

Ahmed Iqbal, Z., Abid, G., Contreras, F., et al. (2020). Ethical Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Individual Attributes. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(3), 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6030068

Ahn, J., Lee, S., & Yun, S. (2018). Leaders’ Core Self-evaluation, Ethical Leadership, and Employees’ Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Employees’ Exchange Ideology. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(2), 457–470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3030-0

Alam, I., Kartar Singh, J. S., & Islam, M. U. (2021). Does supportive supervisor complements the effect of ethical leadership on employee engagement? Cogent Business & Management, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1978371

Aloisio, L. D., Coughlin, M., & Squires, J. E. (2021). Individual and organizational factors of nurses’ job satisfaction in long-term care: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 123, 104073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.104073

AlShehhi, H., Alshurideh, M., Kurdi, B. A., & Salloum, S. A. (2020). The impact of ethical leadership on employees performance: A systematic review. In: International conference on advanced intelligent systems and informatics. Springer International Publishing.

Ashfaq, F., Abid, G., & Ilyas, S. (2021). Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employee Engagement: Role of Self-Efficacy and Organizational Commitment. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(3), 962–974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11030071

Bakker, A. B., & de Vries, J. D. (2021). Job Demands—Resources theory and self-regulation: New explanations and remedies for job burnout. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 34(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1797695

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy the exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

Benson, L. T., & Deeter, T. E. (1992). Moderators of the Relation Between Stress and Depression in Adolescents. The School Counselor, 39(3), 189–194.

Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004

Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.

Campbell, J. P. (1990). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and organizational psychology. In: Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Consulting Psychologists Press.

Choi, H.-M., Mohammad, A. A. A., & Kim, W. G. (2019). Understanding hotel frontline employees’ emotional intelligence, emotional labor, job stress, coping strategies and burnout. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 82, 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.05.002

Chung, H., Quan, W., Koo, B., et al. (2021). A Threat of Customer Incivility and Job Stress to Hotel Employee Retention: Do Supervisor and Co-Worker Supports Reduce Turnover Rates? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), 6616. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126616

Dey, M., Bhattacharjee, S., Mahmood, M., et al. (2022). Ethical leadership for better sustainable performance: Role of employee values, behavior and ethical climate. Journal of Cleaner Production, 337, 130527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130527

Eluwole, K. K., Karatepe, O. M., & Avci, T. (2022). Ethical leadership, trust in organization and their impacts on critical hotel employee outcomes. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 103153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103153

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: Algebra and Statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800313

Friedman, M., & Rosenman, R. H. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings: blood cholesterol level, blood clotting time, incidence of arcus senilis, and clinical coronary artery disease. Journal of the American medical association, 169(12), 1286–1296. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1959.03000290012005

Giao, H. N. K., Vuong, B. N., & Tushar, H. (2020). The impact of social support on job-related behaviors through the mediating role of job stress and the moderating role of locus of control: Empirical evidence from the Vietnamese banking industry. Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1841359. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841359

Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.

Holston-Okae, B. L., & Mushi, R. J. (2018). Employee turnover in the hospitality industry using Herzberg’s two-factor motivation-hygiene theory. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i1/3805

Hsieh, Y. H., Hsu, C. Y., Liu, C. Y., & Huang, T. L. (2011). The levels of stress and depression among interns and clerks in three medical centers in Taiwan—a cross-sectional study. Chang Gung Medical Journal, 34(3), 278–285.

Huang, C. H., Ting, C. W., Chang, T. W., et al. (2023). The Impact of Ethical Leadership on Financial Performance: The Mediating Role of Environmentally Proactive Strategy and the Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure. Sustainability, 15(13), 10449. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310449

Hutchins, H. M., Penney, L. M., & Sublett, L. W. (2017). What imposters risk at work: Exploring imposter phenomenon, stress coping, and job outcomes. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 29(1), 31–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21304

Iskamto, D. (2021). Stress and Its Impact on Employee Performance. International Journal of Social and Management Studies, 2(3), 142–148.

Javaid, Z. K., Mahmood, K., & Ali, A. A. (2023). Mediating Role of Mindfulness between Quality of Life and Workplace Stress among Working Women: Quality of Life and Workplace Stress among Working Women. Journal of Workplace Behavior, 4(1), 68–80.

Joungtrakul, J. (2016). Improving the response rate of questionnaires in conducting quantitative research. AFBE Journal, 9, 53–64.

Kia, N., Halvorsen, B., & Bartram, T. (2019). Ethical leadership and employee in-role performance. Personnel Review, 48(7), 1716–1733. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-12-2018-0514

Kim, W., Han, S., & Park, J. (2019). Is the Role of Work Engagement Essential to Employee Performance or ‘Nice to Have’? Sustainability, 11(4), 1050. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041050

LePine, J. A., Erez, A., & Johnson, D. E. (2002). The nature and dimensionality of organizational citizenship behavior: A critical review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 52–65. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.1.52

López-Cabarcos, M. Á., Vázquez-Rodríguez, P., & Quiñoá-Piñeiro, L. M. (2022). An approach to employees’ job performance through work environmental variables and leadership behaviours. Journal of Business Research, 140, 361–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.006

Malik, F. A., Akhtar, S., Khurshid, S., et al. (2023). Unveiling the Dynamics of Ethical Leadership: Empirical Insights and Impact on Organizational Outcomes. International Journal of Business and Economic Affairs, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.24088/ijbea-2023-83006

Marisya, F., Mayasari, V., Astuti, S. D., et al. (2023). Implementation of Leadership Ethics and Transformational Leadership in Employee Performance. Asian Journal of Applied Business and Management, 2(4), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.55927/ajabm.v2i4.6714

Murphy, K. R. (1989). Is the relationship between cognitive ability and job performance stable over time? Human Performance, 2(3), 183–200. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup0203_3 https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup0203_3

Na-Nan, K., Chaiprasit, K., & Pukkeeree, P. (2018). Factor analysis-validated comprehensive employee job performance scale. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 35(10), 2436–2449. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijqrm-06-2017-0117

Nawaz, M. S., Pangil, F., & Bhatti, M. A. (2015). The Relationship between Human Resource Development Factors and Turnover Intention: A Conceptual Framework. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 5(12). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v5-i12/1959

Oladimeji, K. A., & Abdulkareem, A. K. (2023). Ethical Leadership and Employee Performance in the Public Sector: The Mediating Effects of Motivation and Satisfaction. Jurnal Studi Pemerintahan, 133–148. https://doi.org/10.18196/jgp.v13i2.14903

Oswald, F. L., Behrend, T. S., Putka, D. J., et al. (2020). Big Data in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management: Forward Progress for Organizational Research and Practice. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 7(1), 505–533. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104553

Ouakouak, M. L., Zaitouni, M. G., & Arya, B. (2020). Ethical leadership, emotional leadership, and quitting intentions in public organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 41(2), 257–279. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-05-2019-0206

Park, I.-J., Kim, P. B., Hai, S., et al. (2020). Relax from job, don’t feel stress! The detrimental effects of job stress and buffering effects of coworker trust on burnout and turnover intention. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 45, 559–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.10.018

Qing, M., Asif, M., Hussain, A., et al. (2019). Exploring the impact of ethical leadership on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in public sector organizations: the mediating role of psychological empowerment. Review of Managerial Science, 14(6), 1405–1432. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-019-00340-9

Ryu, G. W., Yang, Y. S., & Choi, M. (2020). Mediating role of coping style on the relationship between job stress and subjective well-being among Korean police officers. BMC Public Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08546-3

Saha, R., Shashi, Cerchione, R., Singh, R., et al. (2020). Effect of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: A systematic review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 409–429. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1824

Schlömmer, M., Spieß, T., & Schlögl, S. (2021). Leaderboard Positions and Stress—Experimental Investigations into an Element of Gamification. Sustainability, 13(12), 6608. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126608

Schwepker, C. H., & Dimitriou, C. K. (2021). Using ethical leadership to reduce job stress and improve performance quality in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, 102860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102860

Schwepker, C. H., & Ingram, T. N. (2016). Ethical leadership in the salesforce: effects on salesperson customer orientation, commitment to customer value and job stress. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(7), 914–927. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim-07-2015-0136

Sergiovanni, T. J. (1992). Moral Leadership. NASSP Bulletin, 76(547), 121–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263659207654719

Shafique, I., Kalyar, M. N., & Rani, T. (2020). Examining the impact of ethical leadership on safety and task performance: a safety-critical context. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 41(7), 909–926. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-07-2019-0335

Treviño, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral Person and Moral Manager: How Executives Develop a Reputation for Ethical Leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128–142. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166057

Uddin, M., Ali, K. B., Khan, M. A., et al. (2021). Supervisory and co-worker support on the work-life balance of working women in the banking sector: a developing country perspective. Journal of Family Studies, 29(1), 306–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2021.1922299

Van Den Tooren, M., & De Jonge, J. (2008). Managing job stress in nursing: what kind of resources do we need? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 63(1), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04657.x

Wang, K. (2012). Relationship between employment pressure and personality traits of university students [In Chinese]. Health Medicine Research and Practice, 9(1), 61–65.

Wang, Z., Xing, L., Xu, H., et al. (2021). Not All Followers Socially Learn from Ethical Leaders: The Roles of Followers’ Moral Identity and Leader Identification in the Ethical Leadership Process. Journal of Business Ethics, 170(3), 449–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04353-y

Wu, F., Ren, Z., Wang, Q., et al. (2021). The relationship between job stress and job burnout: the mediating effects of perceived social support and job satisfaction. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 26(2), 204–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2020.1778750

Yang, L. F., & Hu, J. C. (2010). Analysis of job stress as moderator and mediator: taking job control model as an example. Soft Science, 24(7), 78–83.

Yang, Q., & Wei, H. (2017). Ethical leadership and employee task performance: examining moderated mediation process. Management Decision, 55(7), 1506–1520. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-09-2016-0627

Young, D. S. (2017). Handbook of regression methods. CRC Press.

Yousaf, S., Rasheed, M. I., Hameed, Z., et al. (2020). Occupational stress and its outcomes: the role of work-social support in the hospitality industry. Personnel Review, 49(3), 755–773. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-11-2018-0478

Yu, M., Jiao, Q., Wang, G. G., et al. (2022). The threshold effect of commitment-oriented HRM practices on employee job performance: the role of employee age. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 44(6), 1372–1392. https://doi.org/10.1108/er-11-2020-0516

Zahoor, N., Abdullah, N., & Zakaria, N. (2021). The role of high performance work practices, work-family conflict, job stress and personality in affecting work life balance. Management Science Letters, 11(4), 1367–1378. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2018-047810.5267/j.msl.2020.11.003

Zaim, H., Demir, A., & Budur, T. (2021). Ethical leadership, effectiveness and team performance: An Islamic perspective. Middle East J. of Management, 8(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1504/mejm.2021.111991

Zaim, H., Demir, A., & Budur, T. (2021). Ethical leadership, effectiveness and team performance: An Islamic perspective. Middle East Journal of Management, 8(1), 42–66.

Zhou, H., Jin, M., & Ma, Q. (2015). Remedy for work stress: The impact and mechanism of ethical leadership. Central European Journal of Public Health, 23(2), 176.

Zhou, S., Wu, S., Yu, X., et al. (2021). Employment stress as a moderator of the relationship between proactive personality and career decision-making self-efficacy. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 49(10), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.10735




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i8.4338

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Kanakarn Phanniphong, Sirinya Wiroonrath, Laongsri Niangchaem, Khahan Na-Nan, Vipaspon Thammarakkitanon

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.