The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employer commitment to a supervisor and organizational citizenship behaviors in electonic retailing industry

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business

-----------------------------

NGUYEN HONG PHUOC

THE EFFECTS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON JOB
SATISFACTION, EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT TO A
SUPERVISOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP
BEHAVIORS IN ELECTRONIC RETAILING INDUSTRY

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2014


UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
-----------------------------

NGUYEN HONG PHUOC

THE EFFECTS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON JOB
SATISFACTION, EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT TO A
SUPERVISOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP
BEHAVIORS IN ELECTRONIC RETAILING INDUSTRY

MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)
SUPERVISOR: LUU TRONG TUAN, PhD

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2014


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this study represents a milestone in my life. It has been a long time and
demanded a lot of effort and time. Many people's patience, support and constant
encouragement helped bring this work to life.
First of all, I would like to thank with gratitude Sir Luu Trong Tuan, PhD, who provided
guidance and encouragement in his own unique way. I feel extremely blessed to have
him as my supervisor. His passion for research has been exceptionally inspirational.
Working under his supervision has been an extremely rewarding experience which has
contributed significantly to the completion of the thesis.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends for their input and, most
importantly, for their friendships. I am so grateful to all of you.
Last, but not least, my warm and heartfelt thanks go to my wife, to my parents for their
everlasting love and support which sustained me in the years it took to bring this
work for completion. Without the blessings and support of my whole family, this thesis
would not have been possible.
Thank you for giving me your strength. I love all of you!


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

ii

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically the effects of servant leadership on
job satisfaction, employee commitment to a supervisor and organizational citizenship
behaviors. The effect of organizational citizenship behaviors on employee commitment to a
supervisor, and in turn the effect of employee commitment to a supervisor on job
satisfaction were also investigated. This research framework was tested through a survey on
Vietnamese sales staffs from electronic retailing companies in Vietnam. The findings of this
study showed significant and positive effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction,
employee commitment to a supervisor and organizational citizenship behaviors.
Additionally, the study found that organizational citizenship behaviors positively affected
on employee commitment to a supervisor, as well as employee commitment to a supervisor
had a positive effect on job satisfaction. The study provides managerial implications for
sales managers who should identify the experiential needs of their staff and properly
adopt the servant leadership as well as suggests directions for future research.
Keywords: servant leadership; job satisfaction; employee commitment to a supervisor;
organizational citizenship behaviors; Vietnam.


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AMOS

Analysis of Moment Structures

CFA

Confirmation Factor Analysis

EC

Employee Commitment to a supervisor

JS

Job Satisfaction

OCB

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

SEM

Structural Equation Modelling

SL

Servant Leadership

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

iii


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement .....................................................................................................................i
Abstract ................................................................................................................................ ii
List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. iii
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................iv
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ viii
List of Figures .........................................................................................................................ix

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Statement of the research problem ..................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research objectives and research questions....................................................................... 5
1.3 Research methodology ....................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Thesis structure .................................................................................................................. 6
1.5 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMEMT .............. 8
2.1 Literature review ................................................................................................................ 8
2.1.1 Leadership ............................................................................................................ 8
2.1.1.1 Leadership theories ...................................................................................... 9
2.1.1.2 Servant leadership...................................................................................... 16
2.1.2 Job satisfaction ................................................................................................... 18
2.1.3 Employee commitment to a supervisor .............................................................. 20
2.1.4 Organizational citizenship behaviors ................................................................. 21
2.2 Hypothesis development .................................................................................................. 23


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

v

2.2.1 Servant leadership and job satisfaction .............................................................. 23
2.2.2 Servant leadership and employee commitment to a supervisor ......................... 24
2.2.3 Servant leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors ............................ 25
2.3.4 Organizational citizenship behaviors and employee commitment to a
supervisor............................................................................................................... 29
2.3.5 Employee commitment to a supervisor and job satisfaction ............................. 30
2.3 Research model ................................................................................................................ 31
2.4 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................. 31

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 33
3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................... 33
3.2 Research participants and sample design ......................................................................... 34
3.3 Questionnaire structure .................................................................................................... 36
3.4 Measure instruments ........................................................................................................ 36
3.5 Data collection.................................................................................................................. 38
3.6 Data analysis techniques .................................................................................................. 39
3.6.1 Preliminary data analysis ................................................................................... 39
3.6.1.1 Handling missing responses ...................................................................... 40
3.6.1.2 Assessing of the normality ........................................................................ 40
3.6.1.3 Detecting outliers....................................................................................... 40
3.6.2 Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) ............................................................... 41
3.6.3 Stage 1: Measurement model ............................................................................. 43
3.6.3.1 Unidimensionality ..................................................................................... 43
3.6.3.2 Reliability .................................................................................................. 43


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

vi

3.6.3.3 Validity ...................................................................................................... 44
3.6.3.4 Evaluating the Fit of the Model ................................................................. 46
3.6..4 Stage 2: Structural model .................................................................................. 49
3.7 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................. 50

CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 52
4.1 Coding procedure ............................................................................................................. 52
4.2 Data screening and characteristics of sample................................................................... 54
4.2.1 Missing data analysis ......................................................................................... 54
4.2.2 Testing the normality assumption ...................................................................... 54
4.2.3 Detecting outliers ............................................................................................... 56
4.3 Demographic characteristics ............................................................................................ 56
4.4 Structural Equation Modeling .......................................................................................... 57
4.4.1 Stage 1: The measurement model ...................................................................... 58
4.4.1.1 Unidimensionality ..................................................................................... 58
4.4.1.2 Reliability .................................................................................................. 69
4.4.1.3 Validity ...................................................................................................... 70
4.4.2 Stage 2: Structural model evaluation ................................................................. 73
4.5 Results of testing the hypotheses ..................................................................................... 75
4.6 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................. 77

CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ............................................................ 78
5.1 Discussion of the hypotheses tests ................................................................................... 78
5.2 Implications of research findings ..................................................................................... 80


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

vii

5.2.1 Theoretical implications ..................................................................................... 80
5.2.2 Managerial implications ..................................................................................... 81
5.3 Limitations and future research ........................................................................................ 83
5.3.1 Limitations of research....................................................................................... 83
5.3.2 Future research ................................................................................................... 84
5.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 85

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 87

APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix A: English Questionnaire ......................................................................... 101
Appendix B: Vietnamese Questionnaire ................................................................... 107
Appendix C: Missing Value ...................................................................................... 114


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. Summary of goodness fit indices. ......................................................................... 46
Table 4.1. The constructs, its measurements and its codes. ................................................... 52
Table 4.2. Descriptive statistics ............................................................................................. 55
Table 4.3. Demographic profile of sales staffs. ..................................................................... 57
Table 4.4. The first AVE of servant leadership’s items. ........................................................ 60
Table 4.5. The second AVE of servant leadership’s items. ................................................... 60
Table 4.6. The AVE of job satisfaction.................................................................................. 62

Table 4.7. The first AVE of employee commitment to a supervisor. .................................... 64
Table 4.8. The second AVE of employee commitment to a supervisor. ............................... 65
Table 4.9. The first AVE of OCB. ......................................................................................... 68
Table 4.10. The second AVE of OCB.................................................................................... 68
Table 4.11. The results of the reliability test. ......................................................................... 69
Table 4.12. Constructs correlation ......................................................................................... 72
Table 4.13. ASV and MSV .................................................................................................... 72
Table 4.14. Results of testing the hypotheses ........................................................................ 75

\


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1. Management Skills Necessary at Various Levels of an Organization ................ 11
Figure 2.2. Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid of leadership styles .................................. 12
Figure 2.3. Hersey and Blanchard’ Situational leadership..................................................... 13
Figure 2.4. Contingency leadership ....................................................................................... 14
Figure 2.5. Path–Goal Theory ................................................................................................ 15
Figure 2.6. Research model .................................................................................................... 31
Figure 3.1. Two stage structural model .................................................................................. 42
Figure 4.1. The first CFA of servant leadership..................................................................... 58
Figure 4.2. The second CFA of servant leadership ................................................................ 59
Figure 4.3. The third CFA of servant leadership ................................................................... 61
Figure 4.4. The first CFA of job satisfaction ......................................................................... 61
Figure 4.5. The second CFA of job satisfaction..................................................................... 62

Figure 4.6. The first CFA of employee commitment to a supervisor .................................... 63
Figure 4.7. The second CFA of employee commitment to a supervisor ............................... 63
Figure 4.8. The third CFA of employee commitment to a supervisor ................................... 64
Figure 4.9. The fourth CFA of employee commitment to a supervisor ................................. 65
Figure 4.10. The first CFA of organizational citizenship behaviors ...................................... 66
Figure 4.11. The second CFA of organizational citizenship behaviors ................................. 67
Figure 4.12. The third CFA of organizational citizenship behaviors..................................... 69
Figure 4.13. The CFA of four constructs ............................................................................... 71
Figure 4.14. The hypothesized structural model .................................................................... 74
Figure 4.15. Results of testing the hypotheses ....................................................................... 75


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

1

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

This chapter draws a general picture of the following chapters and the study
altogether. Section 1.1 states the research problem. Section 1.2 discusses the objectives of
the study and identifies the research questions. Then section 1.3 summarizes shortly the
research methodology. Section 1.4 introduces the structure of the study and a chapter
summary is presented in section 1.5.

1.1 Statement of research problem
The electronic retailing industry is facing a serious problem in Vietnam (Bao, 2014).
Current recession has led to many electronic stores in major cities bankruptcy. WonderBuy
declared bankruptcy after one year of operation in Vietnam, with a loss of VND 52 billion.
Then Best Caring, in the top 500 largest retailers in Asia - Pacific in 2009, left Vietnamese

market in 2012. Next, five store chains of Home One and Ebest did the same in 2013. Low
demand leads many electronic retailing stores owed rent, salaries, social insurance, as well
as did downsize and reduced organizational size (Ngan, 2012).
Therefore electronic retailing staffs often receive low salary in recent years. They usually
work on weekend and holidays as well as many shifts. Thus they have a little time for their
family. Furthermore, they also worry about losing their jobs to better candidates. Younger,
more beautiful and highly educated staffs are better for organizational competition. These
changes of work and working environment cause the staff stressful (Nam, 2008).


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

2

The organizational structure affects not only productivity and economic efficiency but also
job satisfaction, the effective performance of key activities and the efforts of staff (Mullins,
2010, p. 576). Organizational restructurings negatively decrease job satisfaction and
organizational commitment and work attitudes (Schweiger & DeNisi, 1991).
After the downsizing, and outsourcing of recent years, Altman, Cooper, and Garner (1999,
p.40) note that commitment from employees go down as the companies and leaders are no
longer seen to be committed to them. Galunic and Weeks (2001) say companies need other
strategies to encourage commitment such as flexible working, spending to support
telecommuting and lifestyle-friendly perks.
A leadership approach that is not reasonable could cause the performance decline and
satisfaction decrease (Quick & Quick, 1984). The organizations also need good
organizational citizens who accept to work overtime, help newcomers learn the ropes, and
make contribution beyond the requested performance of their job (Giffin & Moorhead,
2014, p. 80). Then their managers need to apply a suitable leadership for that issue to lead
their staffs to overcome that difficult time. An effective leadership could make their staff
become job satisfaction, have employee commitment to their supervisor and organizational

citizenship behaviors (Mullins, 2010, p. 290).
Collins (2001) suggest that the leadership style adopt and promote within an organization is
a key component of a leader’s ability to be successful in achieving long-term goals.
Vietnamese companies also take care on leadership issues as the leadership is the key point


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

3

in achieving organizational effectiveness. Then they need to find and implement an
effective leadership to gain competitive advantage.
Servant leadership has gained attention in both business and academic fields in recent years
(Mayer, Bardes & Piccolo, 2008). Hale and Fields (2007, p. 379) point out servant
leadership as “an understanding and practice of leadership that places the good of those led
over the self-interest of the leader, emphasizing leader behaviors that focus on follower
development, and de-emphasizing glorification of the leader”. That focus leaders’ moral
behaviors that protecting followers from self-interested leaders pursuing ends for their own
selfish gain (Graham, 1991; Liden, Wayne, Zhao, & Henderson, 2008). It also emphasizes
their moral responsibility to the success of the organization as well as to the success of their
subordinates, the organization’s customers, and other stakeholders (Ehrhart, 2004).
Next Thompson (2003) and Girard (2000) report a statistically significant positive
correlation between servant leadership and job satisfaction. In addition, Sokoll (2014) stated
there is a positive correlation between servant leadership and employee commitment to a
supervisor. Many empirical studies notice the correlation of servant leadership and
organizational citizenship behaviors (Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006; Liden et al., 2008; Vondey,
2010). Ehrhart (2004) conclude that servant leadership could affect organizational
citizenship behaviors.
Furthermore, there are a few of research for the role of organizational citizenship behaviors
on employee commitment to the supervisor, and the effect of employee commitment to the

supervisor on job satisfaction. Paillé (2012) note the positive effect of organizational


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

4

citizenship behaviors on employee commitment to a supervisor. Then Cheng, Jiang, and
Riley (2003) conclude the employee commitment to a supervisor positively affect on job
satisfaction.
However, there are few studies about which leadership approach are appropriate in the
Vietnamese context or how it empirically affect employee behaviors and performances.
Therefore there is growing interest on effective leadership in Vietnam. Nguyen (2011)
surveys 860 Vietnamese employees and pointed that overall leadership effected positively
on job satisfaction. Immediate supervisors from stated-owned enterprises might not fully
support their subordinates. However leaders of non stated-owned enterprises show more
support to their employees and achieved the optimum performance. Then Dao and Han
(2013) survey 200 Vietnamese workers and note that job satisfaction, organizational
commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors was positively effected by
transformational leadership. Thus that study develop the investigation about the effects of
servant leadership effects on job satisfaction, employee commitment to a supervisor and
organizational citizenship behaviors in Vietnamese electronic retailing industry.
Furthermore servant leadership is an emerging leadership for empirical research in
Vietnamese context. Then the study investigates the effect of servant leadership on job
satisfaction, employee commitment to the supervisor and organizational citizenship
behaviors in Vietnamese electronic retailing industry. Furthermore, it also surveys the effect
of organizational citizenship behaviors on employee commitment to the supervisor, and the
effect of employee commitment to the supervisor on job satisfaction in that industry.

The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

5

1.2 Research objectives and research questions
The purpose of this study is to investigate 1) the effects of servant leadership on job
satisfaction; 2) the effects of servant leadership on employee commitment to the supervisor;
3) the effects of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior in Vietnamese
context; 4) the effect of organizational citizenship behavior on employee commitment to the
supervisor and 5) the effect of employee commitment to the supervisor on job satisfaction in
electronic retailing industry context.
The focus of this study is summarized through the following questions:
1. Does servant leadership have a positive effect on job satisfaction?
2. Does servant leadership have a positive effect on employee commitment to the
supervisor?
3. Does servant leadership have a positive effect on organizational citizenship
behaviors?
4. Do organizational citizenship behaviors have a positive effect on employee
commitment to the supervisor?
5. Does employee commitment to the supervisor have a positive effect on job
satisfaction?

1.3 Research methodology
To accomplish the aims of this research, a quantitative study was carried out. A selfadministered questionnaire that measures the constructs of the study is developed on the


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

6

literature review. That questionnaire with Likert five-point scale was distributed among 250
sales staffs who worked in electronic retail stores in Vietnam. Subjects were asked to rate
their agreement with each item on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). All of questionnaire items were taken from previously valid
scales.
Descriptive statistics for the entire sample were done with Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) 22. To test the measurement model and structural equation modeling
(SEM), Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 22 was used for data analysis.
Structural equation modeling is a multivariate data analysis technique that is widely used for
instrument validation and model testing in research. In the current study, SEM was used to
validate the conceptual framework and test the hypothesized relationships among latent
variables. Anderson and Gerbing (1988) two-stage procedure for SEM was done. In the
first stage the relationships between the observed variables and the underlying theoretical
constructs (latent variables) were examined in order to eliminate any ambiguously loading
items and ensure reliable and valid constructs. In the second stage, the structural model fit
was assessed through goodness-of-fit indices and paths between the constructs were
estimated to test the research hypotheses.

1.4 Thesis Structure
The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 starts with the introduction about the
research topic, research problem, research objectives and a brief discussion about the


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

7

methodology used. Chapter 2 presents literature review of servant leadership, job
satisfaction, employee commitment to a supervisor and organizational citizenship
behaviors; and hypotheses development about these relationships. Chapter 3 addresses the

proposed methodology for the study, including research design, sample, measure
instrument, data collection and data analysis method. Chapter 4 presents the analysis of data
and research findings. Chapter 5 concludes the research project with discussions of the
implications of the results. Lastly, the final chapter of this study present implications,
identifies any limitations that arise in the course of the study and makes recommendations
for future research based primarily on the research findings.

1.5 Chapter summary
This chapter is the foundation for this thesis by introducing the research problem together
with the research objectives and questions. A short explanation about the research
methodology is also presented. Both theoretical and managerial contributions of the study
are highlighted. Finally, the contents of each chapter are outlined within thesis structure.
The next chapter will present the literature review.


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

8

Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT

This chapter provides a literature review of the current study. The 2.1 section starts by
introducing leadership, leadership theories, including servant leadership as a major
component, and compares different theories to servant leadership. Next three other
constructs of job satisfaction, employee commitment to a supervisor and organizational
citizenship behaviors are also discussed in this section. Five hypothesis are developed from
these constructs in section 2.2. Then the section 2.3 presents the research model and a
chapter summary is presented in section 2.4.

2.1 Literature Review
2.1.1 Leadership
Yukl (2010, p.26) defines leadership as the process of influencing others to understand and
agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating
individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. In addition, Northouse
(2013, p. 5) defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of
individuals to achieve a common goal”. Furthermore leadership is an influence process
generated when acts of leading (e.g., influencing) are combined with acts of following (e.g.,
deferring) as individuals work together to attain mutual goals (Uhl-Bien, Schermerhorn, &
Osborn, 2014, p. 312).


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

9

Bass (1985, p. 20) notes that a leader is “one who motivates us to do more than we
originally expected to do”. He said that this motivation could be achieved by raising the
awareness level about the importance of outcomes and ways to reach them. Bass also
notices that leaders encourage followers to go beyond self-interest for the good of the team
or the organization. Next, Yukl and Van Fleet (1992) focus on the importance of leadership
in the frame of an organization, as an effective leadership can lead to a number of desired
outcomes at an individual, group and organizational level.
2.1.1.1 Leadership theories
Trait theories
A trait is a specific component of personality that describes the particular tendencies a
person has to feel, think, and act in certain ways. Many people can easily speak out Steve
Jobs, Bill Gates and Richard Branson like leaders. They have personality traits such as
charisma, intelligence, a strong vision, and a determination to achieve their goals. An
effective leader is need to be found out by any way. That is the first thing that researchers

research about leaders. They investigates individual traits that include intelligence, birth
order, socioeconomic status, and child-raising practices, (Bass, 1960; Stogdill, 1974).
Northouse (2013, p. 19) summarize five traits associated with leadership in a positive way.
These are (1) intelligence, (2) self-confidence, (3) determination, (4) integrity, and (5)
sociability.


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

10

The Big Five personality traits are extraversion (or positive affectivity), neuroticism (or
negative affectivity), agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience (Barrick
& Mount, 1991). To assess the links between the Big Five and leadership, Judge, Bono,
Ilies, and Gerhardt (2002) find empirical support for personality traits being associated with
effective leadership. In particular, extroversion, conscientiousness, and openness are
positively associated with effective leadership, in that order of importance. Neuroticism is
ranked third with openness but is negatively associated with effective leadership—in other
words, less is better. Finally, agreeableness is only weakly, even though positively,
associated with effective leadership.
Skills approach to leadership
The skills approach focus on knowledge and abilities for effective leadership (Northouse,
2013, p. 43). Katz (1955, p. 34) argues “Skills are what leaders can accomplish, whereas
traits are who leaders are”. He states there are three basic administrative skills: technical,
human, and conceptual. Katz notes that the importance of certain leadership skills varies
depending on where leaders are in a management hierarchy and human skills are important
in all three levels of management. As leadership is a set of skills, people can learn and
develop their leadership at work.

The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

11

Figure 2.1. Management Skills (Katz, 1955, p. 33-42).
Style approach to leadership
The style approach studies the actions of leaders toward subordinates with task behaviors
and relationship behaviors. Task behaviors help staffs to achieve their goals. Relationship
behaviors help employees feel comfortable with themselves, with each other, and with the
situation in which they find themselves. Effective leaders combine and balance these two
kinds of behaviors to influence staffs in their efforts to reach objectives.
Blake and Mouton (1964) formulate the definition of a managerial grid containing five
management or leadership styles based on the leader’s relative concerns for people (e.g.
considering the needs of team members) or production (e.g. emphasis on objectives and
high productivity), as shown in Figure 2.


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

12

Figure 2.2. The Managerial Grid (Blake & Mouton, 1964).
Situational Leadership
While leadership styles introduce the notion that leadership could be construed as a set of
behaviors, they give little interest as to what sort of behaviors worked best in which
situations. Hersey and Blanchard (1988) with “One Minute Manager” series present the idea
that leaders should adapt their style to the competence and commitment of their followers.
The four styles of directing, coaching, supporting and delegating can be brought into play
for different people at different stages of their engagement.

The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

13

Figure 2.3. Situational leadership (Hersey & Blanchard, 1988).
Contingency leadership
Contingency theory is concerned with styles and situations. It provides the framework for
effectively matching the leader and the situation. Leadership styles are described as task
motivated or relationship motivated. To measure leader styles, Fiedler (1967) develops the
Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. Leaders whose scores are high on this scale are
described as relationship motivated, and those whose scores are low on the scale are
identified as task motivated. Situations can be characterized in terms of three factors:
leader–member relations, task structure, and position power.


The effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction, employee commitment

14

Figure 2.4. Contingency leadership (Fiedler, 1967).
Path-Goal theory
Path–goal theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated
goals. House and Mitchell (1974) notes leadership generates motivation when it increases
the number and kinds of payoffs that subordinates receive from their work. Leadership also
motivates when it makes the path to the goal clear and easy to travel through coaching and
direction, removing obstacles and roadblocks to attaining the goal, and making the work
itself more personally satisfying. By choosing the appropriate style, leaders increase
subordinates’ expectations for success and satisfaction. Figure 2.5 illustrates how leadership
behaviors are related to subordinate and task characteristics in path–goal theory.