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The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: the Mediating Effect of Organizational Commitment

The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: the Mediating Effect... The main aim of the study to find out whether organizational commitment has any mediation effect on the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. Data was collected from 432 managers and staff of private commercial banks in Bangladesh. The respondents were selected using the convenience sampling technique. Structural equation modeling was used for analyzing the collected data. The study reveals that servant leadership has a direct influence on organizational commitment and organi- zational citizenship behavior, as well as organizational commitment has a direct impact on organizational citizenship behavior. It is also revealed that the relationship between servant leadership and organizational commitment is partially mediated by organizational commitment. The main implication of the study is that employees’ organizational citizenship behavior can be improved by servant leadership of managers through the indirect effect of organizational commitment of employees. The study also pinpoints some limitations as well as future research directions. Keywords: Organizational commitment, Servant Leadership, Organizational citizenship behavior, Mediation. JEL Classification: C31, C88, L29, M10 Mohammad Harisur Rahman Howladar, PhD 1. INTRODUCTION (corresponding author) Professor Servant leadership (SL) instigated for change in tradi- Department of Management tional ideas of leadership and prepares the organiza- University of Chittagong, Bangladesh tions for facing the ambiguous future (McGee-Cooper Email: harisur@cu.ac.bd and Looper 2001). SL emphasizes the more democratic Address: University of Chittagong, Chottogram, and learning-based style of leadership rather than hi- Bangladesh erarchical and power-oriented leadership (Lloyd 1996). ORCID: https://orcid:org/0000-0003-2302-5561 It is an acceptable theory of leadership for individual and organizational levels, which increases the perfor- Md Sahidur Rahman, PhD mance of teams and individuals (Lee et al. 2019; Parris Professor and Peachey 2013). Department of Management In today’s competitive business world managers University of Chittagong, Bangladesh need to apply those leadership approaches that can Email: sahidur_cu@yahoo.com ensure the committed workforce (Bučiūnienė and Copyright © 2021 by the School of Economics and Business Sarajevo 70 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Škudienė 2008) and employees who work not only study will unearth the impact of SL on OC and OCB in within their boundary but also proactively out of their the developing countries’ context more specifically boxes for up-bringing organizations. Committed and in Bangladesh. Second, the present study examines proactive employees can ensure the competitiveness the suitability of SL for the managers in the banking of the organizations (Yen and Teng 2013). The devel- sector in developing countries like Bangladesh to in- opment of favorable working environments is essen- crease commitment and extra-role behavior. Third, the tial for creating committed teams and their perfor- existing literature is loaded with a discussion on the mance (Haque, et al. 2019). SL has a positive influence role of SL on OC and OCB. This study tends to reveal on both organizational commitment (OC) (Bobbio, whether the influence of SL on OCB can be mediated Dierendonck, and Manganelli 2012; Van Dierendonck by OC, which is not tested elsewhere by the research- and Nuijten 2011; Zhou and Miao 2014) and organi- ers according to our knowledge. zational citizenship behavior (OCB)(Abid, Gulzar, and Hussain 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Yang and Min 2013). It was also found that when the employees are com- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW mitted they show their intention to do extra for the or- ganizations (Lawrence, Ott, and Bell 2012; Najafi el al. 2.1 Servant leadership (SL) 2011; Ng and Feldman 2011). Most of the studies on SL, OC, and OCB were con- Going beyond one’s self-interest is the main charac- ducted in the Western context. Only a few studies teristic of SL (Greenleaf 1970). Servant leaders are not (Abid et al. 2015; GÜÇEL and Begec 2012; Mathur looking for power rather they are inspired by serving and Negi 2014; Newman et al. 2017) were found in others (Luthans and Favolio 2003). Servant leaders Asian countries. There were no studies found in India outstrip self-interest. (Carroll and Patterson 2016; Kashyap and Rangnekar Servant leaders are developing people, sharing 2014), Turkey (Cerit 2009; Koyuncu et al. 2014), China leadership, displaying authenticity, valuing people, (CH Chan and Mak 2014; Liu, Hu, and Cheng 2015), providing leadership, and building community (Laub Malaysia (Le Ng, Choi, and Soehod 2016; Ramli and 1999). Similarly, Wong and Page (2003) mentioned Desa 2014) and Singapore (Zhang, Lin, and Fong that SL is visionary leadership, servanthood, respon- Foo 2012) that focused on SL, OC and OCB together. sible leadership, courageous leadership, as well as Additionally, so far as our knowledge goes such stud- they are emphasizing honesty, authenticity, power, ies are not found in Bangladesh. and pride ( vulnerability and humidity) and develop- Banking is one of the larger service sectors in ing and empowering others. To lead a team effectively Bangladesh, where most of the staff are highly educat - SL provides accountability, gives support, emphasizes ed. Dealing with highly educated and technical peo- true self-evaluation, fosters collaboration, provides ple is very crucial for the success of organizations. SL clear information, and values the people (Irving and can be the best option for managers of different banks Longbotham 2007). to deal with competent banking staff. SL studies in Moreover, empowerment, standing back, account- any South Asian country did not include the banking ability, forgiveness, courage, authenticity, humility, sector as their context. Most of the studies focused on and stewardship are the constructs of SL which are IT employees (Carroll and Patterson 2016), teaching confirmed by Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011). The staff (Cerit 2009; Zhang et al. 2012) private employees operational definition of SL given by Van Dierendonck (CH Chan and Mak 2014), and public employees (Liu and Nuijten is adopted in this study. et al. 2015). Moreover, some studies revealed the direct influ- ence of SL on OC and OCB, while other studies found 2.2 Organizational commitment (OC) a direct influence of OC on OCB. The question arises, whether the relationship between SL and OCB can be Organizational commitment is the relative strength mediated by OC. Surprisingly, the impact of OC on the of a person’s identification with and participation in a association between SL and OCB is not adequately certain organization (Porter et al. 1974). examined. Hence, this research gap motivates the re- From the relationship point of view, OC refers to searchers to expose whether the impact of SL on OCB the condition in which an employee identifies him- can be mediated by OC. self/herself with the organization and its goals and The present study can contribute by advancing desires to continue the affiliation in the organization the existing knowledge in numerous ways. First, this (Miller 2003). There is another approach to defining South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 71 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment OC is behavior (Morrow 1993). According to the be- et al. (2008) developed 28 items of SL instrument and havioral approach, OC is the visible behavior of an ensured validity by showing that SL caused more vari- individual when he/she is committed to the existing ance in OCB than other leadership styles. Some other group within the organization (Reichers 1985). empirical studies in India (Mathur and Negi 2014), OC has three dimensions (Mayer and Allen 1991). Kenia (Walumbwa, Hartnell, and Oke 2010), China These dimensions (Aec ff tive, continuance, and norma- (Newman et al. 2017), and Turkey (GÜÇEL and Begec tive commitment) are distinguishable and can feel by 2012) revealed a significant direct influence of SL on the employee with varying degrees (Meyer and Allen OCB. From the above discussions and the summary of 1991). Multidimensionality of OC and its measure- the findings, it is postulated that SL has a direct influ- ment was held up by a Meta-analysis (Allen and Meyer ence on OCB. Therefore, we can develop the hypoth- 1996). This study adapted Meyer and Allen’s concept esis as follows: of OC. H : There is a direct influence of SL on OCB. 2.3 Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) 2.5 Servant leadership and organizational Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is not the commitment portion of the official job behavior but useful for the organization (Smith, Organ, and Near 1983). Besides, In the western countries’ context, some empirical stud- D. Organ (1988) mentioned that this is an optional be- ies (Bobbio et al. 2012; Lapointe and Vandenberghe havior of a person, not rewarded formally, but in total, 2018; Newman et al. 2018) revealed that there is a this upholds the organizational effectiveness. positive influence of SL on OC. Conversely, Drury The five dimensions of OCB suggested by D. Organ (2004) found that there is an inverse influence of SL (1988) are altruism, sportsmanship, conscientious- on OC. Miao et al. (2014) revealed that affective and ness, courtesy, and civic virtue. The scale of OCB devel- normative commitment is positively affected by SL, oped by Podsakoff et al. (1990) has five subscales for but SL has no influence on continuance commitment. each dimension given by Organ. This five-dimensional Awee et al. (2014) and Ramli and Desa (2014) studied scale was adopted by the current study. in Malaysia and revealed that SL has a positive influ- OCB-I and OCB-O are two different dimensions of ence on OC. Though there are some controversies in OCB (Williams and Anderson 1991). OCB-I is citizen- different findings, many studies showed a positive ship behavior focused on individuals. Helping oth- influence of SL on OC. From the above discussions, ers when people are in a heavy workload, helping it can be perceived that there is a direct influence of new people to understand their jobs, are examples SL on OC. Hence, the hypothesis can be developed as of OCB –I. On the other hand, OCB-O is the extra-role follows: behavior focused on the organization. When employ- ees not complaining to others at work, protecting H : There is a direct influence of SL on OC. the organizational resources for the organizational wellbeing, then these activities of the employees are under OCB–O. In other cases, behavior-based OCB tax- 2.6 Organizational commitment and onomies are proposed and operationalized by many organizational citizenship behavior researchers (Borman and Motowidlo 1993; Morrison 1994; Vandyne, Cummings, and Parks 1995). But the Moorman, Niehoff, and Organ (1993) revealed that behavior-based OCB taxonomies are overlapping with OC has a significant positive impact on OCB. Meyer each other and with Organ’s (1988) OCB dimensions et al. (2002) demonstrated that one of the outcomes (Coleman and Borman 2000). of OC is OCB. Another study in a university environ- ment found that OC influences OCB (Mirabizadeh and Gheitasi 2012). Chen and Francesco (2003) revealed that affective commitment (AC) is positively related 2.4 Servant leadership and organizational to OCB, but continuance commitment (CC) and OCB citizenship behavior are negatively correlated. In a study, Zeinabadi (2010) A good number of studies revealed that SL has a sig- revealed that commitment mediates the association nificant positive relationship with OCB (Abid et al. between job satisfaction and OCB. Some studies in 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Yang and Min 2013). Liden Bangladesh also found that OC has a positive impact 72 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment 3. RESEARCH METHODS on OCB (Ferdus and Kabir 2018; Jahangir, Akbar, and Begum 2006). Some recent studies (Obedgiu, Bagire, 3.1 Sample and data collection and Mafabi 2017; op den Buijs et al. 2019; Pooja, De Clercq, and Belausteguigoitia 2016) found the similar All the managers and staff working in private com- results. Thus, it can be perceived that OC can positive- mercial banks (PCBs) of Bangladesh are involved in ly influence OCB. Therefore, we can suggest the fol- the population of this study. The total number of lowing hypothesis: managers and staff serving the PCBs is more than one hundred thousand (Ahmed and Rahman 2020). H : There is a direct influence of OC on OCB. For collecting primary data from the sample of man- agers and staff, the convenience sampling method is supposed to be the best fit. To save time and money convenience sampling is commonly used in social re- 2.7 Servant leadership, Organizational citizen- search and organizational studies (Bryman 2016). ship behavior, and organizational commitment Accordingly, PCBs are selected using the quota Empirical studies in the area of OCB, SL, and OC gave sampling technique. Quota sampling is used for con- attention to find out the association between SL and firming the presence of respondents from diverse OC (Bobbio et al. 2012; Lapointe and Vandenberghe categories of PCBs (traditional interest-based banks, 2018; Newman et al. 2018) and the influence of SL on Islami sharia-based banks, etc.). Selected banks and OCB (Abid et al. 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Newman et branches are chosen using quota sampling and then al. 2017). Many studies revealed that SL has a positive respondents from different banks and branches are influence on OCB and OC. No study revealed the me - reached using a convenient sampling method. diating influence of OC on the association between Sample size 321 is appropriate for the population SL and OCB. Walumbwa et al. (2010) showed that em- of 100.000 at 95% confidence level and error +/- 5% ployees’ commitment to their supervisor mediates the is allowed (Zikmund et al. 2013). On the other hand, association between SL and OCB. Since SL can posi- Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2009) mentioned that tively influence both OC and OCB, and OC is one of the the sample size should be 384 in the same situation. antecedents of OCB (Lawrence et al. 2012; Najafi et al. Methods used for data analysis also influence the 2011; Ng and Feldman 2011; D. W. Organ, Podsakoff, choice of sample size. A large sample size is expected and MacKenzie 2005), then it can be perceived that for the use of Structural equation modeling (SEM). The OC can mediate the relationship between SL and OCB. sample size should be 150 – 400 for better results of Hence, we can develop the following hypothesis: SEM (Hair et al. 2012). The sample size 400 was con- sidered most appropriate for this study on the ground H : OC can mediate the relationship between SL that population size is more than 100,000 and collect- and OCB. ed data was analyzed using SEM. Data was collected from the respondents with Based on the previous hypotheses, the following a time gap to avoid the common method variance research model can be developed(Cheung and Lau (CMV). In the first stage, personal data and data re - 2008; Hopwood 2007): lated to SL were collected. After three weeks, the re- spondents were supplied the second part of the sur- vey instrument to measure OC and OCB. Figure 1. Research model A team of ten graduate students was used for col- lecting data from different PCBs situated at different geographical areas after giving appropriate training. OC The authors of the current study provided all sorts of financial assistance to all the team members. Despite H₂ H₃ H₄ this, the authors personally distributed some ques- tionnaires among the respondents of some selected PCBs where no team members got access. 432 respondents were returned the questionnaire SL OCB out of 500 distributed questionnaires. Among them, 387 were usable. Some completed questionnaires H₁ were rejected due to problems of severe outliers, un- engaged responses, and missing data. The response rate is 77.4%. This response rate is adequate (Baruch South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 73 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment 3.3 Evaluation of model and Holtom 2008; Saunders et al. 2009; Zikmund et al. 2013). Both the measurement model and the structural mod- 82.7% of respondents of this study are male (320 el were examined by using SEM (Hair et al. 2012). SEM in numbers). Among the respondents 43.2 % belong takes a confirmatory approach, can include both man- to the 30 -35 age, 34.1 % respondents were within ifest and latent variables, and estimate measurement 25 – 30 age, and only 14.0% were within 35-40 age. error (Hair et al. 2012; Hoe 2008). Most of the respondents are highly educated (96.4% of respondents were master holders). Among the re- spondents 23.5% were assistant officers, 23.8% were 3.3.1 Measurement model officers, 11.6% were principal officers, and 37.2% were senior officers. Most of the respondents (42.4%) had 3 The exactness of the model was examined by reli- -6 years of work experience. 1-3 years work experience ability and validity checks including convergent valid- had 28.7% of respondents, 16.8% had 6-9 years work ity and discriminant validity. From Table 1, it is found experience, and 12.1% had above 9 years work expe- that the factor loadings have a satisfactory value that rience. 143 respondents (37%) had work experience is above the minimum level of 0.50 for each item of with their present manager for 1-2 years. Moreover, the constructs (Hair et al. 2012). Moreover, the internal 12.7%, had 1-year work experience with their present consistency measurement through Cronbach’s alpha manager, 27.1% had 2-3 years, and 28.2% had above (From .772 to .893) and composite reliability (From 3 years work experience with their present manager. .773 to .889) indicates the reliability of the scales (Hair Out of 387 respondents, 257 respondents (66.4%) et al. 2012). were married. To evaluate the validity of the measurement mod- els, both the convergent and discriminant validities were advocated (Hair et al. 2012). From Table 1, it is found that the minimum average variance extract- 3.2 Measurement tools ed (AVE = .539) and composite reliability (CR=.773) The 30-item SL scale of Van Dierendonck and Nuijten are above the threshold value of .0500 and 0.700 re- (2011) was used to measure SL since this scale showed spectively (Hair et al. 2012; Saunders et al. 2009) that high reliability and validity. This scale has eight dimen- confirmed the convergent validity of the measure - sions such as accountability, forgiveness, courage, ment models. From table 2, it is found that the inter- empowerment, humidity, standing back, authentic- construct correlation is smaller than the square root ity, and stewardship. Three items (14, 15, and 16) were of AVE. This finding demonstrates the existence of the negatively keyed. The seven points Likert scale was discriminant validity of the scales. Moreover, from ta- used for getting the responses on items. In the pre- ble 1, it is found that the factor loading is more than sent context, it was found good reliability ranged from 0.70 for each construct that also confirms the discri- .772 to .893. minant validity of the scales (Haque et al. 2019; Kline The OC scale given by Allen and Meyer (1990) was 2005). used for measuring OC. This scale contains 18 items According to the Harman’s single factor test, the divided into three subscales according to the dimen- current study has a concern for common method bias sions of OC. The seven points Likert scale was used for since this model has a very poor fit (X /df = 9.479, GFI getting the responses on items. Reliability scores of = .692, NFI = .627, CFI= .650, TLI = .596, and RMSEA= this scale in the current context were found from .875 .148) (Podsakoff, et al. 2003). After applying the un- to .884 which indicates very good reliability. measured latent method factor (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, To measure the OCB the scale given by Podsakoff and Podsakoff 2012), it is found that the model has et al. (1990) was used which generated one global satisfactory fit for the data (X /df = 1.558, GFI = .960, measure of OCB. There are five dimensions of this NFI = .950, CFI= .981, TLI = .973, and RMSEA= .038) scale such as conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic with the common method factor. Moreover, the com- virtue, altruism, and courtesy. Only five items were mon methods factor causes variance extraction only negatively keyed (2, 4, 7, 16, and 19). The seven points by 23.35% which is less than the minimum level of Likert scale was used for getting the responses on 50%. Thus, the present study has no serious concern items. The reliability scores of this scale ranged from for common method bias (Kashyap and Rangnekar .825 to .885 which also indicates very good reliability 2014; Podsakoff et al. 2012). of this scale in the current context. Furthermore, Table 1 shows that the overall meas- urement model bestowed a good fit to the data (X /df 74 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Table 1. Constructs reliability and validity Exogenous Latent constructs Standard Factor Cronbach’s alpha Composite AVE constructs loading reliability SL Empowerment .81 .883 0.889 0.667 Standing Back .78 .884 0.885 0.719 Accountability .74 .831 0.833 0.624 Forgiveness .76 .772 0.773 0.630 Courage .75 .785 0.792 0.658 Authenticity .75 .865 0.866 0.617 Humility .78 .893 0.885 0.608 Stewardship .82 .843 0.845 0.645 OC Continuous .68 .875 0.877 0.544 Aec ff tive .86 .883 0.876 0.540 Normative .77 .884 0.886 0.565 OCB Altruism .84 .884 0.832 0.554 Conscientiousness .78 .836 0.885 0.607 Courtesy .79 .829 0.841 0.572 Sportsmanship .72 .853 0.853 0.539 Civic Virtue .79 .825 0.825 0.541 (X2/df = 1.588, RMR = .051, TLI = .972, GFI = .952, NFI = .940, CFI= .977, and RMSEA= .039). Note: * fixed parameter, AVE = Average variance extracted Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 Table 2. Inter-construct correlations and the Square root of AVE CR AVE OC SL OCB OC 0.761 0.517 0.719 SL 0.892 0.510 0.363 0.714 OCB 0.843 0.518 0.366 0.388 0.720 Diagonal bold figures are the square root of AVE; sub diagonal figures are the inter-construct correlations. Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 = 1.588, RMR = 0.051, GFI = .952, NFI = .940, CFI= .977, acceptable level .90 (Hair et al. 2012). TLI = .972, and RMSEA= .039) since all the fit indices The constructs of structure models are associated are within their standard value (Hair et al. 2012). to each other. To find out the nature of these asso - ciations the path coefficient analysis is also used. The results from Table 3 revealed that SL and OC explain 21% variance in OCB (R = 0.21) and SL explains 13% 3.3.2 Structural model variance in OC (R = 0.13). Additionally, the results After examining the reliability and validity, now move shown in Table 3 demonstrated a significant influence to test the structural model fitness. The structural of SL on OCB (β = .294, t = 4.609, p = .000), and OC (β= model delivered a good fit to the data (X /df = 1.588, .363, t = 5.660, p = .000). Moreover, OC significantly in- RMR = .051, GFI = .952, NFI = .940,CFI= .977, TLI = .972, fluence the OCB (β = .259, t = 3.866, p = .000). Thus H , and RMSEA= .039) (Hair et al. 2012). Though the NFI H and H are supported. 2 3 value is less than the standard value .95 but it is with South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 75 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 2. OC partially mediating the relationship between SL and OCB Source: Authors’ development, 2020 Table 3. Test of Hypotheses for the structured model Hypothesis Hypothesized Standardized T – value P-value Result relationship coefficient H1 SL ¦ OCB .294 4.609 .000 Supported H2 SL ¦ OC .363 5.660 .000 Supported H3 OC ¦ OCB .259 3.866 .000 Supported Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 4. RESULTS and Nosella 2012; Ju Rebecca Yen and Gwinner 2003). The outcomes of three different models are shown 4.1 Mediation testing in table 4. The first model is the partial mediating The nested models’ approach was used for testing me- model shows both the direct and indirect impact of diation. In this approach, the partially mediated mod- SL on OCB (Figure 2). The second model is a full me- el is compared with the most likely competing models diating model where it is shown that the association nested within it (Brown et al. 2002; Cantarello, Filippini, between SL and OCB is mediated by OC (Figure 3). 76 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 3. OC fully mediating the relationship between SL and OCB Source: Authors’ Development, 2020 Table 4. Fit indices of the models Model X2/df CFI GFI NFI TLI RMSEA First (Partial mediating) 1.588 .977 .952 .940 .972 .039 Second (Full mediating) 1.802 .968 .946 .931 .962 .046 Third (Direct relations) 1.938 .962 .942 .926 .955 .049 Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 The third model is the direct effect model where the other two models. The X difference test is conduct - direct impact of SL and OC on OCB is shown (Figure ed. The result shows that the X difference between 4). The partial mediating model is needed to compare the first model (partially mediating) and the second with both the full mediating model and the direct ef- model (fully mediating) (X difference = 23.237, df = fect model to examine the nature of mediating effect 1, p = 0.000) is significant as well as the X difference of OC on the association between SL and OCB. Table 4 between the first model (partially mediating) and the shows the comparison of three models based on the second model (direct effect) (X difference = 36.950, df fit indices. = 1, p = 0.000) is also significant. Thus it is found that According to the fit indices, table 4 revealed that the partially mediated model is best fitted. The results all three structural models are well fit. But the partial recommend that OC has a partial mediation impact mediation model shows better fit indices than the on the association between SL and OCB. Therefore, South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 77 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 4. The direct relationship of SL and OC with OCB Source: Authors’ development, 2020 hypothesis H is supported. Thus, it could be stated 5. DISCUSSION that SL has both direct and indirect effects on OCB. The proportion of mediation of OC on the SL and OCB The result of this study revealed that there is a direct relationship is found 24.40 percent [(.36 x .26)/(.36 x influence of SL on OCB. This result is also reinforced by .26) + .29] (Iacobucci, Saldanha, and Deng 2007). The other findings in the Western context (Neubert et al. result indicates that 24.40% variance on OCB is ex- 2008; Reed 2016; Van Dierendonck et al. 2017) as well plained by both SL and OC which is for the indirect as in the Asian context (Abid et al. 2015; GÜÇEL and path via OC, whereas the remaining OCB variance is Begec 2012; Newman et al. 2017). Some studies (Abid explained by both SL and OC which is for the direct et al. 2015; Hu and Liden 2011) in the banking sector path. Hence, there is a partial mediation because the also support the direct influences of SL on OCB. direct path is preponderated. Additionally, the outcome of the current study revealed that there is a direct impact of SL on OC. 78 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment This result is also supported by other outcomes in Managers and executives can apply SL that ulti- the Western context (Bobbio et al. 2012; Drury 2004; mately will improve the employees’ OC and OCB. The Lapointe and Vandenberghe 2018). In developing employee-orientated managers and executives are countries, some studies (Awee et al. 2014; Miao et al. empowering the employees, developing them, and 2014; Ramli and Desa 2014) also support that SL has a increasing loyalty. Hence, this leadership can improve direct influence on OC. the performance of both employees and organiza- Moreover, it was perceived that there is a direct tions in today’s technology-based extremely competi- impact of OC on OCB, and the finding of the present tive business situation. study supported this perception. This finding is also Like other service organizations (Abid et al. 2015; supported by Western studies (Cetin, Gürbüz, and Sert GÜÇEL and Begec 2012) SL is applicable in banking 2015; op den Buijs et al. 2019; Pooja et al. 2016) along sectors in developing countries (Mathur and Negi with the developing countries (Obedgiu et al. 2017; 2014). Moreover, managers and executives in the Prasetio, Yuniarsih, and Ahman 2017). In Bangladesh, banking sector can apply SL to improve the OC of the a study on bankers (Ferdus and Kabir 2018) also sup- employees which will, in turn, motivate the employ- ports the direct influence of OC on OCB. ees to do extra for organizations. The relationship between SL and OCB is partially Organizations can inspire managers to follow the mediated by OC. This finding of the study is supported SL behavior to deal with their employees. Training indirectly by the findings of Walumbwa et al. (2010) and mentoring programs can develop the SL behav- who studied employees’ commitment to their super- ior among the managers (Liden et al. 2014; Peterson, visor. The mediation influence of OC on the SL and Galvin, and Lange 2012). Managers can be trained in OCB relationship is partial due to a significant direct such a way that to deal with the employees they can relationship of SL and OC with OCB. However, some exhibit personal attention, keep them knowledgeable other factors may influence the relationship between about the development chances, establish a fair and SL and OCB that is still a matter of discovery. open relationship with them, empower them, show sympathy to them for their faults, and provide credit to them for their achievements. Employee-oriented leadership (SL) is the best op- 6. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL tion to deal with the highly educated and meritorious IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY employees in the organization. Academicians must The theoretical contribution of the study is that OC give more attention to the area of SL for more study. indirectly affects the relationship between SL and OCB The course curriculum on leadership should also con- that was not identified by any other findings earlier. tain the model of SL. Moreover, the dimensions of SL are perfectly suited in developing countries’ contexts like Western coun- tries. SL style is similarly applicable in the developing 7. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH countries like Bangladesh which is supported by other DIRECTIONS few findings in Asian and African countries like India (Carroll and Patterson 2016), Malaysia (Le Ng et al. Data collection using convenience sampling is the 2016), China (Liu et al. 2015), Turkey (Cerit 2010), and main limitation of the study that fails to generalize the Kenia (Walumbwa et al. 2010). results. All data were collected from only local PCBs of This study adds new knowledge by exploring the Bangladesh for ensuring data consistency. The sample effect of SL on employees’ OC and OCB in organiza- consisted of only PCBs of Bangladesh, which seem to tions. Based on the outcomes of the study it can be be more homogenous; thus, future researchers can proposed that SL should be recognized as a significant cover other areas such as public banks, foreign banks antecedent to foster OC and OCB among employees. to ensure heterogeneous demographics. It is found that the SL scale of van Dierendonck Among the respondents, ninety-nine percent hold and Nuijten, (2011) is approachable and easily appli- a master’s degree. The results of the study point out cable in developing countries. These findings create how to deal with highly educated people effectively. opportunities for selecting and developing SL in the Thus, the results cannot be generalized how to deal organizations of developing countries through proper with less-educated or working-class people effec - assessment, training, and performance evaluation of tively. Future researchers can cover the working-class the executives. people for exploring the influence of SL on the job South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 79 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment attitude of working-class people. Bangladesh. International Journal of Business and The objective perception of the employees rather Technopreneurship, 10(1): 31-50. than independent and subject measurement was Allen, N. J., and Meyer, J. P. 1990. The measurement and an- used to measure the variables. The future researcher tecedents of affective, continuance and normative com- can use both subjective and objective measurements mitment to the organization. Journal of occupational for generating undisputable results. psychology, 63(1): 1-18. The present study did not reveal the impact of SL Allen, N. J., and Meyer, J. P. 1996. Aec ff tive, continuance, on the different dimensions of OC and OCB. Future and normative commitment to the organization: An studies can explore the relationship of SL with differ - examination of construct validity. Journal of Vocational ent dimensions of OC and OCB. Behavior, 49(3): 252-276. Awee, A., Cheah, W. Y., Cheng, C. N., Hong, K. S., Ling, L. B., and Tan, M. C. 2014. Effect of servant leadership on affec - tive commitment among hotel employees. International 8. CONCLUSION Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(11): SL creates a positive attitude among employees 1-7. since they are given importance by the leaders. In Baruch, Y., and Holtom, B. C. 2008. Survey response rate lev- exchange for this leadership behavior, subordinates els and trends in organizational research. Human rela- show their steady commitment to organizations and tions, 61(8): 1139-1160. performing extra pro-social activities. Additionally, Bobbio, A., Dierendonck, D. V., and Manganelli, A. M. 2012. servant leaders can create a positive organizational Servant leadership in Italy and its relation to organiza- context and culture that fosters OC and OCB. Business tional variables. Leadership, 8(3): 229-243. organizations are facing more challenges from tech- Borman, W. C., and Motowidlo, S. 1993. Expanding the nological progress and worldwide competition. In this criterion domain to include elements of contextual situation, every business organization needs to adapt performance. to the new technologies and increase competitive- Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., and Licata, J. W. 2002. ness. Managers are now worried about how to devel- The customer orientation of service workers: Personality op and retain talented employees. SL is an excellent trait effects on self-and supervisor performance ratings. approach to lead employees with high potential and Journal of marketing research, 39(1): 110-119. skills. 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The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: the Mediating Effect of Organizational Commitment

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Abstract

The main aim of the study to find out whether organizational commitment has any mediation effect on the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. Data was collected from 432 managers and staff of private commercial banks in Bangladesh. The respondents were selected using the convenience sampling technique. Structural equation modeling was used for analyzing the collected data. The study reveals that servant leadership has a direct influence on organizational commitment and organi- zational citizenship behavior, as well as organizational commitment has a direct impact on organizational citizenship behavior. It is also revealed that the relationship between servant leadership and organizational commitment is partially mediated by organizational commitment. The main implication of the study is that employees’ organizational citizenship behavior can be improved by servant leadership of managers through the indirect effect of organizational commitment of employees. The study also pinpoints some limitations as well as future research directions. Keywords: Organizational commitment, Servant Leadership, Organizational citizenship behavior, Mediation. JEL Classification: C31, C88, L29, M10 Mohammad Harisur Rahman Howladar, PhD 1. INTRODUCTION (corresponding author) Professor Servant leadership (SL) instigated for change in tradi- Department of Management tional ideas of leadership and prepares the organiza- University of Chittagong, Bangladesh tions for facing the ambiguous future (McGee-Cooper Email: harisur@cu.ac.bd and Looper 2001). SL emphasizes the more democratic Address: University of Chittagong, Chottogram, and learning-based style of leadership rather than hi- Bangladesh erarchical and power-oriented leadership (Lloyd 1996). ORCID: https://orcid:org/0000-0003-2302-5561 It is an acceptable theory of leadership for individual and organizational levels, which increases the perfor- Md Sahidur Rahman, PhD mance of teams and individuals (Lee et al. 2019; Parris Professor and Peachey 2013). Department of Management In today’s competitive business world managers University of Chittagong, Bangladesh need to apply those leadership approaches that can Email: sahidur_cu@yahoo.com ensure the committed workforce (Bučiūnienė and Copyright © 2021 by the School of Economics and Business Sarajevo 70 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Škudienė 2008) and employees who work not only study will unearth the impact of SL on OC and OCB in within their boundary but also proactively out of their the developing countries’ context more specifically boxes for up-bringing organizations. Committed and in Bangladesh. Second, the present study examines proactive employees can ensure the competitiveness the suitability of SL for the managers in the banking of the organizations (Yen and Teng 2013). The devel- sector in developing countries like Bangladesh to in- opment of favorable working environments is essen- crease commitment and extra-role behavior. Third, the tial for creating committed teams and their perfor- existing literature is loaded with a discussion on the mance (Haque, et al. 2019). SL has a positive influence role of SL on OC and OCB. This study tends to reveal on both organizational commitment (OC) (Bobbio, whether the influence of SL on OCB can be mediated Dierendonck, and Manganelli 2012; Van Dierendonck by OC, which is not tested elsewhere by the research- and Nuijten 2011; Zhou and Miao 2014) and organi- ers according to our knowledge. zational citizenship behavior (OCB)(Abid, Gulzar, and Hussain 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Yang and Min 2013). It was also found that when the employees are com- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW mitted they show their intention to do extra for the or- ganizations (Lawrence, Ott, and Bell 2012; Najafi el al. 2.1 Servant leadership (SL) 2011; Ng and Feldman 2011). Most of the studies on SL, OC, and OCB were con- Going beyond one’s self-interest is the main charac- ducted in the Western context. Only a few studies teristic of SL (Greenleaf 1970). Servant leaders are not (Abid et al. 2015; GÜÇEL and Begec 2012; Mathur looking for power rather they are inspired by serving and Negi 2014; Newman et al. 2017) were found in others (Luthans and Favolio 2003). Servant leaders Asian countries. There were no studies found in India outstrip self-interest. (Carroll and Patterson 2016; Kashyap and Rangnekar Servant leaders are developing people, sharing 2014), Turkey (Cerit 2009; Koyuncu et al. 2014), China leadership, displaying authenticity, valuing people, (CH Chan and Mak 2014; Liu, Hu, and Cheng 2015), providing leadership, and building community (Laub Malaysia (Le Ng, Choi, and Soehod 2016; Ramli and 1999). Similarly, Wong and Page (2003) mentioned Desa 2014) and Singapore (Zhang, Lin, and Fong that SL is visionary leadership, servanthood, respon- Foo 2012) that focused on SL, OC and OCB together. sible leadership, courageous leadership, as well as Additionally, so far as our knowledge goes such stud- they are emphasizing honesty, authenticity, power, ies are not found in Bangladesh. and pride ( vulnerability and humidity) and develop- Banking is one of the larger service sectors in ing and empowering others. To lead a team effectively Bangladesh, where most of the staff are highly educat - SL provides accountability, gives support, emphasizes ed. Dealing with highly educated and technical peo- true self-evaluation, fosters collaboration, provides ple is very crucial for the success of organizations. SL clear information, and values the people (Irving and can be the best option for managers of different banks Longbotham 2007). to deal with competent banking staff. SL studies in Moreover, empowerment, standing back, account- any South Asian country did not include the banking ability, forgiveness, courage, authenticity, humility, sector as their context. Most of the studies focused on and stewardship are the constructs of SL which are IT employees (Carroll and Patterson 2016), teaching confirmed by Van Dierendonck and Nuijten (2011). The staff (Cerit 2009; Zhang et al. 2012) private employees operational definition of SL given by Van Dierendonck (CH Chan and Mak 2014), and public employees (Liu and Nuijten is adopted in this study. et al. 2015). Moreover, some studies revealed the direct influ- ence of SL on OC and OCB, while other studies found 2.2 Organizational commitment (OC) a direct influence of OC on OCB. The question arises, whether the relationship between SL and OCB can be Organizational commitment is the relative strength mediated by OC. Surprisingly, the impact of OC on the of a person’s identification with and participation in a association between SL and OCB is not adequately certain organization (Porter et al. 1974). examined. Hence, this research gap motivates the re- From the relationship point of view, OC refers to searchers to expose whether the impact of SL on OCB the condition in which an employee identifies him- can be mediated by OC. self/herself with the organization and its goals and The present study can contribute by advancing desires to continue the affiliation in the organization the existing knowledge in numerous ways. First, this (Miller 2003). There is another approach to defining South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 71 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment OC is behavior (Morrow 1993). According to the be- et al. (2008) developed 28 items of SL instrument and havioral approach, OC is the visible behavior of an ensured validity by showing that SL caused more vari- individual when he/she is committed to the existing ance in OCB than other leadership styles. Some other group within the organization (Reichers 1985). empirical studies in India (Mathur and Negi 2014), OC has three dimensions (Mayer and Allen 1991). Kenia (Walumbwa, Hartnell, and Oke 2010), China These dimensions (Aec ff tive, continuance, and norma- (Newman et al. 2017), and Turkey (GÜÇEL and Begec tive commitment) are distinguishable and can feel by 2012) revealed a significant direct influence of SL on the employee with varying degrees (Meyer and Allen OCB. From the above discussions and the summary of 1991). Multidimensionality of OC and its measure- the findings, it is postulated that SL has a direct influ- ment was held up by a Meta-analysis (Allen and Meyer ence on OCB. Therefore, we can develop the hypoth- 1996). This study adapted Meyer and Allen’s concept esis as follows: of OC. H : There is a direct influence of SL on OCB. 2.3 Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) 2.5 Servant leadership and organizational Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is not the commitment portion of the official job behavior but useful for the organization (Smith, Organ, and Near 1983). Besides, In the western countries’ context, some empirical stud- D. Organ (1988) mentioned that this is an optional be- ies (Bobbio et al. 2012; Lapointe and Vandenberghe havior of a person, not rewarded formally, but in total, 2018; Newman et al. 2018) revealed that there is a this upholds the organizational effectiveness. positive influence of SL on OC. Conversely, Drury The five dimensions of OCB suggested by D. Organ (2004) found that there is an inverse influence of SL (1988) are altruism, sportsmanship, conscientious- on OC. Miao et al. (2014) revealed that affective and ness, courtesy, and civic virtue. The scale of OCB devel- normative commitment is positively affected by SL, oped by Podsakoff et al. (1990) has five subscales for but SL has no influence on continuance commitment. each dimension given by Organ. This five-dimensional Awee et al. (2014) and Ramli and Desa (2014) studied scale was adopted by the current study. in Malaysia and revealed that SL has a positive influ- OCB-I and OCB-O are two different dimensions of ence on OC. Though there are some controversies in OCB (Williams and Anderson 1991). OCB-I is citizen- different findings, many studies showed a positive ship behavior focused on individuals. Helping oth- influence of SL on OC. From the above discussions, ers when people are in a heavy workload, helping it can be perceived that there is a direct influence of new people to understand their jobs, are examples SL on OC. Hence, the hypothesis can be developed as of OCB –I. On the other hand, OCB-O is the extra-role follows: behavior focused on the organization. When employ- ees not complaining to others at work, protecting H : There is a direct influence of SL on OC. the organizational resources for the organizational wellbeing, then these activities of the employees are under OCB–O. In other cases, behavior-based OCB tax- 2.6 Organizational commitment and onomies are proposed and operationalized by many organizational citizenship behavior researchers (Borman and Motowidlo 1993; Morrison 1994; Vandyne, Cummings, and Parks 1995). But the Moorman, Niehoff, and Organ (1993) revealed that behavior-based OCB taxonomies are overlapping with OC has a significant positive impact on OCB. Meyer each other and with Organ’s (1988) OCB dimensions et al. (2002) demonstrated that one of the outcomes (Coleman and Borman 2000). of OC is OCB. Another study in a university environ- ment found that OC influences OCB (Mirabizadeh and Gheitasi 2012). Chen and Francesco (2003) revealed that affective commitment (AC) is positively related 2.4 Servant leadership and organizational to OCB, but continuance commitment (CC) and OCB citizenship behavior are negatively correlated. In a study, Zeinabadi (2010) A good number of studies revealed that SL has a sig- revealed that commitment mediates the association nificant positive relationship with OCB (Abid et al. between job satisfaction and OCB. Some studies in 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Yang and Min 2013). Liden Bangladesh also found that OC has a positive impact 72 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment 3. RESEARCH METHODS on OCB (Ferdus and Kabir 2018; Jahangir, Akbar, and Begum 2006). Some recent studies (Obedgiu, Bagire, 3.1 Sample and data collection and Mafabi 2017; op den Buijs et al. 2019; Pooja, De Clercq, and Belausteguigoitia 2016) found the similar All the managers and staff working in private com- results. Thus, it can be perceived that OC can positive- mercial banks (PCBs) of Bangladesh are involved in ly influence OCB. Therefore, we can suggest the fol- the population of this study. The total number of lowing hypothesis: managers and staff serving the PCBs is more than one hundred thousand (Ahmed and Rahman 2020). H : There is a direct influence of OC on OCB. For collecting primary data from the sample of man- agers and staff, the convenience sampling method is supposed to be the best fit. To save time and money convenience sampling is commonly used in social re- 2.7 Servant leadership, Organizational citizen- search and organizational studies (Bryman 2016). ship behavior, and organizational commitment Accordingly, PCBs are selected using the quota Empirical studies in the area of OCB, SL, and OC gave sampling technique. Quota sampling is used for con- attention to find out the association between SL and firming the presence of respondents from diverse OC (Bobbio et al. 2012; Lapointe and Vandenberghe categories of PCBs (traditional interest-based banks, 2018; Newman et al. 2018) and the influence of SL on Islami sharia-based banks, etc.). Selected banks and OCB (Abid et al. 2015; Bobbio et al. 2012; Newman et branches are chosen using quota sampling and then al. 2017). Many studies revealed that SL has a positive respondents from different banks and branches are influence on OCB and OC. No study revealed the me - reached using a convenient sampling method. diating influence of OC on the association between Sample size 321 is appropriate for the population SL and OCB. Walumbwa et al. (2010) showed that em- of 100.000 at 95% confidence level and error +/- 5% ployees’ commitment to their supervisor mediates the is allowed (Zikmund et al. 2013). On the other hand, association between SL and OCB. Since SL can posi- Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2009) mentioned that tively influence both OC and OCB, and OC is one of the the sample size should be 384 in the same situation. antecedents of OCB (Lawrence et al. 2012; Najafi et al. Methods used for data analysis also influence the 2011; Ng and Feldman 2011; D. W. Organ, Podsakoff, choice of sample size. A large sample size is expected and MacKenzie 2005), then it can be perceived that for the use of Structural equation modeling (SEM). The OC can mediate the relationship between SL and OCB. sample size should be 150 – 400 for better results of Hence, we can develop the following hypothesis: SEM (Hair et al. 2012). The sample size 400 was con- sidered most appropriate for this study on the ground H : OC can mediate the relationship between SL that population size is more than 100,000 and collect- and OCB. ed data was analyzed using SEM. Data was collected from the respondents with Based on the previous hypotheses, the following a time gap to avoid the common method variance research model can be developed(Cheung and Lau (CMV). In the first stage, personal data and data re - 2008; Hopwood 2007): lated to SL were collected. After three weeks, the re- spondents were supplied the second part of the sur- vey instrument to measure OC and OCB. Figure 1. Research model A team of ten graduate students was used for col- lecting data from different PCBs situated at different geographical areas after giving appropriate training. OC The authors of the current study provided all sorts of financial assistance to all the team members. Despite H₂ H₃ H₄ this, the authors personally distributed some ques- tionnaires among the respondents of some selected PCBs where no team members got access. 432 respondents were returned the questionnaire SL OCB out of 500 distributed questionnaires. Among them, 387 were usable. Some completed questionnaires H₁ were rejected due to problems of severe outliers, un- engaged responses, and missing data. The response rate is 77.4%. This response rate is adequate (Baruch South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 73 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment 3.3 Evaluation of model and Holtom 2008; Saunders et al. 2009; Zikmund et al. 2013). Both the measurement model and the structural mod- 82.7% of respondents of this study are male (320 el were examined by using SEM (Hair et al. 2012). SEM in numbers). Among the respondents 43.2 % belong takes a confirmatory approach, can include both man- to the 30 -35 age, 34.1 % respondents were within ifest and latent variables, and estimate measurement 25 – 30 age, and only 14.0% were within 35-40 age. error (Hair et al. 2012; Hoe 2008). Most of the respondents are highly educated (96.4% of respondents were master holders). Among the re- spondents 23.5% were assistant officers, 23.8% were 3.3.1 Measurement model officers, 11.6% were principal officers, and 37.2% were senior officers. Most of the respondents (42.4%) had 3 The exactness of the model was examined by reli- -6 years of work experience. 1-3 years work experience ability and validity checks including convergent valid- had 28.7% of respondents, 16.8% had 6-9 years work ity and discriminant validity. From Table 1, it is found experience, and 12.1% had above 9 years work expe- that the factor loadings have a satisfactory value that rience. 143 respondents (37%) had work experience is above the minimum level of 0.50 for each item of with their present manager for 1-2 years. Moreover, the constructs (Hair et al. 2012). Moreover, the internal 12.7%, had 1-year work experience with their present consistency measurement through Cronbach’s alpha manager, 27.1% had 2-3 years, and 28.2% had above (From .772 to .893) and composite reliability (From 3 years work experience with their present manager. .773 to .889) indicates the reliability of the scales (Hair Out of 387 respondents, 257 respondents (66.4%) et al. 2012). were married. To evaluate the validity of the measurement mod- els, both the convergent and discriminant validities were advocated (Hair et al. 2012). From Table 1, it is found that the minimum average variance extract- 3.2 Measurement tools ed (AVE = .539) and composite reliability (CR=.773) The 30-item SL scale of Van Dierendonck and Nuijten are above the threshold value of .0500 and 0.700 re- (2011) was used to measure SL since this scale showed spectively (Hair et al. 2012; Saunders et al. 2009) that high reliability and validity. This scale has eight dimen- confirmed the convergent validity of the measure - sions such as accountability, forgiveness, courage, ment models. From table 2, it is found that the inter- empowerment, humidity, standing back, authentic- construct correlation is smaller than the square root ity, and stewardship. Three items (14, 15, and 16) were of AVE. This finding demonstrates the existence of the negatively keyed. The seven points Likert scale was discriminant validity of the scales. Moreover, from ta- used for getting the responses on items. In the pre- ble 1, it is found that the factor loading is more than sent context, it was found good reliability ranged from 0.70 for each construct that also confirms the discri- .772 to .893. minant validity of the scales (Haque et al. 2019; Kline The OC scale given by Allen and Meyer (1990) was 2005). used for measuring OC. This scale contains 18 items According to the Harman’s single factor test, the divided into three subscales according to the dimen- current study has a concern for common method bias sions of OC. The seven points Likert scale was used for since this model has a very poor fit (X /df = 9.479, GFI getting the responses on items. Reliability scores of = .692, NFI = .627, CFI= .650, TLI = .596, and RMSEA= this scale in the current context were found from .875 .148) (Podsakoff, et al. 2003). After applying the un- to .884 which indicates very good reliability. measured latent method factor (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, To measure the OCB the scale given by Podsakoff and Podsakoff 2012), it is found that the model has et al. (1990) was used which generated one global satisfactory fit for the data (X /df = 1.558, GFI = .960, measure of OCB. There are five dimensions of this NFI = .950, CFI= .981, TLI = .973, and RMSEA= .038) scale such as conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic with the common method factor. Moreover, the com- virtue, altruism, and courtesy. Only five items were mon methods factor causes variance extraction only negatively keyed (2, 4, 7, 16, and 19). The seven points by 23.35% which is less than the minimum level of Likert scale was used for getting the responses on 50%. Thus, the present study has no serious concern items. The reliability scores of this scale ranged from for common method bias (Kashyap and Rangnekar .825 to .885 which also indicates very good reliability 2014; Podsakoff et al. 2012). of this scale in the current context. Furthermore, Table 1 shows that the overall meas- urement model bestowed a good fit to the data (X /df 74 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Table 1. Constructs reliability and validity Exogenous Latent constructs Standard Factor Cronbach’s alpha Composite AVE constructs loading reliability SL Empowerment .81 .883 0.889 0.667 Standing Back .78 .884 0.885 0.719 Accountability .74 .831 0.833 0.624 Forgiveness .76 .772 0.773 0.630 Courage .75 .785 0.792 0.658 Authenticity .75 .865 0.866 0.617 Humility .78 .893 0.885 0.608 Stewardship .82 .843 0.845 0.645 OC Continuous .68 .875 0.877 0.544 Aec ff tive .86 .883 0.876 0.540 Normative .77 .884 0.886 0.565 OCB Altruism .84 .884 0.832 0.554 Conscientiousness .78 .836 0.885 0.607 Courtesy .79 .829 0.841 0.572 Sportsmanship .72 .853 0.853 0.539 Civic Virtue .79 .825 0.825 0.541 (X2/df = 1.588, RMR = .051, TLI = .972, GFI = .952, NFI = .940, CFI= .977, and RMSEA= .039). Note: * fixed parameter, AVE = Average variance extracted Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 Table 2. Inter-construct correlations and the Square root of AVE CR AVE OC SL OCB OC 0.761 0.517 0.719 SL 0.892 0.510 0.363 0.714 OCB 0.843 0.518 0.366 0.388 0.720 Diagonal bold figures are the square root of AVE; sub diagonal figures are the inter-construct correlations. Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 = 1.588, RMR = 0.051, GFI = .952, NFI = .940, CFI= .977, acceptable level .90 (Hair et al. 2012). TLI = .972, and RMSEA= .039) since all the fit indices The constructs of structure models are associated are within their standard value (Hair et al. 2012). to each other. To find out the nature of these asso - ciations the path coefficient analysis is also used. The results from Table 3 revealed that SL and OC explain 21% variance in OCB (R = 0.21) and SL explains 13% 3.3.2 Structural model variance in OC (R = 0.13). Additionally, the results After examining the reliability and validity, now move shown in Table 3 demonstrated a significant influence to test the structural model fitness. The structural of SL on OCB (β = .294, t = 4.609, p = .000), and OC (β= model delivered a good fit to the data (X /df = 1.588, .363, t = 5.660, p = .000). Moreover, OC significantly in- RMR = .051, GFI = .952, NFI = .940,CFI= .977, TLI = .972, fluence the OCB (β = .259, t = 3.866, p = .000). Thus H , and RMSEA= .039) (Hair et al. 2012). Though the NFI H and H are supported. 2 3 value is less than the standard value .95 but it is with South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 75 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 2. OC partially mediating the relationship between SL and OCB Source: Authors’ development, 2020 Table 3. Test of Hypotheses for the structured model Hypothesis Hypothesized Standardized T – value P-value Result relationship coefficient H1 SL ¦ OCB .294 4.609 .000 Supported H2 SL ¦ OC .363 5.660 .000 Supported H3 OC ¦ OCB .259 3.866 .000 Supported Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 4. RESULTS and Nosella 2012; Ju Rebecca Yen and Gwinner 2003). The outcomes of three different models are shown 4.1 Mediation testing in table 4. The first model is the partial mediating The nested models’ approach was used for testing me- model shows both the direct and indirect impact of diation. In this approach, the partially mediated mod- SL on OCB (Figure 2). The second model is a full me- el is compared with the most likely competing models diating model where it is shown that the association nested within it (Brown et al. 2002; Cantarello, Filippini, between SL and OCB is mediated by OC (Figure 3). 76 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 3. OC fully mediating the relationship between SL and OCB Source: Authors’ Development, 2020 Table 4. Fit indices of the models Model X2/df CFI GFI NFI TLI RMSEA First (Partial mediating) 1.588 .977 .952 .940 .972 .039 Second (Full mediating) 1.802 .968 .946 .931 .962 .046 Third (Direct relations) 1.938 .962 .942 .926 .955 .049 Source: Authors’ calculation, 2020 The third model is the direct effect model where the other two models. The X difference test is conduct - direct impact of SL and OC on OCB is shown (Figure ed. The result shows that the X difference between 4). The partial mediating model is needed to compare the first model (partially mediating) and the second with both the full mediating model and the direct ef- model (fully mediating) (X difference = 23.237, df = fect model to examine the nature of mediating effect 1, p = 0.000) is significant as well as the X difference of OC on the association between SL and OCB. Table 4 between the first model (partially mediating) and the shows the comparison of three models based on the second model (direct effect) (X difference = 36.950, df fit indices. = 1, p = 0.000) is also significant. Thus it is found that According to the fit indices, table 4 revealed that the partially mediated model is best fitted. The results all three structural models are well fit. But the partial recommend that OC has a partial mediation impact mediation model shows better fit indices than the on the association between SL and OCB. Therefore, South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 77 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment Figure 4. The direct relationship of SL and OC with OCB Source: Authors’ development, 2020 hypothesis H is supported. Thus, it could be stated 5. DISCUSSION that SL has both direct and indirect effects on OCB. The proportion of mediation of OC on the SL and OCB The result of this study revealed that there is a direct relationship is found 24.40 percent [(.36 x .26)/(.36 x influence of SL on OCB. This result is also reinforced by .26) + .29] (Iacobucci, Saldanha, and Deng 2007). The other findings in the Western context (Neubert et al. result indicates that 24.40% variance on OCB is ex- 2008; Reed 2016; Van Dierendonck et al. 2017) as well plained by both SL and OC which is for the indirect as in the Asian context (Abid et al. 2015; GÜÇEL and path via OC, whereas the remaining OCB variance is Begec 2012; Newman et al. 2017). Some studies (Abid explained by both SL and OC which is for the direct et al. 2015; Hu and Liden 2011) in the banking sector path. Hence, there is a partial mediation because the also support the direct influences of SL on OCB. direct path is preponderated. Additionally, the outcome of the current study revealed that there is a direct impact of SL on OC. 78 South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment This result is also supported by other outcomes in Managers and executives can apply SL that ulti- the Western context (Bobbio et al. 2012; Drury 2004; mately will improve the employees’ OC and OCB. The Lapointe and Vandenberghe 2018). In developing employee-orientated managers and executives are countries, some studies (Awee et al. 2014; Miao et al. empowering the employees, developing them, and 2014; Ramli and Desa 2014) also support that SL has a increasing loyalty. Hence, this leadership can improve direct influence on OC. the performance of both employees and organiza- Moreover, it was perceived that there is a direct tions in today’s technology-based extremely competi- impact of OC on OCB, and the finding of the present tive business situation. study supported this perception. This finding is also Like other service organizations (Abid et al. 2015; supported by Western studies (Cetin, Gürbüz, and Sert GÜÇEL and Begec 2012) SL is applicable in banking 2015; op den Buijs et al. 2019; Pooja et al. 2016) along sectors in developing countries (Mathur and Negi with the developing countries (Obedgiu et al. 2017; 2014). Moreover, managers and executives in the Prasetio, Yuniarsih, and Ahman 2017). In Bangladesh, banking sector can apply SL to improve the OC of the a study on bankers (Ferdus and Kabir 2018) also sup- employees which will, in turn, motivate the employ- ports the direct influence of OC on OCB. ees to do extra for organizations. The relationship between SL and OCB is partially Organizations can inspire managers to follow the mediated by OC. This finding of the study is supported SL behavior to deal with their employees. Training indirectly by the findings of Walumbwa et al. (2010) and mentoring programs can develop the SL behav- who studied employees’ commitment to their super- ior among the managers (Liden et al. 2014; Peterson, visor. The mediation influence of OC on the SL and Galvin, and Lange 2012). Managers can be trained in OCB relationship is partial due to a significant direct such a way that to deal with the employees they can relationship of SL and OC with OCB. However, some exhibit personal attention, keep them knowledgeable other factors may influence the relationship between about the development chances, establish a fair and SL and OCB that is still a matter of discovery. open relationship with them, empower them, show sympathy to them for their faults, and provide credit to them for their achievements. Employee-oriented leadership (SL) is the best op- 6. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL tion to deal with the highly educated and meritorious IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY employees in the organization. Academicians must The theoretical contribution of the study is that OC give more attention to the area of SL for more study. indirectly affects the relationship between SL and OCB The course curriculum on leadership should also con- that was not identified by any other findings earlier. tain the model of SL. Moreover, the dimensions of SL are perfectly suited in developing countries’ contexts like Western coun- tries. SL style is similarly applicable in the developing 7. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH countries like Bangladesh which is supported by other DIRECTIONS few findings in Asian and African countries like India (Carroll and Patterson 2016), Malaysia (Le Ng et al. Data collection using convenience sampling is the 2016), China (Liu et al. 2015), Turkey (Cerit 2010), and main limitation of the study that fails to generalize the Kenia (Walumbwa et al. 2010). results. All data were collected from only local PCBs of This study adds new knowledge by exploring the Bangladesh for ensuring data consistency. The sample effect of SL on employees’ OC and OCB in organiza- consisted of only PCBs of Bangladesh, which seem to tions. Based on the outcomes of the study it can be be more homogenous; thus, future researchers can proposed that SL should be recognized as a significant cover other areas such as public banks, foreign banks antecedent to foster OC and OCB among employees. to ensure heterogeneous demographics. It is found that the SL scale of van Dierendonck Among the respondents, ninety-nine percent hold and Nuijten, (2011) is approachable and easily appli- a master’s degree. The results of the study point out cable in developing countries. These findings create how to deal with highly educated people effectively. opportunities for selecting and developing SL in the Thus, the results cannot be generalized how to deal organizations of developing countries through proper with less-educated or working-class people effec - assessment, training, and performance evaluation of tively. Future researchers can cover the working-class the executives. people for exploring the influence of SL on the job South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Volume 16 (1) 2021 79 The Influence of Servant Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Eec ff t of Organizational Commitment attitude of working-class people. Bangladesh. International Journal of Business and The objective perception of the employees rather Technopreneurship, 10(1): 31-50. than independent and subject measurement was Allen, N. J., and Meyer, J. P. 1990. The measurement and an- used to measure the variables. The future researcher tecedents of affective, continuance and normative com- can use both subjective and objective measurements mitment to the organization. Journal of occupational for generating undisputable results. psychology, 63(1): 1-18. The present study did not reveal the impact of SL Allen, N. J., and Meyer, J. P. 1996. Aec ff tive, continuance, on the different dimensions of OC and OCB. Future and normative commitment to the organization: An studies can explore the relationship of SL with differ - examination of construct validity. Journal of Vocational ent dimensions of OC and OCB. Behavior, 49(3): 252-276. Awee, A., Cheah, W. Y., Cheng, C. N., Hong, K. S., Ling, L. B., and Tan, M. C. 2014. Effect of servant leadership on affec - tive commitment among hotel employees. International 8. CONCLUSION Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(11): SL creates a positive attitude among employees 1-7. since they are given importance by the leaders. In Baruch, Y., and Holtom, B. C. 2008. Survey response rate lev- exchange for this leadership behavior, subordinates els and trends in organizational research. Human rela- show their steady commitment to organizations and tions, 61(8): 1139-1160. performing extra pro-social activities. Additionally, Bobbio, A., Dierendonck, D. V., and Manganelli, A. 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Journal

South East European Journal of Economics and Business – de Gruyter

Published: Jun 1, 2021

Keywords: Organizational commitment; Servant Leadership; Organizational citizenship behavior; Mediation; C31; C88; L29; M10

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