Purpose Over time, interest in servant leadership has increased manifold both in academic research and the popular press. These rampant developments have set the stage for addressing the worthiness of servant leadership’s theory. Empirical studies undertaken by numerous scholars (Farling et al., 1999; Bass, 2000; Page and Wong, 2000; Russell and Stone, 2002; Sendjaya and Serros, 2002; Dennis and Winston, 2003; Smith et al., 2004; Stone et al., 2004; Dennis and Bocarnea, 2005; Humphreys, 2005) have surfaced significant findings supporting relevance of servant leadership in organizational context; however, an absence of universal definition and its measures impinges on this concept. Noticeably missing from research attention has been the effect of servant leadership in promoting positive organizational behaviour among organizational employees. Thus, this paper aims to explore the available literature on servant leadership with a view to establish a servant leader’s role in instilling and facilitating positive organizational behaviour in the workplace. Moreover, the purpose is also to determine whether the positive organizational behaviour inculcated among the employees through a servant leader helps in reducing their turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach Using different keywords, relevant research papers on Google Scholar were selected. Also, several online databases like Emerald Management, Elseiver, EBSCO Host, etc., were accessed for conducting this exploratory study. Findings To examine the various convergent and divergent dimensions of the major constructs, numerous definitions and scholarly work of renowned practitioners have been collated through an extensive literature review. To put forth a comprehensive picture encompassing the noteworthy findings of the studies pertaining to the major construct, a tabular representation has been made. Originality/value This is the first study wherein the linkage about servant leadership and positive organizational behaviour in organizational context has been talked about. The paper carries value as the literature pertaining to servant leadership in published domain is still in its nascent stage. The repertoire of literature, presented here, will provide a clear direction to the future researchers who wish to pursue their study in this area.

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Purpose With new hybrid working models in place post COVID-19, it is requisite that knowledge workers (KWs) stay agile. Knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) can help employees with essential knowledge acquisition (KA) facilitating the journey toward hybrid work agility (HWA). This study, thus, aims to explore the impact of KOL and KA on HWA and reveal whether this effect stems uniformly from a single homogenous population or if there is unobserved heterogeneity leading to identifiable segments of agile KWs. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected through stratified sampling from 416 employees from 20 information technology enabled services companies involved in knowledge-intensive tasks. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling approach, using SMART PLS 4.0, has been applied to examine the effect of KOL and KA on HWA. Finite mixture PLS, PLS prediction-oriented segmentation and multigroup analysis have been used to identify segments, test segment-specific path models and analyze the significance of the differences in the path coefficients for unobserved heterogeneity. Predictive relevance of the model has been determined using PLS Predict. Findings Results indicate that KOL contributes to employees’ KA and HWA. A significant positive relationship is also reported between KA and HWA. The model has medium predictive relevance. A two-segment solution has been delineated, wherein independent agile KWs (who value autonomy and personal agency over leadership for KA) and dependent agile KWs (who depend on leaders for relational and structural support for KA) have been identified. Thus, KOL and KA play a differential role in determining HWA. Research limitations/implications The authors’ major contribution to the knowledge body constitutes the determination of antecedents of HWA and a typology of agile KWs. Future researchers may conduct segment-wise qualitative analysis to delineate other variables that contribute to HWA. Practical implications Technological advances necessitate that knowledge-intensive industries foster agility in employees for strategic agility of the organization. For effecting agile adaption of an organization to the knowledge economy conditions, it is pertinent that the full potential of this human resource be used. By profiling HWA of KWs on the basis of dimensions of KOL and the level of their KA, organizations will be able to help employees adapt better to rapidly changing work conditions. Originality/value HWA is a novel concept and very germane in a hybrid working environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of the dimensions of KOL and KA in relation to HWA, along with an empirical examination of unobserved heterogeneity in the aforementioned relationship.

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