Using the social exchange theory to explore the employee-organization relationship in the hospitality industry

Abstract

Purpose This research developed a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship using the social exchange theory as the theoretical framework. This study aims to consider perceived organizational support as the psychological empowerment antecedent, while work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior were considered as its outcome. This study also tested psychological empowerment as a mediator of these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a sample of frontline hotel employees and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. A total of 242 completed and validated questionnaires were used for the analysis. Findings Perceived organizational support had a significant relationship with psychological empowerment (through meaning, competence, self-determination and impact), which also had a significant relationship with work engagement (through meaning and impact) and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (through meaning, self-determination and impact). Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support with work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Originality/value Although psychological empowerment is receiving further empirical attention in the hospitality field, little is known about its antecedents and outcomes. Hence, this research extends previous studies using the social exchange theory to fill these literature gaps and create a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship.

Why do hotel interns stay in the hospitality and tourism industry? An interactionist perspective of organizational socialization

“…This research highlight the imperative to pay more attention to psychological capital design and implementation programs in the hotel industry (Hwang and Han, 2019; Min et al , 2015). Furthermore, empirical research on the interns’ characteristics and the cause-effect linkage among organizational support, psychological capital, organizational socialization and employee behavior in hospitality needs more attention (Goh and Lee, 2018; Kim et al , 2017; Meira and Hancer, 2021).…”

“…Unfortunately, research related to the hotel industry's workforce characteristics/attributes is scarce (Goh and Lee, 2018). More empirical research on the linkage between organizational support and employee behavior in hospitality is required (Meira and Hancer, 2021). Thus, interns’ organizational socialization can be better elaborated through an interactionist perspective, which has been often overlooked in literature (Allen and Shanock, 2013; Perrot et al , 2014).…”

The Relationships among Authentic Leadership, Social Exchange Relationships, and Trust in Organizations during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…High-quality SERs induce relationship satisfaction and trust (Jeong & Oh, 2017). Meira and Hancer (2021) note that the competence and self-determination of employees have been improved when they perceive organizational support.…”

How Does Employee–Organization Relationship Affect Work Engagement and Work Well-Being of Knowledge-Based Employees?

“…Perceived organizational support had a significant relationship with WWB. In other words, this means that supportive work environments should foster frontline employees’ psychological empowerment, as well as their WE and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors ( Meira and Hancer, 2021 ), using creative means to develop the EOR when organizations cannot increase pay will increase WWB ( Jolly et al, 2021 ). Thus, we propose the following hypotheses:…”