SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
Main Article Content
Abstract
The purpose of this research article is to provide a specific description of the relationship between servant leadership and individual, team and organizational performance. Methodologically, a rigorous three-phase systematic literature review process has been followed to identify relevant information to answer the review questions. In this way, the results are presented and disseminated in a descriptive manner. It has been found that the studies are mostly quantitative, focused on studying the relationship between servant leadership and performance at the individual level, followed by organizational performance and few studies focused on team performance; with a growing interest in multilevel performance; there is a greater presence of mediating variables than moderating variables in the research. Although there is much interest in the subject, it is believed that it is little studied, mainly in team performance and moderating variables. The study contributes with specificity by addressing the effect it has on performance at the individual, team and organizational levels. In addition, new topics for further research are raised.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Aboramadan, M., Dahleez, K., & Hamad, M. H. (2020). Servant leadership and academics outcomes in higher education: the role of job satisfaction. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 29(3), 562–584. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2019-1923
Alafeshat, R., & Tanova, C. (2019). Servant leadership style and high-performance work system practices: Pathway to a sustainable jordanian airline industry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226191
Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. In Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 60, pp. 421–449). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163621
Batool, F., Mohammad, J., & Awang, S. R. (2022). The effect of servant leadership on organisational sustainability: the parallel mediation role of creativity and psychological resilience. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 43(1), 71–95. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-06-2021-0264
Bilal, A., Siddiquei, A., Asadullah, M. A., Awan, H. M., & Asmi, F. (2020). Servant leadership: a new perspective to explore project leadership and team effectiveness. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 29(3), 699–715. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-12-2019-1975
Chen, Z., Zhu, J., & Zhou, M. (2015). How does a servant leader fuel the service fire? A multilevel model of servant leadership, individual self identity, group competition climate, and customer service performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(2), 511–521. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038036
Chiniara, M., & Bentein, K. (2016). Linking servant leadership to individual performance: Differentiating the mediating role of autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction. Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), 124–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.08.004
Chiniara, M., & Bentein, K. (2018). The servant leadership advantage: When perceiving low differentiation in leader-member relationship quality influences team cohesion, team task performance and service OCB. Leadership Quarterly, 29(2), 333–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.05.002
Choudhary, A. I., Akhtar, S. A., & Zaheer, A. (2013). Impact of Transformational and Servant Leadership on Organizational Performance: A Comparative Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(2), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1470-8
Christensen-Salem, A., Zanini, M. T. F., Walumbwa, F. O., Parente, R., Peat, D. M., & Perrmann-Graham, J. (2021). Communal solidarity in extreme environments: The role of servant leadership and social resources in building serving culture and service performance. Journal of Business Research, 135, 829–839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.017
Clark, C. ;, Harrison, C. ;, & Gibb, S. (2019). Developing a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial leadership. International Review of Entrepreneurship, 17(3), 347–384. https://www.senatehall.com/entrepreneurship?article=639
Daswati, Buntuang, P. C. D., Hattab, S., & Kornelius, Y. (2021). Effect of servant leadership on the performance of a regional general hospital. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 19(2), 507–518. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.19(2).2021.40
de Waal, A., & Sivro, M. (2012). The Relation Between Servant Leadership, Organizational Performance, and the High-Performance Organization Framework. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 19(2), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051812439892
Denyer, D., & Tranfield, D. (2009). Producing a Systematic Review. In D. A. Buchanan & A. Bryman (Eds.), The Sage handbook of organizational research methods (pp. 671–689). Sage Publications Ltd. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-00924-039
Ehrhart, M. G., Hanges, P., Hattrup, K., Klein, K., Ployhart, R., Stevens, C., Tesluk, P., & Holcombe, K. (2004). Leadership and procedural justice climate as antecedents of unit-level organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 57, 61–94. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2004.tb02484.x
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant Leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
Eva, N., Sendjaya, S., Prajogo, D., Cavanagh, A., & Robin, M. (2018). Creating strategic fit: Aligning servant leadership with organizational structure and strategy. Personnel Review, 47(1), 166–186. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2016-0064
Giolito, V. J., Liden, R. C., van Dierendonck, D., & Cheung, G. W. (2021). Servant Leadership Influencing Store-Level Profit: The Mediating Effect of Employee Flourishing. Journal of Business Ethics, 172(3), 503–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04509-1
Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). The Servant as Leader (p. 28). https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/199th/ocs/content/pdf/The%20Servant%20as%20Leader.pdf
Gultekin, H., & Dougherty, M. (2021). The relationship between servant leadership characteristics of school teachers and students’ academic achievement. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 8(2), 276–295. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/698
Harrison, C., Paul, S., & Burnard, K. (2019). Entrepreneurial leadership: A Systematic Literature Review. International Review of Entrepreneurship, 14(2), 235–264. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331589807
Hartnell, C. A., Karam, E. P., Kinicki, A. J., & Dimotakis, N. (2020). Does Servant Leadership’s People Focus Facilitate or Constrain Its Positive Impact on Performance? An Examination of Servant Leadership’s Direct, Indirect, and Total Effects on Branch Financial Performance. Group and Organization Management, 45(4), 479–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601120901619
Hernández-Perlines, F., & Araya-Castillo, L. A. (2020). Servant Leadership, Innovative Capacity and Performance in Third Sector Entities. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00290
Holten, A. L., Hancock, G. R., & Bøllingtoft, A. (2019). Studying the importance of change leadership and change management in layoffs, mergers, and closures. Management Decision, 58(3), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-03-2017-0278
Holtzhausen, N., & de Klerk, J. J. (2018). Servant leadership and the Scrum team’s effectiveness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 39(7), 873–882. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-05-2018-0193
Huang, J., Li, W., Qiu, C., Yim, F. H. kit, & Wan, J. (2016). The impact of CEO servant leadership on firm performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(5), 945–968. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2014-0388
Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penney, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization. Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.12.001
Hutabarat, C., Suharyono, S., Utami, H. N., & Prasetya, A. (2021). Servant Leadership, Business Transformation, and Corporate Competitiveness. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(2), 1091–1099. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no2.1091
Jahan, N., Naveed, S., Zeshan, M., & Tahir, M. A. (2016). How to Conduct a Systematic Review: A Narrative Literature Review. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.864
Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009). Examining the impact of servant leadership on sales force perforamance. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 29(3), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.2753/PSS0885-3134290304
Karatepe, O. M., Ozturk, A., & Kim, T. T. (2019). Servant leadership, organisational trust, and bank employee outcomes. Service Industries Journal, 39(2), 86–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2018.1464559
Kaya, B., & Karatepe, O. M. (2020). Does servant leadership better explain work engagement, career satisfaction and adaptive performance than authentic leadership? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(6), 2075–2095. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2019-0438
Khattak, M. N., & O’Connor, P. (2021). The interplay between servant leadership and organizational politics. Personnel Review, 50(3), 985–1002. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2020-0131
Kimakwa, S., Gonzalez, J. A., & Kaynak, H. (2021). Social Entrepreneur Servant Leadership and Social Venture Performance: How are They Related? Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04986-y
Kül, S., & Sönmez, B. (2021). The effect of nurse managers’ servant leadership on nurses’ innovative behaviors and job performances. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 42(8), 1168–1184. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2020-0318
Langhof, J. G., & Güldenberg, S. (2020). Servant Leadership: A systematic literature review—toward a model of antecedents and outcomes. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(1), 32–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/2397002219869903
Lemoine, G. J., & Blum, T. C. (2021). Servant leadership, leader gender, and team gender role: Testing a female advantage in a cascading model of performance. Personnel Psychology, 74(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12379
Li, D., Li, Y., Hu, Y., & Tu, Y. (2021). How do servant leadership and self-esteem at work shape family performance in China? A resource-gain-development Management Perspective. Management Decision, Ahead Of P. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-08-2020-1104
Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Liao, C., & Meuser, J. D. (2014). Servant leadership and serving culture: Influence on individual and unit performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1434–1452. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0034
Liden, R., Wayne, S., Liao, C., & Meuser, J. (2014). Servant leadership and serving culture: Influence on individual and unit performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1434–1452. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0034
Liden, R., Wayne, S., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant leadership : Development of a multidimensional measure and multi-level assessment. The Leadership Quarterly, 19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2008.01.006
Linuesa-Langreo, J., Ruiz-Palomino, P., & Elche-Hortelano, D. (2017). New strategies in the new millennium: Servant leadership as enhancer of service climate and customer service performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(MAY). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00786
Mcquade, K. E., Harrison, C., & Tarbert, H. (2021). Systematically reviewing servant leadership. European Business Review, 33(3), 465–490. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-08-2019-0162
Mujeeb, T., Khan, N. U., Obaid, A., Yue, G., Bazkiaei, H. A., & Samsudin, N. A. (2021). Do servant leadership self-efficacy and benevolence values predict employee performance within the banking industry in the post-covid-19 era: Using a serial mediation approach. Administrative Sciences, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11040114
Nauman, S., Hussain Bhatti, S., Imam, H., & Khan, M. S. (2021). How Servant Leadership Drives Project Team Performance Through Collaborative Culture and Knowledge Sharing. Project Management Journal, 53(I). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/87569728211037777
Neubert, M. J., Hunter, E. M., & Tolentino, R. C. (2016). A servant leader and their stakeholders: When does organizational structure enhance a leader’s influence? Leadership Quarterly, 27(6), 896–910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.05.005
Osborne, S. P. (2018). From public service-dominant logic to public service logic: are public service organizations capable of co-production and value co-creation? Public Management Review, 20(2), 225–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1350461
Otero-Neira, C., Varela-Neira, C., & Bande, B. (2016). Supervisory servant leadership and employee’s work role performance: A multilevel mediation model. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 37(7), 860–881. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-11-2014-0230
Peng, J. C., & Chen, S. W. (2021). Servant Leadership and Service Performance: A Multilevel Mediation Model. Psychological Reports, 124(4), 1738–1760. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120950302
Peterson, S. J., Galvin, B. M., & Lange, D. (2012). Ceo servant leadership: Exploring executive characteristics and firm performance. Personnel Psychology, 65(3), 565–596. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2012.01253.x
Politis, J. D., & Politis, D. J. (2018). Examination of the relationship between servant leadership and agency problems: gender matters. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 39(2), 170–185. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-01-2016-0020
Rofcanin, Y., Heras, M. las, Bosch, M. J., Berber, A., Mughal, F., & Ozturk, M. (2021). Servant leadership and family supportiveness: Looking into employees’ work and family outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 128, 70–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.052
Ruiz-Palomino, P., Linuesa-Langreo, J., & Elche, D. (2021). Team-level servant leadership and team performance: The mediating roles of organizational citizenship behavior and internal social capital. Business Ethics, Environment and Responsibility. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12390
Saleem, F., Zhang, Y. Z., Gopinath, C., & Adeel, A. (2020). Impact of Servant Leadership on Performance: The Mediating Role of Affective and Cognitive Trust. SAGE Open, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019900562
Sawyerr, E., & Harrison, C. (2020). Developing resilient supply chains: lessons from high-reliability organisations. In Supply Chain Management (Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp. 77–100). Emerald Group Holdings Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-09-2018-0329
Schwarz, G., Newman, A., Cooper, B., & Eva, N. (2016). Servant Leadership and Follower Job Performance: The Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation. Public Administration, 94(4), 1025–1041. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12266
Sendjaya, S., & Sarros, J. C. (2002). Servant leadership: It’s origin, development, and application in organizations. Journal of Leadership and Organization Studies, 9(2), 57–64. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/107179190200900205
Siddiquei, A., Asmi, F., Asadullah, M. A., & Mir, F. (2021). Environmental-specific servant leadership as a strategic tool to accomplish environmental performance: a case of China. International Journal of Manpower, 42(7), 1161–1182. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2020-0350
Sihombing, S., Astuti, E. S., al Musadieq, M., Hamied, D., & Rahardjo, K. (2018). The effect of servant leadership on rewards, organizational culture and its implication for employee’s performance. International Journal of Law and Management, 60(2), 505–516. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-12-2016-0174
Sousa, M. (2016). Introducing a Short Measure of Shared Servant Leadership Impacting Team Introducing a Short Measure of Shared Servant Leadership Impacting Team Performance through Team Behavioral Integration. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(January), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02002
Stollberger, J., las Heras, M., Rofcanin, Y., & Bosch, M. J. (2019). Serving followers and family? A trickle-down model of how servant leadership shapes employee work performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 158–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.003
Stoten, D. W. (2013). Servant leadership in English sixth form colleges: What do teachers tell us? International Journal of Educational Management, 27(4), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541311316313
Sudarmo, Suhartanti, P. D., & Prasetyanto, W. E. (2021). Servant leadership and employee productivity: a mediating and moderating role. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-12-2020-0658
Thompson, G., Buch, R., & Glasø, L. (2019). Servant leadership, span of control, and outcomes in a municipality context. Journal of General Management, 44(2), 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306307018810584
Tripathi, D., Priyadarshi, P., Kumar, P., & Kumar, S. (2021). Does servant leadership affect work role performance via knowledge sharing and psychological empowerment? VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 51(5), 792–812. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-10-2019-0159
Tuan, L. T. (2021). Effects of environmentally-specific servant leadership on green performance via green climate and green crafting. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38(3), 925–953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09687-9
Varela, J. A., Bande, B., del Rio, M., & Jaramillo, F. (2019). Servant Leadership, Proactive Work Behavior, and Performance Overall Rating: Testing a Multilevel Model of Moderated Mediation. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 26(2), 177–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2019.1603417
Wang, Z., Xu, H., & Liu, Y. (2018). Servant leadership as a driver of employee service performance: Test of a trickle-down model and its boundary conditions. Human Relations, 71(9), 1179–1203. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717738320
Xu, A. J., & Wang, L. (2020). How and When Servant Leaders Enable Collective Thriving: The Role of Team–Member Exchange and Political Climate. British Journal of Management, 31(2), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12358
Yagil, D., & Oren, R. (2021). Servant leadership, engagement, and employee outcomes: The moderating roles of proactivity and job autonomy. Revista de Psicologia Del Trabajo y de Las Organizaciones, 37(1), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.5093/JWOP2021A1
Ye, Y., Lyu, Y., & He, Y. (2019). Servant leadership and proactive customer service performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(3), 1330–1347. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2018-0180