To help or not to help: antecedents of hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose Drawing on organizational support theory, this study aims to propose and test a moderated path analysis to explore the interactive effect of perceived supervisor support and supervisors’ organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior, as well as the mediating effect of perceived organizational support. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are tested using two-phase survey data collected from 398 dyads of employees and their immediate supervisors from 26 (three-to-five star) hotels in Taiwan. Findings The hierarchical linear modeling results suggest that perceived organizational support mediates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and organizational citizenship behavior. These findings indicate that supervisors’ organizational embodiment positively moderates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support, which, in turn, mediates the interaction between perceived supervisor support and supervisors’ organizational embodiment on organizational citizenship behavior. Research limitations/implications This is the first study to examine the moderating role of supervisors’ organizational embodiment in hospitality domain. In high or low supervisors’ organizational embodiment context, hotels are supposed to assign representative managers that could strengthen the efficiency of perceived supervisor support. Finally, employees will perceive organizational support and then lead to employee organizational citizenship behavior. Originality/value Previous research indicates that perceived organizational support positively impacts various employee outcomes. However, the antecedents and psychological mechanisms of perceived organizational support are still not well understood. This research intends to fill these gaps in the literature.