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Based on the self-evaluation maintenance model and social comparison theory, the purpose of this study is to test a novel model to explore the influence of competitive psychological climate on knowledge withholding of employees with the mediating role of envy. This study also investigated when the effect of climate on envy is more pronounced by assessing the role of a narcissistic personality.

The authors collected time-lagged data from 376 employees working in UAE national banks to test the model.

The findings of this study showed that a competitive psychological climate indirectly affects knowledge withholding behaviour because such a climate enhances the emotional response of employee envy. In a competitive climate, upward social comparisons are likely to be heightened, resulting in employee envy and knowledge withholding because knowledge is used as leverage to gain self-control and self-worth in the organisation. This effect of such a climate on employee envy was found to be stronger when employees have a narcissistic personality.

The findings offer practical insights to managers and practitioners on the importance of managing the competitive climate cautiously to address the likelihood of knowledge withholding behaviour among employees at work.

This study empirically investigates the impact of organizational structure (specifically centralization) on the occurrence of the passive leadership. The authors also examine the mediating role of autonomy frustrations and the moderating effect of turnover intentions in these relationships.

Using structural equation modelling as well as PROCESS macro (version 3.5), the research model is analysed based on a sample of 133 employee–supervisor dyads in various public sector organizations in Dubai.

Contrary to the study hypothesis and assumption, the results demonstrate that centralization has no significant direct effect on the occurrence of passive leadership; however, this effect found to be significant only via the mediating of autonomy frustrations (fully mediator). This influence is strengthening when a supervisor has the intentions to leave his/her organizations.

These findings point on how and why centralization can lead to occurrence of passive leadership.

This study expands on research related to the dark side of personality traits by examining how individual dark personality affects proactive work behaviours. Specifically, the authors consider paranoia as a dark personality trait and propose that it negatively relates to perceived psychological safety and indirectly affects frontline employees' (FLEs) willingness to report customer complaints as well as their extra-role customer service. The authors also posit that empathetic leadership is a focal, contextual factor that mitigates the impact of paranoia on perceived psychological safety and, consequently, the willingness to report customer complaints and engage in extra-role customer service behaviour.

The model was tested on a sample of 252 FLEs using process macro (Hayes, 2017) and AMOS. Data were collected from FLEs working in different hospitality organisations using a time-lagged design; supervisor-rated employee extra-role customer service was also measured.

The authors found that FLEs with a paranoid personality trait had a lesser sense of psychological safety at work, which reduced their willingness to engage in proactive work behaviours. However, this negative effect was mitigated by the presence of an empathetic leader.

The results are important because research has yet to determine which actions managers should take to counter the negative effects of dark personalities in the workplace.

This study aims to build on the trait activation and interactionist perspective theories to investigate the effect of frontline employees’ (FLEs) willingness to take risks on hotel guest loyalty by assessing the mediating role of their innovative behaviors. It also examines whether decentralization strengthens the positive impact of willingness to take risks on innovative behavior and, subsequently, customer loyalty.

The authors collected multilevel data from various sources – hotel FLEs (n = 183), hotel operation managers (n = 46) and hotel guests/customers (n = 266) – from five-star hotels operating in Dubai. Structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro (version 3.5) were used to analyze the data.

The findings showed that willingness to take risks indirectly (via innovative behaviors) affects guest/customer loyalty positively. This effect is strengthened when the hotel is decentralized.

This study provides insight into how hotel managers can foster customer loyalty. More specifically, they can do so by establishing employees’ innovative behaviors triggered by employees’ positive personality traits and by giving employees more autonomy.

The present study addresses recent calls to investigate the positive impact of FLEs’ personality traits, attitudes and behaviors on customer loyalty.

This study aims to examine a moderated mediation model that explains how abusive supervision influences employees’ capacity to satisfy customers (via their silence behavior) and how a customer-oriented work climate moderates the indirect influence of abusive supervision on frontline employees’ (FLEs) capacity to satisfy customers.

A time-lagged design was used to collect data from 335 FLEs of 57 hospitality organizations. A multilevel analysis was performed to test the hypotheses underpinning the study.

The findings revealed that employees are more likely to remain silent when they experience abusive supervision and this silence directly affects their ability to serve customers. The effect that abusive supervision has on silence behaviors is stronger when organizational customer orientation is low.

The study findings can provide hospitality managers with a better understanding of the complex relationship between supervisory behaviors and the organizational environment and how these factors influence employees’ discretionary behaviors (e.g. decision to intentionally withhold information) and capacity to serve customers.

The findings provide a novel contribution by explaining how abusive supervision affects hospitality employees’ capacity to serve customers and when this effect is more pronounced. These findings highlight that hospitality organizations need to understand that when leader behavior does not align with what is prescribed for a customer-oriented service climate, the benefits of a favorable work climate do not exist.

This study aims to examine the impact of workplace happiness, coworker support and job stress on employee innovative behavior. The mediating effects of coworker support and job stress are also explored.

The study uses survey data from 328 employees from different departments in four- and five-star hotels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Based on an extensive literature review, five main hypotheses were formulated and explored. These were tested through multiple regression analysis using the SPSS Process Macro plugin.

Workplace happiness is the most significant determinant of employees’ innovative behavior, while coworker support plays a significant mediating role. Contrary to the study hypothesis and assumption, job stress alone is not a significant mediator; it only plays a mediating role when combined with coworker support.

The sample is from a single sector (hotels) in a single country. Future research would benefit from examining the above relationships in other sectors (such as health and education) in the UAE. It could also explore the validity of these relationships in the tourism/hotels sector of other countries in the Middle East and Gulf regions.

Few studies have attempted to investigate factors that may promote or impede innovative behavior among employees in the hotels sector, particularly in the UAE. The data, model and findings of this study address this gap and add to the current state of knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the differential impacts of job satisfaction (JS), trust (T), and perceived organizational performance (POP) on turnover intention (TI) in public and private sector organizations.

Draws on a sample of 311 employees from the service sector (129 public and 182 private) in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE). The main concepts utilized in the study are borrowed from previous research and further tested for validity and reliability. Four main hypotheses are explored.

In support of previous research, statistical analysis (t-test) revealed that public sector employees tend to be more satisfied, more trusting, and have less intention to leave their organization. Regression analysis revealed that public sector employees’ TI are most significantly affected by their perceptions of the performance of their organization, with JS, work experience (WE) and education (Ed) also having significant effects. In contrast, private sector employees’ TI was most significantly affected by JS and feelings of trust (T).

Although very useful, the present study is limited in scope and therefore suffers from some limitations. The sample only includes employees from UAE organizations operating in education, some government institutions and the financial sector. Future research might consider including employees the health sector and other public organizations such as the immigration/police departments which play important strategic roles in the UAE economy. Also, future research might consider extending the scope of the study to include institutions in similar neighboring countries in the region, such as Qatar and Kuwait.

The findings of this study points to the relative importance of trust, JS and perceived organizational performance in affecting TI in public and private sectors. These can be considered as indicators to assist managers in these sectors to better manage/minimize TIs. In particular, the findings indicate that managers in general (and UAE public sector managers in particular) need to monitor and better manage not only their employees’ JS but also perceptions of the overall performance of the organization.

While research on the influence of JS on TI in both of these sectors has been abundant over the years, studies examining the impact of trust and perceptions of organizational performance remain few and are largely lacking. Also, studies on turnover in the UAE (and particularly those comparing public and private sectors) remain largely lacking. This study and its findings fill this gap and provide some insights on the differential impact of trust, JS and perceived organizational performance on employee TIs in public-private sectors, particularly in the UAE context.

This research primarily aims to study the role of leader-member exchange (LMX) in frontline employees' (FLEs) innovative behaviors, whereby a mediating effect of employee happiness is proposed in this relationship. The moderating effect of service climate is also examined on the indirect effect of LMX on innovative behaviors through happiness.

The study used a sample of 303 FLEs working in various service organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model.

The findings show that LMX has a positive and significant effect on FLEs' innovative behaviors and that employee happiness is an intervening variable. Service climate moderates the indirect effect of LMX on FLEs' innovative behaviors through happiness, and the effect is stronger in a low (unsupported) service climate.

The findings of this research provide prescriptive insights into the critical role of supervisory behavior in FLEs' innovative service behaviors and how positive emotions contribute to employees' willingness to innovate. Thus, these findings make a unique contribution to research in service management.

Studies examining how and when LMX can affect FLEs' innovative behaviors are limited. These findings offer new insights into the relative importance of supervisor and organizational support (service climate) in FLEs' innovative behaviors. The interaction effect of LMX and service climate has not been previously examined along with positive employee affect (happiness) and innovative behaviors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of workplace happiness and work engagement on employee service innovative behavior from the perspective of positive psychology. The study also examines if work engagement mediates the relationship between workplace happiness and employee service innovative behavior. Finally, it investigates how co-worker socializing and the service climate of the organization moderate the relationship between work engagement and employee service innovative behavior.

The study used survey data from 321 frontline employees working in the service sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Six major hypotheses were established and examined using the SPSS Statistics V22.0 Process. The measurement model was analyzed using Amos 22.

Workplace happiness and work engagement are found to be important factors affecting employee service innovative behavior. Workplace happiness influences employee service innovative behavior directly and indirectly through work engagement. Both service climate and co-worker socializing play a significant moderating role in the relationship between work engagement and employee service innovative behavior among frontline employees. Interestingly, service climate erodes this relationship while co-worker socializing enhances it.

This study provides guidelines for managers and practitioners in the service industry to promote frontline employee service innovative behavior. Specifically, the findings provide guidance for decision-makers on how to use workplace happiness to trigger the innovative service behaviors of frontline employees, taking into consideration the conditional role of service climate and co-worker socializing.

The literature on factors affecting the service innovative behavior of frontline employees in the service sector from the perspective of positive psychology is limited, especially in the context of the UAE. The data, framework and outcomes of this research address this gap and contribute to the current body of knowledge. Specifically, the study contributes to the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions in the field of positive psychology by validating the applicability of the theory in a wider organizational context.

The purpose of this research is to examine the indirect effect of perceived organizational customer orientation on frontline employees' (FLE) innovative behaviors (via perceived empowerment) as well as the contextual factor of supervisory fairness, which affects the strength of the indirect effect. Drawing on social exchange theory, the authors propose that FLEs' perceived organizational customer orientation positively affects their empowerment and indirectly affects innovative behaviors, and that effect is stronger in a high supervisory fairness condition.

Structural equation modeling of the data collected through a time-lagged survey of 184 employee–supervisor dyads provides support for the hypotheses. From the practitioners' perspective, this study highlights the mechanism through which perceived organizational customer orientation can affect the display of FLEs' innovative behaviors as well as the conditions that strengthen this process.

Perceived organizational customer orientation was positively related to employees' perceived empowerment. Empowerment was positively associated with supervisor-reported innovative behaviors. The indirect effect of perceived organizational customer orientation through employee empowerment on supervisor-reported innovative behaviors was also confirmed. Supervisory fairness significantly moderated the perceived organizational customer orientation and employee empowerment relationship. Finally, the indirect effect of customer orientation on supervisor-reported innovative behaviors through empowerment was significant for both high supervisory fairness and low supervisory fairness; however, the effect was stronger in a high fairness condition.

Service managers can benefit from these findings by improving the work environment characteristics.

This study makes an important contribution to existing research on perceived organizational customer orientation and FLEs' innovative behaviors as extant research has only examined the direct unmediated effect of customer orientation on innovative behaviors. Moreover, the authors’ moderated mediation model presents a new insight into how perceived organizational customer orientation influences FLEs' innovative behaviors and when this effect is more pronounced.