Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Business Administration

First Advisor

Tony Ammeter

Second Advisor

Ethel Young-Minor

Third Advisor

Christopher Thomas

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

This research focused on the impact of servant leadership on follower citizenship behaviors (OCBs), both at the individual and organizational levels. The relationship was considered indirect, with trust, perceptions of fairness, and stewardship climate acting as mediators to the relationship between servant leadership and follower citizenship behaviors. The three major contributions are (1) the identification and empirical test of 'servant' and 'leader' components of servant leadership, and (2) the theoretical extension of servant leadership through stewardship theory, and (3) the evidence for its importance in explaining the role of stewardship climate in the relationship between servant leadership and follower OCBs. I report the results from two empirical studies that provide support for the model. Study 1 provides a test of the general model of servant leadership and provides initial support to the proposed components of servant leadership and their effects on separate levels of follower OCBs. Study 2 builds upon this model by including the mediating role of stewardship climate on the servant leadership - follower OCB relationship. Results provide initial support for the differing effects of the 'servant' and 'leader' components on individual and organizational follower citizenship behaviors, respectively. Furthermore, trust and stewardship climate were found to fully mediate these relationships. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.

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