Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship: A Moderated Mediation Model of Perceived Leader Effectiveness and Exchange Ideology in Rwanda
Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship: A Moderated Mediation Model of Perceived Leader Effectiveness and Exchange Ideology in Rwanda
Timothy Brubaker | 2015
Abstract
What effects do reciprocity expectations have on the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship? The present study proposed and tested a moderated mediation model of the effects of servant leadership on two types of organizational citizenship behaviors (altruism and courtesy). First, the study hypothesized that perceived leader effectiveness mediates the relationship between servant leadership and these two types of organizational citizenship (H1). The study further hypothesized that employee exchange ideology moderates the indirect effects of perceived leader effectiveness in each of these models (H2). Three theoretical trajectories explain the proposed relationships between study variables: social learning theory (Bandura, 1977), cognitive categorization theory (Rosch, 1975), and reciprocity/clientelism (Gouldner, 1960; Landé, 1977). Adult Rwandans working in nongovernment settings comprise the sample for this study. Data collection yielded 194 usable responses (N = 194) which were analyzed based on study hypotheses. Data analysis showed adequate support for the full mediation effects of perceived leader effectiveness on the relationship between servant leadership and both forms of organizational citizenship. However, concerning the moderating effects of exchange ideology in the mediation models, analysis demonstrated that exchange ideology only moderated the mediation model with respect to courtesy and not altruism. The presentation concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications along with suggestions for future research. This study makes an important contribution to leadership theory by better understanding the nature of leader-follower relationships in Africa and the importance of reciprocity in these relationships.