Tae-Won Moon

Organizational Cultural Intelligence: Dynamic Capability Perspective

This study introduces the conceptual foundations of cultural intelligence (CQ) at the organizational level and elaborates on its three factors: process, position, and path capability. Drawing on Early and Ang’s individual level of CQ conceptualization and Teece et al.’s dynamic capability framework, the proposed organizational CQ theory suggests how micro theories of cultural intelligence can be relevant to the macro theories of organizational CQ. In addition, this study also proposes a nomological network for organizational CQ models that sheds light on the role of organizational CQ and the underlying mechanism of the relationship between organizational CQ and organizational performance as well as intermediate performance outcomes (international performance).

The role of chronological age and work experience on emotional labor

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how chronological age and work experience affect emotional labor strategies (i.e. deep acting and surface acting) through emotional intelligence (EI). Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling analysis provided support for the hypotheses based on a sample of 256 flight attendants working for four South Korean airlines. Findings – The results showed that chronological age has a positive effect on both surface and deep acting. The study also found that work experience has a negative influence on surface acting, whereas it has a non-significant effect on deep acting. In addition, the investigation suggests that EI mediates the relationship between work experience and deep acting. Originality/value – The current study will add to the growing body of research on emotional labor by examining the effect of chronological age and work experience on emotional labor strategies through EI.

Exploring the relationships between compassion at work, the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity, service employee creativity, and job performance

Purpose This study examines whether compassion at work increases service employees’ job performance. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to show the mechanism through which experienced compassion in an organization affects the job performance of service employees. Design/methodology/approach The employees from a department store in South Korea were surveyed using a self-administered instrument for data collection. Out of 550 questionnaires, a total of 309 usable questionnaires were obtained after list-wise deletion, for a 61.6 per cent response rate. Findings The results of this study suggest that the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity mediates the relationship between compassion at work and service employees’ job performance. In addition, the findings of this study demonstrate that there is significant mediating effect of service employee creativity on the relationship between compassion at work and job performance. Furthermore, the relationship between compassion at work and job performance was sequentially mediated by the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity and the creativity of service employees. Research limitations/implications The common method variance in the self-reported variables imposes a need for caution in the interpretation of the findings. Future studies could avoid the problem of common method bias by, for example, using supervisor ratings of creativity and job performance. On the other hand, this study will add to the growing body of research on service marketing by highlighting the role of compassion at work to enhance service employees’ job performance. Practical implications This study offers new insight for practitioners (i.e. CEOs, top management teams, employees) by suggesting that they may promote service employees’ job performance if they pay more attention to compassionate acts in service marketing. Originality/value As services are becoming more important and harder to sell simultaneously, this study provides a new perspective to improve service employees’ job performance by examining its link with compassion at work.

The moderating roles of organizational justice on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and organizational loyalty in airline services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to analyze the moderating role of organizational justice in the emotional exhaustion–organizational loyalty link. Emotional exhaustion resulting from an employee’s emotional labor usually leads to negative outcome such as organizational loyalty. Following conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory, the authors argue that the relationship between flight attendants’ emotional exhaustion and organizational loyalty is moderated by distributive, procedural and interpersonal justice. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from a sample of 247 flight attendants in South Korea. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized relationship. Findings – The study results provide support for the moderating role of organizational justice such as distributive, procedural and interpersonal justice in the emotional exhaustion–organizational loyalty link. Originality/value – This study contributes to the extant literature b...

The effect of workplace incivility on service employee creativity: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and intrinsic motivation

Purpose This study aims to examine how workplace incivility (i.e. coworker and customer incivility) affects service employees’ creativity, specifically the way emotional exhaustion at work decreases their intrinsic motivation, and, in turn, damages service employees’ creativity. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to show the mechanism by which both coworker and customer incivility at work affects service employee creativity. Design/methodology/approach Service employees from a hotel in South Korea were surveyed using a self-administered instrument for data collection. Out of 450 questionnaires, a total of 281 usable questionnaires were obtained after list-wise deletion, for a 62.4 per cent response rate. Structural equation modeling analysis provided support for the hypotheses. Findings The results indicate a serial multiple mediator model in which both coworker and customer incivility increase service employees’ emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, reduces their intrinsic motivation at work and ultimately decreases their creativity. That is, the findings of this study reveal a negative relationship between workplace incivility (i.e. coworker and customer incivility) and service employees’ creativity that is fully and sequentially mediated by the service employees’ emotional exhaustion and intrinsic motivation. Research limitations/implications The use of cross-sectional self-reports potentially raises concerns about common method bias. Caution is recommended in reaching conclusions concerning the causal relationships between the variables, as the current study did not capture causality variation. For instance, it may be that emotional exhaustion from incivility gradually compounds over time, leading to a greater negative impact on service employees. In contrast, employees may develop strategies to cope with uncivil behavior over time, which attenuates the negative effects on service employees as time passes. A longitudinal design might offer an alternative to overcome this limitation in future research. Practical implications Considering the findings about the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion between workplace incivility and employee outcomes (i.e. intrinsic motivation and creativity), firms should consider establishing systematic institutional practices and policies to prevent employees from feeling emotionally exhausted from workplace incivility. Executive and senior management teams would benefit by instituting strict policies and regulations which nurture desirable behaviors among organizational members that protect victims of workplace incivility. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the relationship between workplace incivility and creativity. Moreover, the present study attempts to develop an understanding of the underlying mechanism through which both coworker and customer incivility negatively affect service employees’ creativity.

Is all support equal? The moderating effects of supervisor, coworker, and organizational support on the link between emotional labor and job performance

This study was designed to examine the moderating roles of perceived supervisor, coworker, and organizational support in the relationship between emotional labor and job performance in the airline service context. A sample of flight attendants working for one major airline company in South Korea participated in this study. The flight attendants’ official job performance data were provided by the airline company. For data analyses, a series of hierarchical moderated regression analyses were employed. The results showed differential moderation effects of the three sources of support at work. Specifically, the positive relationship between deep acting and job performance was strengthened by perceived supervisor and coworker support. The negative relationship between surface acting and job performance was exacerbated by perceived supervisor support, indicating the reverse buffering effect. Perceived organizational support showed only main effects on employee performance with no moderation effects.