The influence of servant leadership on job performance through innovative work behavior: does public service motivation matter?

ABSTRACT

This study empirically investigates the effects of servant leadership on job performance and notes the mediating role of innovative work behaviour and the moderating role of public service motivation. The research framework was tested using a survey of 361 civil servants working in local governments in Vietnam. The findings indicated significant positive effects of servant leadership on job performance. This relationship was partially mediated by innovative work behaviour. In addition, the study found that public service motivation positively affected innovative work behaviour and strengthened its association with servant leadership. The managerial implication is that public managers should promote civil servants’ public service motivation and adopt servant leadership. Suggestions for future research are also presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Servant leadership
• job performance
• innovative work behaviour
• public service motivation
• Vietnam

Acknowledgments

The author is thankful to Prof. James L. Perry (Indiana University Bloomington) for his valuable feedback that helped in the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bui Nhat Vuong

Bui Nhat Vuong is a lecturer at Vietnam Aviation Academy, Vietnam. He has a PhD in Business Administration. His current research interests are Human resources management, Public administration.