Purpose Drawing from theory of organizational creativity, servant leadership (SEL), social exchange and social learning theories, this paper aims to propose a research model where climate for creativity mediates the influence of SEL on management innovation and innovative behavior. The model also investigates the linkage between innovative behavior and management innovation. Design/methodology/approach Data collected from Arab hotel employees in Palestine were used to gauge the aforesaid linkages through structural equation modeling. Common method variance was checked through an unmeasured latent method factor. Findings The results reveal that climate for creativity mediates the impact of SEL on management innovation and innovative behavior. Successful SEL practices enable the organization to have climate for creativity, which, in turn, leads to management innovation and innovative behavior. Furthermore, hotel employees’ innovative behavior fosters management innovation. Practical implications Top management should have a high level of commitment to the SEL philosophy, which boosts climate for creativity and innovative behavior. It should also capitalize on climate for creativity to activate management innovation. In such an environment, management has to ensure that the supervisors are servant leaders and non-managerial employees are the potential servant leaders. Once employees are trained, empowered and rewarded in an environment which highlights effective SEL practices, they will be more eager to contribute to the company by exhibiting innovative behavior at elevated levels. Originality/value Despite a number of studies in the current literature, evidence concerning the effect of SEL on management innovation and innovative behavior simultaneously is scarce. There is still a dearth of evidence pertaining to the underlying mechanism through which SEL fosters management innovation and innovative behavior. In addition, evidence appertaining to the impact of innovative behavior on management innovation is scarce. The study fills in these voids.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational commitment in Palestinian universities, and to examine the mediating effect of work engagement as a black-box mechanism that defines HRM practices–organizational commitment relationship. Design/methodology/approach The source of the data is from 237 employees (academics and administrative staff) from Palestinian universities. The authors used structural equation modeling to verify the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that HRM practices have a significant impact on employee organizational commitment in higher education. In addition, work engagement showed a significant mediating effect between performance appraisal and organizational commitment on the one hand, and between rewards and compensation and organizational commitment on the other hand. Practical implications The study suggests university managers to capitalize on HRM practices as vehicle to trigger positive work-related attitudes. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of HRM practices on organizational commitment through the mediation role of work engagement in higher education of a non-western context. The study is one of the few studies that is conducted in the middle east.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of servant leadership on work engagement and affective commitment among academics in higher education. Moreover, the paper highlights the role of job satisfaction as an intervening mechanism among the examined variables. Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to academics working in the Palestinian higher education sector. We used structural equation modelling to examine the hypotheses. Findings A positive relationship was found between servant leadership and affective commitment. The relationship between servant leadership and work engagement is fully mediated by job satisfaction, whereas partial mediation was found between servant leadership and affective commitment. Both work engagement and affective commitment have a positive impact on academics’ job performance. Practical implications The paper provides a fertile ground for higher education managers concerning the role of leadership in stimulating work engagement and organisational commitment among academics. Originality/value First, the paper is one of the few studies that empirically examines servant leadership in higher education using data coming from a non-Western context because most of the servant leadership research is conducted in the Western part of the world (Parris and Peachey, 2013). Second, we empirically provide evidence for the argument that servant leadership is needed in higher education. Third, the paper contributes to the limited body of research on work engagement and commitment in the higher education sector.

Purpose Building on leader-member exchange and social cognitive theories, this paper aims to propose a model of the influence of narcissistic leadership on hotel employees’ behavioral cynicism through the mediating roles of employee silence and negative work-related gossiping on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The model was examined using covariance-based structural equation modeling using data collected from 468 employees working in several different departments in Italian hotels. Findings The findings illustrate that narcissistic leadership positively affects behavioral cynicism. Furthermore, employee silence and negative work-related gossiping are shown to have a significant mediating effect on this relationship. Practical implications The study may be of use for hotel managers as it demonstrates how narcissism can be very damaging to their organizations and employees. Originality/value To date, this study is the first to examine negative work-related gossiping and employee silence as mediator variables in the relationship between narcissistic leadership and behavioral cynicism in the hotel industry. Further, this research makes a significant contribution to the hospitality literature as the topic of narcissistic leadership has not, to date, been adequately investigated in the sector.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the effects of transformational and transactional leaders’ behaviors on employees’ affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior in the context of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Additionally, this study attempts to examine the role of work engagement, as an intervening mechanism as work engagement in NPOs has been empirically neglected (Park et al., 2018).Design/methodology/approachData were conducted from 400 employees working in Italian NPOs in the North of Italy. For verifying the hypotheses of this study, structural equation modeling techniques were implemented.FindingsIt was found that both transformational and transactional leaderships influenced positively affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior, and work engagement was revealed to have significant positive mediating effects on the relationship between the variables examined in this study.Practical implicationsThe results of this study may be beneficial to leaders and supervisors of NPOs, specifically regarding the influence of the leaders’ behaviors on the employees’ outcomes.Originality/valueDue to the limited number of studies conducted on leadership in nonprofit organizations, this study theoretically and empirically contributes to the leadership literature as it is the first study to investigate the two styles of leadership on work-related outcomes via work engagement in the nonprofit sector.