Unravelling the impact of psychological empowerment on customer service behaviours as a consequence of ‘Leader-Member Exchange’

This study aims to investigate the cognitive process by which perceived organizational justice and leader--member exchange (LMX) are channelized into role-prescribed and extra-role customer service behaviours. It proposes the mediating role of three forms of psychological empowerment (goal internalization, perceived competence, and perceived control) in the predictor--outcome relationship, and examines this relationship from a comparative view of the role-prescribed and extra-role behaviours. Valid and reliable self-report and supervisory evaluation measures were administered to 282 nurses in Korea. The results indicate that LMX had a significantly greater effect on extra-role behaviours than on role-prescribed behaviours, and that perceived control mediated the relationship between LMX and extra-role behaviours. In terms of justice perceptions, there was no significant comparative effect on customer service behaviours. Furthermore, perceived competence mediated the relationship only between distributive justice and role-prescribed behaviours.