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Servant Leadership in the Public Sector: Employee Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Neale J. Slack

    (Fiji National University)

  • Gurmeet Singh

    (The University of The South Pacific)

  • Jashwini Narayan

    (The University of The South Pacific)

  • Shavneet Sharma

    (The University of The South Pacific)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how servant leadership affects public sector employee engagement, organisational ethical climate, and public sector reform, of two public enterprises, in the under-researched public sector of a Small Island Developing State (SID) - Fiji. Qualitative, longitudinal, case studies examined the servant leadership experience of employees of two public enterprises. Data was collected from employees of both public enterprises through in-depth interviews and participant observations, and was thematically analysed. Pre-existing conditions of both enterprises, and lack of employee familiarity with servant leadership, resulted in different levels of employee acceptance of servant leadership, which affected employee engagement, organisational ethical climate, and public sector reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Neale J. Slack & Gurmeet Singh & Jashwini Narayan & Shavneet Sharma, 2020. "Servant Leadership in the Public Sector: Employee Perspective," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 631-646, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:porgrv:v:20:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s11115-019-00459-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11115-019-00459-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neale J. Slack & Gurmeet Singh, 2018. "Diagnosis of Organizational Culture in Public Sector Undertakings Undergoing Reforms," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 361-380, September.
    2. Dirk Dierendonck & Kathleen Patterson, 2015. "Compassionate Love as a Cornerstone of Servant Leadership: An Integration of Previous Theorizing and Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 119-131, April.
    3. Joris Van der Voet & Ben S. Kuipers & Sandra Groeneveld, 2016. "Implementing Change in Public Organizations: The relationship between leadership and affective commitment to change in a public sector context," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 842-865, July.
    4. Mittal, Rakesh & Dorfman, Peter W., 2012. "Servant leadership across cultures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 555-570.
    5. Yan Ling & Zeki Simsek & Michael Lubatkin & John F. Veiga, 2008. "The impact of transformational CEOs on the performance of small- to medium-sized firms : Does organizational context matter?," Post-Print hal-02312589, HAL.
    6. Martin Lacroix & Armin Pircher Verdorfer, 2017. "Can Servant Leaders Fuel the Leadership Fire? The Relationship between Servant Leadership and Followers’ Leadership Avoidance," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, February.
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