Responsible Leadership as a Strategic Sustainability Resource: Explaining Employee Stewardship and Sabotage

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of responsible leadership (RL) on employee outcomes, specifically customer stewardship behavior (CSB) and service sabotage, within the hospitality sector. Grounded in conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that RL, as a key contextual resource, fosters organizational virtuousness (OV), which serves as a resource passageway that transmits the positive effects of RL to employees. Furthermore, we explore the moderating role of role clarity in these relationships, focusing on how it influences the indirect effects of RL on employee outcomes through OV. A field study conducted in Morocco, involving employees and their supervisors in the hospitality industry, validated the hypothesized model. The findings reveal that RL positively influences CSB and reduces service sabotage, both directly and indirectly through OV. Role clarity moderates these relationships, amplifying the positive effects of OV on CSB when role clarity is high, and strengthening the negative relationship between OV and service sabotage when role clarity is low. This research highlights RL's role in promoting positive employee behaviors and reducing negative ones through OV, with role clarity enhancing these effects. Practical implications include adopting RL training programs, fostering OV, and ensuring high role clarity to improve employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and organizational performance, especially in service industries like hospitality.