Title: Workplace incivility and frontline employees' capacity to satisfy customers: what stands in-between?

Authors: Nguyen Hong Quan; Vu Phuong Linh; Pham Ngoc Anh; Vu Quynh Chi; Nguyen Kim Thanh; Duong Minh Hang

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam ' Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam ' Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam ' Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam ' Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam ' Faculty of Business Administration, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract: Workplace incivility has exerted negative influences on employees' well-being and led to lower service quality, the mechanism of which is yet fully explained by existing literature. This research aims to investigate the effects of three kinds of workplace incivility on frontline employees' capacity to satisfy customers using conservation of resources (COR) theory and propose psychological capital (PsyCap) as a moderator. A questionnaire was distributed to 608 frontline employees in Vietnam working in four service sectors. Both CB-SEM and PLS-SEM were employed using SPSS, AMOS and SmartPLS softwares to analyse the measurement and structural models. Incivility from customers, coworkers, and supervisors has significant negative influences on FLEs' capacity to satisfy customers that are partially mediated by emotional exhaustion and exhausted perceived organisational support. PsyCap partially moderates the effect of supervisor incivility on emotional exhaustion. The results recommend policies and intervention programs related to enhancing FLEs' PsyCap.

Keywords: frontline employees; FLEs; workplace incivility; emotional exhaustion; perceived organisational support; POS; psychological capital; PsyCap; capacity to satisfy customers; CSC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPMB.2023.132666

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, 2023 Vol.15 No.1, pp.107 - 130

Received: 27 Apr 2022
Accepted: 29 Apr 2022
Published online: 07 Aug 2023 *

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