Leader Boundary-Spanning Behavior and Employee Voice Behavior: The Job Demands–Resources Perspective

Abstract

Drawing on the job demands–resources model, we suggest and test a motivational mechanism that underlies the relationship between leader boundary-spanning behavior and employee voice behavior. Based on the field survey data of 383 leader-employee pairs collected from various organizations in South Korea, the results of our mediation model showed that leader boundary-spanning behavior, as a potential job resource, enhances employee voice behavior by increasing employee self-efficacy. The results of our moderated mediation model also showed that the focal leader’s abusive supervision, as a potential job demand, could attenuate the beneficial effect of leader boundary-spanning behavior on employee voice behavior by diminishing employee self-efficacy. These findings highlight the importance of leader boundary-spanning behavior in enhancing employee voice behavior, the roles of employee self-efficacy as a key mediating mechanism, and the focal leader’s abusive supervision as a preventable boundary condition within these relationships. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.