The Influence of Paradoxical Leadership on Hotel Sustainable Service Performance: The Mediating Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

This study examines the role of Paradoxical Leadership (PL) in enhancing sustainable service performance in Egypt’s hotel industry, with Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) serving as a key mediating mechanism. Moving beyond conventional performance frameworks, the research examines how the dual nature of PL behaviors encourages discretionary employee actions that advance social sustainability, employee well-being, responsible service delivery, and long-term organizational resilience. Employing a survey-based quantitative design, data were collected from 397 hotel employees in Egypt using a structured questionnaire assessing overall PL, its five core dimensions, and OCB. A structured questionnaire was used to measure overall PL, its five core dimensions, OCB, and sustainable service performance. The data were analyzed using SPSS Version 24 and WarpPLS 8, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and regression-based mediation analysis to examine the relationships among the study variables. The findings reveal that PL positively influences sustainable service performance, while OCB not only enhances service outcomes but also significantly mediates the relationship between PL and performance. In addition, each dimension of PL—balancing self- and other-centeredness (SO), maintaining distance while fostering closeness (CD), treating employees uniformly while recognizing individuality (UI), preserving decision control while encouraging autonomy (CA), and enforcing work requirements while allowing flexibility (RF)—significantly strengthens employees’ citizenship behaviors.