Envy climate and group performance in full-service hotels: the roles of intragroup relationship conflict and competitive climate
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 3 August 2021
Issue publication date: 20 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The extant literature mainly focuses on the antecedents and outcomes of envy at the individual level. Workgroups have become ideal units for research on envy given the ubiquitous teamwork in organizations. This study aims to examine whether, how and when envy climate can influence group performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed data collected in three waves from a sample of 72 groups with 475 team members in full-service hotels in China.
Findings
Envy climate was negatively associated with group performance via intragroup relationship conflict. Furthermore, competitive climate moderated the effect of envy climate on intragroup relationship conflict and the indirect effect of envy climate on group performance through intragroup relationship conflict.
Practical implications
The present research offers organizations valuable insights into how to minimize the climate of envy and competition within a group and relieve the relationship conflict that may damage group performance.
Originality/value
Drawing on a social functional perspective of emotions, this study enriches the envy research by conceptualizing envy climate as a collective perception and clarifying its effect on group performance. The authors extend the understanding of envy climate by showing how a climate of envy embedded in a group influences group performance and also explain when group members may be more likely to act in a destructive way to respond to such a climate.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is supported by Youth Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Research of the Ministry of Education of China (Project No.20YJC630162).
The first three authors are joint first author.
Citation
Wu, W., Ni, D., Wu, S., Lu, L., Zhang, X. and Hao, S. (2021), "Envy climate and group performance in full-service hotels: the roles of intragroup relationship conflict and competitive climate", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 33 No. 10, pp. 3494-3513. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2020-1042
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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