Conflict, Exhaustion, And Motivation a Study of Frontline Employees in Northern Cyprus Hotels

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Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665

Conflict, exhaustion, and motivation: A study of

frontline employees in Northern Cyprus hotels

Osman M. KaratepeÃ, Orhan Uludag

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Eastern Mediterranean University, Gazimagusa,

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, via Mersin 10, Turkey

Abstract

This study develops and tests a model that investigates the effects of work-family conflict,

emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on affective job outcomes using data from frontline

employees in Northern Cyprus hotels. Results show that work-family conflict is positively related to

emotional exhaustion. Work-family conflict was found to be negatively associated with job

satisfaction. However, the study results demonstrate that work-family conflict did not depict anysignificant relationships with affective organizational commitment and intention to leave. Results

indicate that emotional exhaustion leads to job dissatisfaction, decreased affective organizational

commitment, and high levels of intention to leave. Results reveal that intrinsic motivation is

significantly related to emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and affective organizational

commitment. In addition, the study results provide empirical support for the positive impact of

job satisfaction on affective organizational commitment and the negative effects of job satisfaction

and affective commitment to the organization on intention to leave. Discussion and implications of

the results are presented in the study.

r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Work-family conflict; Emotional exhaustion; Intrinsic motivation; Frontline employees; NorthernCyprus

1. Introduction

The management of frontline employees in hotel organizations delineates interesting

paradoxes. On the one hand, frontline employees are of paramount importance to the

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Ã

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 392 630 1116; fax: +90 392 365 1584.E-mail addresses: [email protected] (O.M. Karatepe), [email protected] (O. Uludag).

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delivery of service quality (Hartline and Ferrell, 1996). On the other hand, frontline

employees remain underpaid, undertrained, and overworked (Karatepe and Sokmen,

2006). Frontline employees are also prone to work-family conflict (Karatepe and Sokmen,

2006) and emotional exhaustion (Ledgerwood et al., 1998). Work-family conflict and

emotional exhaustion are among the two critical constructs in explaining the attitudes andbehaviors of frontline employees in high-stress work environments (Babakus et al., 1999;

Boles et al., 1997). In addition, a large-scale survey by the Gallup Management Consulting

Group identifies intrinsic motivation as one of the key talents of the best salespeople

(Brewer, 1994).

Building on the existing literature, this study develops a model of the effects of work-

family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on frontline employees’ job

satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and intention to leave. The study then

tests the model in the Northern Cyprus hotel industry. Due to their boundary-spanning

roles, frontline hotel employees (e.g., front desk agents, food servers, and concierges) have

frequent contact with customers and are expected to deal with a variety of customers’

needs and requests. With this realization, the need for this research is accentuated by

characteristics of frontline employees due to their boundary-spanning roles in hotel

organizations.

Following the theoretical background and research model, the hypothesized relation-

ships are presented. Then, the methodology and results of the empirical study are

discussed. The study concludes with the management implications and directions for future

research.

2. Theoretical background and research model

A careful review of the literature indicates that there are a number of problems in the

hotel industry such as inadequate pay, low job security, limited training and development

opportunities, and excessive turnover (Cheng and Brown, 1998; Deery and Shaw, 1999;

Pizam and Thornburg, 2000). There are also problems pertaining to unsocial work hours

and workloads in the hotel industry (Karatepe and Sokmen, 2006; Rowley and Purcell,

2001). Consequently, frontline hotel employees are unlikely to be capable of balancing

work requirements with family and/or social commitments. In this case, they experience

work-family conflict, which is defined as ‘‘a form of interrole conflict in which the general

demands of, time devoted to, and strain created by the job interfere with performingfamily-related responsibilities’’ (Netemeyer et al., 1996, p. 410). Boles et al. (1997) have

argued that the changing nature of the workforce has increased the potential for conflict

between work requirements and family and/or social responsibilities. Allen et al. (2000)

have noted that employed parents report conflict between their work requirements and

their desire to spend more time with the members of their families.

In addition to work-family conflict, there is evidence that frontline hotel employees are

susceptible to emotional exhaustion (Ledgerwood et al., 1998), which is one of the

components of burnout. Maslach and Jackson (1981), who developed the Maslach

Burnout Inventory, claimed that burnout is a multi-dimensional construct that consists of

three distinct components—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminishedpersonal accomplishment. They defined burnout as ‘‘a syndrome of emotional exhaustion

and cynicism that occurs frequently among individuals who do ‘people-work’ of some

kind’’ (Maslach and Jackson, 1981, p. 99). Many researchers have agreed that emotional

ARTICLE IN PRESSO.M. Karatepe, O. Uludag / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665646



exhaustion is the first stage of the ‘burnout syndrome’ (Cordes and Dougherty, 1993;

Gaines and Jermier, 1983). Such emotional exhaustion is related to depletion of emotional

resources, and involves feelings of fatigue, being ‘used up’, and frustration (Gaines and

Jermier, 1983). Employees who work in boundary-spanning positions are especially

susceptible to high levels of emotional exhaustion. As Cordes and Dougherty (1993,p. 644) observed: ‘‘Individuals y in boundary-spanning positions will experience higher

levels of emotional exhaustion compared to those y in non-boundary-spanning

positions’’.

Work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion are likely to exert detrimental effects on

frontline hotel employees’ affective job outcomes such as job satisfaction, affective

organizational commitment, and intention to leave. This notion is consistent with the

conservation of resources (COR) theory. Specifically, the COR theory establishes a

framework for the impacts of work-family conflict and intrinsic motivation on emotional

exhaustion and the effects of work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on the

abovementioned job outcomes (Grandey and Cropanzano, 1999; Hobfoll, 1989; Lee and

Ashforth, 1996). The COR theory posits that individuals seek to obtain, retain, protect,

and foster resources (Hobfoll, 1989, 2002). Resources are defined as ‘‘those objects,

personal characteristics, conditions, or energies that are valued by the individual or that

serve as a means for attainment of these objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or

energies’’ (Hobfoll, 1989, p. 516). According to the theory, individuals lose resources in the

process of juggling work and family roles. Thus, the potential or actual loss of resources

leads to emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction, low levels of affective organizational

commitment, and high levels of intention to leave. The theory also suggests that employees

become dissatisfied with their jobs, display lower affective commitment to theorganization, and have higher intentions to leave the organization, when they are

emotionally exhausted (Lee and Ashforth, 1996).

Consistent with the COR theory, intrinsic motivation is one of the personal

characteristics that may aid stress resistance (Hobfoll, 1989). Intrinsic motivation refers

to an individual’s ‘‘feeling of challenge or competence derived from performing a job’’

(Keaveney, 1992, p. 151). Thomas (2000) asserted that a sense of meaningfulness, choice,

competence, and progress are the psychological signs of intrinsic motivation. Thus,

intrinsic motivation should result in lower emotional exhaustion. Moreover, intrinsic

motivation leads to low levels of burnout (Low et al., 2001), increased job satisfaction

(Miller, 2002), and high levels of affective organizational commitment (Eby et al., 1999).The current study notes several gaps in the tourism and hospitality literature and the

extant literature on these subjects. First, the potential job outcomes of work-family conflict

for employees in boundary-spanning positions have received little empirical attention

(Boles et al., 1997; Karatepe and Sokmen, 2006; Netemeyer et al., 2004). In addition, the

majority of the research on work-family conflict has been conducted in developed

economies. There is a need for more empirical research about work-family conflict in

developing economies (Aycan and Eskin, 2005). Moreover, in developing economies,

resources allocated to the effective solutions of problems associated with work-family

conflict appear to be limited (Hill et al., 2004; Netemeyer et al., 2004). It is apparent that

the impact of work-family conflict on job outcomes of frontline employees in developingcountries is worthy of further empirical research attention.

Secondly, a meta-analysis review by Allen et al. (2000) revealed anomalous results

among various studies of the impact of work-family conflict on employees’ job satisfaction,

ARTICLE IN PRESSO.M. Karatepe, O. Uludag / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665 647



affective organizational commitment, and intention to leave. These findings indicate that

there is a need for clarification in this area.

Thirdly, empirical studies in marketing settings have reported mixed findings regarding

the effect of emotional exhaustion on frontline employees’ job satisfaction (e.g., Babakus

et al., 1999; Boles et al., 1997; Karatepe, 2006). Therefore, there is a need for moreempirical research pertaining to the impact of emotional exhaustion on frontline

employees’ job satisfaction. In addition, a careful analysis of Allen et al.’s (2000) meta-

analysis (noted above) reveals that individual empirical studies reviewed in that study used

various samples (including schoolboard parents, nurses, engineers, prison guards, small

business owners, and school educators) to examine the relationship between work-family

conflict and burnout/emotional exhaustion. It is thus apparent that specific empirical

research is also needed with respect to employees who hold boundary-spanning positions

on the effect of work-family conflict on emotional exhaustion.

Fourthly, intrinsic motivation is known to be a significant personal characteristic in

successful frontline employees (salespeople) (Brewer, 1994). A meta-analytic study showed

that intrinsic motivation had a greater influence on affective organizational commitment

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Control variables

Age

Gender

Education

Organizational tenure

Marital status

The number of children

Work-family

conflict

(W-FCON)

Emotional

exhaustion

(EEXHAUST)

Intrinsic motivation

(INTMOT)

Job satisfaction

(JSAT)

Affective

organizational

commitment (AOC)

Intention to leave

(INTLEAVE)

H1 (+)

H2 (-)

H3 (-)

H4 (-)

H5 (+)

H6 (-)

H7 (-)

H8 (+)

H9 (+)

H10 (+)

H11 (+)

H12 (-)

H13(-)

Fig. 1. Research model.

O.M. Karatepe, O. Uludag / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665648



than on general job satisfaction (Eby et al., 1999). In addition, there is a paucity of research

on the specific impact of intrinsic motivation on frontline employees’ emotional

exhaustion. The present study therefore examines the impact of intrinsic motivation on

emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment.

In summary, this study addresses certain identified gaps in the literature and thusprovides managers with important implications for business practice in mitigating the

detrimental effects of work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on affective

outcomes among frontline hotel employees.

Fig. 1 shows the conceptual framework for the study. It illustrates the effects of work-

family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on frontline employees’

affective outcomes (job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and intention to

leave). The conceptualization also considers the effects of work-family conflict and

intrinsic motivation on emotional exhaustion. The model also explores the impact of job

satisfaction on affective organizational commitment and the effects of job satisfaction and

affective organizational commitment on intention to leave.

3. The hypothesized relationships

As the COR theory indicates, individuals experience emotional exhaustion, when they

lose resources (e.g., time, money, and knowledge) while handling difficulties stemming

from work and family roles. There is empirical evidence for this relationship. For example,

Bacharach et al. (1991) used similar items to the emotional exhaustion items in the

Maslach Burnout Inventory and reported that work-home conflict was positively

associated with burnout in two samples of non-marketing employees (nurses andengineers). Boles et al. (1997) showed that salespeople experiencing high levels of work-

family conflict reported increased emotional exhaustion. The following hypothesis is

therefore proposed:

H1. Work-family conflict is positively related to emotional exhaustion among frontline

employees.

Intrinsic motivation is one of the personal characteristics and may help individuals

manage difficulties associated with emotional exhaustion (Hobfoll, 1989). The present

study posits that intrinsically motivated employees are able to work better in boundary-spanning positions that require employees to cope with high levels of emotional

exhaustion. The following hypothesis is therefore proposed:

H2. Intrinsic motivation is negatively related to emotional exhaustion among frontline

employees.

Job satisfaction can be defined as ‘‘the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the

appraisal of one’s job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one’s job values’’

(Locke, 1969, p. 316). Boles and Babin (1996) found that work-family conflict decreased

food servers’ job satisfaction. Boles et al. (1997) reported that work-family conflict was

negatively associated with job satisfaction among salespeople. According to the CORtheory, individuals coping with work and family roles lose resources. If they lose resources,

then they will be less satisfied with their jobs. The following hypothesis is therefore

proposed:




H3. Work-family conflict is negatively related to job satisfaction among frontline

employees.

As previously noted, emotional exhaustion is the first stage of the burnout syndrome

(Cordes and Dougherty, 1993; Gaines and Jermier, 1983), and such emotional exhaustioncan thus lead to detrimental job outcomes, such as job dissatisfaction. As the COR theory

indicates, individuals have job dissatisfaction as a result of resource loss and emotional

exhaustion (Lee and Ashforth, 1996). In a study of hospital employees, Iverson et al.

(1998) demonstrated that emotional exhaustion was negatively associated with job

satisfaction. Babakus et al. (1999) reported that high levels of emotional exhaustion

experienced by salespeople influenced their job satisfaction deleteriously. In view of these

findings, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H4. Emotional exhaustion is negatively related to job satisfaction among frontline

employees.Miller (2002) provided conceptual evidence that intrinsically motivated employees have

higher job satisfaction, and Low et al. (2001) demonstrated empirically that high levels of

intrinsic motivation lead to high levels of job satisfaction among salespeople. Karatepe

(2006) also found evidence in Turkish retail banks that intrinsic motivation was positively

associated with frontline employees’ job satisfaction. The following hypothesis is therefore

proposed:

H5. Intrinsic motivation is positively related to job satisfaction among frontline

employees.

Organizational commitment can be defined as ‘‘the relative strength of an individual’s

identification with and involvement in a particular organization’’ (Steers, 1977, p. 46). This

definition is consistent with Allen and Meyer’s (1990) concept of affective organizational

commitment. As mentioned earlier, the COR theory demonstrates that individuals lose

resources while juggling work and family roles. The loss of these resources may lead to

undesired outcomes such as diminished affective commitment to the organization. A

limited number of empirical studies have investigated the relationship between work-

family conflict and affective organizational commitment (Allen et al., 2000). However,

these studies, which used a variety of samples (including executives, managers, school

educators, graduate students, and working mothers), produced inconsistent results on therelationship between the two constructs (Allen et al., 2000). The present study investigates

the effect of work-family conflict on affective organizational commitment using a sample

of frontline employees in a hotel setting, and the following hypothesis is proposed:

H6. Work-family conflict is negatively related to affective organizational commitment

among frontline employees.

The COR theory also provides a basis for the relationship between emotional exhaustion

and affective organizational commitment. When individuals lose resources such as time,

energy, and knowledge, they are emotionally exhausted. Heightened emotional exhaustion

then leads to erosion of organizational commitment (Lee and Ashforth, 1996). There isempirical support for the relationship between the two constructs. For instance, Babakus

et al. (1999) reported that emotional exhaustion had a significant negative effect on

affective organizational commitment among salespeople, and Cropanzano et al. (2003)




reported a similar finding in a health-care setting. In view of these findings, the following

hypothesis is proposed:

H7. Emotional exhaustion is negatively related to affective organizational commitment

among frontline employees.

Research demonstrates that intrinsic motivation exerts a significant positive influence on

affective organizational commitment (Eby et al., 1999). Recent research also indicates that

there is a significant positive correlation between the two constructs (Low et al., 2001). The

following hypothesis is therefore proposed:

H8. Intrinsic motivation is positively related to frontline employees’ affective organiza-

tional commitment.

A meta-analysis by Meyer et al. (2002) indicated that job satisfaction had a strong

positive correlation with affective organizational commitment. Brashear et al. (2003) foundthat higher levels of job satisfaction led to higher levels of affective commitment to the

organization for a sample of salespeople in privately owned retail stores in Poland. The

following hypothesis is therefore proposed:

H9. Job satisfaction is positively related to frontline employees’ affective organizational

commitment.

Intention to leave triggers actual turnover, and turnover is a significant problem in the

tourism and hospitality industry (Lam et al., 2003). As the COR theory suggests,

individuals may think of changing their situations, when their resources become scarce

(Grandey and Cropanzano, 1999). Thus, individuals may prefer to maintain their limited

resources by intending to leave the organization. Research indicates that work-family

conflict has been positively correlated with intention to leave for samples of teachers,

administrators, and salespeople (Netemeyer et al., 1996). Recent research also

demonstrates that work-family conflict has increased salespeople’s turnover intentions in

the US, Puerto Rico, and Romanian samples (Netemeyer et al., 2004). In the present

research model, work-family conflict is linked to frontline employees’ intentions to leave

the organization, and the following hypothesis is proposed:

H10. Work-family conflict is positively related to frontline employees’ intentions to leave

the organization.

The research model depicted in Fig. 1 also demonstrates that emotional exhaustion

increases intention to leave. This is congruent with the COR theory. Specifically, when

individuals lose resources or face the threat of resource loss, they are emotionally

exhausted. In order to preserve their scarce resources individuals would be willing to leave

the current organization. Indeed, based on the COR theory, turnover appears to be a final

solution for emotionally exhausted employees (Wright and Cropanzano, 1998). A meta-

analysis review by Lee and Ashforth (1996) showed a significant positive correlation

between emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Boles et al. (1997) found that

salespeople experiencing elevated levels of emotional exhaustion had high levels of turnover intentions. Cropanzano et al. (2003) also reported that emotional exhaustion was

a significant predictor of turnover intentions. In view of these findings, the following

hypothesis is proposed:




H11. Emotional exhaustion is positively related to frontline employees’ intentions to leave

the organization.

A plethora of empirical studies have demonstrated that high levels of job satisfaction

and/or affective organizational commitment result in decreased turnover intentions(Babakus et al., 1999; Brashear et al., 2003; Kim et al., 2005; Susskind et al., 2000). The

following hypotheses are therefore proposed:

H12. Job satisfaction is negatively related to frontline employees’ intentions to leave the

organization.

H13. Affective organizational commitment is negatively related to frontline employees’

intentions to leave the organization.

4. Methodology

4.1. Setting and sample

The above hypotheses were tested using a sample of Turkish frontline employees

in 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Northern Cyprus. A sample of frontline employees in the

hotel industry was chosen because these employees have frequent contact with customers

(Rust et al., 1996), are overworked (Singh, 2000), face the challenges of balancing work

requirements with family and/or social responsibilities (Boles and Babin, 1996), and

experience higher levels of emotional exhaustion than do other employees in serviceorganizations as a result of their boundary-spanning positions (Cordes and Dougherty,

1993). Boles et al. (1997) discuss that work-family conflict is not limited to only married

individuals or those with children. They further discuss that single parents and other

individuals may also have difficulty in balancing work requirements with family and/or

social obligations. Therefore, this study does not focus exclusively on one subgroup (e.g.,

married individuals with children) (cf. Boyar et al., 2003).

There are twenty-eight 3-, eight 4-, and six 5-star hotels in the research location, and the

total bed capacity of these hotels is 7948 (Statistical Yearbook of Tourism, 2003). These

small- and medium-sized hotels are classified as resort hotels, and the Northern Cyprus

hotel industry consists largely of family-run hotel businesses (Kilic and Okumus, 2005).Frontline employees in Northern Cyprus hotels face several current problems—including

irregular work schedules, lack of training, lack of empowerment, lack of rewards, long

work hours, heavy workloads, and lack of family-friendly benefits.

The research team contacted the managements of three-, four-, and five-star hotels

in the region, explained the purpose of the study, and requested their permission and

support for data collection. According to the information received from the managements

of the hotels, the total number of frontline employees in the research location was 943,

made up of 396 in 3-star hotels, 258 in 4-star hotels, and 289 in 5-star hotels. However, the

managements of three 3-star hotels and three 4-star hotels refused permission for data

collection. Allowing for hotels that did not participate, the number of frontline employeesin the research location was 872, each of whom personally received a copy of a

questionnaire. A detailed explanation on the questionnaire was provided, and all par-

ticipants were assured of the confidentiality and anonymity of their responses. Participants




were requested to self-administer the questionnaires. Of the 872 questionnaires distributed,

677 were retrieved by the cut-off date for data collection (a response rate of 77.6%).

4.2. Measurement

Each of the constructs shown in Fig. 1 was operationalized using scales derived from the

relevant literature. Work-family conflict was measured using five items derived from

Netemeyer et al. (1996) and Boles et al. (2001). The response scale was a 5-point scale, in

which ‘5’ indicated ‘strong agreement’ and ‘1’ indicated ‘strong disagreement’. Higher

scores indicated greater work-family conflict.

Emotional exhaustion was operationalized using eight items from the Maslach Burnout

Inventory (Maslach and Jackson, 1981). Responses to the emotional exhaustion items were

elicited on 5-point scales ranging from ‘5’ ¼ ‘strongly agree’ to ‘1’ ¼ ‘strongly disagree’.

Higher scores indicated greater emotional exhaustion.

Intrinsic motivation was measured using four items derived from Low et al. (2001).

Responses to the intrinsic motivation items were elicited on 5-point scales ranging from

‘5’ ¼ ‘strongly agree’ to ‘1’ ¼ ‘strongly disagree’. Higher scores indicated greater intrinsic

motivation.

An eight-item scale derived from Hartline and Ferrell (1996) was used to evaluate job

satisfaction in terms of: (i) overall job; (ii) co-workers; (iii) supervisor(s); (iv) hotel’s

policies; (v) support given to frontline employees; (vi) pay; (vii) opportunities for

advancement, and (viii) customers. Each of these items used a 5-point scale ranging from

‘5’ ¼ ‘extremely satisfied’ to ‘1’ ¼ ‘extremely dissatisfied’. Higher scores indicated greater

job satisfaction.Affective organizational commitment was operationalized using five items derived from

Mowday et al. (1979). The complete organizational commitment scale of these authors had

consisted of affective and behavioral commitment items (Bettencourt and Brown, 2003).

However, because the present study assessed only affective organizational commitment,

only five items from the original scale were used. Responses to the affective organizational

commitment items were elicited on 5-point scales ranging from ‘5’ ¼ ‘strongly agree’ to

‘1’ ¼ ‘strongly disagree’. Higher scores indicated greater affective organizational commit-

ment.

Three items were adapted from Boshoff and Allen (2000) to measure frontline

employees’ intentions to leave the organization. The intention to leave items weremeasured on 5-point scales from ‘5’ ¼ ‘strongly agree’ to ‘1’ ¼ ‘strongly disagree’. Higher

scores indicated greater intention to leave.

The questionnaire was originally prepared in English, and then translated into Turkish

by using the back-translation method (McGorry, 2000). The survey instrument was tested

with a pilot sample of 30 frontline employees. No changes were made to the instrument as

a result of this pilot test.

Demographic variables (such as age, gender, education, organizational tenure, marital

status, and the number of children) were statistically controlled due to their potential

relationships with the study variables. Age and education were measured using 5-point

scales. Organizational tenure was measured using a 6-point scale. The number of childrenwas measured using a 4-point scale. Gender was coded as a binary variable (0 ¼ male and

1 ¼ female). Marital status was also coded as a binary variable (0 ¼ single or divorced and

1 ¼ married).




All measures were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 8.30

(Joreskog and Sorbom, 1996) to test for dimensionality, convergent and discriminant

validity (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). The hypothesized relationships depicted in Fig. 1

were measured with LISREL 8.30 using path analysis.

5. Results

5.1. Respondents’ profile

Most of the respondents (50.7%) were aged between 18 years and 27 years, whereas

30.6% were aged between 28 years and 37 years. The majority of the respondents (57.3%)

were male. Almost one-third (31.9%) had secondary and high school education, whereas

56.2% had university education. Almost half of the respondents (47.9%) had tenures of

1–5 years, whereas 29% had tenures of less than 1 year. In all, 40.2% of the respondents

were married, whereas the rest were single or divorced. Almost two-thirds (65%) had no

children, whereas 34.6% had 1–4 children.

5.2. Dimensionality, convergent and discriminant validity of the scales

The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated a moderate fit of the six-factor

model to the data on the basis of a number of fit statistics (w2 ¼ 2759.15, df ¼ 480, GFI

[Goodness of Fit Index] ¼ 0.80, NFI [Normed Fit Index] ¼ 0.80, NNFI [Non-Normed Fit

Index] ¼ 0.81, CFI [Comparative Fit Index] ¼ 0.83, RMSEA [Root Mean Square Error of

Approximation]¼

0.08). As shown in Table 1, the magnitudes of the standardizedloadings ranged from 0.49 to 0.89, and all t values (ranging from 12.87 to 28.58) were

significant. The majority of the standardized loadings were above 0.70. Model fit statistics

and the magnitudes of the loadings provided support for convergent validity ( Anderson

and Gerbing, 1988).

To assess discriminant validity, a series of pairwise confirmatory factor analyses was

employed. A two-dimensional model for each pair of study constructs was first developed,

and then items representing each factor were forced into a single factor solution. The

results of various fit statistics were better for a two-factor model. The results confirm that

each set of items represents a single underlying construct, and thus provides evidence of

discriminant validity (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). As depicted in Table 1, coefficientalphas were as follows: work-family conflict 0.85; emotional exhaustion 0.90; intrinsic

motivation 0.83; job satisfaction 0.87; affective organizational commitment 0.77; and

intention to leave 0.87. All were greater than the benchmark of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978).

Composite scores for each measure were computed by averaging scores across items

representing that measure. Table 2 shows that the correlations among the study constructs

ranged from À0.13 (work-family conflict and intrinsic motivation) to 0.77 (emotional

exhaustion and intention to leave). Means and standard deviations of the composite scores

are shown in Table 2.

5.3. Correlation analysis results

Table 2 shows that several control variables had significant correlations with the study

variables. Age (r ¼ 0:11) and marital status (r ¼ 0:09) had positive correlations with




ARTICLE IN PRESS

Table 1

Scale items, reliabilities and confirmatory factor analysis results

Scale items Standardized

loadings

t-Values Alpha

Work-family conflict (W-FCON) 0.85

The demands of my work interfere with home, family and social life 0.70 19.61

Because of my job, I can’t involve myself as much as I would like in

maintaining close relations with my family, spouse, or friends

0.80 23.72

Things I want to do at home do not get done because of the demands my

job puts on me

0.77 22.46

I often have to miss important family and social activities because of my

job

0.68 18.78

There is a conflict between my job and the commitments and

responsibilities I have to my family, spouse, or friends

0.73 20.85

Emotional exhaustion (EEXHAUST) 0.90I feel emotionally drained from my work 0.69 20.02

I feel used up at the end of the workday 0.61 17.06

I feel fatigued when I get up in the morning and have to face another day

on the job

0.71 20.85

Working with people all day is really a strain for me 0.83 25.99

I feel burned out from my work 0.87 27.88

I feel frustrated by my job 0.81 25.24

I feel I am working too hard on my job 0.56 15.47

I feel like I am at the end of my rope 0.75 22.56

Intrinsic motivation (INTMOT) 0.83

When I do work well, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment 0.69 19.11I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction when I do my job well 0.74 20.85

When I perform my job well, it contributes to my personal growth and

development

0.80 23.34

My job increases my feeling of self esteem 0.73 20.69

Job satisfaction (JSAT) 0.87

My overall job 0.72 20.86

My fellow workers 0.66 18.60

My supervisor(s) 0.78 23.39

This hotel’s policies 0.79 23.91

The support provided by this hotel 0.76 22.40

My salary 0.57 15.49The opportunities for advancement with this hotel 0.58 15.78

This hotel’s customers 0.49 12.87

Affective organizational commitment (AOC) 0.77

My values and those of the hotel’s are similar 0.55 14.07

I really care about the future of this hotel 0.64 17.15

I am proud to tell others that I work for this hotel 0.60 15.58

I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond that normally

expected in order to help the hotel to be successful

0.69 18.81

For me, this is the best of all possible organizations for which to work 0.71 19.31

Intention to leave (INTLEAVE) 0.87

I often think about leaving this hotel 0.89 28.58

It would not take much to make me leave this hotel 0.75 22.07

I will probably be looking for another job soon 0.86 27.19

Notes: Each item is measured on five-point scales. All loadings are significant at the 0.01 level or better. All

reliability coefficients are above the cut-off level of 0.70.

O.M. Karatepe, O. Uludag / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665 655



ARTICLE IN PRESS

T a b l e 2

C o r r e l a t i o n s , m e a n s a n d s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n s o

f c o m p o s i t e s c o r e s o f s t u d y v a r i a b

l e s

V a r i a b l e

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1 0

1 1

1 2

1 . A g e

1 . 0 0

2 . G e n d e r

À 0 . 0 9 *

1 . 0

0

3 . E d u c a t i o n

0 . 0 5

0 . 0

2

1 . 0 0

4 . O r g a n i z a t i o n a l t e n u r e

0 . 5 3 * *

À 0 . 0

8 *

À 0 . 0 1

1 . 0 0

5 . M a r i t a l s t a t u s

0 . 4 6 * *

À 0 . 1

0 *

À 0 . 0 2

0 . 2 5 * *

1 . 0 0

6 . T h e n u m b

e r o f c h i l d r e n

0 . 5 6 * *

À 0 . 0

9 *

À 0 . 0 1

0 . 3 8 * *

0 . 6 1 * *

1 . 0 0

7 . W - F C O N

0 . 0 2

0 . 0

2

0 . 1 4 * *

À 0 . 0 7

0 . 0 1

0 . 0 1

1 . 0 0

8 . E E X H A U

S T

0 . 1 1 * *

À 0 . 0

6

0 . 3 2 * *

À 0 . 1 1 * *

0 . 0 9 *

0 . 0 6

0 . 4 7 * *

1 . 0 0

9 . I N T M O T

À 0 . 1 3 * *

0 . 0

1

À 0 . 1 7 * *

0 . 0 1

À 0 . 1 0 *

À 0 . 0 6

À 0 . 1 3 * *

À 0 . 4 5 * *

1 . 0 0

1 0 . J S A T

0 . 0 0

0 . 0

8 *

À 0 . 1 2 * *

0 . 1 3 * *

0 . 0 5

0 . 0 6

À 0 . 2 7 * *

À 0 . 3 4 * *

0 . 2 9 * *

1 . 0 0

1 1 . A O C

À 0 . 0 4

0 . 0

7

À 0 . 1 4 * *

0 . 1 0 *

À 0 . 0 5

À 0 . 0 6

À 0 . 2 7 * *

À 0 . 4 5 * *

0 . 4 7 * *

0 . 4 9 * *

1 . 0 0

1 2 . I N T L E A

V E

0 . 0 5

À 0 . 0

3

0 . 2 8 * *

À 0 . 1 4 * *

0 . 0 0

0 . 0 0

0 . 4 1 * *

0 . 7 7 * *

À 0 . 3 8 * *

À 0 . 4 3 * *

À 0 . 4 8 * *

1 . 0 0

M e a n

1 . 7 5

0 . 4

3

2 . 7 4

2 . 0 2

0 . 4 0

1 . 4 2

3 . 0 2

2 . 7 2

4 . 0 7

3 . 4 1

3 . 8 2

2 . 7 5

S t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n

0 . 9 4

0 . 5

0

1 . 0 5

0 . 9 0

0 . 4 9

0 . 6 2

0 . 9 7

0 . 9 7

0 . 8 1

0 . 8 3

0 . 6 9

1 . 1 7

N o t e s : C o m p

o s i t e s c o r e s f o r e a c h v a r i a b l e w e r e

o b t a i n e d b y a v e r a g i n g s c o r e s a c r o s s i t e m s r e p r e s e n t i n g t h a t m e a s u r e .

T h e s c o r e s r a n g e f r o m 1 t o 5 . A g e a n d e d u c a t i o n

w e r e m e a s u r e d u s i n g 5 - p o i n t s c a l e s . O r g a n i z a t i o n a l t e n u r e w a s m e a s u r e d u s i n g a

6 - p o i n t s c a l e . T h e n u m b e r o f c h i l d r e n w a s m e a s u r e d u s i n g a 4 - p o i n t s c a l e . H i g h e r

s c o r e s i n d i c a

t e o l d e r , m o r e e d u c a t e d , l o n g e r t e n u r e , a n d m o r e c h i l d r e n . G e n d e r w a s c o d e d a s a b i n a r y v a r i a b l e ( 0 ¼

m a l e a n d 1 ¼

f e m a l e ) . M a r i t a l s t a t u s w a s a l s o

c o d e d a s a b

i n a r y v a r i a b l e ( 0 ¼

s i n g l e o r d i v o r

c e d a n d 1 ¼

m a r r i e d ) .

W - F C O N ¼

W o r k - f a m i l y c o n fl i c t ; E E X H A U S

T ¼

E m o t i o n a l e x h a u s t i o n ; I N T M

O T ¼

I n t r i n s i c m o t i v a t i o n ; J S A T

¼

J o b s a t i s f a c t i o n ; A O C ¼

A f f e c

t i v e o r g a n i z a -

t i o n a l c o m m

i t m e n t ; I N T L E A V E ¼

I n t e n t i o n t

o l e a v e .

* A l l c o r r e l a t

i o n s a r e s i g n i fi c a n t a t t h e 0 . 0 5 l e v e l .

* * A l l c o r r e l a

t i o n s a r e s i g n i fi c a n t a t t h e 0 . 0 1 l e v e l . C o r r e l a t i o n s w i t h o u t a n y a s t e r i s k s a r e i n s i g n i fi c a n t .




emotional exhaustion. Gender had a positive correlation with job satisfaction (r ¼ 0:08).

Education had positive correlations with work-family conflict (r ¼ 0:14), emotional

exhaustion (r ¼ 0:32), and intention to leave (r ¼ 0:28). Organizational tenure also had

positive correlations with job satisfaction (r ¼ 0:13) and affective organizational

commitment (r ¼ 0:

10). These positive correlations indicate that older, better educated,and married employees reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion. The positive

correlations also show that female employees reported higher job satisfaction. Employees

with longer tenure had higher levels of job satisfaction and affective organizational

commitment. Better educated employees also reported higher levels of work-family conflict

and intention to leave.

Table 2 shows that age (r ¼ À0:13) and marital status (r ¼ À0:10) had negative

correlations with intrinsic motivation. Education had negative correlations with intrinsic

motivation (r ¼ À0:17), job satisfaction (r ¼ À0:12), and affective organizational

commitment (r ¼ À0:14). Organizational tenure also had negative correlations with

emotional exhaustion (r ¼ À0:11) and intention to leave (r ¼ À0

:14). These negative

correlations show that older and married employees had less favorable perceptions of

intrinsic motivation. The negative correlations also indicate that better educated employees

reported lower levels of intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and affective organizational

commitment. Finally, employees with longer tenure had less favorable perceptions of

emotional exhaustion and intention to leave.

5.4. Model test results

The hypothesized relationships were tested with LISREL 8.30 using path analysis. Theempirical results indicate that the model fits the data well (w2¼ 7:11, df ¼ 2, p ¼ 0:03, GFI

[Goodness of Fit Index] ¼ 1.00, NFI [Normed Fit Index] ¼ 1.00, NNFI [Non-Normed Fit

Index] ¼ 0.93, CFI [Comparative Fit Index] ¼ 1.00, RMSEA [Root Mean Square Error of

Approximation] ¼ 0.06). Of the 13 hypothesized relationships, 11 were supported, whereas

two were not. It should be noted that a number of demographic variables were statistically

controlled because of their potential relationships with the study variables. The main

results reported in this section remain intact with or without the control variables in the

model. The model test results are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 shows that education and organizational tenure had significant effects on work-

family conflict. The rest of the control variables were not significantly related to work-family conflict. The control variables jointly explained 3% of the variance in work-family

conflict. As shown in Table 3, better educated employees reported higher levels of work-

family conflict. This finding suggests that better educated employees were not easily able to

balance their work requirements with their family and/or social responsibilities—perhaps

as a result of excessive workloads imposed on them by hotel management. Employees with

longer tenure experienced lower levels of work-family conflict. It seems likely that, as

employees worked for a longer time in the same organization, they learnt how to cope with

the difficulties associated with work-family conflict.

As shown in Table 3, the results of the path analysis demonstrated that work-family

conflict (W-FCON) had a significant positive effect on frontline employees’ emotionalexhaustion (EEXHAUST). Hypothesis 1 was thus supported. Intrinsic motivation

(INTMOT) exerted a significant negative impact on frontline employees’ emotional

exhaustion (EEXHAUST). Hypothesis 2 was thus also supported. Without control




ARTICLE IN PRESS

Table 3

Model test results

Control variables and hypotheses Standardized

parameter

estimates

t-values Supported/

not supported

I. Impact on work-family conflict (W-FCON)

Control variables

Age-W-FCON 0.06 1.18* —

Gender-W-FCON 0.02 0.42* —

Education-W-FCON 0.14 3.58 —

Organizational tenure-W-FCON À0.11 À2.39 —

Marital status-W-FCON 0.00 0.04* —

The number of children-W-FCON 0.02 0.36* —

R2¼ 0.03

II. Impact on emotional exhaustion (EEXHAUST)Control variables

Age-EEXHAUST 0.10 2.47 —

Gender-EEXHAUST À0.07 À2.29 —

Education-EEXHAUST 0.20 6.87 —

Organizational Tenure-EEXHAUST À0.15 À4.32 —

Marital status-EEXHAUST 0.03 0.89* —

The number of children-EEXHAUST 0.01 0.33* —

Hypotheses

H1. W-FCON-EEXHAUST 0.38 13.08 Supported

H2. INTMOT-EEXHAUST À0.35 À11.61 Supported

R2¼ 0.42

III. Impact on intrinsic motivation (INTMOT)

Control variables

Age-INTMOT À0.16 À3.15 —

Gender-INTMOT 0.00 0.07* —

Education-INTMOT À0.16 À4.33 —

Organizational tenure-INTMOT 0.10 2.24 —

Marital status-INTMOT À0.08 À1.60* —

The number of children-INTMOT 0.04 0.71* —

R2¼ 0.06

IV. Impact on job satisfaction (JSAT)

Control variablesAge-JSAT À0.05 À1.06* —

Gender-JSAT 0.09 2.41 —

Education-JSAT À0.01 À0.30* —

Organizational tenure-JSAT 0.10 2.39 —

Marital status-JSAT 0.05 1.15* —

The number of children-JSAT 0.05 1.00* —

Hypotheses

H3. W-FCON-JSAT À0.16 À4.12 Supported

H4. EEXHAUST-JSAT À0.16 À3.37 Supported

H5. INTMOT-JSAT 0.20 4.97 Supported

R2¼ 0.17

V. Impact on affective organizational commitment (AOC)

Control variables

Age-AOC 0.05 1.16* —

Gender-AOC 0.03 1.03* —




variables, work-family conflict and intrinsic motivation explained 37% of the variance in

emotional exhaustion. With the addition of control variables, the proportion of explained

variance increased to 42%.

As shown in Table 3, age, gender, education, and organizational tenure had significant

effects on emotional exhaustion, whereas marital status and the number of children did

not. Older and better educated employees reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion,

whereas employees with longer tenure reported less emotional exhaustion. Thus, older and

better educated employees might have been fed up with coping with customers’ requests

and complaints. However, employees who had worked for a longer time in the sameorganization might have learnt how to cope with the difficulties associated with emotional

exhaustion. Female employees reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion. This finding

might be attributed to the nature of boundary-spanning positions—in that frontline service

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Table 3 (continued )

Control variables and hypotheses Standardized

parameter

estimates

t-values Supported/

not supported

Education--AOC 0.01 0.31* —

Organizational tenure-AOC 0.04 1.16* —

Marital status-AOC 0.01 0.36* —

The number of children-AOC À0.10 À2.39 —

Hypotheses

H6. W-FCON-AOC À0.06 À1.73* Not

Supported

H7. EEXHAUST-AOC À0.18 À4.41 Supported

H8. INTMOT-AOC 0.29 8.45 Supported

H9. JSAT-AOC 0.33 9.94 Supported

R2¼ 0.39

VI. Impact on intention to leave

Control variables

Age-INTLEAVE 0.01 0.44* —

Gender-INTLEAVE 0.02 0.84* —

Education-INTLEAVE 0.03 1.36* —

Organizational tenure-INTLEAVE À0.03 À1.07* —

Marital status-INTLEAVE À0.06 À1.89* —

The number of children-INTLEAVE 0.00 0.09* —

Hypotheses

H10. W-FCON-INTLEAVE 0.03 1.18* Not

supported

H11. EEXHAUST-INTLEAVE 0.65 21.53 Supported

H12. JSAT-INTLEAVE À0.14 À5.10 Supported

H13. OCOM-INTLEAVE À0.11 À3.71 Supported

R2¼ 0.63

Notes: Age and education were measured using 5-point scales. Organizational tenure was measured using a

6-point scale. The number of children was measured using a 4-point scale. Higher scores indicate older, more

educated, longer tenure, and more children. Gender was coded as a binary variable (0 ¼ male and 1 ¼ female).

Marital status was also coded as a binary variable (0 ¼ single or divorced and 1 ¼ married).

W-FCON ¼ Work-Family Conflict; EEXHAUST ¼ Emotional Exhaustion; INTMOT ¼ Intrinsic Motivation;

JSAT ¼ Job Satisfaction; AOC ¼ Affective Organizational Commitment; INTLEAVE ¼ Intention to Leave.

*Not significant. All other t-values are significant at the 0.05 level or better.

O.M. Karatepe, O. Uludag / Hospitality Management 26 (2007) 645–665 659



jobs require empathy and caring for customers. In these circumstances, female employees

who are suffering from emotional exhaustion might have coped with their jobs better than

their male counterparts under similar levels of emotional exhaustion.

Table 3 demonstrates that age, education, and organizational tenure had significant

effects on intrinsic motivation. The rest of the control variables did not show anysignificant effects on intrinsic motivation. The control variables explained 6% of the

variance in intrinsic motivation. The results indicate that older and better educated

employees had lower intrinsic motivation—perhaps due to the difficulties inherent in

boundary-spanning positions. However, the results show that employees with longer

tenure reported higher intrinsic motivation. This suggests that employees who were more

intrinsically motivated learnt, as they worked for a longer time in the organization, how to

cope with the difficulties that are inherent in boundary-spanning positions.

Path analysis shows that work-family conflict (W-FCON) had a significant negative

relationship with frontline employees’ job satisfaction (JSAT). Hypothesis 3 was thus

supported. The results of the path analysis indicate that emotional exhaustion

(EEXHAUST) was negatively associated with frontline employees’ job satisfaction

(JSAT). Hypothesis 4 was thus supported. Path analysis shows that intrinsic motivation

(INTMOT) was positively related to frontline employees’ job satisfaction (JSAT).

Hypothesis 5 was thus supported. Without control variables, work-family conflict,

emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation explained 16% of the variance in job

satisfaction. Table 3 shows that the control variables improved the explained variance by

1%. With the exceptions of gender and organizational tenure, none of the control variables

exerted a significant impact on job satisfaction.

As shown in Table 3, female employees reported higher levels of satisfaction with their jobs. Improved working conditions might have increased female employees’ satisfaction

with their jobs. In addition, employees with longer tenure were more satisfied with their

jobs.

Path analysis failed to demonstrate that work-family conflict (W-FCON) was negatively

related to frontline employees’ affective organizational commitment (AOC). Hypothesis 6

was thus not supported. Path analysis showed that emotional exhaustion (EEXHAUST)

had a significant negative influence on frontline employees’ affective organizational

commitment (AOC). Hypothesis 7 thus supported. Path analysis showed that intrinsic

motivation (INTMOT) was positively associated with frontline employees’ affective

organizational commitment (AOC). Hypothesis 8 was thus supported. Path analysis alsoshowed that job satisfaction (JSAT) was positively related to frontline employees’ affective

organizational commitment (AOC). Hypothesis 9 was thus supported.

Without control variables, work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, intrinsic

motivation, and job satisfaction explained 39% of the variance in affective organizational

commitment. With the addition of control variables, there was no improvement in the

proportion of explained variance. With the exception of the number of children, none of

the control variables had a significant effect on affective organizational commitment. As

shown in Table 3, employees with more children reported less affective organizational

commitment. It seems reasonable to assume that employees with more children spent more

time on their family and/or social responsibilities, and thus reported less affectivecommitment to the organization.

The results of the path analysis show that work-family conflict (W-FCON) was not a

significant predictor of intention to leave (INTLEAVE). Hypothesis 10 was thus not




supported. Path analysis showed that emotional exhaustion (EEXHAUST) was positively

associated with intention to leave (INTLEAVE). Hypothesis 11 was thus supported. Path

analysis showed that job satisfaction (JSAT) had a significant negative impact on intention

to leave (INTLEAVE). Hypothesis 12 was thus supported. Finally, Table 3 shows that

affective organizational commitment (AOC) had a significant negative association withintention to leave (INTLEAVE). Thus, hypothesis 13 was also supported.

Without control variables, work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction,

and affective organizational commitment explained 63% of the variance in intention to

leave. Table 3 demonstrates that the control variables did not improve the proportion of

explained variance. In addition, none of the control variables showed a significant impact

on intention to leave.

6. Discussion and implications

6.1. Discussion

The path analyses supported most of the hypothesized relationships. The incorporation

of control variables into the research model did not change the significance level of the

effects of independent variables on dependent variables.

The empirical findings demonstrated that frontline employees who had difficulty in

spending time with their family and/or social commitments as a result of their job-related

responsibilities were susceptible to elevated levels of emotional exhaustion. This finding is

consistent with that of Boles et al. (1997). Because frontline employees in Northern Cyprus

faced a number of problems, including irregular work schedules, long work hours, andheavy workloads, they were incapable of balancing job-related responsibilities with family

and/or social responsibilities, and they therefore became emotionally exhausted. The

empirical findings also demonstrated that intrinsically motivated employees displayed low

levels of emotional exhaustion. It appears that frontline employees who really cared about

their work and had feelings of competence in fulfilling job-related tasks experienced less

emotional exhaustion. Because little is known about the effect of intrinsic motivation on

frontline employees’ emotional exhaustion, this finding makes a useful contribution to the

existing knowledge base.

The present empirical investigation also showed that both work-family conflict and

emotional exhaustion had deleterious effects on the job satisfaction of frontline employees.Consistent with that of Babakus et al. (1999), frontline employees who lacked emotional

energy were less satisfied with their jobs. It should also be noted that, according to the

results of the path analyses, the magnitudes of the effects of work-family conflict and

emotional exhaustion were equivalent. In addition, the empirical results showed that

intrinsically motivated employees reported higher job satisfaction. This finding is

congruent with prior empirical and conceptual evidence (Karatepe, 2006; Miller, 2002).

Overall, the findings provide empirical support for the contention that work-family

conflict and emotional exhaustion are two constructs that have significant adverse effects

on job satisfaction in the high-stress work environment.

In this study, emotional exhaustion was found to have a significant negative relationshipwith affective organizational commitment, whereas work-family conflict did not.

According to the results of the path analyses, the effect of intrinsic motivation on

affective organizational commitment appeared to be greater than its effect on job




satisfaction. This finding provides partial support for that of Eby et al. (1999). The

significant negative relationship between emotional exhaustion and affective organiza-

tional commitment, as reported here, is consistent with past findings (Babakus et al., 1999).

As hypothesized, job satisfaction was found to have a significant positive association with

affective organizational commitment, which supports the findings of Bettencourt andBrown (2003) and Brashear et al. (2003).

Because intention to leave is an immediate precursor to actual staff turnover, and

because turnover is an important problem in the tourism and hospitality industry, it is

important that hotel managers recognize the potential antecedents of employees’ intentions

to leave. Consistent with other studies (Karatepe, 2006; Kim et al., 2005; Meyer et al.,

2002), the results of this study have revealed that the antecedents of intention to leave are

increased emotional exhaustion, decreased job satisfaction, and low levels of affective

organizational commitment. A close scrutiny of the model test results shows that

emotional exhaustion had a strong positive impact on intention to leave. This result

indicates that frontline employees think about leaving the organization when they are

emotionally exhausted. Other antecedents of intention to leave are low levels of job

satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. These findings suggest that frontline

employees who report decreased satisfaction with their jobs and low levels of affective

commitment to the organization think about leaving the organization. In contrast, work-

family conflict was not found to have a significant positive relationship with intention to

leave. This finding is not consonant with that of Netemeyer et al. (2004).

6.2. Managerial implications

The study findings point to a number of implications for managerial action. First,

because customer satisfaction begins with employee satisfaction (Rust et al., 1996), and

because frontline employees are important in retaining profitable customers, managers

should aim to mitigate the adverse effects of work-family conflict on job outcomes by

establishing a family-supportive work environment. This might consist of flexible work

arrangements, child-care information services, on-site child care, and family-supportive

supervisors (cf. Allen, 2001).

Secondly, managers should consider the employment of mentors to assist employees

with problems associated with work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion. Those

mentors could arrange specific meetings with frontline employees and their familymembers (and other relevant parties) to explore the difficulties—especially those as-

sociated with boundary-spanning positions. Those mentors could also hold regular

meetings with departmental managers (perhaps on a monthly basis) to discuss problematic

cases and to devise effective solutions whereby both the organization and the employee will

benefit.

Thirdly, managers could spend reasonable time with their frontline employees through

socialization and training. These efforts could help to minimize the detrimental effects of

work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction, affective organizational

commitment, and intention to leave.

Finally, the results suggest that intrinsic motivation decreases emotional exhaustion, butincreases job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. Managers should

therefore consider creating a pool of intrinsically motivated candidates by offering

attractive career opportunities to their prospective employees.




6.3. Limitations and avenues for future research

There are several limitations to the present study. First, this study did test the effects of

work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on affective outcomes

(job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and intention to leave). It would beuseful if future empirical studies could simultaneously investigate the effects of work-

family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation on frontline employees’

normative and continuance commitment and extra-role performance.

Secondly, the current study used only one service setting (hotels) to test the hypothesized

relationships. Future studies could test these relationships in different service settings (for

example, travel agents, airlines, and restaurants). Thirdly, the study lacked an in-depth

qualitative dimension. Future studies could use in-depth interviews as an alternative

approach to provide richer insights into the job outcomes associated with work-family

conflict, emotional exhaustion, and intrinsic motivation. Finally, the moderating role of

gender in this context deserves future research attention.

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Documents

Conflict, Exhaustion, And Motivation a Study of Frontline Employees in Northern Cyprus Hotels