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Open AccessSustaining Employee Well-Being in Hierarchical Work Communities: The Roles of Capability Bundles and Digital Innovation Channels in Indonesian Hotels
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This study examines how employee capabilities and technology-mediated channels shape well-being in hierarchical hotel contexts marked by coercive leadership. Drawing on Approach–Avoidance Motivation and Diffusion of Innovation, we theorize a resource-and-channels model in which (a) Exapro-a capability bundle combining professional experience and proactive personality-enhances employee well-being, and (b) electronic diffusion of innovation (e-DOI) strengthens the welfare returns to Exapro by providing safer, auditable pathways for idea sharing when face-to-face voice is risky. We test the model using a three-wave longitudinal design across 26 three- to five-star hotels in Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Indonesia) with N = 100 employees concentrated in frontline, rotating-shift roles. Using PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4), measurement properties met recommended thresholds. Results show that the direct effect of despotic leadership on well-being is not significant (H1 rejected) once resources and channels are modeled. By contrast, despotic leadership positively predicts Exapro (H2 supported), Exapro positively predicts well-being (H3 supported), and e-DOI positively moderates the Exapro → well-being link (H4 supported). The model explains a moderate share of variance in well-being (R² ≈ .52). The findings reframe leader–well-being debates by demonstrating a suppressed/contingent direct effect of despotism and highlighting that what employees can do (Exapro) and how they can safely make it visible (e-DOI) are pivotal for sustaining well-being. Practically, hotels should build experience-based scripts, select/develop for proactivity, and institutionalize digital codification of micro-innovations while strengthening leadership accountability.
1. Introduction
Tourism is expanding rapidly, with hotels at the forefront of service-intensive competition. Unlike many other industries, hotels rely on tightly coupled hierarchies and relentless service standards, concentrating formal and informal authority in the hands of general managers (GMs). Professional employment contracts can heighten this perceived authority, legitimizing unilateral control and creating “moral permission” for rule-bending toward subordinates (Malik et al., 2023). In such settings, managerial discretion may slide into unethical conduct (Nauman et al., 2020) and, at the extreme, despotic leadership-authoritarian, arbitrary, self-centered, and demanding unconditional loyalty (Chaudhary & Islam, 2023; Mukarram et al., 2021). A substantial stream of research has documented the dark side of leadership and its human costs. Despotic, abusive, exploitative, toxic, autocratic, and impulsive leadership styles are consistently associated with diminished employee well-being and adverse organizational climates (Abdullahi et al., 2020; De Clercq et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2020; Huai et al., 2024; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Krasikova et al., 2013; Mukarram et al., 2021). Specifically, despotic leadership predicts emotional exhaustion and poorer well-being, catalyzes bullying through moral emotions (Syed et al., 2020), heightens psychological distress and disengagement (Song et al., 2022), and depresses job satisfaction (Zhou et al., 2020). Structural and cultural conditions often exacerbate these dynamics: high unemployment and non-budget hotel segments may raise employees’ tolerance for intimidation (Shahzad et al., 2023; Zhou et al., 2020, 2021), while high power distance and collectivist traditions can normalize deference and silence (De Clercq et al., 2019; Hofstede, 2011; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024). Hotels-especially in high power-distance, resource-constrained environments-are therefore fertile ground for destructive leadership to flourish.
Despite this progress, two issues remain insufficiently theorized and empirically tested in hospitality contexts. First, while scholars have called for clarity about the specific perpetrators of workplace bullying (Naseer et al., 2016), only recently has the literature positioned the despotic leader explicitly as the intimidation agent shaping employee well-being (Islam & Chaudhary, 2024). Crucially, the downstream consequences for employee proactive behavior-rather than only strain or satisfaction-are still underexplored (Hayat & Afshari, 2021; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Nauman et al., 2020). Second, evidence on whether the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) bundle safeguards employee welfare is mixed: some studies argue AMO enhances well-being (Zhang et al., 2020), others report null or negative associations or highlight the absence of a coherent framework (Meyer & Smith, 2000; Peccei, 2004; Voorde, 2010). At the heart of this controversy lies a neglected contextual contingency: AMO presumes voluntaristic enactment of capabilities (Salas-Vallina et al., 2021), whereas despotic climates are coercive (Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Syed et al., 2020). When power is exercised despotically, employees’ resources and skills may not translate into proactive action; paradoxically, visible capability can even mark employees as targets.
Addressing these gaps, this study reframes the conversation from whether despotic leadership harms employees to how and when employees can still act proactively in one of the most power-asymmetric service settings. We theorize despotic leadership as a proximal antecedent of bullying in hotels and link this process to employee proactive behavior, explaining why AMO may fail to self-activate under coercion and proposing the conditions under which agency can be restored. Building on diffusion-of-innovation (Rogers, 1995) and approach–avoidance motivation (Lewin, 1935; Monni et al., 2020), we introduce a dual micro-foundation-proactive personality and professional experience (Exapro)-to illuminate how dispositional initiative is converted into safe, constructive action through experiential scripts, tacit know-how, and context-sensitive judgment. In doing so, the study connects destructive leadership, bullying, and proactivity within a moderated-mediation perspective and advances a hospitality-specific account of why some employees innovate and voice under intimidation while others withdraw.
The originality of this work lies in centering despotic leadership as the bullying engine in hotels, extending outcomes to proactive behavior, and reconciling the AMO–well-being controversy by specifying coercive power as the boundary condition that blocks the voluntaristic activation of capability. The resulting framework redirects hotel HRM from generic skill-building to experience-sensitive, safety-aware proactivity development and leadership accountability in high power-distance, precarious labor markets (Chaudhary & Islam, 2023; De Clercq et al., 2019; Hofstede, 2011; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Shahzad et al., 2023).
2. Literature Review
3. Method
We employed a three-wave longitudinal design to examine whether intimidation associated with despotic leadership and its welfare consequences differ before, during, and after the acute COVID-19 disruption in hospitality. Data were collected across 26 three-, four-, and five-star hotels in Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Indonesia-settings characterized by hierarchical structures and sustained service intensity. This design permits within-context temporal contrasts while attenuating single-period biases (Albashiti et al., 2021; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Rafiq et al., 2023). We used stratified random sampling (Henry & Ilyés, 2019) from five cohorts of the Bilik job-training program, a collaboration between the Tegal City Manpower Agency, the Indonesia Housekeepers Association (IHKA), and Trisila Dharma Polytechnic. Stratification by hotel class and functional area preserved operational heterogeneity. The final sample comprised N = 100 hotel employees: housekeeping (41), front office (23), public area (11), kitchen/chef (11), security (5), barista (3), and bartender (3). The Bilik program was initiated to stabilize hotel operations during COVID-19 and continued post-pandemic due to favorable employer evaluations.
4. Result and Discussion
Our findings reframe how employee resources and channels shape well-being under coercive leadership in hotels. Interpreting the results against the respondent profile-predominantly frontline roles (housekeeping 41%, front office 23%), rotating shifts (72%), vocational/diploma education (90%), and a balanced tenure mix (34% <1 year; 44% 1–3 years)-helps explain why certain theoretical pathways were amplified while others were muted. Contrary to much of the hospitality and OB literature that links despotic leadership with poorer well-being, job satisfaction, and heightened turnover intentions (Albashiti et al., 2021; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024; Nauman et al., 2020), our model shows that this direct path is statistically unreliable once capability bundles and channels are taken into account. Two respondent-based mechanisms are plausible. First, a professionalized frontline: many respondents occupy roles where service choreography is routinized and performance standards are codified; this can decouple immediate well-being from day-to-day leader volatility by shifting control to task scripts and peer routines rather than the supervisor’s momentary tone (Haddon, 2018). Second, job mobility as avoidance: consistent with approach–avoidance dynamics, employees facing sustained coercion may respond by switching hotels rather than absorbing strain (Elliot & Thrash, 2002; Penz & Hogg, 2011). In such cases, the most affected individuals exit the risk set, attenuating the observed direct link in our longitudinal sample-especially given the presence of contract and trainee segments who can rotate out quickly.
At the same time, our data align with the broader record in showing that despotic climates remain normatively problematic: while the direct path to well-being is nonsignificant here, prior evidence still documents harm via strain mechanisms (e.g., emotional exhaustion, bullying) in comparable contexts (Ahmad et al., 2022; Naseer et al., 2016). Our contribution is to clarify how that harm can be rechanneled or buffered when employees possess specific resource bundles and safer diffusion routes.
Despotic leadership positively predicted Exapro-our composite of professional experience (Ex-Pro) and proactive personality (A-Pro) (Srikanth, 2020; Zhong et al., 2022). In power-distant, time-pressured hotels, coercive climates may (paradoxically) select for or cultivate employees who invest in portable expertise and anticipatory problem solving. Two respondent features matter. First, the vocational/diploma dominance implies a talent pipeline trained for rapid operationalization; under pressure, such staff lean on accumulated tacit routines across “different hotel classes,” consistent with experience-based dynamic capabilities (Finch et al., 2016). Second, rotating shifts intensify exposure to failure points (late check-ins, event turnarounds), incentivizing proactive pattern recognition. Rather than a benefit of despotism, this pattern likely reflects adaptive sorting: employees who cannot build or deploy capability exit (turnover intention), while those who can remain and consolidate Exapro (Albashiti et al., 2021; Singh & Jha, 2018).
Consistent with approach-oriented coping, Exapro was positively associated with well-being. Professional experience supplies high-fidelity scripts and credible alternatives under time pressure (Sharma et al., 2021), while proactivity energizes self-starting service recovery, guest communication, and complaint resolution (Bani-Melhem et al., 2021). For our sample-heavy in housekeeping/front office and mid-career tenure-this bundle likely elevates perceived control and task mastery, translating to higher affective states (“felt happy, light-hearted” Grossi et al., (2006) validated by Hayat & Afshari (2021). In other words, Exapro restores the Behavioral Activation System pathway by making approach behavior feasible and rewarding in hostile contexts (Corr & Cooper, 2016).
The welfare returns to Exapro were stronger when e-DOI was high, consistent with Rogers’ diffusion logic adapted to digital, intra-organizational channels (Lupač, 2018; Rogers, 1995). In despotic climates-where face-to-face voice can be punished (Albashiti et al., 2021; Nauman et al., 2020)-employees who can codify micro-innovations in PMS/CRM notes, digital SOPs, or internal platforms make their contributions visible, auditable, and lower-conflict. For a workforce concentrated in frontline roles, these e-DOI pathways convert tacit fixes (room-turnover checklists, banquet set-up shortcuts) into recognized process improvements, enhancing psychological well-being through acknowledgment and reduced interpersonal friction. The moderator thus operationalizes the “safe channel” premise in our theory: capability (Exapro) yields well-being to the extent that ideas can be diffused without escalating leader confrontation.
Our pattern refines the prevailing narrative. Prior studies typically find a direct despotic → well-being decrement (Albashiti et al., 2021; Islam & Chaudhary, 2024), often via bullying/emotional exhaustion (Naseer et al., 2016). We show that in professionalized, mobile frontline samples, the capability pathway (Exapro) and the channel pathway (e-DOI) can dominate the variance in well-being, rendering the direct effect nonsignificant once these are modeled. This is compatible with earlier calls to identify perpetrator-specific and context-specific mechanisms (Chaudhary & Islam, 2023; Naseer et al., 2016) and with RBV views that portable human capital confers bargaining power and resilience (Barney, 1991). For HR and operations leaders, the evidence points to three levers. First, invest in Ex-Pro through cross-property rotations, task variety, and reflective debriefs that convert experience into reusable scripts-especially in units with high rotating-shift exposure. Second, hire for and cultivate A-Pro (screening for initiative; coaching for anticipatory guest handling). Third, institutionalize e-DOI by mandating digital codification of service improvements (e.g., brief “innovation notes” tied to PMS tasks), which legitimizes voice when face-to-face channels are unsafe. These steps do not excuse despotic conduct; rather, they recognize how capability × channel architectures can protect well-being while organizations build leadership accountability. Our results are bounded by an Indonesian, high power-distance context with vocational/diploma-heavy frontline staffing. In settings with lower mobility or tighter labor markets, H1 may re-emerge as significant because employees cannot “avoid” via exit. Future work should integrate bullying explicitly as a process mediator, test experience asymmetries across hotel classes (Gutiérrez-Martínez & Duhamel, 2019; Lim & Ok, 2023), and compare digital vs. face-to-face diffusion channels to quantify the marginal welfare gain from e-DOI.
5. Conclusion
This study advances understanding of employee well-being in service-intensive, high power-distance hotel settings by showing that employee capability bundles and safe diffusion channels are pivotal for sustaining well-being under coercive leadership. Using a three-wave longitudinal design across 26 hotels in Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, we find that the direct link from despotic leadership to well-being (H1) is not statistically reliable once employee resources and channels are modeled, whereas despotic leadership positively predicts Exapro-our composite of professional experience and proactive personality (H2). Exapro, in turn, improves well-being (H3), and this benefit is amplified by electronic diffusion of innovation (e-DOI) (H4). Taken together, these results support a shift from a leader-centric harm narrative to a resource-and-channels perspective: in frontline, rotating-shift work where task scripts and peer choreography are strong, what employees can do (Exapro) and how they can safely make it visible (e-DOI) matter as much as, and sometimes more than, the immediate tone of leadership. The findings integrate Approach–Avoidance Motivation and Diffusion of Innovation to explain how capability restores approach-oriented coping and when digital channels convert micro-innovations into recognized, lower-conflict contributions. This reconciles mixed evidence on leadership–well-being links by demonstrating a suppressed or contingent direct effect once capability and channel mechanisms are considered. It also refines resource-based views of human capital in hospitality by showing that portable, experience-based scripts coupled with dispositional proactivity have measurable welfare returns when organizations enable technology-mediated codification and sharing.
The results recommend three levers: (i) build Ex-Pro through cross-property rotations, task variety, and structured debriefs that convert tacit experience into reusable routines; (ii) select and develop A-Pro through hiring for initiative and coaching for anticipatory guest handling; and (iii) institutionalize e-DOI by requiring brief, auditable “innovation notes” in PMS/CRM or digital SOPs so frontline improvements travel without triggering face-to-face confrontation. Importantly, these practices do not legitimize despotic conduct; rather, they protect and enhance employee well-being while organizations strengthen leadership accountability and oversight. Limitations include the regional scope (Indonesia), a vocational/diploma-heavy frontline sample, and reliance on self-report measures, which may understate harm if the most affected employees exit between waves. Future research should (a) model bullying explicitly as a process mediator; (b) compare digital versus face-to-face diffusion channels to isolate the marginal welfare gain from e-DOI; (c) test boundary conditions across labor markets with different mobility constraints; and (d) examine higher-order Exapro structures and team-level spillovers (e.g., whether one employee’s codified innovation lifts collective well-being). The evidence indicates that capability (Exapro) multiplied by channel (e-DOI) is a practical formula for preserving employee well-being in hotels-even when leadership is coercive. Designing jobs and systems that cultivate professional experience, reward proactivity, and normalize digital codification of improvements can help organizations translate everyday service ingenuity into sustainable, human-centered performance.
RAA led the study design and conceptual development, coordinated the research process, and contributed to the interpretation of findings in relation to maritime education, training, and operational safety; Arleiny supported the theoretical framing and instrument/content development, strengthened the learning-innovation and competency-development perspective, and contributed to drafting and revising the manuscript; FI contributed technical and operational insights, supported data handling/analysis and interpretation focused on shipboard performance and training effectiveness, and assisted manuscript preparation; M contributed expertise on maritime operations management and regulatory alignment, reviewed methodological decisions for applicability in vocational/professional contexts, and refined the discussion and implications; and P contributed to the vocational and workforce-development framing, helped translate findings into industry-oriented practical recommendations, and participated in critical revision and final approval of the manuscript.
Participation was voluntary with informed consent at each wave. Respondents were assured of confidentiality; identifiers were removed before analysis. The study adhered to institutional ethics guidelines and partner organizations’ data-protection standards.
This research did not require ethical approval.
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author due to privacy reasons.
The authors are grateful for the advice and support received from the Indonesia Housekeeping Association (IHKA) which has mobilized general managers at each hotel to participate in this research.
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