Linking leadership and justice to organizational commitment: The mediating role of collective identity in the hotel industry

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the mediating role of collective identity in the relations among transformational leadership, procedural justice and employee organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical survey was conducted in 43 hotels in mainland China with 585 valid responses. In addition to descriptive statistics and the test of the presence of common method bias, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validities and reliabilities of the variables; structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test causal relations and the mediating effects of collective identity. Findings: Results show that transformational leadership and procedural justice are good predictors of employee collective identity and organizational commitment. In addition to a strong impact on employee commitment, collective identity partially mediates the effects of transformational leadership and procedural justice on employee commitment. Research limitations/implications: This study is restricted to China’s hotel supervisors; therefore, caution should be taken when applying the findings to other sectors, regions and higher levels of leaders. Practical implications: Findings of this study offer managerial insights for hotel supervisors to exercise transformational leadership and procedural justice to improve employee collective identity, which drives organizational commitment. Originality/value: As an important concept, studies on the role of self-identity are limited in management and the field of leadership. This study tested the role of collective identity in leadership and organizational commitment in the context of Chinese culture, highlighting its theoretical and practical implications.