SERVANT LEADERSHIP, ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET, AND PERFORMANCE: A MEDIATION MODEL IN THAILAND'S AGRO-INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/aamr.2025.51Keywords:
Servant Leadership, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Employee Performance, Agro-Industrial SectorAbstract
This quantitative study investigates the influence of servant leadership (SL) on employee performance (EP) through the mediating roles of entrepreneurial mindset (EM) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in Thailand's agro-industrial sector. Despite its economic significance, this sector faces challenges requiring leadership that develops human capital. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) on data from 445 non-managerial employees at a major Thai agro-industrial firm, the study reveals that SL does not directly impact EP. Instead, SL significantly enhances both EM (β = 0.562, p < .001) and EO (β = 0.624, p < .001), which, in turn, significantly influence EP. Critically, SL exerts significant indirect effects on EP via EM (β = 0.222, p < .001) and EO (β = 0.209, p < .001), jointly explaining 51.6% of the variance in EP. These findings clarify SL's indirect mechanisms in hierarchical, collectivist contexts, contributing to organizational behavior theory. Practically, the study recommends integrating SL development with entrepreneurial capability-building to foster employee outcomes and competitiveness, aligning with Thailand's national strategy for sustainable agro-industrial growth.
Downloads
References
Ali, A., Aima, A., Bhasin, J., & Hisrich, R. (2021). Measuring entrepreneurial orientation in developing economies: Scale development and validation. Jindal Journal of Business Research, 10(2), 147-162.
Bai, M., Zheng, X., Huang, X., Jing, T., Yu, C., Li, S., & Zhang, Z. (2023). How serving helps leading: Mediators between servant leadership and affective commitment. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1170490.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
Chin, W. (1998). The partial least squares approach for structural equation modeling. In G. Marcoulides (ed.). Modern methods for business research (pp. 295-336). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Covin, J., & Slevin, D. (1989). Strategic Management of Small Firms in Hostile and Benign Environments. Strategic Management Journal, 10(1), 75-87.
Daspit, J., Fox, C., & Findley, S. (2023). Entrepreneurial mindset: An integrated definition, a review of current insights, and directions for future research. Journal of Small Business Management, 61(1), 12-44.
Davis, M., Hall, J., & Mayer, P. (2016). Developing a new measure of entrepreneurial mindset: Reliability, validity, and implications for practitioners. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 68(1), 21-48.
Department of Business Development. (2024). DBD DataWarehouse+. Retrieved from https://datawarehouse.dbd.go.th.
Edmondson, A. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111-132.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
Geisser, S. (1975). The predictive sample reuse method with applications. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 70(350), 320-328.
Greenleaf, R. (1970). The servant as leader. New Jersey: Robert K. Greenleaf Publishing Center.
Hair, J., Hult, G., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). California: SAGE Publications.
Han, H., & Zhang, X. (2024). Servant leadership and project success: the mediating roles of team learning orientation and team agility. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1417604.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115-135.
Hoch, J., Bommer, W., Dulebohn, J., & Wu, D. (2016). Do Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership Explain Variance Above and Beyond Transformational Leadership? A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501-529.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
House, R., Hanges, P., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P., & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. California: SAGE Publications.
Hulland, J. (1999). Use of Partial Least Squares (PLS) in Strategic Management Research: A Review of Four Recent Studies. Strategic Management Journal, 20(2), 195-204.
Junkrapor, M., & Chienwattanasook, K. (2025). Enhancing employee performance in Thailand’s ICT industry: The roles of authentic leadership and work-life integration. Asian Administration and Management Review, 8(2), Article 7.
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C., Hildebrandt, V., van Buuren, S., van der Beek, A., & de Vet, H. (2013). Development of an individual work performance questionnaire. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 62(1), 6-28.
Kuanprasert, K., & Phetsombat, P. (2019). The Relationship between Servant Leadership of School Administrator and Job Motivation of Teachers under Saint Maria Academy. Asian Political Science Review, 3(2), 89-95.
Liden, R., Wayne, S., Liao, C., & Meuser, J. (2014). Servant leadership and serving culture: Influence on individual and unit performance. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1434-1452.
Liden, R., Wayne, S., Meuser, J., Hu, J., Wu, J., & Liao, C. (2015). Servant leadership: Validation of a short form of the SL-28. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(2), 254-269.
Lumpkin, G., & Dess, G. (1996). Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It to Performance. The Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 135-172.
Miller, D. (1983). The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms. Management Science, 29(7), 770-791.
Na-Nan, K., Chaiprasit, K., & Pukkeeree, P. (2018). Factor analysis-validated comprehensive employee job performance scale. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 35(10), 2436-2449.
Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council. (2018). National Strategy 2018-2037. Retrieved from www.nesdc.go.th/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-National-Strategy-2018-2037.pdf.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2024). Agricultural policy monitoring and evaluation 2024. Retrieved from www.oecd.org/en/publications/agricultural-policy-monitoring-and-evaluation-2024_74da57ed-en.html.
Pidduck, R., Clark, D., & Lumpkin, G. (2023). Entrepreneurial mindset: Dispositional beliefs, opportunity beliefs, and entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Small Business Management, 61(1), 45-79.
Ren, L., & Shen, H. (2024). The relationship between servant leadership and team innovation performance: Mediating effect of self-efficacy. Heliyon, 10(6), e27723.
Ren, Y., & Bunchapattanasakda, C. (2025). Impacts of Female Servant Leadership on Employee Engagement: A Case of Employees in Private Higher Education Institutions in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Asian Administration and Management Review, 8(1), Article 10.
Spears, L., & Lawrence, M. (2001). Focus on leadership: Servant-leadership for the twenty-first century. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Stone, M. (1974). Cross-Validatory Choice and Assessment of Statistical Predictions. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 36(2), 111-147.
Tajeddini, K., Martin, E., & Ali, A. (2020). Enhancing hospitality business performance: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and networking ties in a dynamic environment. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 90, 102605.
Wei, S., & Bunchapattanasakda, C. (2024). Impact of female servant leadership style on employee engagement in Beijing’s public universities. Asian Political Science Review, 8(2), 99-105.
World Bank Group. (2022). Thailand Rural Income Diagnostic: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Farmers. Retrieved from www.worldbank.org/en/country/thailand/publication/thailand-rural-income-diagnostic-challenges-and-opportunities-for-rural-farmers.
Zhao, X., Lynch, J., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197-206.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Suphot YAEMSIRI, Duangporn PUTTAWONG, Teetut TRESIRICHOD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
.png)
