When employees are bullied: a longitudinal multi-study exploration of its consequences in the Indian hospitality industry

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between workplace bullying (WB) and proactive customer service orientation (PCSO). It also examined the mediation effect of workplace conflict (relationship and task conflict) and the combined moderating effect of psychological and social capital on the proposed relationship. Design/methodology/approach Longitudinal multi-study research design was used to collect data in three waves. Two studies were administered separately on hotel and restaurant employees. The correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were administered in SPSS. Mediation and multiplicative moderation analysis were conducted using Process macro. Findings The study’s findings suggest that WB is negatively associated with PCSO in both studies. Relationship and task conflict significantly mediated the relationship between WB and PCSO. Lastly, the psychological capital and social capital together safeguard the decreasing PCSO of the employees of the Indian hospitality industry due to WB. Originality/value There are hardly any studies examining the relationship between WB and PCSO in the Indian context. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has either explored the mediation effect of workplace conflict or the combined moderating effect of psychological and social capital on the proposed relationship.