The Impact of a Democratic Leadership Style on Employee Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty at a Midsized Nonprofit Sport and Recreation Center

Authors

John Vincent, University of Alabama
Michael Baptiste, University of Alabama

Abstract

This study examined how leadership styles correlated with employee job satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty by surveying managers, employees, and customers at a midsized nonprofit sport and recreation center. Drawing on the extant literature and Heskett et al.’s (1994) service-profit chain model, we developed a conceptual model that hypothesized how the adoption of a democratic leadership style would facilitate employee job satisfaction, and mediate other positive outcomes. Of the three leadership styles examined, autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire, only democratic leadership was found to be positively correlated with employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. The results showed that employee job satisfaction was positively correlated with customer satisfaction and employee job satisfaction was positively correlated with customer loyalty. This illustrates the importance of adopting an appropriate leadership style to facilitate employee job satisfaction, which is an antecedent for employee satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Recommended Citation

Vincent, John and Baptiste, Michael (2021) "The Impact of a Democratic Leadership Style on Employee Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty at a Midsized Nonprofit Sport and Recreation Center," Global Sport Business Journal: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/gsbj/vol9/iss1/6