The Korea Local Administration Review

Service oriented boundary spanning behaviors of local government frontlineservice employees that has properties of labor-intensive and providing publicservice make a direct influence on the its own potential and survival for whichfrontline service employees of local government are required to take aspontaneous and initiative boundary spanning behaviors in supplying localresidents oriented services. It is, however, not easy to expect local governmentemployees’ voluntary customer service with a sense of ownership in the rigidhierarchical organization culture in which they make a reluctant and unwillingresponse to their leader’s directions and orders. Meanwhile, there have been avoluminous of studies on the researches about enhancing public employees tointensify public services to customers, less explanation focused on the relativecontribution of empowering leadership (EPL) and psychological ownership (PO)constructs to boundary spanning behaviors (BSB) yet, which have encouragedthis study to theoretically discuss and empirically test the impacts of EPL andPO on local public workers' BSB with the mediation role of PO in therelationship between EPL and BSB.The results shows that EPL and PO had significant influences on BSB, POhad a similar positive effect on local public employees' boundary-spanningbehavior, and the relationship between EPL and BSB was positively mediatedby the employee's prevailing perception of organizational ownership that took avoluntary and initiative part in organizational decision making process. Thefindings of the study confirm valuably the crucial role of EPL in creating anorganizational climate empowering the employees authority and responsibility for
enhancing their PO, leading to taking a initiative in handling their BSB.Accordingly, these research findings are expected to contribute to academicimplication by expanding the theoretical field of leadership and organizationcitizenship behaviors, as well managerial implications through suggesting policyindications which is not only the right thing to do but also has significantbenefits for both the service employees and the organization.
□ Keywords: Empowering leadership, Psychological ownership, Boundary spanningbehaviors, Partial least square