The Effect of Transformational Leadership on Service Recovery Performance in Public Hospitals of Ahwaz: A Mediating Role of Professional Ethics and Emotional Work

Background & aim: Improving and recovering services in hospitals and other medical centers are very important for community health and have a significant effect on patient satisfaction. Among the factors promoting services in these centers are the presence of transformational leadership, professional ethics, and emotional work. The present study aims to investigate the effect of transformational leadership on service recovery performance with mediating the professional ethics and emotional work roles in public hospitals in ahwaz. Methods: The present study was a correlational study. The study population consisted of whole staff working at public hospitals in Ahwaz who were in direct contact with clients. The sample size was 384 people who were selected through convenience sampling according to the Cochran formula. To collect data, the Bass & Avolio's Transformational Leadership Questionnaires (2000), the Diefendorff 's Emotional Work Questionnaire (2005), the Boshoff & Allen's Service Recovery Performance Questionnaire (2000), and the Professional Ethics Questionnaire of Miller (2002) were used. Data were analyzed statistically through descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (path analysis) using SPSS and SmartPls software. Results: The results obtained from data analysis showed that transformational leadership, emotional work, and professional ethics, with path coefficients of 0.149, 0.413, and 0.19, respectively, had significant effects on service recovery performance. The mediating role of emotional work and professional ethics was also confirmed. Conclusion: The findings showed that transformational leadership contributes in enhancing the service recovery performance and on the other hand, emotional work and professional ethics increase service recovery performance in hospitals. Therefore, it is recommended that hospital administrators try to adapt their behaviors to the behavioral criteria of a transformational leader in order to improve the emotional work and professional ethics and thus the recovery performance of hospital staff.