Thriving to serve sustainability: how green ambidextrous leadership fosters innovative service behavior in the hospitality industry

Does green ambidextrous leadership enable employee green innovative service behavior? If so, what are the underlying mechanisms involved? Our study examines the influence of green ambidextrous leadership on employees’ green innovative service behavior, via green thriving at work and green innovative service climate as a cross-level moderator. The data were collected from 360 employees and their direct team leaders through a time-lagged approach and analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. The findings indicated that green ambidextrous leadership has a significant impact on employees’ green innovative service behavior. The results revealed that green ambidextrous leadership has a positive influence on employee green service innovative behavior, which is mediated by green thriving at work. The findings showed that a green innovative service climate strengthened the relationships among green ambidextrous leadership, green thriving at work, and subsequent innovative service behavior. This study presents significant theoretical and practical implications for the hospitality industry.