An investigation of the joint effects of organisational tenure and supervisor support on work-family conflict and turnover intentions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effects of organisational tenure and supervisor support on work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions. Data were gathered from a sample of Arab frontline employees married with or without children in the international five-star chain hotels in Jordan. Results of hierarchical moderated regression analysis show that the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support reduces family-work conflict and turnover intentions. On the contrary, this interactive term does not significantly influence work-family conflict. Implications of the aforementioned findings to alleviate family-work conflict and turnover intentions are discussed and directions for future research are offered.

Keywords: family-work conflict, hotel employees, Jordan, turnover, work-family conflict

**********

In a world of intense global competition, sophisticated and discerning customers demand the highest level of service quality (Yasin & Yavas, 1999). Many hospitality firms recognise that frontline employees who have frequent face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers play a critical role in the delivery of quality services. Such employees, however, are faced with a number of problems associated with work and family domains (Deery & Jago, 2009; Karatepe & Kilic, 2007). More importantly, the changing nature of workforce (e.g., entry of more women to the workforce and increase in the number of dual-earner couples) in both developed and developing economies has resulted in conflicts in the work-family interface (Aycan & Eskin, 2005; Netemeyer, Maxham, & Pullig, 2005; Yang, Chen, Choi, & Zou, 2000).

Conflicts in the work-family interface are work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Work-family conflict refers to 'a form of inter-role conflict in which the general demands of, time devoted to, and strain created by the job interfere with performing family-related responsibilities'; and family-work conflict refers to 'a form of interrole conflict in which the general demands of, time devoted to, and strain created by the family interfere with performing work-related responsibilities' (Netemeyer, Boles, & McMurrian, 1996, p. 401). According to these definitions, work can interfere with family and family can interfere with work. As Magnini (2009, p. 120) states, '... the busiest shifts in hotels and restaurants are often when most other people are off from work (e.g., weekends and holidays)'. Therefore, long and irregular work hours inherent in the hospitality industry may prevent employees from allocating adequate time and energy to the fulfilment of family responsibilities. On the other hand, the demands (e.g., helping spouses in housework and meeting with the child's teacher) created by the family may prevent employees from carrying out work-related responsibilities. Under these circumstances, individuals' participation in both work and family domains results in conflicts in the work-family interface. Consequently, the effective management of these two domains has become one of the major challenges for employees in frontline service jobs of the hospitality industry.

The hospitality industry is characterised by high employee turnover (Decry &]ago, 2009; Kandasamy & Ancheri, 2009; Solnet & Hood, 2008). The relevant literature demonstrates that turnover intentions trigger turnover (Karatepe et al., 2006). Frontline employees with high levels of turnover intentions are likely to have low morale and organisational commitment, deliver poor customer service, and undermine service recovery efforts (Alexandrov, Babakus, & Yavas, 2007).

Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effects of organisational tenure and supervisor support on work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions. These relationships are tested via cross-sectional data collected from a sample of Arab frontline employees married with or without children in the international five-star chain hotels in Jordan.

This study makes several contributions to the hospitality management literature in the following ways. First, a review of the extant literature demonstrates that organisational tenure appears to be treated as a nuisance or a control variable in most stress- and strain-related studies (Bradley, 2007; Karatepe & Kilic, 2007; Yavas, Babakus, & Karatepe, 2008). However, according to the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, tenure is one of the condition resources that can be used to cope with the adverse effects of stress and strains (Hobfoll, 1989). The COR theory also contends that supervisor support is among the resources that can be used as a coping mechanism (Westman et al., 2004). Long organisational tenure, coupled with supervisor support, may reduce employees' work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Investigating such relationships makes a useful contribution to this research stream, because a close examination of the hospitality management literature reveals that there is a paucity of empirical research on the moderators of work-family conflict and family-work conflict based on samples derived from developing countries (Karatepe, 2008).

Second, as mentioned before, employee turnover is a critical problem in the hospitality industry. Causes of turnover can be associated with various variables such as job dissatisfaction, low organisational commitment, organisational climate, and limited career and financial advancement (Iverson, 1999; O'Neill et al., 2009). In this study, we use turnover intentions, because the relevant literature indicates that the immediate precursor of turnover is turnover intentions (Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, & Meglino, 1979) and it is a good substitute for turnover rates (Vidal, Valle, & Aragon, 2007). With this realisation, it is of paramount importance for hospitality firms to seeking ways for reducing employees' turnover intentions. This study also makes a useful contribution to the hospitality management literature by examining the interactive effects of organisational tenure and supervisor support on turnover intentions.

The next section of the article presents the theoretical background and research hypotheses. This is followed by discussions of the method and findings of the empirical study. The article concludes with the implications of the findings and avenues for future research.

Theoretical Foundations and Research Hypotheses

Background

Work and family are the two important domains of adult life. Employees in frontline service jobs of hospitality industry have to cope with a number of difficulties associated with work-family conflict and family-work conflict. This is not surprising, because conflict between work and family roles is one of the major problems for hospitality employees and such employees entering the workforce pay more attention to the importance of work-life balance more than their predecessors (Kandasamy & Ancheri, 2009). The difficulties frontline employees experience in balancing the demands of their work and family responsibilities result in negative job outcomes such as job dissatisfaction, low organisational commitment, ineffective job performance, and turnover intentions. There are several empirical studies that provide support for the previously said relationships.

Specifically, Namasivayam and Mount (2004) found that work-family conflict reduced normative organisational commitment and job satisfaction among hotel employees in the United States. However, they reported an intriguing result that was associated with the positive impact of family-work conflict on job satisfaction. In a study of frontline hotel employees in Turkey, Karatepe and Sokmen (2006) demonstrated that two facets of conflict influenced service recovery performance deleteriously and exacerbated turnover intentions. They further found that family-work conflict eroded job satisfaction, whereas work-family conflict did not have any bearing on job satisfaction. Unlike these findings, in a study of frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus, Karatepe and Kilic (2007) reported that work-family conflict decreased job satisfaction, whereas family-work conflict did not show any significant effect on job satisfaction. They also found that family-work conflict reduced job performance and work-family conflict intensified turnover intentions. However, they found no significant relationships between work-family conflict and job performance, and family-work conflict and turnover intentions.

In addition, it was illustrated that the interaction of job demands and job control and job support alleviated work-to-leisure conflict among service employees in the tourism industry of Taiwan (Wong & Lin, 2007). The results of another study showed that affective organisational commitment moderated the effect of family-work conflict on job satisfaction among hotel employees in India (Namasivayam & Zhao, 2007).

The aforementioned findings have been summarised via several empirical studies in the hospitality management literature. The findings of the abovementioned studies regarding the effects of work-family conflict and family-work conflict on job outcomes are mixed. More importantly, empirical research pertaining to the moderators of work-family conflict and family-work conflict in the hospitality management literature is scarce. Therefore, this study investigates the interactive effects of two resources such as organisational tenure and supervisor support on work-family conflict and family-work conflict to partially fill in this void. The hypotheses of the study are discussed next.

Research Hypotheses

The literature does not provide clear directions/findings to develop hypotheses concerning the effects of the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support on two directions of conflict. However, the COR theory presents useful guidelines to develop relevant hypotheses. Specifically, the COR theory contends that individuals seek to acquire, maintain and preserve certain resources such as objects, personal characteristics, conditions, and energies (Hobfoll, 1989). Stress occurs in the workplace when (a) individuals are confronted with the threat of loss of resources, (b) individuals lose their resources, and (c) individuals invest resources and do not harvest what they have predicted in return (Hobfoll, 2001). The COR theory states, '... people must invest resources in order to protect against resource loss, recover from losses, and gain resources' (Hobfoll, 2001, p. 349). The COR theory contends that tenure is one of the condition resources that can be used to cope with the adverse effects of stress and strains (Hobfoll, 1989). In this study, organisational tenure is conceptualised as the length of stay within a single organisation.

Supervisor support is one of the viable variables of social support, which refers to 'an interpersonal transaction that involves emotional concern, instrumental aid, information, or appraisal' (Carlson & Perrewe, 1999, p. 514) and is a resource to cope with stress and strains (Westman et al., 2004). Consequently, organisational tenure is a condition resource and supervisor support is a work-related resource. The availability of more resources can protect frontline employees from stressful situations and strains in the organisation (Hobfoll, 2001; Zellars, Perrewe, Hochwarter, & Anderson, 2006). Therefore, the combination of organisational tenure and supervisor support may alleviate work-family conflict and family-work conflict.

As employee tenure increases and such employees obtain adequate support from their supervisors, they may be able to protect themselves from conflict between work (family) and family (work) domains. That is, long organisational tenure and supervisor support act as resources to reduce work-family conflict and family-work conflict. In empirical terms, Zellars et al. (2006) found that two personal resources, such as positive affectivity and conscientiousness, protected employees from exhaustion, depersonalisation, and job tension. Similarly, consistent with the COR theory, this study posits that the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support may help frontline employees to cope with difficulties emanating from work (family) and family (work) domains. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:

H1a. Organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on work-family conflict such that the negative effect of supervisor support on work-family conflict will be stronger among long-tenure frontline employees.

H1b. Organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on family-work conflict such that the negative effect of supervisor support on family-work conflict will be stronger among long-tenure frontline employees.

Turnover intentions refer to employees' 'willingness to leave an organisation' (Thoresen et al., 2003, p. 918). According to the organisational support theory, supervisors can be regarded as the agents of the organisation and are responsible for supervising their subordinates (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). The actions of these agents or supervisors are often viewed as the indicators of the organisation's intent (Dawley, Andrews, & Bucklew, 2008; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Such actions are related to the personification of the organisation to the employee by the supervisor. Employees receiving support from their supervisors to manage their work and family roles and find solutions to their work-related problems are likely to display less turnover intentions (Allen, 2001; Ito & Brotheridge, 2005). More importantly, organisational tenure, coupled with the availability of supervisor support in the workplace, will reduce turnover intentions. In other words, as employees' tenure increases, the negative relationship between supervisor support and turnover intentions increases.

Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2. Organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on turnover intentions such that the negative relationship between supervisor support and turnover intentions will be stronger among long-tenure frontline employees.

Method

Sample and Procedure

Judgmental sampling, which refers to 'picking cases that are judged to be typical of the population in which we are interested, assuming that errors of judgment in the selection will tend to counterbalance one another' (Judd, Smith, & Kidder, 1991, p. 136), was used to determine the sample of this study. Broadly speaking, data for this study were collected from a judgmental sample of Arab frontline employees married with or without children in the international five-star chain hotels in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. Such employees (e.g., food servers, front desk agents, bell attendants, beverage servers, and door attendants) had intense face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers.

Jordan is a Middle East country where there is a high unemployment rate (recorded at 12.8% in 2008) (Fischer et al., 2009). The country has a non-Western cultural setting and is categorised as high in masculinity (Dwairi, Bhuian, & Jurkus, 2007). The tribal traditions still exist to some degree in Jordan (Alwraikat & Simadi, 2001), and there are social and cultural constraints to women's employment (Miles, 2002). Consequently, women form 10% of the overall tourism employment (Fischer et al., 2009). In addition, there is a shortage of skilled manpower ranging from communications and management to marketing and customer care in the tourism industry (Fischer et al., 2009).

According to the information obtained from the Jordan Hotel Association, at the time of this study there were 11 international five-star chain hotels in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. The research team was able to obtain permission for data collection from the human resources managers of the four international five-star chain hotels. A total number of 500 questionnaires were then distributed to frontline employees in these four international five-star chain hotels. Participants were given an assurance of confidentiality and self-administered the questionnaires. Of the 500 questionnaires distributed, 195 were retrieved by the cut-off date for data collection. However, 6 questionnaires were not usable due to missing information. Consequently, 189 usable questionnaires were retrieved, yielding a response rate of 37.8%.

Thirty-eight per cent of the respondents were between the ages of 18 to 27, 36% between the ages of 28 to 37, and the rest were older than 37. Seventy-seven per cent of the respondents were male. Twenty-one per cent of the respondents had secondary and high school education, while 16% had primary school education. Eighteen per cent of the respondents had 2-year college degrees, 38% 4-year college degrees, and the rest had graduate degrees. 19% of the respondents had tenures below 1 year. Thirty per cent of the respondents had tenures between 1 and 5 years, while 25% had tenures between 6 and 10 years. Fourteen per cent of the respondents had tenures between 11 and 15 years. The rest had tenures more than fifteen years. Seven per cent of the respondents had no children. Forty-two per cent of the respondents had children between one and two, while 27% had children between three and four. The rest had children more than four.

Measurement

Multiple-item scales from the relevant literature were obtained to operationalise supervisor support, work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions. The scale items and their sources are demonstrated in Appendix A. Supervisor support was measured via five items from Anderson, Coffey, and Byerly (2002). Work-family conflict and family-work conflict were measured using items from Netemeyer et al. (1996). Work-family conflict and family-work conflict each consisted of five items. Turnover intentions were operationalised using three items from Singh, Verbeke, and Rhoads (1996). The items in supervisor support, work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions were rated on 5-point scales ranging from 5 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). Higher scores indicated higher supervisor support, work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions. In addition, organisational tenure was measured using a 6-point scale.

In this study, age, gender, education, and the number of children were controlled to avoid statistical confounds. Age was measured using a four-point scale. The number of children and education were measured using 5-point scales. Gender was coded as a binary variable (0 = male and 1 = female).

The survey instrument was originally prepared in English and then translated into Arabic via the back-translation method (McGorry, 2000). The resulting instrument was tested with a pilot sample of 20 frontline employees. The results of the pilot study showed that frontline employees did not have any difficulty in understanding the questionnaire items. Therefore, no specific changes were made in the questionnaire.

Data Analysis

All measures are subjected to a series of confirmatory factor analyses to address issues of dimensionality, convergent and discriminant validity (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1996). The values of [chi square]/df, GFI [Goodness of Fit Index], AGFI [Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index], NFI [Normed Fit Index], NNFI [Non-Normed Fit Index], CFI [Comparative Fit Index], RMSEA [Root Mean Square Error of Approximation], and SRMR [Standardised Root Mean Square Residual] are used to evaluate the results of the fit statistics. The [chi square]/df value between 2 and 5 indicates a good fit (Marsh & Hocevar, 1985). Generally, fit indices with values equal to or greater than .90 indicate a good fit (Benfler & Bonett, 1980). RMSEA with values smaller than or equal to .08 is indicative of a good fit (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). RMR with values smaller than .10 is indicative of a good fit (Sumer, Sumer, Ciftci, & Demirutku, 2000). The internal consistency reliability is assessed based on the commonly accepted cut-off value of .70.

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis is used to test the moderating effects. Specifically, all predicting variables are centred prior to multiplication. The control variables are first entered in step 1, organisational tenure and supervisor support in step 2, and the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support in step 3 to predict work-family conflict. The same procedure is also used to predict family-work conflict and turnover intentions.

Results

Measurement Results

The results of the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the following results concerning the fit statistics of a four-factor model: [chi square] = 300.87, df = 129; GFI = .85; AGFI = .80; NFI = .83; NNFI = .87; CFI = .89; RMSEA = .084; SRMR = .091. The [chi square]/df value of 2.33 was within a range of acceptable values. The results for RMSEA and SRMR were also within a range of acceptable values. On the other hand, the results for GFI, AGFI, NFI, NNFI, and CFI were below .90 and did not indicate a good fit. In addition, 11 out of 18 loadings were above .70. All t values (> 2.00) were significant. Overall, there was evidence of convergent validity (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988).

A series of pairwise confirmatory factor analyses were employed to assess discriminant validity. Specifically, a two-dimensional model for each pair of study constructs was first fit, and then items representing each factor were forced into a single factor solution. Various fit statistics produced better results for a two-factor model. The results strongly suggest that each set of items represents a single underlying construct and provides evidence of discriminant validity (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988).

In this study, common method bias was checked using Harman's single-factor test via confirmatory factor analysis. This test is based on the assumption that common method bias is a serious problem when a single latent factor will account for more than 50% of the total variance of the measures (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). The results for the single-factor model were as follows: [chi square] = 2073.59, df = 135; GFI = .45; AGFI = .30; NFI = .34; NNFI = .27; CFI = .36; RMSEA = .276; SRMR = .24. The single-factor model accounted for only 19.5% of the total variance. The chi-square test also showed that the four-factor model was superior to the single-factor model ([DELTA][chi square] = 1772.72, [DELTA]df= 6, p < .001). In short, common method bias was not a critical problem in this study.

Composite scores for each measure are computed by averaging scores across items representing that measure. Means, standard deviations, and correlations of study variables are demonstrated in Table 1. As presented in Table 1, coefficient alphas were as follows: supervisor support .89; work-family conflict .82; family-work conflict .72; and turnover intentions .87. All coefficient alphas were above .70.

According to the findings in Table 1, there are significant correlations between several control variables and study variables. Specifically, older employees are faced with low levels of work-family conflict and family-work conflict. In addition, female employees experience higher family-work conflict and display heightened turnover intentions, while employees with more children are confronted with lower work-family conflict. It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of the participants in this study were male. Therefore, the results regarding the associations between: gender and family-work conflict, the number of children and work-family conflict, and gender and turnover intentions may be attributed to the fact that women in the Arabian culture are still expected to fulfill a number of family responsibilities, and parental responsibilities in this culture are greater for mothers. When female employees find that they are unable to balance family and work responsibilities, they display higher turnover intentions.

Test of Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1a predicts that organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on work-family conflict. The results in Table 2 demonstrate that the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support does not significantly influence work-family conflict. Therefore, hypothesis 1a is not supported. Hypothesis 1b predicts that organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on family-work conflict. The results reveal that the interactive term (organisational tenure * supervisor support) has a significant negative impact on family-work conflict ([beta] = .28, p < .001). A significant increment in [R.sup.2] of the model ([DELTA][R.sup.2] = .07, p < .001) is observed. Therefore, hypothesis 1b is supported. Hypothesis 2 predicts that organisational tenure will moderate the effect of supervisor support on turnover intentions. According to the results in Table 2, the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support exerts a significant negative effect on turnover intentions ([beta] = -.31, p < .001). The interactive term makes a significant contribution in [R.sup.2] of the model ([DELTA][R.sup.2] = .08, p < .001). Therefore, hypothesis 2 is supported.

The results also demonstrate that the control variables excluding gender do not have any significant effects on work-family conflict. Consistent with the correlation analysis results, gender has significant positive relationships with family-work conflict and turnover intentions. That is, female employees are faced with elevated levels of family-work conflict and display higher turnover intentions.

Discussion

A close examination of the hospitality management literature demonstrates that there is a dearth of empirical research pertaining to the moderators of work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Calls are made to examine these relationships using samples from developing countries to expand the current knowledge. In addition, hospitality firms are in need of finding ways to decrease employees' turnover intentions, because employee turnover is an important problem awaiting immediate solutions in the hospitality industry.

With this realisation, this study investigated the interactive impacts of organisational tenure and supervisor support on work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions using data collected from a sample of Arab frontline employees married with or without children in the international five-star chain hotels in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. The results of this study contribute to the hospitality management literature regarding the moderators of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and turnover intentions.

Assessment of Findings

Based on hierarchical moderated regression analysis, the results reveal that the combination of organisational tenure and supervisor support alleviated frontline employees' family-work conflict. That is, the negative impact of supervisor support on family-work conflict was stronger among long-tenure frontline hotel employees. Such a finding is consistent with the COR theory (Hobfoll, 2001). The results support the COR theory's premise that frontline employees with more resources in the organisation are capable of coping with difficulties emanating from family and work roles. Broadly speaking, long-tenure frontline employees with adequate supervisor support can balance the demands of their family and work lives. These employees are less prone to resource loss and more capable of resource gain (Hobfoll, 2001; Zellars et al., 2006).

The results also indicate that the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support reduces frontline employees' turnover intentions. Since turnover is a crucial problem in the hospitality industry, hospitality firms should seek ways to diminish turnover intentions, which is an immediate precursor of turnover. The aforementioned result demonstrates that long-tenure frontline employees with sufficient supervisor support can manage a number of work- and family-related problems and thus display less turnover intentions in the workplace. Therefore, hotel managers should try to retain such existing long-tenure employees with adequate supervisor support, who display low levels of turnover intentions, because there is a shortage of qualified candidates in the hospitality industry in Jordan.

Contrary to the study prediction, the interaction of organisational tenure and supervisor support does not significantly influence work-family conflict. One potential explanation for this finding can be given. Specifically, as resources, organisational tenure and supervisor support-might not have been enough to alleviate frontline employees' work-family conflict. Therefore, other job resources, such as organisational support and coworker support, could have reduced their conflict between work and family domains.

In this study, gender is demonstrated to be positively related to family-work conflict and turnover intentions. Female employees experience more family-work conflict and heightened turnover intentions. These findings are not surprising. Specifically, women in Jordan are in a male-dominated society, and there are gender inequalities in such a society (cf. Omair, 2008). As mentioned before, there are social and cultural constraints to women's employment. Men are still regarded as the breadwinners of the family, while women are still responsible for house and parental work although they have started to participate in the workforce and provide the family with financial support. Under these circumstances, female employees are faced with conflict between family and work roles. Once they find that they cannot manage these two roles, they display higher turnover intentions than their counterparts.

Management Implications

Several useful implications for managers for practice emerge from the study findings. First, the managements of the hotels should establish and maintain a family-supportive work environment. This is critical, because long-tenure employees with sufficient support surfacing from supervisors are faced with low levels of family-work conflict and turnover intentions. Such a family-supportive work environment may consist of various family friendly benefits such as financial support for life insurance, subsidised childcare services, and family leave. Hotel managers should also note that the availability of this work environment with various family friendly benefits would attract potential qualified candidates for frontline service jobs.

Second, having mentors in the workplace may help frontline employees to reduce family-work conflict and turnover intentions. Specifically, mentors provide three categories of functions, which are vocational support, psychosocial support, and role modeling (Lankau, Carlson, & Nielsen, 2006). It has also been demonstrated that employees with mentors experience less family-work conflict (Nielsen, Carlson, & Lankau, 2001). With this realisation, hotel managers should employ mentors or benefit from the existing more experienced senior employees as mentors for providing professional assistance to less experienced junior employees so that such junior employees may cope with difficulties associated with family-work conflict and thus display less turnover intentions. In addition, attractive promotional and career opportunities should be offered in order to retain such senior employees in the organisation.

Third, appropriately trained managers need to continuously organise specific meetings with employees and their family members to identify problems emanating from family-work conflict, explicitly explain the difficulties inherent in frontline service jobs, and highlight the importance of family support and/or spouse support in reducing conflict between family and work domains. As a last recommendation, hotel managers can arrange stress management workshops (Netemeyer et al., 2005). That is, encouraging employees to discuss family concerns/ problems with managers and coworkers and trying to receive their feedback can be another potential remedy to make them feel more valued and less stressed.

Limitations and Avenues for Future Research

As in any empirical study, there are several limitations associated with this study. First, the relationships among the study variables were tested using cross-sectional data. Such a practice does not permit us to draw conclusions regarding the causal direction of effects. Therefore, using longitudinal data in future research would be useful for establishing causal relationships. However, it has been argued that such data would be useful if 'one knows a priori the optimal time lag for a given relationship' (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992, p. 76). Otherwise, longitudinal data would lead to more biased results than those obtained via cross-sectional data (Aryee, Srinivas, & Tan, 2005).

Second, the study hypotheses were tested based on self-report data. Using self-report data is susceptible to common method bias. However, it has been discussed that empirical research on work-family conflict and family-work conflict is often dependent on self-report data (Anderson et al., 2002; Thomas & Ganster, 1995). In this study, Harman's single-factor test with a confirmatory factor analysis approach was used to check common method bias. The results indicated that common method bias was not a critical threat in this study. Nevertheless, future studies should gather data from multiple sources to minimise such a potential threat. Third, incorporating customer verbal aggression, emotional dissonance, and burnout into future research would enhance our understanding concerning the interactive effects of organisational tenure and supervisor support on stress and strains. Lastly, replication studies with larger sample sizes in the hotel industries of the developing non-Western countries would be useful for broadening the database in this research stream.

DOI 10.1375/jhtm.16.1.73

Appendix A

Scale Items and Their Sources

Supervisor Support (Anderson et al., 2002)

My supervisor is supportive when I have a work problem.

My supervisor is fair and does not show favoritism in responding to employees' personal or family needs.

My supervisor accommodates me when I have family or personal business to take care of, for example, medical appointments, meeting with child's teacher, etc.

My supervisor is understanding when I talk about personal or family issues that affect my work.

I feel comfortable bringing up personal or family issues with my supervisor.

Work-Family Conflict (Netemeyer et al., 1996)

The demands of my work interfere with my home and family life.

The amount of time my job takes up makes it difficult to fulfill my family responsibilities.

Things I want to do at home do not get done because of the demands my job puts on me.

My job produces strain that makes it difficult to fulfill family duties.

Due to work-related duties, I have to make changes to my plans for family activities.

Family-Work Conflict (Netemeyer et al., 1996)

The demands of my family or spouse interfere with work-related activities.

I have to put off doing things at work because of demands on my time at home.

Things I want to do at work do not get done because of the demands of my family or spouse.

My home life interferes with my responsibilities at work such as getting to work on time, accomplishing daily tasks, and working overtime.

Family-related strain interferes with my ability to perform job-related duties.

Turnover Intentions (Singh et al., 1996)

It is likely that I will actively look for a new job next year.

I often think about quitting.

I will probably look for a new job next year.

References

Alexandrov, A., Babakus, E., & Yavas, U. (2007). The effects of perceived management concern for frontline employees and customers on turnover intentions: Moderating role of employment status. Journal of Service Research, 9(4), 356-371.

Allen, T.D. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(3), 414-435.

Alwraikat, A.A., & Simadi, F.A. (2001). The arabian modern man: A comparative study. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 21(11/12), 41-56.

Anderson, J.C., & Gerbing, D.W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423.

Anderson, S.E., Coffey, B.S., & Byerly, R.T. (2002). Formal organizational initiatives and informal workplace practices: Links to work-family conflict and job-related outcomes. Journal of Management, 28(6), 787-810.

Aryee, S., Srinivas, E.S., & Tan, H.H. (2005). Rhythms of life: Antecedents and outcomes of work-family balance in employed parents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 132-146.

Aycan, Z., & Eskin, M. (2005). Relative contributions of childcare, spousal support, and organizational support in reducing work-family conflict for men and women: The case of Turkey. Sex Roles, 53(7/8), 453-471.

Bentler, P.M., & Bonett, D.G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 588-606.

Bradley, G. (2007). Job tenure as a moderator of stressor-strain relations: A comparison of experienced and new-start teachers. Work and Stress, 21(1), 48-64.

Browne, M.W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In: K.A. Bollen & J.S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Carlson, D.S., & Perrewe, P.L. (1999). The role of social support in the stressor-strain relationship: An examination of work-family conflict. Journal of Management, 25(4), 513-540.

Dawley, D.D., Andrews, M.C., & Bucklew, N.S. (2008). Mentoring, supervisor support, and perceived organizational support: What matter most? Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 29(3), 235-247.

Deery, M., & Jago, L. (2009). A framework for work-life balance practices: Addressing the needs of the tourism industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 9(2), 97-108.

Dwairi, M., Bhuian, S.N., & Jurkus, A. (2007). Revisiting the pioneering market orientation model in an emerging economy. European Journal of Marketing, 41(718), 713-721.

Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500 507.

Fischer, J., Khan, I., Khemani, T., Mak, D., & Naimi, R. (2009). Jordan tourism cluster prepared for microeconomics of competitiveness. Retrieved September 16, 2009, from http://www.isc.hbs.edu/pdf/Student_Projects/Jordan_Tourism_2009.pdf

Frone, M.R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M.L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(1), 65-78.

Hobfoll, S.E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513-524.

Hobfoll, S.E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 50(3), 337-421.

Ito, J.K., & Brotheridge, C.M. (2005). Does supporting employees' career adaptability lead to commitment, turnover, or both. Human Resource Management, 44(1), 5-19.

Iverson, R.D. (1999). An event history analysis of employee turnover: The case of hospital employees in Australia. Human Resource Management Review, 9(4), 397-418.

Joreskog, K., & Sorbom, D. (1996). LISREL 8: User's reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International, Inc.

Judd, C.M., Smith, E.R., & Kidder, L.H. (1991). Research methods in social relations. 6th ed. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Kandasamy, I., & Ancheri, S. (2009). Hotel employees' expectations of QWL: A qualitative study. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 328-337.

Karatepe, O.M. (2008). Work-family conflict and facilitation: Implications for hospitality researchers. In D. Tesone (Ed.), Handbook of hospitality human resources management (pp. 237-264). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier.

Karatepe, O.M., & Kilic, H. (2007). Relationships of supervisor support and conflicts in the work-family interface with the selected job outcomes of frontline employees. Tourism Management, 28(1), 238-252.

Karatepe, O.M., & Sokmen, A. (2006). The effects of work role and family role variables on psychological and behavioral outcomes of frontline employees. Tourism Management, 27(2), 255-268.

Karatepe, O.M., Uludag, O., Menevis, I., Hadzimehmedagic, L., & Baddar, L. (2006). The effects of selected individual characteristics on frontline employee performance and job satisfaction. Tourism Management, 27(4), 547-560.

Lankau, M.J., Carlson, D.S., & Nielson, T.R. (2006). The mediating influence of role stressors in the relationship between mentoring and job attitudes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(2), 308-322.

Magnini, V.P. (2009). Understanding and reducing work-family conflict in the hospitality industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism, 8(2), 119-136.

Marsh, H.W., & Hocevar, D. (1985). Application of confirmatory factor analysis to the study of self-concept: First- and higher order factor models and their invariance across groups. Psychological Bulletin, 97(3), 562-582.

McGorry, S.Y. (2000). Measurement in a cross-cultural environment: Survey translation issues. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 3(2), 74-81.

Miles, R. (2002). Employment and unemployment in Jordan: The importance of the gender system. World Development, 30(3), 413-427.

Mobley, W.H., Griffeth, R.W., Hand, H.H., & Meglino, B.M. (1979). Review and conceptual analysis of the employee turnover process. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 493-522.

Namasivayam, K., & Mount D.J. (2004). The relationship of work-family conflicts and family-work conflict to job satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 28(2), 242-250.

Namasivayam, K., & Zhao, X. (2007). An investigation of the moderating effects of organizational commitment on the relationships between work-family conflict and job satisfaction among hospitality employees in India. Tourism Management, 28(5), 1212-1223.

Netemeyer, R.G., Boles, J.S., & McMurrian, R. (1996). Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81 (4), 400-410.

Netemeyer, R.G., Maxham, J.G., & Pullig, C. (2005). Conflicts in the work-family interface: Links to job stress, customer service employee performance, and customer purchase intent. Journal of Marketing, 69, 130-143.

Nielson, T.R., Carlson, D.S., & Lankau, M.J. (2001). The supportive mentor as a means of reducing work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 59(3), 364-381.

Omair, K. (2008). Women in management in the Arab context. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 1(2), 107-123.

O'Neill, J.W., Harrison, M.M., Cleveland, J., Almeida, D., Stawski, R., & Crouter, A.C. (2009). Work-family climate, organizational commitment, and turnover: Multilevel contagion effects of leaders. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(1), 18-29.

Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.Y., & Podsakoff, N.P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903.

Rhoades, L., & Eisenbergar, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698-714.

Singh, J., Verbeke, W., & Rhoads, G.K. (1996). Do organizational practices matter in role stress processes? A study of direct and moderating effects for marketing-oriented boundary spanners. Journal of Marketing, 60, 69-86.

Solnet, D., & Hood, A. (2008). Generation Y as hospitality employees: Framing a research agenda. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 15, 59-68.

Sumer, H.C. Sumer, N. Ciftci, S., & Demirutku, K. (2000). Measurement of officer personality attributes: A construct validity study. Turkish Journal of Psychology, 15(45), 15-36. (Published in Turkish)

Thomas, L.T., & Ganster, D.C. (1995). Impact of family-supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: A control perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(1), 6-15.

Thoresen, C.J., Kaplan, S.A., Barsky, A.P., Warren, C.R., & De Chermont, K. (2003). The affective underpinnings of job perceptions and attitudes: A meta-analytic review and integration. Psychological Bulletin, 129(6), 914-945.

Vidal, M.E.S., Valle, R.S., & Arag6n, M.I.B. (2007). Antecedents of repatriates' job satisfaction and its influence on turnover intentions: Evidence from Spanish repatriated managers. Journal of Business Research, 60(12), 1272-1281.

Westman, M., Hobfoll, S.E., Chen, S., Davidson, O.B., & Laski, S. (2004). Organizational stress through the lens of conservation of resources (COR) theory. In: P.L. Perrew6 & D.C. Ganster (Eds.), Exploring interpersonal dynamics: Research in occupational stress and well being (pp. 167-220). Vol. 4, Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.

Wong, J-Y., & Lin, J-H. (2007). The role of job control and job support in adjusting service employee's work-to-leisure conflict. Tourism Management, 28(3), 726-735.

Yang, N., Chen, C.C., Choi, J., & Zou, Y. (2000). Sources of work-family conflict: A sino-U.S, comparison of the effects of work and family demands. Academy of Management Journal, 43(1), 113-123.

Yavas, U., Babakus, E., & Karatepe, O.M. (2008). Attitudinal and behavioral consequences of work-family conflict and family-work conflict: Does gender matter?. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 19(1), 7-31.

Yasin, M.M., & Yavas, U. (1999). Enhancing customer orientation of service delivery systems: An integrative framework. Managing Service Quality, 9(3), 198-203.

Zellars, K.L., Perrewt, P.L., Hochwarter, W.A., & Anderson, K.S. (2006). The interactive effects of positive affect and conscientiousness on strain. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11(3), 281-289.

Osman M. Karatepe

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Eastern Mediterranean University, Turkey

Correspondence

Osman M. Karatepe, Associate Professor of Marketing, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Eastern Mediterranean University, Gazimagusa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, via Mersin 10, Turkey. E-mail: [e-mail]

Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Correlations of Study Variables, and
Cronbach's Alpha

Variables                       1          2         3

1. Age                       1.000
2. Gender                    -.046      1.000
3. Education                  .099       .204 **    1.000
4. The number of children     .496 **   -.017        .004
5. Organisational tenure      .539       .001        .077
6. Supervisor support        -.068       .049        .017
7. Work-family conflict      -.178 *     .034       -.020
8. Family-work conflict      -.154 *     .193 **    -.004
9. Turnover intentions       -.029       .181        .003
Mean                         1.96        .23        2.98
Standard deviation            .95        .42        1.24
Cronbach's alpha            --               --    --

Variables                       4          5       6        7

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Education
4. The number of children     1.000
5. Organisational tenure       .499 **   1.000
6. Supervisor support         -.025      -.262   1.000
7. Work-family conflict       -.145 *    -.095   -.020   1.000
8. Family-work conflict       -.044      -.112    .040    .429 **
9. Turnover intentions        -.025       .068   -.132    .427 **
Mean                          2.78       2.74    2.72    3.08
Standard deviation            1.10       1.35    1.20     .98
Cronbach's alpha                   --      --     .89     .82

Variables                      6         9

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Education
4. The number of children
5. Organisational tenure
6. Supervisor support
7. Work-family conflict
8. Family-work conflict     1.000
9. Turnover intentions       .595 **   1.000
Mean                        2.78       3.20
Standard deviation           .88       1.21
Cronbach's alpha             .72        .87

Note: Composite scores for each measure were obtained by
averaging scores across items representing that measure. The
scores for supervisor support, work-family conflict, family-work
conflict, and turnover intentions range from 1 to 5. Age was
measured using a 4-point scale. The number of children and
education were measured via five-point scales. Organisational
tenure was measured using a 6-point scale. Higher scores
indicated older age, more educated, longer tenure, and more
children. Gender was coded as a binary variable (0 = male and 1 =
female).

* Correlations are significant at the 05 level.

** Correlations are significant at the 01 level. Correlations
without any asterisks are not significant.

Table 2
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis: Moderating Effects

   Dependent variables and standardised regression weights

                                        Work-family conflict

                                      Step 1   Step 2   Step 3
Independent variables

(I)   Control variables
      Age                              -.14     -.15     -.15
      Gender                            .03      .03      .03
      Education                        -.01     -.01     -.01
      The number of children           -.08     -.08     -.08
(II)  Resources
      Organizational tenure (OT)                 .02      .02
      Supervisor support (SSUPPORT)             -.03     -.01
(III) Interactive term
      OT * SSUPPORT                                      -.06
F                                      1.76      .12      .58
[R.sup.2] at each step                  .04      .04      .04
[DELTA][R.sup.2]                         --      .00      .00

   Dependent variables and standardised regression weights

                                          Family-work conflict

                                      Step 1    Step 2    Step 3
Independent variables

(I)   Control variables
      Age                             -.16      -.14       -.17
      Gender                           .19 **    .19 **     .21 **
      Education                       -.03      -.03       -.02
      The number of children           .04       .06        .07
(II)  Resources
      Organizational tenure (OT)                -.07       -.06
      Supervisor support (SSUPPORT)              .01        .08
(III) Interactive term
      OT * SSUPPORT                                        -.28 ***
F                                     2.96       .28      14.53 ***
[R.sup.2] at each step                 .06       .06        .13
[DELTA][R.sup.2]                        --       .00        .07

   Dependent variables and standardised regression weights

                                        Turnover intentions

                                      Step 1   Step 2   Step 3
Independent variables

(I)   Control variables
      Age                              -.01     -.05     -.09
      Gender                            .19 *    .19 *    .21 **
      Education                        -.03     -.04     -.02
      The number of children           -.02     -.04     -.03
(II)  Resources
      Organizational tenure (OT)                 .09      .09
      Supervisor support (SSUPPORT)             -.12     -.04
(III) Interactive term
      OT * SSUPPORT                                      -.31 ***
F                                      1.65     2.36    17.77 ***
[R.sup.2] at each step                  .04      .06      .14
[DELTA][R.sup.2]                         --      .02      .08

Note. Age was measured using a 4-point scale. The number of children
and education were measured via 5-point scales. Organisational tenure
was measured using a 0-point scale. Higher scores indicated older age,
more educated, longer tenure, and more children. Gender was coded as a
binary variable (0 = male and 1 = female).

The results regarding variance inflation factors were below 2.1 and
did not demonstrate any problems of multicollinearity.

* p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001