Skip to main content
Log in

A Systematic Literature Review of Servant Leadership Theory in Organizational Contexts

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new research area linked to ethics, virtues, and morality is servant leadership. Scholars are currently seeking publication outlets as critics debate whether this new leadership theory is significantly distinct, viable, and valuable for organizational success. The aim of this study was to identify empirical studies that explored servant leadership theory by engaging a sample population in order to assess and synthesize the mechanisms, outcomes, and impacts of servant leadership. Thus, we sought to provide an evidence-informed answer to how does servant leadership work, and how can we apply it? We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR), a methodology adopted from the medical sciences to synthesize research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducible manner. A disciplined screening process resulted in a final sample population of 39 appropriate studies. The synthesis of these empirical studies revealed: (a) there is no consensus on the definition of servant leadership; (b) servant leadership theory is being investigated across a variety of contexts, cultures, and themes; (c) researchers are using multiple measures to explore servant leadership; and (d) servant leadership is a viable leadership theory that helps organizations and improves the well-being of followers. This study contributes to the development of servant leadership theory and practice. In addition, this study contributes to the methodology for conducting SLRs in the field of management, highlighting an effective method for mapping out thematically, and viewing holistically, new research topics. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akuchie, N. D. (1993). The servants and the superstars: An examination of servant leadership in light of Matthew 20: 20–29. Christian Education Journal, 16(1), 39–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. A. (2009). When a servant-leader comes knocking …. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30(1), 4–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babakus, E., Yavas, U., & Ashill, N. J. (2011). Service worker burnout and turnover intentions: Roles of person-job fit, servant leadership, and customer orientation. Services Marketing Quarterly, 32(1), 17–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banutu-Gomez, M. B., & Banutu-Gomez, S. M. T. (2007). Leadership and organizational change in a competitive environment. Business Renaissance Quarterly, 2(2), 69–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbuto, J. E., & Wheeler, D. W. (2006). Scale development and construct clarification of servant leadership. Group & Organization Management, 31, 300–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrow, J. C. (1977). The variables of leadership: A review and conceptual framework. Academy of Management Review, 2, 233–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M. (2000). The future of leadership in the learning organization. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 18–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B., & Bass, R. (2008). The bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications (4th ed.). New York: The Free Press.

  • Black, G. L. (2010). Correlational analysis of servant leadership and school climate. Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry & Practice, 13(4), 437–466.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, P. (1993). Stewardship: Choosing service over self interest. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordas, J. (1995). Power and passion: Finding personal purpose. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 179–193). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boroski, E., & Greif, T. B. (2009). Servant-leaders in community colleges: Their values, beliefs, and implications. Review of Business Research, 9(4), 113–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, M. A. (1997). Popular approaches to leadership. In P. G. Northhouse (Ed.), Leadership: Theory and practice (pp. 239–260). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brody, D. (1995). First among equals: A corporate executive’s vision and the reemerging philosophy of trustees as servant-leaders. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 129–132). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchen, I. H. (1998). Servant leadership: A model for future faculty and future institutions. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(1), 125–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerit, Y. (2009). The effects of servant leadership behaviors of school principals on teachers’ job satisfaction. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(5), 600–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerit, Y. (2010). The effects of servant leadership on teachers’ organizational commitment in primary schools in Turkey. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 13(3), 301–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, P. (1995). Team-building and servant-leadership. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 169–178). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chung, J. Y., Jung, C. S., Kyle, G. T., & Petrick, J. F. (2010). Servant leadership and procedural justice in the U.S. national park service: The antecedents of job satisfaction. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 28(3), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, D. J., Mulrow, C. D., & Haynes, R. B. (1997). Systematic reviews: Synthesis of best evidence for clinical decisions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 126(5), 376–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covey, S. (1990). Principle centered leadership. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crippen, C. L. (2004). Pioneer women in Manitoba: Evidence of servant-leadership. Journal of Women in Educational Leadership, 2(4), 257–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crippen, C., & Wallin, D. (2008a). First conversations with Manitoba superintendents: Talking their walk. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 54(2), 147–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crippen, C., & Wallin, D. (2008b). Manitoba superintendents: Mentoring and leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 36(4), 546–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cyert, R. (2006). Defining leadership and explicating the process. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 1(1), 29–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Pree, M. (1989). Leadership is an art. New York: Doubleday Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, R. (2004). Servant leadership theory: Development of the servant leadership assessment instrument. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.

  • Dennis, R. S., & Bocarnea, M. C. (2005). Development of the servant leadership assessment instrument. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 26(8), 600–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, R. S., & Winston, B. (2003). A factor analysis of Page and Wong’s servant leadership assessment instrument. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 24(8), 455–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiMaggio, P. (1995). Comments on “What Theory is Not”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 391–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dingman, W. W., & Stone, A. G. (2007). Servant leadership’s role in the succession planning process: A case study. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(2), 98–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebener, D. R., & O’Connell, D. J. (2010). How might servant leadership work? Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 20(3), 315–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrhart, M. G. (2004). Leadership and procedural justice climate as antecedents of unit level organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 57(1), 61–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farling, M. L., Stone, A. G., & Winston, B. E. (1999). Servant leadership: Setting the stage for empirical research. Journal of Leadership Studies, 6, 49–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes.: 2010, The corporate scandal sheet. Retrieved November 25th from http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/25/accountingtracker.html.

  • Frick, D. M. (1995). Pyramids, circles, and gardens: Stories of implementing servant leadership. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 241–256). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frick, D. M. (2004). Robert K. Greenleaf: A life of servant leadership. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fridell, M., Belcher, R. N., & Messner, P. E. (2009). Discriminate analysis gender public school principal servant leadership differences. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30(8), 722–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garber, J. S., Madigan, E. A., Click, E. R., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2009). Attitudes towards collaboration and servant leadership among nurses, physicians and residents. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 23(4), 331–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrard, J. (1999). Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Barlett Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaston, H. G. (1987). A model for leadership: Servant stewardship ministry. Southwestern Journal of Theology, 37(2), 35–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J. (1991). Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral. Leadership Quarterly, 2(2), 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1970). The servant as leader. Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1972a). The institution as servant. Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1972b). Trustees as servants. Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf Center, Inc. (2011). Retrieved July 10, 2011 from http://www.greenleaf.org/.

  • Hale, J. R., & Fields, D. L. (2007). Exploring servant leadership across cultures: A study of followers in Ghana and the USA. Leadership, 3(4), 397–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, F., & Bean, C. J. (2005). The importance of context, beliefs and values in leadership development. Business Ethics: A European Review, 14(4), 336–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammermeister, J., Burton, D., Pickering, M. A., Westro, K., Baldwin, N., & Chase, M. (2008). Servant leadership in sport: A Philosophy whose time has arrived. International Journal of Servant Leadership, 4, 185–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, Y., Kakabadse, N. K., & Kakabadse, A. (2010). Servant leadership in the People’s Republic of China: A case study of the public sector. Journal of Management Development, 29(3), 265–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herman, R. (2010). The promise of servant leadership for workplace spirituality. International Journal of Business Research, 10(6), 83–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesse, H. (1956). The journey of the east. New York: Noonday Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, J., & Liden, R. C. (2011). Antecedents of team potency and team effectiveness: An examination of goal and process clarity and servant leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology 1–12. doi:10.1037/a0022465.

  • Institute for Public Health Sciences. (2002). 11 questions to help you make sense of descriptive/cross-sectional studies. New York: Yeshiva University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irving, J. A., & Longbotham, G. J. (2007). Team effectiveness and six essential servant leadership themes: A regression model based on items in the organizational leadership assessment. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(2), 98–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009a). Examining the impact of servant leadership on sales force performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(3), 257–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009b). Examining the impact of servant leadership on salesperson’s turnover intention. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(4), 351–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, M., & Stewart, A. C. (2010). The importance of a servant leader orientation. Health Care Management Review, 35(1), 46–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, E. E., & Winston, B. E. (2005). A correlation of servant leadership, leader trust, and organizational trust. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(1), 6–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, K. (2008). The case for servant leadership. Westfield, IN: Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.

  • Kelley, M. (1995). The new leadership. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 194–197). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiechel, W. III (1995). The leader as servant. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 121–125). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klassen, T. P., Jahad, A. R., & Moher, D. (1998). Guides for reading and interpreting systematic reviews. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 157(7), 700–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotter, J. P. (2001). What leaders really do? Harvard Business Review, December, 3–12.

  • Kuhnert, K. W., & Lewis, P. (1987). Transactional and transformational leadership: A constructive/developmental analysis. Academy of Management Review, 12(4), 648–657.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanctot, J. D., & Irving, J. A. (2010). Character and leadership: Situating servant leadership in a proposed virtues framework. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(1), 28–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the Servant Organizational Leadership (SOLA) instrument. Dissertation Abstracts International, 60(2), 308 (UMI No. 9921922).

  • Lee, C., & Zemke, R. (1995). The search for spirit in the workplace. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 99–112). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letts, L., Wilkins, S., Law, M., Stewart, D., Bosch, J., & Westmorland, M. (2007). Critical review form: Qualitative studies (version 2.0). Retrieved from http://www.sph.nhs.uk/sphfiles/caspappraisaltools/Qualitative%20Appraisal%20Tool.pdf.

  • Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant leadership: Development of a multidimensional measure and multi-level assessment. Leadership Quarterly, 19, 161–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, B. (1996). A new approach to leadership. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 17(7), 29–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, I. O. (1995). Becoming a servant-leader: The personal development path. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 179–193). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lytle, R. S., Hom, P. W., & Mokwa, M. P. (1998). SERV_OR: A managerial measure of organizational service-orientation. Journal of Retailing, 74, 455–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Bardes, M., & Piccolo, R. F. (2008). Do servant-leaders help satisfy follower needs? An organizational justice perspective. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 17(2), 180–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCollum, J. (1995). Chaos, complexity, and servant-leadership. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 241–256). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCuddy, M. K., & Cavin, M. C. (2008). Fundamental moral orientations, servant leadership, and leadership effectiveness: An empirical test. Review of Business Research, 8(4), 107–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCuddy, M. K., & Cavin, M. C. (2009). The demographic context of servant leadership. Journal of the Academy of Business & Economics, 9(2), 129–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee-Cooper, A., & Trammell, D. (1995). Servant leadership: Is there really time for it? In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 113–120). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neubert, M. J., Kacmar, K. M., Carlson, D. S., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2008). Regulatory focus as a mediator of the influence of initiating structure and servant leadership on employee behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1220–1233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northouse, P. G. (1997). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • OLA Group (Organizational Leadership Assessment Group). (2011). Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://www.olagroup.com/.

  • Page, D., & Wong, T. P. (1998). A philosophy conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. Unpublished manuscript (Langley, Canada: Trinity Western University).

  • Page, D., & Wong, T. P. (2000). A philosophy conceptual framework for measuring servant leadership. In S. Adjibolosoo (Ed.), The Human factor in shaping the course of history and development. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parolini, J., Patterson, K., & Winston, B. (2009). Distinguishing between transformational and servant leadership. Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 30(3), 274–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, K. (2003). Servant leadership: A theoretical model. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(2), 570 (UMI No. 3082719).

  • Pekerti, A. A., & Sendjaya, S. (2010). Exploring servant leadership across cultures: Comparative study in Australia and Indonesia. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(5), 754–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plsek, P., & Wilson, T. (2001). Complexity, leadership, and management in healthcare organizations. British Medical Journal (BMJ), 323, 746–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prosser, S. (2010). Servant leadership: More philosophy, less theory. Westfield, IN: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, T. (1995). Creating a culture of servant leadership: A real life story. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 282–307). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinke, S. J. (2004). Service before self: Towards a theory of servant-leadership. Global Virtue Ethics Review, 5, 30–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rieke, M., Hammermeister, J., & Chase, M. (2008). Servant leadership in sport: A new paradigm for effective coach behavior. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 3(2), 227–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieser, C. (1995). Claiming servant-leadership as your heritage. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 49–60). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, R. (2001). The role of values in servant leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22(2), 76–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, R., & Stone, A. G. (2002). A review of servant leadership attributes: Developing a practical model. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 23(3), 145–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savage-Austin, A., & Honeycutt, A. (2011). Servant leadership: A phenomenological study of practices, experiences, organizational effectiveness, and barriers. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 9(1), 49–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaubroeck, J., Lam, S. S. K., & Peng, A. C. (2011). Cognition-based and affect-based trust as mediators of leader behavior influences on team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 863–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40, 437–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sendjaya, S., & Pekerti, A. (2010). Servant leadership as antecedent of trust in organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(7), 643–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sendjaya, S., & Sarros, J. (2002). Servant leadership: Its origin, development, and application in organizations. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9(2), 57–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sendjaya, S., Sarros, J., & Santora, J. (2008). Defining and measuring servant leadership behavior in organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 45(2), 402–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth discipline: The art and styles of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senge, P. M. (1995). Robert’s Greenleaf’s legacy: A new foundation for twenty-first century institutions. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 217–240). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, R. (1999). Sport marketing: An examination of academic marketing publication. Journal of Services Marketing, 13(6), 517–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, W. (1995). Servant-leadership: A pathway to the emerging territory. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 198–213). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass, K. R. (1993). Your slaves—on account of Jesus’ servant leadership in the New Testament. In J. R. Hawkinson & R. K. Johnston (Eds.), Servant leadership (pp. 7–19). Chicago: Covenant Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spears Center. (2011). Retrieved September 5, 2011 from http://www.spearscenter.org/.

  • Spears, L. (1995). Introduction: Servant-leadership and the Greenleaf legacy. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 1–16). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spears, L. (1996). Reflections on Robert K. Greenleaf and servant-leadership. Leadership & Organization Development, 17(7), 33–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spears, L. (1998). Insights on leadership: Service, stewardship, spirit, and servant leadership. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spears, L. C. (2004). Practicing servant-leadership. Leader to Leader, 34, 7–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spears, L. C. (2005). On character and servant-leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leaders. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership. Retrieved July 12, 2011, from http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/read-about-it/articles/On-Character-and-Servant-Leadership-Ten-Characteristics.htm.

  • Stoltz, P., Udén, G., & Willman, A. (2004). Support for family careers who care for an elderly person at home—A systematic literature review. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 18, 111–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sturm, B. A. (2009). Principles of servant-leadership in community health nursing: Management issues and behaviors discovered in ethnographic research’. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 21(2), 82–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tatum, J. G. (1995). Meditations on servant-leadership. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant-leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 308–312). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, T., Martin, B. N., Hutchinson, S., & Jinks, M. (2007). Examination of leadership practices of principals identified as servant leaders. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 10(4), 401–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, R., Holt, R., Pittaway, L., & Macpherson, A. (2006). Knowledge within small and medium sized firms: A systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 7(4), 257–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., & Smart, P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management, 14, 207–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and syntheses. Journal of Management, 27(4), 1228–1261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dierendonck, D., & Nuijte, K. (2011). The Servant-Leadership Survey (SLS): Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. Journal of Business in Psychology. doi:10.1007/s10869-010-9194-1.

  • Van Dierendonck, D., & Patterson, K. (2011). Servant leadership, recent development in theory and research. Dallas, TX: Presented at Greenleaf Center’s annual international conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanourek, R. A. (1995). Servant-leadership and the future. In L. Spears (Ed.), Reflections of leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers (pp. 298–307). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walumbwa, F. O., Hartnell, C. A., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 517–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Washington, R. R., Sutton, C. D., & Feild, H. S. (2006). Individual differences in servant leadership: The roles of values and personality. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 27(8), 700–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weed, M. (2005). “Meta interpretation”: A method for interpretive synthesis of qualitative research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research (FQS), 6(1), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheatley, M. (2005). Finding our way: Leadership in an uncertain times. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whetstone, J. (2002). Personalism and moral leadership: the servant leader with a transforming vision. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 25(3/4), 349–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston, B. E. (2003). Extending Patterson’s servant leadership model: Explaining how leaders and followers interact in a circular model. Virginia Beach, VA: Servant Leadership Research Roundtable.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston, B. E. (2004). Servant leadership at Heritage Bible College: A single-case study. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(7), 600–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T., & Davey, D. (2007). Best practices of servant leadership Servant Leadership Research Roundtable. Virginia Beach, VA: Regent University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T., & Page, D. (2003). Servant leadership: An opponent-process model and the revised servant leadership profile. Virginia Beach, VA: Servant Leadership Research Roundtable.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Denise Linda Parris.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parris, D.L., Peachey, J.W. A Systematic Literature Review of Servant Leadership Theory in Organizational Contexts. J Bus Ethics 113, 377–393 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1322-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1322-6

Keywords

Navigation