Title: Linking multiple sources of workplace incivility to service employee creativity: a study among frontline hotel employees in India

Authors: A. Anjaly; S. Nemat Sheereen

Addresses: School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala, India ' School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala, India

Abstract: This study aims to examine the association between multiple sources of workplace incivility (co-worker and customer incivility) and service employee creativity and to understand the role of loneliness at work in linking the said relationship. The study also aims to compare the effects of co-worker and customer incivility on loneliness at work. Self-reported data were collected from the frontline hotel employees working in India using a web-based survey. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses proposed in the study. The study results supported that co-worker and customer incivility impaired frontline hotel employee creativity through the feeling of loneliness at work. In this, co-worker incivility was found to be the most damaging effect on loneliness at work compared to customer incivility. The study findings provide guidelines for managers to identify and take measures to reduce the multiple sources of workplace incivility.

Keywords: co-worker incivility; customer incivility; loneliness at work; service employee creativity; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2026.151567

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2026 Vol.37 No.1, pp.19 - 37

Received: 09 Oct 2023
Accepted: 10 Dec 2023
Published online: 09 Feb 2026 *

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