According to the organizational support theory, leaders' words and deeds are not only the products of their own will but also a reflection of organizations' standpoints. We thus focus on leader apology in the case of organizational transgressions and predict that leaders' apologetic acts are likely to influence employees' organization-oriented attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, leader apology is hypothesized to positively influence employees' perception of organizational support, which in turn, is positively associated with employees' helping and risk taking behavior. Furthermore, drawing upon the organizational support theory that delineates the discretion and value perceived in the employee-organization relationship, we further propose that employees' perceived leader competence and power distance belief serve as two contingencies that influence the relationship between leader apology and employees' perceived organizational support. In particular, this relationship is stronger when employees perceive higher leader competence or hold stronger power distance beliefs. Two multi-wave data collected from hospitality employees support these hypotheses. The findings provide a new perspective to comprehending leader apology within the employee-organization relationship wherein leaders are considered as organizational agents. This research extends the existing literature on leader apology that largely focuses on leader apology following leaders’ transgressions and leader-oriented outcomes.

根据组织支持理论，领导者的言行不仅是自身意志的产物，也是组织立场的反映。因此，我们关注组织违规情况下的领导道歉，并预测领导的道歉行为可能会影响员工以组织为导向的态度和行为。具体来说，假设领导者道歉会积极影响员工对组织支持的看法，而这反过来又与员工的帮助和冒险行为正相关。此外，利用描述员工与组织关系中感知的自由裁量权和价值的组织支持理论，我们进一步提出员工的 感知领导能力和权力距离信念是影响领导道歉和员工感知组织支持之间关系的两个偶然因素。特别是，当员工感知到更高的领导能力或持有更强的权力距离信念时，这种关系会更强。从酒店员工那里收集的两个多波数据支持这些假设。研究结果为在员工-组织关系中理解领导道歉提供了一个新视角，其中领导被视为组织代理人。这项研究扩展了关于领导道歉的现有文献，这些文献主要关注领导者违规后的领导道歉和以领导为导向的结果。感知到的组织支持。特别是，当员工感知到更高的领导能力或持有更强的权力距离信念时，这种关系会更强。从酒店员工那里收集的两个多波数据支持这些假设。研究结果为在员工-组织关系中理解领导道歉提供了一个新视角，其中领导被视为组织代理人。这项研究扩展了关于领导道歉的现有文献，这些文献主要关注领导者违规后的领导道歉和以领导为导向的结果。感知到的组织支持。特别是，当员工感知到更高的领导能力或持有更强的权力距离信念时，这种关系会更强。从酒店员工那里收集的两个多波数据支持这些假设。研究结果为在员工-组织关系中理解领导道歉提供了一个新视角，其中领导被视为组织代理人。这项研究扩展了关于领导道歉的现有文献，这些文献主要关注领导者违规后的领导道歉和以领导为导向的结果。研究结果为在员工-组织关系中理解领导道歉提供了一个新视角，其中领导被视为组织代理人。这项研究扩展了关于领导道歉的现有文献，这些文献主要关注领导者违规后的领导道歉和以领导为导向的结果。研究结果为在员工-组织关系中理解领导道歉提供了一个新视角，其中领导被视为组织代理人。这项研究扩展了关于领导道歉的现有文献，这些文献主要关注领导者违规后的领导道歉和以领导为导向的结果。