Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2026
[PDF]
Investigating The Impact of Workplace Ostracism on Quiet Quitting and Service Quality: An Integrated Delphi- DEMATEL Framework
Susmita Mukhopadhyay, Mainak Ghosh, Binita Bharti, Yachika Kumari
ABSTRACT:
Workplace ostracism has emerged as a growing organisational concern affecting employee engagement, psychological well-being, and service performance. Employees experiencing exclusion, communication avoidance, and lack of supervisory support often lead to withdrawal behaviours associated with quiet quitting, ultimately affecting the organisational service quality. Although previous studies have examined these constructs independently, limited attention has been given to their interconnected causal relationships using integrated decision-making methodologies. This study proposes an integrated Delphi–DEMATEL framework to investigate the impact of workplace ostracism on quiet quitting and service quality in service-oriented organisations.
We have adopted a mixed-method research design integrating qualitative expert consensus along with quantitative causal analysis. Initially, a comprehensive literature review identified 37 indicators with workplace ostracism, employee disengagement, and service quality dimensions. Subsequently, a three-round Delphi process involving 18 experts from academia, hospitality, banking, healthcare, and human resource management was conducted to validate the critical factors. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W = 0.79) indicated a strong level of expert agreement, resulting in 22 finalised indicators across three major dimensions.
The DEMATEL method was used to investigate the cause-and-effect relation among the confirmed factors. Experts assessed pairwise influences on a five-point scale, and the total relation matrix was adopted to divide the variables into cause and effect groups. The results suggested that workplace ostracism was the major cause leading to quiet quitting and decline of service quality. Low Agreeableness, perceived threats to group harmony, Leadership Vacuum, Avoidance of growth, and rapid technological changes were identified as the five greatest predictors. Emotional exhaustion and weak organisational commitment were the main predictors of staff remotion and underperformance. This study contributes theoretically by integrating organisational behaviour constructs with causal decision-making tools and provides insights for improving employee inclusion, engagement, and service performance in service-sector organisations.
Keywords: DEMATEL, Mixed-Method, Quiet Quitting, Service Quality, Workplace Ostracism