Does customer incivility undermine employees’ service performance?

This study extends the growing body of research on customer incivility by examining its impact on employees’ in-role and extra-role service performance in the hospitality industry. Using a sample of 307 employee–supervisor dyads in nine hotels in Zhuhai City, China, this research examined the impact of customer incivility along with negative affectivity and hostile attribution bias on in-role performance and extra-role performance, particularly proactive customer service performance (PCSP). The results demonstrate that, while customer incivility negatively influenced PCSP, it did not impact in-role performance. Furthermore, the effect of customer incivility on PCSP was mediated by negative affectivity. Additionally, hostile attribution bias significantly moderated the relationship between customer incivility and negative affectivity, as well as the indirect relationship between customer incivility and PCSP through negative affectivity.     

Getting Along with Others

ABSTRACT

In the foodservice industry, customer service is a key performance indicator. This performance indicator comprises two components: a core aspect (food quality) and a relationship aspect (personality of the server). This paper explores the role of personality and its influence on the relationship aspect of customer service. In particular, the authors examine the significance of the agreeableness personality trait on customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth promotion. The findings suggest that developing a method to measure the agreeableness personality trait could assist foodservice managers in selecting candidates that have a greater likelihood of delivering quality customer service.     

The impact of workplace ostracism in service organizations

This study examines the effects of personal and situational determinants on work engagement and service performance. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, we hypothesize that workplace ostracism will reduce work engagement and service performance and that highly neurotic individuals are more susceptible to ostracism. To test the model, we collect longitudinal data from 304 supervisor–subordinate dyads in 19 Chinese hotels. As predicated, we find that: (1) workplace ostracism is negatively related to service performance; (2) workplace ostracism negatively impacts employee service performance via work engagement; and (3) neuroticism strengthens workplace ostracism's direct effect on work engagement and indirect effect on service performance. The implications of these findings, the strengths and limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.     

ACE-ing the Hiring Process

Abstract

Hotels and other hospitality organizations use customer service as a key indicator of operational performance. This paper explores the literature on customer service and presents a theoretical framework for measuring employee customer service orientation. The authors also offer recommendations for practical application using the personality traits of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Extroversion (ACE) as positive predictors of customer service orientation during the hiring process.     

The impact of knowledge hiding on targets’ knowledge sharing with perpetrators

Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study explored how knowledge hiding (KH) targets react to perpetrators in the hospitality industry. Study 1 entailed in-depth interviews of 20 employees from 13 hotels. Findings indicate that KH influences knowledge transfer behavior through negative emotions. Moreover, individual personality and motivation, team and interpersonal factors, job characteristics, and KH characteristics can moderate this effect. In Studies 2 (n = 54) and 3 (n = 118), two scenario-based experiments reveal that KH negatively affects targets’ knowledge sharing (KS) with perpetrators directly and indirectly through negative emotions. In Study 4, the results of a survey from 475 employees indicate that when the need for affiliation of employees and task interdependence is high, the negative effect of negative emotions on KS with perpetrators is weaker. This study advances the literature on KH by offering a sound theoretical treatment of emotional concerns and the interaction between knowledge seekers and knowledge hiders.     

Does a leader’s “partiality” affect employees’ proactivity in the hospitality industry? A cross-level analysis

This study examined the impact of leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation on employees’ proactive customer service performance (PCSP). A cross-level model of LMX differentiation, emotional labor, PCSP, and group positive emotional climate was proposed and tested on a sample of 44 groups consisting of 294 individual frontline employees from 6 hotels located in western, central, and eastern China. The results showed that LMX differentiation at the group level is negatively related to employees’ PCSP, while another variable at the same level, positive emotional climate, is positively related to PCSP. Surface acting and deep acting, two major forms of the regulation of emotional labor, were found to mediate the relationship between LMX differentiation and PCSP. The influence of surface acting and deep acting on the employees’ PCSP is moderated by positive emotional climate at the group level. Additionally, the application of these findings to research and future practice is discussed.     

Does a server's attentiveness matter? Understanding intercultural service encounters in restaurants

Interaction between customers and servers from different cultures provides an interesting case of intercultural communication. Although a server's attentive service on customers is common in full service dining restaurants, especially in the United States, this may not be preferable to customers from different cultures. Two studies examined cultural differences between Americans and Japanese customers on their preferences regarding U.S. restaurant servers’ attentiveness and a moderating effect of culture on the relationship of server attentiveness with customer orientation, customer satisfaction and tip. A survey study (N = 975) and an experimental study (N = 145) found that server attentiveness had a positive effect on customer orientation, customer satisfaction and the amount of tip for Americans, but not Japanese customers. Implications and future directions were discussed.     

Effects of employees’ social exchange and the mediating role of customer orientation in the restaurant industry

This study aims to investigate the consequences of customer-employee exchage at work based on the social exchange theory. Moreover, it is to understand how the social exchange leads to employees’ prosocial service behaviors by investigating the mediating role of customer orientation. This study applied quantitative research design using cross-sectional survey approach by targeting frontline employees who had customer interactions in the full-service restaurant industry. The results present that the more employees have social exchange with customers, the more they tend to show customer service behaviors within and beyond their role requirements. In addition, customer-employee exchage leads to employees prosocial service behaviors indirectly by increasing the level of customer orientation. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in the study.     

Hotel property performance: The role of strategic management accounting

In the current study, we contend that to enhance their competitiveness and performance, hotel properties need to develop and implement internal policies and procedures such as strategic management accounting that are consistent with their business strategies and account for changing competitive demands. We employ a sample composed of 80 hotel properties to investigate the key precursor of hotel property strategic management accounting use and its impact on hotel property customer and financial performance. The results highlight that market orientation business strategy is a key determinant of hotel property strategic management accounting use and illuminate the mediating influence of hotel property strategic management accounting use and hotel property customer performance on the relationship between hotel property market orientation business strategy use and hotel property financial performance. Recommendations are provided for both researchers and hotel managers concerning their future study of, or use of, strategic management accounting.     

Antecedents and outcomes of consumers’ confusion in the online tourism domain

From information recipient’s perspective, this paper proposes a research model examining the antecedents and outcomes of online tourism information confusion faced by consumers. Three individual characteristics that are likely to influence information receivers processing capabilities are included as antecedents of information confusion, while five confusion reduction strategies derived from consumer confusion literature are regarded as the outcomes of information confusion. Data for this study were collected from 427 tourism website users and proposed hypotheses were tested utilizing structural equation modeling and regression analysis. Findings of this study provide important managerial implications for online tourism marketers.     

Paradoxical leadership and hospitality employees’ service performance: The role of leader identification and need for cognitive closure

Based on the social identity theory, this study examined the relationship between paradoxical leadership and employees’ service performance in the hospitality industry. Data were collected from a multisource, time-lagged survey of 72 leaders and 556 employees in eight full-service hotels in China. Using hierarchical linear modeling, paradoxical leadership was found to be positively related to employees’ leader identification, which consequently enhanced their service performance. Furthermore, the level of an employee’s need for cognitive closure moderated the relationship between paradoxical leadership and leader identification such that paradoxical leadership exerted a stronger positive influence on leader identification for those employees with a lower need for cognitive closure. These findings have implications for both paradoxical leadership and hospitality management practices.     

Alternate Measurement Approaches to Recreational Customer Satisfaction: Satisfaction-Only Versus Gap Scores

This study blends service quality and importance-performance methodologies to extend previous research beyond traditional customer service domains. The study examined water-based recreationists' importance and satisfaction ratings across a battery of 19 individual attributes within four domains relevant to outdoor recreation satisfaction (facilities, services, information, and recreation experience). Both the satisfaction-only item scores and gap scores (difference between importance and satisfaction level) were analyzed to determine their relationship within their respective satisfaction domain and with overall satisfaction. The satisfaction-only measures were found to be significantly better indicators than the gap scores of domain-level and overall satisfaction. The items were found to be stronger predictors within the four satisfaction domains than within the overall satisfaction model.