Sexual harassment and proactive customer service performance: The roles of job engagement and sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment

This study examines the relationship between sexual harassment (SH) and proactive customer service performance (PCSP) by focusing on the mediating role of job engagement and the moderating role of sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we propose that SH reduces job engagement and PCSP, and that individuals who are highly sensitive to interpersonal mistreatment are more vulnerable to SH. Using time-lagged data collected from 209 female employees of 18 hotels in China, we find that: (1) SH is negatively related to PCSP; (2) SH negatively affects PCSP via job engagement; and (3) sensitivity to interpersonal mistreatment strengthens the direct effect of SH on job engagement and its indirect effect on PCSP via job engagement.     

Being ignored at work: Understanding how and when spiritual leadership curbs workplace ostracism in the hospitality industry

Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the present study theorizes that spiritual leadership is negatively related to workplace ostracism, both directly and indirectly via job social support and that employees’ justice orientation moderates the negative relationship between spiritual leadership and workplace ostracism. Based on time-lagged (three waves, two months apart) survey data collected from 252 hospitality employees, our findings reveal that spiritual leadership is negatively associated with workplace ostracism, both directly and indirectly via job social support. We also find that justice orientation strengthens the negative relationship between spiritual leadership and workplace ostracism. These findings not only highlight core theoretical contributions towards the existing literature on spiritual leadership, job social support, justice orientation, and workplace ostracism but also offer useful practical implications for hotel managers concerned about the repercussions of workplace ostracism for employees’ and organizations’ outcomes.     

Customer mistreatment and service performance: A self-consistency perspective

The service encounter is an important social context for hospitality service providers who strive to satisfy their need for job competence by delivering excellent customer service. Customer mistreatment may be perceived as a sign of work-related goal failure by hospitality service providers. Building on the literature of goal attainment and failure in the workplace, we propose that hospitality employees, who experience customer mistreatment, undergo diminished organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), decreasing service performance. Moreover, employees’ locus of control is proposed to interact with customer mistreatment and predict service performance through the mediation of OBSE. The results of a multi-wave and multi-source survey, administered to a sample of hotel frontline employees (N = 180) and their direct supervisors (N = 38), show that customer mistreatment has a negative influence on service performance through OBSE, but only among employees with an external locus of control.     

Asymmetric relationship between attribute performance and customer satisfaction: A new perspective

The objectives of this study were two-fold. First, this inquiry attempted to provide additional support to the studies conceptualizing the relationship between attribute-level performance and overall satisfaction as non-linear or asymmetric. Second, the study aimed to provide an explanation to the observed asymmetry, thus addressing the gap in the previous research in the area. Asymmetric response of customer satisfaction to different types of attribute performance was tested and interactions between attributes were examined as an explanation for the observed asymmetry. Results of the study confirmed the non-linear nature of the customer satisfaction function. Moderating effects of attribute type explained the asymmetrical relationships between attribute performance and customer satisfaction, thereby providing theoretical rationalization to the observed, but often ignored, phenomenon.     

Transformational leadership and employee performance: The role of identification,engagement and proactive personality

This study investigates the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions that explain the relationship between transformational leadership and frontline employee performance. Specifically, it explores the mediating role of organizational identification and work engagement in the relationship between transformational leadership and job performance and organization-directed citizenship behaviors. Additionally, it examines whether proactive personality moderates the effect of transformational leadership on identification and engagement. Data from 323 frontline hotel employees were analyzed using partial least square regression. Results show that identification and engagement fully mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors, whereas engagement partially mediates the link between transformational leadership and job performance. Results indicate a sequential mediation effect of identification and engagement on employee performance. Finally, findings show that proactive personality strengthens the effect of leadership on identification and engagement. The study provides information for hotel managers about why and under what circumstances employees perform the way they do.     

The impact of IT-enabled customer service systems on service personalization,customer service perceptions,and hotel performance

Customer service is a critical element of a hotel's strategy and an important lever for differentiation of the hotel's offer. Over the last two decades, information systems have contributed to the transformation of customer interactions, enabling an unprecedented scale and scope of service personalization in the tourism industry. This paper reports the results of a mixed method study in a hotel that offers three contributions to the development and refinement of IT-enabled service personalization theory. It explores the role of signifiers in the design of customer service systems, showing that they significantly increase customer preference elicitation during the learning phase of the service personalization process. It then demonstrates that improved preference elicitation translates into higher customer service evaluations and value perceptions of the hotel. Finally, our study shows that IT-enabled service personalization creates financial benefits for the hotel via revenue share-shift from costly intermediated to direct distribution channels.     

Employee satisfaction,customer satisfaction,and financial performance: An empirical examination

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, and to examine the impact of both on a hospitality company’s financial performance utilizing service-profit-chain framework as the theoretical base. Specifically, this study explores four major relationships: (1) the direct relationship between customer satisfaction and financial performance; (2) the direct relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance; (3) the direct relationship between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction; and (4) the indirect relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance. Furthermore, this study examines the mediating role of customer satisfaction on the indirect relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance. Data for this study was collected from employees, customers and managers of three- and four-star hotels. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with a two-step approach was utilized to empirically test the proposed hypotheses and the relationships between the constructs. Findings suggest that while customer satisfaction has positive significant impact on financial performance, employee satisfaction has no direct significant impact on financial performance. Instead, there is an indirect relationship between employee satisfaction and financial performance, which is mediated by customer satisfaction.     

Drivers and resources of customer co-creation: A scenario-based case in the restaurant industry

The aim of this study was to build and test a model that explores customer co-creation by integrating drivers and resources that promote customer co-creation. This study used a scenario-based survey that combines respondents’ personal experiences of dining at a full-service restaurant and their responses to the hypothetical scenario of the co-creation experience. The population of the study was restaurant customers in the United States who visited any full-service restaurant within the previous three months before the survey date. Using convenience sampling, respondents were recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk. A total of 501 responses were used for data analysis using a two-step approach of structural equation modeling. This study found that customers with a higher level of knowledge, self-efficacy, and motivation are more likely to participate in the co-creation experience. In addition, the results supported the role of the customer as a resource integrator during the co-creation experience.     

Switching intention model development: Role of service performances,customer satisfaction,and switching barriers in the hotel industry

The intricate relationships among core service and service encounter performances, customer satisfaction, and switching barriers in the formation of satisfaction and switching intention were examined in this study. A field survey was conducted at upper-midscale hotels. The results of the structural analysis revealed that both core service and service encounter performances significantly affected customer satisfaction, and satisfaction completely mediated the effects of service performances on switching intention. In addition, findings from the tests for metric invariances indicated that components of switching barriers (switching costs, relational investment, and lack of alternatives’ attractiveness) moderated the relationships between satisfaction and switching intention. In particular, the role of satisfaction derived from service performances in decreasing hotel guests’ intention to switch is greater when they perceive high switching costs, relational investment, and lack of alternatives’ attractiveness. Based on study findings, theoretical and practical implications are identified and discussed.     

A casino-induced satisfaction of needs: scale development and its relationship with casino customer loyalty

Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, this study develops a five-factor casino-induced satisfaction-of-needs scale and examines its relationship with casino customer loyalty using Macau as a study context. The findings show that the respondents’ most visited casinos had only marginally met the respondents’ various inner needs; there is still ample room for Macau casinos to improve the level of their customers’ satisfaction regarding customers’ inner needs. Among the five types of inner needs, self-actualization appears to be one need that requires more attention than the others because it was rated as the need that was the least satisfied but contributed the second most to measuring satisfaction. Additionally, Macau casinos should continue their efforts to improve and maintain a safe and secure casino environment, coupled with providing a variety of quality foods and beverages, for their customers. Lastly, safety and security, self-actualization and physiological needs were found to positively affect casino customer loyalty.     

Hospitality service climate,employee service orientation,career aspiration and performance: A moderated mediation model

This study tested a moderated mediation model involving hospitality employees’ service climate perception, service orientation, career aspiration and service performance. Using a sample of 500 frontline service employees in ten restaurants of a hospitality chain company in China, the study found that employees’ service orientation partially mediated the relationship between service climate and self-reported/supervisor-reported service performance. Furthermore, career aspiration moderated the mediation effect of service orientation between service climate and self-reported service performance. However, such a moderating effect was not confirmed when service performance was measured by supervisors’ ratings. The study highlights the importance of employees’ service orientation and career aspiration in hospitality human resource management practices.     

The impact of CSR on relationship quality and relationship outcomes: A perspective of service employees

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained increasing attention over the past decade. While many studies examined an impact of CSR on consumers, only dearth of research is found that attempts to understand the impact of CSR on employees from the relationship marketing perspective. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of CSR in predicting relationship quality and relationship outcomes. The four dimensions of CSR used in the study include economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic aspects. Data were collected via survey from employees of franchised foodservice enterprises located in South Korea. The findings of the study show that not all dimensions of CSR have the same effect on relationship quality. While economic and philanthropic dimensions have a significant influence on organizational trust, only ethical dimension has a positive effect on job satisfaction. As expected, relationship quality has a significant impact on relationship outcomes.     

The relationship between CRM, RM, and business performance: A study of the hotel industry in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) and its effect on relationship marketing (RM) and business performance, through an analysis of the hotel industry in Taiwan. A survey on hotels, including general and tourist hotels, and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) was conducted, and a total of 560 questionnaires were returned. The results showed that implementing CRM has a significant and positive influence on the RM effect, positively affecting business performance for both hotels and B&Bs. However, a comparison of the influential paths of relationship models between hotels and B&Bs showed that, for hotels, the Internet service and customer support functions of the CRM strategy are the main sources of influence on the RM effect and business performance, whereas for B&Bs, the marketing support function of the CRM strategy alone influences the RM effect and business performance. To achieve higher performance, the different types of hotel enterprises should understand their main advantage before implementing key CRM strategies.     

Linking employee attitudes and behaviors with business performance: A comparative analysis of hotels in Mexico and China

Organizations have been studied extensively through the lenses of employee attitudes and behaviors, yet links with organizational performance have not often been considered. This research uses established measures of commitment, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to analyze data obtained from workers in a multinational hotel chain operating in Mexico and China. Mexico and China are selected due to their importance as emerging global markets. Quantitative analysis shows significantly different levels of commitment, job satisfaction and OCB in line with low and high performance in these national hotel groups. The research finds that commitment, job satisfaction and OCB are associated significantly with financial performance, but not with guest satisfaction.