An examination of the role of perceived support and employee commitment in employee-customer encounters.
The authors examined the relationships between perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, commitment to customers, and service quality in a fast-food firm. The research design matched customer responses with individual employees' attitudes, making this study a true test of the service provider-customer encounter. On the basis of a sample of matched employee-customer data (N = 133), hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed that perceived organizational support had both a unit-level and an employee-level effect on 1 dimension of service quality: helping behavior. Contrary to affective organizational commitment, affective commitment to customers enhanced service quality. The 2 sub-dimensions of continuance commitment to the organization--perceived high sacrifice and perceived lack of alternatives--exerted effects opposite in sign: The former fostered service quality, whereas the latter reduced it. The implications of these findings are discussed within the context of research on employee-customer encounters.
Vandenberghe
Christian
C
Department of Management, Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Montreal, PQ, Canada. christian.vandenberghe@hec.ca
Bentein
Kathleen
K
Michon
Richard
R
Chebat
Jean-Charles
JC
Tremblay
Michel
M
Fils
Jean-François
JF
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D004651:Employment / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015279:Organizational Culture; D012919:Social Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce