title: An examination of the role of perceived support and employee commitment in employee-customer encounters.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Montreal, PQ, Canada. christian.vandenberghe@hec.ca
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vandenberghe
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bentein
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Michon
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chebat
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Fils
mesh_terms: 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