مشتری مداری در میان کارکنان در مدیریت دولتی: مطالعه طولی فراملی

The relation between ergonomic principles and quality management initiatives, both, in the private and public sector, has received increasing attention in the recent years. Customer orientation among employees is not only an important quality principle, but also an essential prerequisite for customer satisfaction, especially in service organizations. In this context, the objective of introducing new public management (NPM) in public-service organizations is to increase customer orientation among employees who are at the forefront of service providing. In this study, we developed a short scale to measure perceived customer orientation. In two separate longitudinal studies carried out in Austria and the US, we analyzed changes in customer orientation resulting from the introduction of NPM. In both organizations, we observed a significant increase in customer orientation. Perceived customer orientation was related to job characteristics, organizational characteristics and employee quality of working life. Creating positive influences on these characteristics within the framework of an organizational change process has positive effects on employee customer orientation.

When the concept of total quality management (TQM) is transposed from the private sector to the public sector, new approaches to improving service quality and more efficient and effective service production can be expected (Bernhart, 1996). The application of TQM principles to the public sector is also known as new public management (NPM; Budäus and Grüning, 1998; Rago, 1994; Swiss, 2001). An essential component of redesigning public administration on the basis of NPM principles is the idea that citizens are customers of the administration. Customer orientation of employees in the public sector has been described as a cornerstone of the NPM approach ( Wherli, 1996). Customer orientation is also part of the broader construct “service quality”, which could be directly influenced by human factor dimensions (Drury, 2000). Until recently service quality is a somehow neglected concept from a macroergonomic perspective (Drury, 1997 and Drury, 2000; Eklund, 1997 and Eklund, 2000; Taveira et al., 2003). Measuring the construct of customer orientation of employees has largely been neglected in research in both the private sector and the public sector. One objective of this study is to develop a short scale for measuring perceived customer orientation (from the employees point of view). Two longitudinal studies conducted in two public organizations allowed us to analyze changes in perceived customer orientation in the process of implementing NPM and the influence of job and organizational factors on perceived customer orientation. Knowledge of the factors that affect customer orientation can provide insight on how to improve the implementation of NPM.