اهداف رفتاری کارکنان خدمات مشتری و نگرش: بررسی اعتبار ساختاری و یک مدل راه

Customer service employees (N=386) from a variety of service-based organizations (e.g., hotels, restaurants, and retail stores) were sampled in a cross-sectional design to assess the construct validity and predictive utility of measures of: (a) perceptions of organizational support, (b) organizational commitment, (c) job satisfaction, (d) intent to quit, and (e) life satisfaction and to assess the appropriateness of use and the impact of these scales within a service-based context. The construct validity of the measures was assessed through the application of confirmatory factor analysis, while the predictive character of the proposed path models was assessed using path analysis. Results indicated that the measures of job satisfaction, intent to quit, and life satisfaction demonstrated acceptable construct validity within the service context sampled, while the measures of organizational support and commitment received mixed support due to problems with measurement error and item specification. The analyses of the path models revealed that: (a) perceived organizational support strongly and significantly influenced job satisfaction and organizational commitment, (b) job satisfaction had a unidirectional impact upon life satisfaction, (c) despite a strong correlation, job satisfaction displayed a limited predictive impact on organizational commitment, and (d) intent to quit was influenced by both job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Due to the increasing prevalence of service-based organizations in our business economy, considerable research efforts are being directed toward the elements which impact the functioning and output of customer service organizations (Guerrier and Deery, 1998; Lengnick-Hall, 1996). The successful delivery of services is based upon a strong association among the three tiers of service constituents, customers, employees, and management, to coordinate customers’ needs and expectations with those of management and staff members ( Schneider and Bowen, 1992 and Schneider and Bowen, 1995). The unique interrelationship among the “three tiers” of service constituents ( Schneider and Bowen, 1992 and Schneider and Bowen, 1995) continues to be of considerable interest to researchers and practitioners.

A primary goal of this investigation was to reassess and test the validity and relationships of perceptual and attitudinal measures among service-based employees. While, this investigation produced results different from previous investigations, findings indicate that the measurement of employee attitudes remain consistent with many of the theoretical underpinnings which guide our research. It is suggested here that the measures of organizational support and organizational commitment be reevaluated before additional confidence be put upon their utility in service-based settings. Of greater interest, a diverse sample of hospitality and non-hospitality service-based workers were sampled to conduct this investigation. Hospitality participants indicated consistently lower levels of positive affect in their responses when compared to non-hospitality participants. Based on these findings additional attention should be paid not only to the differences among service and manufacturing settings, but also hospitality and non-hospitality service workers. This research investigation contributes to the field of hospitality management and organizational behavior by examining workers’ perceptions and attitudes strictly in a service context. Specifically, this investigation extends research on organizational support, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and intent to quit to service-based organizations, and examines employees’ reactions to their work and non-work lives. To increase our understanding of customer service organizations and their workers, future research should continue to examine the behavioral, attitudinal, and perceptual reactions of service-based employees, and the organizational environments in which they operate.