Customer service providers' attitudes relating to customer service and customer satisfaction in the customer-server exchange.

The authors proposed and tested a model describing the relationship between customer service providers' perceptions and attitudes toward their service-related duties and their customers' perceptions of satisfaction with their service experiences. Results indicated that the perception of having standards for service delivery in an organization is strongly related to line-level employees' perceptions of support from coworkers and supervisors. Perceived support from coworker, was significantly related to service providers' customer orientation, whereas perceived support from supervisors showed a weaker relationship to a customer orientation. Ultimately, service providers' customer orientation was strongly related to customers' satisfaction with service. Finally, a set of post hoc analyses indicated that coworker and supervisory support explained a greater proportion of incremental variance in the model than did perceived organizational support alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking service climate and customer perceptions of service quality: Tests of a causal model.

A set of foundation issues that support employee work and service quality is conceptualized as a necessary but not sufficient cause of a climate for service, which in turn is proposed to be reflected in customer experiences. Climate for service rests on the foundation issues, but in addition it requires policies and practices that focus attention directly on service quality. Data were collected at multiple points in time from employees and customers of 134 branches of a bank and analyzed via structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the model in which the foundation issues yielded a climate for service, and climate for service in turn led to customer perceptions of service quality, fit the data well. However, subsequent cross-lagged analyses revealed the presence of a reciprocal effect for climate and customer perceptions. Implications of these results for theory and research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking service climate and customer perceptions of service quality: test of a causal model

A set of foundation issues that support employee work and service quality is conceptualized as a necessary but not sufficient cause of a climate for service, which in turn is proposed to be reflected in customer experiences. Climate for service rests on the foundation issues, but in addition it requires policies and practices that focus attention directly on service quality. Data were collected at multiple points in time from employees and customers of 134 branches of a bank and analyzed via structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the model in which the foundation issues yielded a climate for service, and climate for service in turn led to customer perceptions of service quality, fit the data well. However, subsequent cross-lagged analyses revealed the presence of a reciprocal effect for climate and customer perceptions. Implications of these results for theory and research are offered.     

Service employees give as they get: Internal service as a moderator of the service climate–service outcomes link.

We lend theoretical insight to the service climate literature by exploring the joint effects of branch service climate and the internal service provided to the branch (the service received from corporate units to support external service delivery) on customer-rated service quality. We hypothesized that service climate is related to service quality most strongly when the internal service quality received is high, providing front-line employees with the capability to deliver what the service climate motivates them to do. We studied 619 employees and 1,973 customers in 36 retail branches of a bank. We aggregated employee perceptions of the internal service quality received from corporate units and the local service climate and external customer perceptions of service quality to the branch level of analysis. Findings were consistent with the hypothesis that high-quality internal service is necessary for branch service climate to yield superior external customer service quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Climate strength: a new direction for climate research.

Climate strength was conceptualized within D. Chan's (1998) discussion of compositional models and the concept of culture strength from the organizational culture literature. Climate strength was operationalized in terms of within-group variability in climate perceptions--the less within-group variability, the stronger the climate. The authors studied climate strength in the context of research linking employee service climate perceptions to customer satisfaction. The hypothesis was tested that climate strength moderates the relationship between employee perceptions of service climate and customer satisfaction experiences. Partial support for the hypothesis was reported in both a concurrent and predictive (3-year) test across 118 branches of a bank. In the predictive study only the interaction of climate and climate strength predicted customer satisfaction. Implications for future research on climate and climate strength are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee and customer perceptions of service in banks: Replication and extension.

Replicated the 1st author and J. J. Parkington's (1979) research on the relationships between employees and customers in service organizations by analyzing survey data from 142 employees and 968 customers from 28 branches of a bank. Moderate support was found for the 1st author and Parkington's work on correlates of stress for boundary role employees. Support was also found for relationships between branch employees' and branch customers' service perceptions and attitudes as reported by the present 1st author et al (1980). Significant relationships were reported between branch employees' perceptions of organizational human resources practices and branch customers' attitudes about service. Employee attitudes and customer attitudes were related to their own and one another's turnover intentions. Results are discussed from the perspective of promoting an integration of consumer and organizational behavior in the service sector. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward specifying the concept of work climate: A study of Roman Catholic diocesan priests.

Identified specific behaviors and characteristics of 373 Roman Catholic diocesan priests that relate to their perceptions of work climate. Perceived climate was considered an intervening variable caused by specific job experiences and behaviors. Dimensions of activities performed, importance of the activities, and work climate were isolated factor analytically. Reported amount of activities performed was more strongly related to perceived work climate than was their reported importance. Position was shown to moderate the relationship between specific activities and perception of work climate, especially the perception of work challenge. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of customer entitlement on service workers' physical and psychological well-being: A study of waitstaff employees.

This exploratory study examines the nature of customer entitlement and its impact on front-line service employees. In an open-ended qualitative inquiry, 56 individuals with waitstaff experience described the types of behaviors entitled customers engage in and the kinds of service-related “perks” these individuals feel deserving of. Participants explained how they responded to entitled customers, how and when managers became involved, and how their dealings with these patrons influenced their subjective physical and psychological well-being. We found that the behaviors of entitled customers negatively impacted waitstaff employees. Participants reported physiological arousal, negative affect, burnout, and feelings of dehumanization as a result of dealing with these patrons. While respondents drew on a variety of strategies to manage their encounters with entitled customers, they indicated workplace support was often informal and described feeling abandoned by management in dealing with this workplace stressor. Approaching customer entitlement as a form of microaggression, we offer recommendations for practice and suggest new directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational climate configurations: Relationships to collective attitudes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

Research on organizational climate has tended to focus on independent dimensions of climate rather than studying the total social context as configurations of multiple climate dimensions. The authors examined relationships between configurations of unit-level climate dimensions and organizational outcomes. Three profile characteristics represented climate configurations: (1) elevation, or the mean score across climate dimensions; (2) variability, or the extent to which scores across dimensions vary; and (3) shape, or the pattern of the dimensions. Across 2 studies (1,120 employees in 120 bank branches and 4,317 employees in 86 food distribution stores), results indicated that elevation was related to collective employee attitudes and service perceptions, while shape was related to customer satisfaction and financial performance. With respect to profile variability, results were mixed. The discussion focuses on future directions for taking a configural approach to organizational climate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking Organizational Resources and Work Engagement to Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty: The Mediation of Service Climate.

This study examined the mediating role of service climate in the prediction of employee performance and customer loyalty. Contact employees (N=342) from 114 service units (58 hotel front desks and 56 restaurants) provided information about organizational resources, engagement, and service climate. Furthermore, customers (N=1,140) from these units provided information on employee performance and customer loyalty. Structural equation modeling analyses were consistent with a full mediation model in which organizational resources and work engagement predict service climate, which in turn predicts employee performance and then customer loyalty. Further analyses revealed a potential reciprocal effect between service climate and customer loyalty. Implications of the study are discussed, together with limitations and suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When clerks meet customers: A test of variables related to emotional expressions on the job.

Interactions between 1,319 sales clerks and customers were observed. Clerk emotional behavior (Rafaeli & Sutton, 1987), clerk sex, wearing a smock and a name tag, the presence of other clerks or other customers, and customer sex were coded. As predicted, female clerks displayed positive emotions more frequently than male clerks, suggesting that sex role socialization may generalize to behavior at work. Male clients, however, received more positive emotional expressions than female clients, suggesting that individuals of both genders attribute higher status to men. Clerks were more likely to display positive emotions when wearing a uniform, suggesting that an organizational identifier such as a smock or name tag may increase an employee's self-awareness. Consistent with Sutton & Rafaeli (1987), clerks were less likely to display positive emotions if a line of customers or a coworker was present. No relationship was observed between work shift (time of day) and the display of positive emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The link between parents' perceptions of the school and their responses to school bullying: Variation by child characteristics and the forms of victimization.

A growing number of researchers encourage parents to notify the school when their children are bullied and work collaboratively with the school to resolve the situation. However, there is limited research on factors that are associated with parents' responses to their child's victimization. Using data from an online survey of 773 parents of victimized students enrolled in 93 schools (elementary, middle, and high), the current study employed structural equation modeling to examine the association between parents' perceptions of the school's climate and parents' responses to their child's victimization. The results indicated that the more favorable parents' perceptions of the climate were, the less likely they were to contact their child's school or talk to their child in response to the victimization. The parents' perception of the climate and response choice also varied as a function of the child's age and the form of bullying experienced. These findings suggest that parents' perceptions of the school are associated with their responses to their child's victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational climate as a function of personal and organizational variables.

Conducted a study of 140 managerial level bank employees to determine the extent to which climate perceptions could be accounted for by measures of personal and organizational variables. Findings fail to support the expected interaction of personal and organizational measures but do indicate that personal and organizational variables alone accounted for significant amounts of variance in climate perceptions. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking inside and out: The impact of employee and community demographic composition on organizational diversity climate.

An organization's diversity climate refers to employees' shared perceptions of the policies and practices that communicate the extent to which fostering diversity and eliminating discrimination is a priority in the organization. The authors propose a salient element of the organizational context, the racial composition of the community where the organization is located, serves an important signaling function that shapes the formation of climate perceptions. In a study of 142 retail bank units in the United States, evidence is found for a relationship between the racial composition of an organization's workforce and diversity climate that is moderated by the racial composition of the community where the organization is located. The results suggest that when few racial minorities live in the community in which an organization is embedded, workforce diversity has an impact on employees' diversity climate perceptions. As racial minority popular share increases, workforce diversity tends to lose this signaling value. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A passion for service: Using content analysis to explicate service climate themes.

Climate is conceptualized as employee perceptions of one or more strategic imperatives made manifest through workplace routines and rewards. Service was the strategic imperative studied here. Notes from 97 panel interviews with 350 financial service company employees were analyzed for content to explicate the themes panelists use when asked to discuss the service climate of their organization. Quantitative analyses of the 33 coded themes revealed the routines and rewards most strongly related to service passion: responsiveness to consumers, hiring procedures (who and how), training (availability and content), and the way service is delivered. Some themes were also significantly related to a survey measure panelists completed giving their perceptions of customer views of service. Both the substantive findings and the content analysis methodology are discussed, and implications for future climate research are identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When customers lash out: The effects of customer interactional injustice on emotional labor and the mediating role of discrete emotions.

Using affective events theory to integrate multifoci justice and emotional labor (EL), this lab study examined the effects of customer interactional justice on EL perceived by both the self and others. Participants played the role of customer-service representatives in a workplace simulation and were exposed to either interactionally fair or unfair customers. Results showed that unfairly treated participants engaged in higher levels of EL and found it more difficult to comply with display rules than did participants who were fairly treated. The above link was partially mediated by anger. Our findings suggest that customers are a viable source of justice, and customer behavior impacts the effort required of service workers to adhere to organizationally sanctioned emotional display rules. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multilevel study of predictors of student perceptions of school climate: The effect of classroom-level factors.

A positive school climate is an important component of successful and effective schools and thus is often an aim of schoolwide initiatives. Climate has traditionally been conceptualized as a school-level factor and is often assumed to be related to other school-level factors (e.g., school size). The current study examines variation in perceptions of climate based on individual-, classroom-, and school-level factors to determine the influence of predictors at multiple levels. Data come from 2,468 5th graders from 37 public elementary schools. Two aspects of students' perception of school climate, order and discipline, and achievement motivation are examined. Multilevel analyses in hierarchical linear modeling indicate that individual-level factors (race and sex) accounted for the largest proportion of variance in perceptions of school climate. School-level factors (e.g., school size and faculty turnover) and several classroomlevel factors (e.g., characteristics of the teacher, class size, and the concentration of students with behavior problems) were also significant predictors of perceptions of climate. These findings suggest that characteristics of the classroom environment are important to consider when aiming to improve school climate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguishing between service relationships and encounters.

In 3 separate studies, the authors developed measures of different social mechanisms used in the interaction between a customer and a service provider and examined their effects. Service relationships occur when a customer has repeated contact with the same provider. Service encounters occur when the customer interacts with a different provider each time. Service pseudorelationships are a particular kind of encounter in which a customer interacts with a different provider each time, but within a single company. The 3 studies showed consistently that customers having a service relationship with a specific provider had more service interactions and were more satisfied than those who did not have one. These results held across 7 different service areas, 3 diverse samples, and 2 different ways of measuring a service relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of the school social context across the transition to middle school: Heightened sensitivity among Latino students?

The current study was designed to examine the ways in which perceived behavioral norms among grade mates and school social climate vary across the transition to middle school. The main goals of the study were to test whether Latino students may be more sensitive to the school social climate than White students and whether perceived behavioral norms might help explain this association. Cross-sectional analyses comparing Latino and White students (N = 383) revealed that perceptions of school social climate and behavioral norms became more negative across the middle school transition. Multiple regression analysis showed that school climate perceptions predicted self-reported academic compliance and rule breaking only for Latino students. Mediational analysis revealed that the association between perceived climate and self-reported rule breaking was partially accounted for by perceptions of behavioral norms for rule breaking only among Latino students. Taken together, the results suggest that compared with White students, Latino students are more sensitive to school social climate as it relates to their school conduct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

To Know You Is to Love You: The Implications of Global Adoration and Specific Accuracy for Marital Relationships.

Despite the strong positive feelings that characterize newlyweds, many marriages end in disappointment. To understand this shift, the authors argue that although newlyweds' global relationship evaluations may be uniformly positive, not all spouses base their global adoration on an accurate perception of their partner's specific qualities. Two longitudinal studies confirmed that whereas most newlyweds enhanced their partners at the level of their global perceptions, spouses varied significantly in their perceptions of their partners' specific qualities. For wives, but not for husbands, more accurate specific perceptions were associated with their supportive behaviors, feelings of control in the marriage, and whether or not the marriage ended in divorce. Thus, love grounded in specific accuracy appears to be stronger than love absent accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)