Impact Of Internal Service Quality On The New Workforce’s Service Orientation

As labor-intensive and emotion-intensive industry, high quality of service has been the core competitiveness in hotel industry. As service producers, transmitters and marketers, front-line staffs’ satisfaction is a mirror of external customers’ satisfaction. Their work is directly related to customers’ perception of service quality, and affects customer satisfaction and commitment. Therefore, how to improve the service orientation and service quality of front-line staffs matters hotels whether or not maintain their long-term competitive advantage.The managers of hotels in China usually pay much attention to external customers and provide customers with excellent service. However, they pay little attention to the internal customers. Scholars have not reach an agreement on the dimensions of internal service quality. Moreover, there is not enough research on the impact of internal service quality on employees’ attitudes and behaviors, especially empirical research about the relationship between internal service quality and service orientation. Based on those limitations, the purposes of this study are as following:First, this study explores the constitution of the multidimensional concept of internal service quality. Besides, both workflow and departmental support internal services quality are assessed for the first time. Second, this study considers multi-stakeholders of hotels, such as managers, front-line staffs and customers. Based on service profit chain theory and social exchange theory, this study constructs a theoretical model of internal service quality and service orientation. This study also explores the mediating effect of organization identity on internal service quality and service orientation. Third, the new workforce has been the major labor in China’s hotel industry. Considering the salient differences of the new workforce and characteristics of hotel industry, this study discusses whether person-organization values fit and reciprocation wariness play important roles in the relationship between internal service quality and service orientation.With349valid questionnaires from four five-star hotels in Xiamen, this study conducts exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis to test data quality and research hypothesis. The results show that internal service quality has two facets:workflow internal service quality and departmental support internal service quality. Both of them has two dimensions, named work support and interpersonal harmony. Not only workflow internal service quality but also departmental support internal service quality has a significant positive impact on customer service orientation and internal service orientation, and organization identification partially mediates their relationships. In addition, person-organization values fit moderates the relationships of internal service quality and customer service orientation. Reciprocation wariness only moderates the relationship of workflow internal service quality and customer service orientation. Finally, this study provides some management suggests about how to improve front-line staffs’ service orientation.