A Bibliometric Analysis of Service Climate as a Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Hospitality

The purpose of this study is to carry out a systematic literature review and map the service climate in hospitality to discuss the future of the construct as a sustainable competitive advantage. A bibliometric (Bibliometrix) and network (VOSviewer) analysis were conducted in order to review the literature of 63 hospitality service climate articles published between 2005 and 2021, covering 167 authors, 30 journals, 17 countries, and indexed with 241 authors keywords. The “International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management” presents the most considerable accumulated growth of the hospitality service climate articles. The content analysis showed a total sample with 3519 customers and 23,068 employees, and all include women and men. The studies were carried out mainly in Asia. The research trend topics revealed that performance is one of the most crucial link factors, and keywords such as service climate, performance, antecedents, and perceptions are closely related. Finally, it is essential to highlight that the new trends are related to technology, industrial revolution 4.0, big data, and HR analytics.

The Impact of Service Climate and Personality Traits on Customer-Oriented Behaviour of Employees

Most companies in today's competitive and globalized business environment understand the importance of customer orientation. Customer orientation is mainly related to customer well-being. Research has shown that customer orientation leads to better financial performance and higher market share. The aim of this research has been to investigate the effect of service climate and personality traits on customer-oriented behavior. The standard questionnaire of Mechinda and Patterson (2011) has been used to measure the research variables. The population of the research consists of the employees of Ardabil Gas Company, which is equal to 161 subjects. Owing to the limited population, no sampling method was used and all employees were investigated. Data analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling and PLS software. The results showed that personality traits such as conscientiousness, agreeableness, extroversion and emotional stability, employees' perceived service climate, and job satisfaction have had a positive impact on customer-oriented behavior. Moreover, service climate had a mediating role in the relationship between personality traits and customer-oriented behavior.

Transformational Leadership and Performance: Testing Mediation and Moderation in Qatari Hospitality Industry

This study aimed to determine organisational performance with the perspective of employees' service performance by leadership in the hospitality industry. For doing so, we hypothesised the relationship of transformational leadership and employees' service performance via two roots, service climate and organisational identification. Furthermore, to examine the leadership role in service climate development and organisational identification, we used proactive personality as the boundary condition to these relationships. Data for the study was collected from a diverse range of organisations operating in the Qatari hospitality industry. Findings showed that the service climate fully mediates the relationship, while organisational identification failed to mediate the relationship. Considering the moderating effects, results suggested that strong proactive personalities will strengthen transformational leadership on service climate and organisational identification. This study als0 discussed various theoretical and managerial implications.

Service Priority Climate and Service Performance Among Hospitality Employees: The Role of Emotional Labor and Workload Pressure

Frontline hotel employees face a complex organizational environment that constantly makes multiple demands, creating a persistent trade-off between service as a key element of the organization’s strategy and other competing or even conflicting goals. This study proposes an integrated and unique way of discerning the relationship between service climate and service performance through the prism of surface and deep acting emotional labor and suggests a new dimension of the service climate—the service priority climate. Specifically, we examined employees’ use of emotional labor strategies as a mechanism that explains the relationship between service priority climate and service performance. We also investigated whether workload pressure influences this relationship. Using a multilevel, multisource study, we surveyed a sample of 245 hotel employees working in 39 departments and their direct managers. The results demonstrated that when employees regarded service as a priority compared with other competing goals, they used more deep acting emotional labor strategies, resulting in better service performance. However, this was apparent only when workload pressure was low. Implications for hospitality organizations are discussed.