Measuring service and service culture in the tourism industry

Abstract

The major objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a reliable and valid service culture (SERVCUL) scale as perceived by service providers; (2) explore the underlying dimensions of a service culture (SERVCUL) scale as perceived by service providers; (3) To identify the underlying dimensions of Chinese cultural values on service provision as perceived by service providers; (4) To examine the nature of the relationships: (i) between service culture (SERVCUL) and Chinese cultural values on service provision as perceived by service providers; and (ii) between service culture (SERVCUL) and service providers' attitudinal and behavioral responses (i.e. role ambiguity, role conflict, employee job satisfaction, employee self-efficacy, and employee adaptability). An exploratory and descriptive research design was used to develop a multi-item service culture (SERVCUL) scale. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques were used and the research was conducted in two stages. In addressing the first objective, an exploratory qualitative study was undertaken in the first stage to (i) identify meaning and concept of service among Chinese; (ii): To identify common aspects of service culture from a service providers' perspective; and (iii): To develop a service culture (SERVCUL) scale as perceived by service providers. Thus, exploratory qualitative methods, a literature search and focus group interviews were used to generate the initial pool of service culture items. A purposeful cross-sectional research design involving use of a questionnaire survey was adapted in the second stage. A sample of 790 frontline service employees was included in this study and they were chosen from four sectors of the tourism industry in Hong Kong: hotel, travel agents, catering and attractions (such as a theme park) which represent a cross section of the hospitality and tourism industry. The main purpose of this questionnaire survey was to explore the underlying dimensions of a service culture (SERVCUL) scale and Chinese cultural values on service provision as perceived by service providers; and to test the hypotheses examined in this study: Hypothesis 1: There is a relationship between service culture (SERVCUL) and Chinese cultural values on service provision as perceived by service providers; and Hypothesis 2: there is a relationship between service culture (SERVCUL) and service providers' attitudinal and behavioral responses. In analyzing the quantitative survey data, factor analysis and reliability analysis were employed to refine and purify the structure and dimensions of service culture values and Chinese cultural values on service provision. Canonical correlation analysis was used to test the strength and the nature of the relationship between service culture and Chinese cultural values which are perceived by customer contact employees on service provision and to examine the strength and the nature of relationship between service culture and service providers' attitudinal and behavioral responses.

Based on the results of factor analysis, Chinese cultural values can best be conceptualized as a five-component construct which have influence on service employees' attitude or behavior towards providing service. The five factors were named: integration 1 - attitude towards work; integration 2 -attitude towards people; moral discipline; status and relationships; and moderation. Identification of the five dimensions has profound implications for human resource development and service management practice in the hospitality and tourism industry. Seven underlying dimensions of service culture (SERVCUL) encompassing 31 items were identified from the results of factor analysis and they were customer-employee relationships, service competencies, sense of pride and prestige, work stress, customer and employer preference, service mindset and transferability, pay and benefits. Identification of the seven dimensions from this study has contributed to existing service management literature in providing empirical support for measuring frontline service providers' attitudes towards service with a new and relatively reliable and valid service culture (SERVCUL) scale. The results of canonical correlation analysis revealed and supported the Hypothesis one that there is a significant relationship between service culture (SERVCUL) and Chinese cultural values on service provision as perceived by service providers and Hypothesis two that there is a significant relationship between service culture (SERVCUL) and service providers' attitudinal and behavioral responses. Overall, the results of this study, on the theoretical side, can help bridge the gap between the culture and service provision literatures, while on the practical side, it can help to identify what service means to the Hong Kong Chinese and to develop a set of service culture values to which they can relate. In addition, tourism and hospitality human resource managers can use the findings of this study and incorporate them for better planning and recruiting, selection, orientation, and socialization, as well as training and development of their frontline service employees.