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A Multi-Level Examination of Factors Predicting Employee Engagement and its Impact on Customer Outcomes in the Restaurant Industry

Jang, Jichul
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373985282

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Human Ecology: Hospitality Management.
With increasingly fierce competition in the hospitality industry, employee engagement is becoming a topic of considerable interest among researchers and practitioners. The primary reason for this growing interest in employee engagement is that engaged employees are now considered one of the key factors that contribute to building a competitive advantage for organizations. However, the challenge of engaging employees is mounting. For instance, Crabtree (2005) showed that nearly 15% of U.S. employees were disengaged in their work, costing employers $300 billion a year in lost productivity. Therefore, understanding the drivers that may foster increased levels of employee engagement is crucial to service organizations if they are to sustain a competitive advantage and reduce costs related to employee disengagement. To date, however, empirical research examining the role of employee engagement as an effective strategy in the hospitality industry has been limited. In order to fill this research gap, this study developed and tested a conceptual model examining the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the restaurant setting. More specifically, the study identified the employee perception of servant leadership, personal-organization (P-O) value congruence and employee self-efficacy as the antecedents of employee engagement. In particular, this study used employee self-efficacy as a potential mediator in the relationship between the employee perception of servant leadership and employee engagement. This study also examined the impact of employee engagement on service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) as the consequence of employee engagement. Furthermore, this study explored the relationship between store-level service-oriented OCBs and store-level customer outcomes such as customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In order to test the hypothesized model, data were drawn from 245 non-managerial employees and 1,374 customers in nine restaurants in the United States. The results indicated that both the employee perception of servant leadership and P-O value congruence were positively related to employee engagement. This study further found that employee self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between the employee perception of servant leadership and employee engagement. The results also demonstrated that employee engagement was positively related to service-oriented OCBs at the individual level. Store-level service oriented OCBs were positively associated with store-level customer outcomes such as customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Jay Kandampully, Dr (Advisor)
Margaret Binkley, Dr (Committee Member)
Robert Scharff, Dr (Committee Member)
164 p.
Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior
Employee Engagement; Servant Leadership; Service-Oriented OCBs; Customer Satisfaction; Restaurant Industry

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jang, J. (2013). A Multi-Level Examination of Factors Predicting Employee Engagement and its Impact on Customer Outcomes in the Restaurant Industry [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373985282

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jang, Jichul. A Multi-Level Examination of Factors Predicting Employee Engagement and its Impact on Customer Outcomes in the Restaurant Industry . 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373985282.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jang, Jichul. "A Multi-Level Examination of Factors Predicting Employee Engagement and its Impact on Customer Outcomes in the Restaurant Industry ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373985282

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1373985282
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.