Christina K. Dimitriou’s research while affiliated with New Mexico State University and other places

Purpose This research seeks to better understand the impact of employee-customer identification on critical job outcomes such as customer orientation and commitment to service quality. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 316 hotel/motel employees was used for the study. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings Results show a positive relationship between ethical values person-organization fit and employee-customer identification indicating that when customer-contact service employees’ ethical values align with those of the organization, they identify with customers more closely. Results also suggest that when employees identify with customers they are likely to be more customer-oriented and committed to providing service quality. Originality/value We learn how the relationship between employee and organization impacts employee-customer identification. Furthermore, we better comprehend the impact of employee-customer identification on critical outcomes in the hospitality industry such as customer orientation and commitment to service quality.

The hotel industry is the most diverse and fastest growing industry in the world, offering its companies tremendous opportunities for international expansion and immersion in different cultures. However, this creates several obstacles that block the way to success. Through the years, the industry has been facing countless ethical scandals, such as national origin discrimination and sexual harassment, among others, which occur due to the lack of ethical leadership. Another major problem for the hotel industry that is directly associated with both the absence of ethical leadership and an ethical cliate is the decreased employee commitment to service quality. Hardly any hospitality studies focused on employee commitment to service quality. Furthermore, only few hospitality studies examined how ethical leadership translates across different cultures and how it affects the ethical climate in organisations. The scope of this study is to stress the importance of ethical leadership and how it can be used to tackle those critical challenges that the hotel industry has been facing. This is a theoretical study offering an in-depth analysis of ethical leadership. The proposed conceptual model is based on existing literature on ethical leadership, ethical climate and employee commitment to service quality. The cultural and cross-cultural issues are carefully examined and their role in leadership is assessed. The study proposes several strategies that could be used to successfully implement strong ethical leadership and foster a positive ethical climate when operating internationally. It also explains how these variables work together to inspire hotel employees and increase their commitment to service quality.

The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between supervisor social undermining and service sabotage through related mediating and moderating variables among customer-contact service employees. Based on a sample of 316 hotel/motel employees, findings show that supervisor social undermining leads to greater service sabotage. Unethical behavior in the form of supervisor social undermining is positively related to job stress and this stress is exacerbated when ethical conflict exists. Moreover, besides being an outcome from unethical behavior, job stress can subsequently influence additional unethical behavior in the form of service sabotage via its impact on turnover intention.

Given an increased call for examining ethics in the hospitality industry, this research examines how ethical leadership influences the job stress and performance quality of customer-contact employees in the hospitality industry. Results indicate that customer-contact employees’ views of their supervisor’s use of ethical leadership behaviors is related to lower levels of ethical ambiguity and job stress. Ethical ambiguity is positively associated with job stress, which is negatively associated with customer-contact employees’ performance quality. Perceived ethical leadership behaviors positively influence performance quality. Based on the findings, implications are provided for both theory and management, and directions for future research are offered.

Purpose – To propose a new decision-making process that Generation Zers adopt when they shop for travel and tourism services through social and mobile applications (i.e., hotels, airlines, attractions, and restaurants). Design – A qualitative research was used to explore the changes and unique characteristics of the Generation Z’s different stages of social travel decision-making. Methodology – A conceptual approach that relies on an extensive literature review of classical decision-making models reflecting the changes and differences in each stage in the process. Approach – The authors rely on Engel-Kollat-Blackwell’s (EKB) consumer decision-making model as a base to understand and propose a modified model. Findings – The authors propose a new social decision-making process model for Generation Z. The proposed model consists of five stages and each step is deeper and more complex than ever before. These stages are as follows: 1) Inspiration, 2) Need for Social Recognition, 3) Planning, Search and Evaluation, 4) Booking, and 5) Post-Booking Evaluation. Originality of the research – The paper is the first study to propose a unique decision-making process for Generation Z travellers in the realm of social and mobile business.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of formal [ethics training (ET)] and informal [psychological ethical climate (EC)] controls in reducing service sabotage (SS) and increasing employee commitment to service quality. Design/methodology/approach Data were electronically collected from a national survey of hotel/motel customer contact employees leading to a usable sample of 316 employees. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The findings indicate that ET can be used to positively influence the EC of customer contact service employees, which, in turn, reduces their SS behavior and increases their commitment to service quality. Practical implications Management should incorporate both formal (ET) and informal (EC) controls to bring about less SS and greater commitment to service quality among customer contact employees in service settings. Originality/value This research furthers the understanding of SS by finding an important variable, EC that may be used to reduce its incidence in service settings. Further, it shows that EC is an important contributor to improving ECSQ. As such, this research gives important direction for companies wishing to improve the customer service experience.

Purpose Grounded in ethical decision-making theory, this paper aims to develop and empirically tests a model that examines the relationships between ethical leadership, customer orientation, ethical values person-organization fit, commitment to service quality and service sabotage among customer-contact service employees in the lodging industry. Design/methodology/approach Data were electronically collected from a national survey of 316 hotel/motel customer-contact employees. Findings Results revealed that perceived ethical leadership behavior is positively related to customer orientation, ethical values person-organization fit and commitment to service quality. Customer orientation is positively related to commitment to service quality and mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and service sabotage. Ethical values person-organization fit mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and service sabotage. Research limitations/implications The study is cross-sectional, limited to customer-contact employees in lodging settings and examines merely the employee perspective. Practical implications Lodging leaders can benefit significantly in many areas by practicing ethical leadership. For example, service sabotage behaviors can be reduced indirectly by aligning the customer-contact employees’ ethical values with those of the organization, as well as when this employee is customer-oriented. An ethical leadership style also can positively influence customer-contact employees’ customer orientation and increase their commitment to service quality. Lodging properties must hire and cultivate managers and supervisors with ethical values. Originality/value This research helps to better understand leadership behaviors useful for improving the ethical conduct and performance of customer-contact employees in the lodging industry, while simultaneously improving their commitment to service quality and guest-oriented behavior.