ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Service recovery performance is very important to the hotel industry because it contributes to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Since the nature of jobs in the hotel industry that is characterized by low pay, long working hours, heavy workloads and inconvenient working schedules can affect the frontline employees’ job performance, knowledge on factors influencing their service recovery performance is crucial. Though many studies on service recovery performance have been carried out in the context of developed countries, little research addressing this issue has been carried out in developing countries. Moreover, studies investigating the role of empowerment, rewards and training in influencing service recovery performance among frontline hotel employees are scarce. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the influence of empowerment, rewards and training on service recovery performance among 4-star and 5-star hotels employees in Malaysia. The data was obtained from the 313 frontline hotel employees throughout Malaysia and analyzed using structural equation modeling – partial least square (SEM-PLS) approach. The results showed that empowerment, rewards and training have a significant positive influence on service recovery performance. The findings indicated that service recovery performance can be enhanced by the proper practice of employee empowerment, establish appropriate employee rewards scheme and provide relevant training. Theoretically, the findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge by confirming the applicability of the social exchange theory for human resource management in the context of the service industry. Practically, it provides insight to hoteliers about the need to administer appropriate practice of empowerment, establishing competitive rewards system and provide training for career advancement.
Ardahan, M. G. (2007). The Influence of Selected Antecedents of Frontline Employee’s Perceptions of Service Recovery Performance. Hospitality Review, 25(2).
Ashill, N. J., Carruthers, J., & Krisjanous, J. (2005). Antecedents and outcomes of service recovery performance in a public health-care environment. Journal of Services Marketing, 19(5), 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040510609916
Ashill, N. J., Carruthers, J., & Krisjanous, J. (2006). The effect of management commitment to service quality on frontline employees ’ affective and performance outcomes?: an empirical investigation of the New Zealand public healthcare sector. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 11, 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm
Babakus, E., Yavas, U., & Karatepe, O. M. (2003). The Effect of Management Commitment to Service Quality on Employees’ Affective and performance outcome. Journal of The Academic Marketing Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070303253525
Babakus, E., Yavas, U., Karatepe, O. M., & Avci, T. (2003). The Effect of Management Commitment to Service Quality on Employees’ Affective and Performance Outcomes. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31(3), 272–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070303253525
Bitner, M., Booms, B., & Tetreault, M. (1994). Critical service encounters: The employee’s viewpoint. Journal of Marketing, 58(4), 95–106.
Bitner, M. J., Booms, B. H., & Tetreault, M. S. (1990). The service encounter: Diagnosing favorable and unfavorable incidents. Journal of Marketing, 54, 71–84.
Blau, P. (1964). Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Boshoff, C., & Allen, J. (2000). The influence of selected antecedents on frontline staff’s perceptions of service recovery performance. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(1), 63–90.
Bowen, D. E., & Johnston, R. (1999). Internal Service Recovery: Developing a New Construct. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 10(2), 118–131.
Bowen, D. E., & Lawler, E. E. (1995). Empowering Service Employees. Sloan Management Review, 36(4), 73–84.
Bowen, D. E., & Lawler III, E. E. (1992). The Empowerment of Service Workers?: What , Why , How , and When. Sloan Management Review, 33(3), 31–39.
Bustamam, F. L., Teng, S. S., & Abdullah, F. Z. (2014). Reward Management and Job Satisfaction among Frontline Employees in Hotel Industry in Malaysia. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 144, 392–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.308
Chebat, J. C., & Kollias, P. (2000). The impact of empowerment on customer contact employees’ role in service organisations. Journal of Service Research, 3(1), 66–78.
Choo, P. W., & Tan, C. L. (2017). Factors Influencing Poor Experience Quality in 2-To- 5-Star Hotels: A Content Analysis of Guest Reviews on Trip Advisor. Global Business & Management Research, 9(4), 409–425. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1471-4159.2003.01873.x
Civil Service Delivery Unit. (2017). National Transformational Program: Annual Report 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from http://www.mampu.gov.my/images/pengumuman/NTP_AR2017_ENG.pdf
Combs, J., Liu, Y., Hall, A., & Ketchen, D. (2006). How much do high performance work practices matter? A meta-analysis of their effects on organizational performance. Personnel Psychology, 59(3), 501–528.
Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. (2005). Social Exchange Theory: An Interdisciplinary Review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279602
de Jong, A., & de Ruyter, K. (2004). Adaptive versus Proactive Behavior in Service Recovery: The Role of Self-Managing Teams. Decision Sciences, 35(3), 457–491. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0011-7315.2004.02513.x
Ekiz, E., Khoo-Lattimore, C., & Memarzadeh, F. (2012). Air the anger: investigating online complaints on luxury hotels. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 3(2), 96–106. https://doi.org/10.1108/17579881211248817
Ergeneli, A., Ari, G. S. ?lam, & Metin, S. (2006).
In-Text Citation: (Hamir, Ismail, Zahari, & Abdullah, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Hamir, N., Ismail, I., Zahari, M. S. M., & Abdullah, D. (2018). The Influence of Empowerment, Rewards, and Training on Service Recovery Performance among Frontline Hotel Employees in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(15), 49–67.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode