The Mediating Effects of Organization Commitment and Job Involvement on the Relationship Between Quality of Work Life and Customer Service Attitudes

In the last two decades, organizations have recognized, indeed fixated upon, the impOrtance of quality and quality management One manifestation of this is the emergence of the total quality management (TQM) movement, which has been proclaimed as the latest and optimal way of managing organizations. Likewise, in the domain of human resource management, the concept of quality of work life (QWL) has also received much attention of late from theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners. However, little has been done to build a bridge between these two increasingly important concepts, QWL and TQM. The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the relationship between quality of work life (the internalized attitudes employees' have about their jobs) and an indicatorofTQM, customer service attitudes, CSA (the externalized signals employees' send to customers about their jobs). In addition, this study examines how job involvement and organizational commitment mediate the relationship between QWL and CSA. OWL and <:sA HlU.3 doc JJ a9t94 page 3 INTRODUCTION Quality and quality management have become increasingly important topics for both practitioners and researchers (Anderson, Rungtusanatham, & Schroeder, 1994). Among the many quality related activities that have arisen, the principle of total quality mana~ement (TQM) has been advanced as the optimal approach for managing people and processes. Indeed, it is considered by some to be the key to ensuring the long-term viability of organizations (Feigenbaum, 1982). Ofcourse, niany companies have invested heavily in total quality efforts in the form of capital expenditures on plant and equipment, and through various human resource management programs designed to spread the quality gospel. However, many still argue that there is insufficient theoretical development and empirical eviden~e for the determinants and consequences of quality management initiatives (Dean & Bowen, 1994). Mter reviewing the relevant research literatures, we find that three problems persist in the research on TQM. First, a definition of quality has not been agreed upon. Even more problematic is the fact that many of the definitions that do exist are continuously evolving. Not smprisingly, these variable definitions often lead to inconsistent and even conflicting conclusions, Second, very few studies have systematically examined these factors that influence: the quality of goods and services, the implementation of quality activities, or the performance of organizations subsequent to undertaking quality initiatives (Spencer, 1994). Certainly this has been true for quality-related human resource management interventions. Last, TQM has suffered from an "implementation problem" (Reger, Gustafson, Demarie, & Mullane, 1994, p. 565) which has prevented it from transitioning from the theoretical to the applied. In the domain of human resource management, quality of working life (QWL) has also received a fair amount of attention of late from theorists, researchers, and practitioners. The underlying, and mostimportant, principles of QWL capture an employee's satisfaction with and feelings about their: work, work environment, and organization. Most who study QWL, and TQM for that matter, tend to focus on the importance of employee systems and organizational performance, whereas researchers in the field ofHRM OWLmdCSA HlU.3doc 1J1l2f}4 pBgc4 usually emphasize individual attitudes and individual performance (Walden, 1994). Fmthennore, as Walden (1994) alludes to, there are significantly different managerial prescriptions and applied levels for routine human resource management processes, such as selection, performance appraisal, and compensation, than there are for TQM-driven processes, like teamwork, participative management, and shared decision-making (Deming, 1986, 1993; Juran, 1989; M. Walton, 1986; Dean & Bowen, 1994). To reiterate, these variations are attributable to the difference between a mico focus on employees as opposed to a more macrofocus on employee systems. These specific differences are but a few of the instances where the views of TQM and the views of traditional HRM are not aligned (Cardy & Dobbins, 1993). In summary, although TQM is a ubiquitous organizational phenomenon; it has been given little research attention, especially in the form ofempirical studies. Therefore, the goal of this study is to provide an empirical assessment of how one, internalized, indicator ofHRM effectiveness, QWL, is associated with one, externalized, indicator of TQM, customer service attitudes, CSA. In doing so, it bridges the gap between "employee-focused" H.RM outcoines and "customer-focused" TQM consequences. In addition, it examines the mediating effects of organizational commitment and job involvement on this relationship. QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE AITITUDES In this section, we introduce and review the main principles of customer service attitudes, CSA, and discuss its measurement Thereafter, our extended conceptualization and measurement of QWL will be presented. Fmally, two variables hypothesized to function as mediators of the relationship between CSA and QWL, organization commitment and job involvement, will be· explored. Customer Service Attitudes (CSA) Despite all the ruminations about it in the business and trade press, TQM still remains an ambiguous notion, one that often gives rise to as many different definitions as there are observers. Some focus on the presence of organizational systems. Others, the importance of leadership. ., Many stress the need to reduce variation in organizational processes (Deming, 1986). A number · OWL and CSA mn.3 doc 11 fl9tlJ4 page 5 emphasize reducing costs through q~ty improvement (p.B. Crosby, 1979). Still others focus on quality planing, control, and improvement (Juran, 1989). Regardless of these differences, however, the most important, generally agreed upon principle is to be "customer focused" (Feigenbaum, 1982). The cornerstone for this principle is the belief that customer satisfaction and customer judgments about the organization and itsproducts are the most important determinants of long-term organizational viability (Oliva, Oliver & MacMillan, 1992). Not surprisingly, this belief is a prominent tenet in both the manufacturing and service sectors alike. Conventional wisdom holds that quality can best be evaluated from the customers' perspective. Certainly, customers can easily articulate how well a product or service meets their expectations. Therefore, managers and researchers must take into account subjective and cognitive factors that influence customers' judgments when trying to identify influential customer cues, rather than just relying on organizational presumptions. Recently, for example, Hannon & Sano (1994) described how customer-driven HR strategies and practices are pervasive in Japan. An example they cited was the practice of making the tOp graduates from the best schools work in low level, customer service jobs for their first 1-2 years so that they might better underst3nd customers and their needs. To be sure, defining quality in terms of whether a product or service meets the expectations ofcustomers is all-encompassing. As a result of the breadth of this issue, and the limited research on this topic, many importantquestions about the service relationship, particularly those penaining to exchanges between employees and customers, linger. Some include, "What are the key dimensions of service quality?" and "What are the actions service employees might direct their efforts to in order to foster good relationships with customers?" Arguably, the most readily obvious manifestations of quality for any customer are the service attitudes ofemployees. In fact, dming the employee-customer interaction, conventional wisdom holds that employees' customer service attitudes influence customer satisfaction, customer evaluations, and decisions to buy. . OWL and <:SA HJU.3,doc J J129m page 6 According to Rosander (1980), there are five dimensions of service quality: quality of employee performance, facility, data, decision, and outcome. Undoubtedly, the performance of the employee influences customer satisfaction. This phenomenon has been referred to as interactive quality (Lehtinen & Lehtinen, 1982). Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry (1985) go so far as to suggest that service quality is ultimately a function of the relationship between the employee and the customer, not the product or the price. Sasser, Olsen, & Wyckoff (1987) echo the assertion that personnel performance is a critical factor in the satisfaction of customers. If all of them are right, the relationship between satisfaction with quality of work life and customer service attitudes cannot be understated. Measuring Customer Service Attitudes The challenge of measuring service quality has increasingly captured the attention of researchers (Teas, 1994; Cronin & Taylor, 1992). While the substance and determinants of quality may remain undefined, its importance to organizations is unquestionable. Nevertheless, numerous problems inherent in the measurement of customer service attitudes still exist (Reeves & Bednar, 1994). Perhaps the complexities involved in measuring this construct have deterred many researchers from attempting to define and model service quality. Maybe this is also the reason why many of the efforts to define and measure service quality have emanated primarily from manufacturing, rather than service, settings. When it has been measured, quality has sometimes been defined as a "zero defect" policy, a perspective the Japanese have embraced. Alternatively, P.B. Crosby (1979) quantifies quality as "conformance to requirements." Garvin (1983; 1988), on the other hand, measures quality in terms ofcounting the incidence of "internal failures" and "external failures." Other definitions include "value" (Abbot, 1955; Feigenbaum, 1982), "concordance to specification'" (Gilmo