We explore the effects of employee stakeholder orientation on service quality, productivity and financial outcomes in the airline industry. Based on twelve years of qualitative and quantitative data, we find potential for mutual gains. In particular, higher wages predict reduced incidence of service failure, greater productivity, and stronger financial performance.
Unionization predicts greater productivity and stronger financial performance.
Shared governance predicts weaker financial performance, perhaps due to the practice of adopting shared governance in response to financial distress, but also predicts relatively large reductions in the rate of service failure.