Journal of Service Research-2014-Bowen-5-22

Article
Journal of Service Research

2014, Vol 17(1) 5-22
A Service Climate Synthesis and ª The Author(s) 2013
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Future Research Agenda DOI: 10.1177/1094670513491633
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David E. Bowen1 and Benjamin Schneider2
Abstract
Theory and research on service climate are synthesized, and an extensive agenda for future research is proposed. The service
climate construct is first differentiated from conceptually related but distinct constructs, such as job satisfaction, service culture,
and service orientation. Then a framework is presented based on prior research that displays service climate’s antecedents and
consequences and the linkages among them. The synthesis draws heavily upon organizational behavior/human resource manage-
ment (OB/HRM), but service climate has also received significant interdisciplinary attention. In particular, past work has integrated
OB/HRM’s focus on the internal organization and marketing’s focus on the external world of the customer. The future research
agenda includes further specification of the framework’s variables and linkages (e.g., the relative roles of individual and contextual
attributes in creating service climate) as well as recommended research methods (e.g., profile analysis to assess interactions
among multiple climates in a setting). Finally, the utility of the service climate framework for analyzing four key issues in service
management is demonstrated: service infusion in manufacturing; the cocreation of value; sustainable competitive advantage; and
the fostering of additional interdisciplinary research.
Keywords
service climate, service quality, linkage research, customer experiences, interdisciplinary research
Service climate is employees’ shared sense of the service qual- only leadership and HR practices as antecedents and fails to
ity—focused policies, practices and procedures they experience include other practices, such as marketing and operations, that
and the service quality emphasis they observe in behaviors that are also antecedents to a service climate. In addition, the future
are rewarded, supported, and expected (Schneider, White, and implications for service climate theory and research are limited
Paul 1998). The topic is interesting to both academics and manag- largely to their model’s test results.
ers. Service climate theory and research emphasize that these The service climate framework in Figure 1 reveals there are
employee experiences are reflected in customer reports of service known antecedents of service climate (leadership issues,
quality (Bowen and Pugh 2009), customer satisfaction (Dean human resource management [HRM] practices, and systems
2004), customer loyalty (Liao and Chuang 2004), and indir- support, e.g., operations, marketing, and information technol-
ectly—through customer satisfaction—in a firm’s market value ogy [IT], for those who serve customers) and important organi-
(Schneider et al. 2009b). zational consequences of service climate found in the variety of
This article aims to summarize guiding theory and existing customer experiences shown (quality, satisfaction, and
research on service climate’s antecedents and consequences loyalty). The framework in Figure 1 also indicates there are
and the various linkages among them (see the framework in important foundations (subsumed under employee engage-
Figure 1). This work synthesizes thinking and research from ment) that must exist in organizations for a service climate to
individual articles across multiple disciplines as well as develop. The framework presents evidence-based moderators
reviews the relationship between internal and external linkages of the service climate–customer experience link that both
in service settings (Brown and Lam 2008; Dean 2004; Hong researchers and practicing managers will find useful. These
et al. 2013). Brown and Lam (2008) conducted a meta- moderators identify boundary conditions for the link of interest,
analysis of linkages between employee satisfaction, customer
satisfaction, and perceived service quality. In that article, ser-
vice climate is mentioned as one of the three conceptual models This manuscript was accepted under the editorship of Dr. Katherine Lemon.
1
that can help frame the overall relationship between employee Thunderbird School of Global Management, Phoenix, AZ, USA
2
and customer variables. Dean (2004) includes service climate CEB Valtera, Tucson, AZ, USA
only as 1 of the 11 ‘‘organizational features’’ that can play a
Corresponding Author:
role in linking organizational and customer variables. Hong Benjamin Schneider, CEB Valtera, 6177 N. Via De La Tortola, Tucson, AZ
et al. (2013) offer an excellent meta-analysis focusing explicitly 85718, USA.
on service climate; yet, their service climate model includes Email: [email protected]
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6 Journal of Service Research 17(1)
Service Behaviors
as Mediators
In-role behavior
Antecedents of Service Climate Customer-focused
A “positive” and “strong” shared OCBs
Service Climate perception that policies, Customer Experiences
Leadership practices, and procedures, as Quality
HRM practices well as the behaviors that are Satisfaction
Systems support from rewarded, supported, and Loyalty
Operations, Marketing, expected, focus on service (see
IT, etc. Table 2). Moderators of the
Service Climate–
Customer
Experiences Link
Customer
A Foundation of Contact/personal
Employee Engagement service
Resources Intangibility
Job characteristics Interdependence
Fair treatment/trust Internal service
quality
Figure 1. A service climate framework.
suggesting conditions under which an investment in service cli- strategic focus—a climate for safety (Zohar 2000) or a climate
mate may be more or less useful. for service (Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton 1980). Service
This article also presents a broad set of suggestions for future climate, again, is the shared sense people who work for an orga-
research to further specify, validate, and expand the framework. nization have, where policies and procedures, and the expected
For example, we discuss the need for improved specification of and rewarded employee behaviors, emphasize service excel-
the role leaders play in creating service climate; the conceptua- lence (Schneider, White, and Paul 1998).
lization of ‘‘bundles’’ of HRM practices—together with other
organizational practices—in creating service climates; measures
and methods for studying variables in the framework; and explo-
Key Differences Between Service Climate and
ration of causal priorities in understanding internal organiza- Related Constructs
tional and external customer relationships. Service climate is conceptually related but distinct from sev-
A third goal is to demonstrate a service climate framework’s eral other constructs (see Table 1). The distinctions are in
utility in analyzing key contemporary issues in service manage- terms of the constructs being generic or contextually service
ment: an overall service orientation in manufacturing (Gebauer specific in focus; evaluative or descriptive in assessment; and
et al. 2012), the cocreation of value (Hibbert, Winklhofer, and individual or collective/aggregate in the level of analysis. Ser-
Temerak 2012), and the potential relationship between service vice climate is contextually service specific, descriptive, and
climate and sustainable competitive advantage (Ployhart, Van collective. In contrast, job satisfaction is generic, evaluative,
Iddekinge, and MacKenzie 2011). We also suggest that service and individual. Organizational culture and organizational cli-
climate research offers an exemplar of how to stimulate inter- mate have a generic focus, though they are aggregated and
disciplinary research in the service management field. descriptive as is the organizational service orientation mea-
sure (SERV*OR) of Lytle, Hom and Mokwa (1999). Individ-
ual service orientation is, of course, individually focused
The Service Climate Construct without an assessment of context, and aggregated customer
Before elaborating the framework, we will first review the mean- orientation that does focus on the context is another term for
ing of service climate as developed in prior theory and research. service climate (e.g., Ployhart, Weekley, and Ramsey 2009).
The generic climate construct flows from the Gestalt psychology In short, if the construct and measure are descriptive and focus
of Lewin (1936), which emphasizes how our perceptions of the on the aggregate on the collective service emphasis of the
whole are influenced by the elements we perceive. The overall context, it is service climate.
sense or meaning people construe from the patterns of their indi-
vidual experiences and behaviors they observe in social settings
constitutes the climate of the setting (Lewin, Lippitt, and White
Two Key Facets of Service Climate in Prior Research
1939; Schneider, Ehrhart, and Macey 2011). As climate research The ‘‘Positiveness’’ of Service Climate. The positiveness of climate
evolved, Schneider (1975) advocated that the construct should in a setting, also termed service climate level, is the mean of
refer to a climate for something; that climate should have a the service climate survey items on employee perceptions of

Bowen and Schneider 7
Table 1. Service Climate and Related Constructs.
Construct/Variable Definition
Service Climate Description of what happens in people’s work units with regard to the service-focused policies, practices, and
procedures they experience as well as the behaviors they observe being rewarded, supported, and expected
(Schneider, White, and Paul 1998); see Table 2 for a representative measure of service climate
Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is determined by people’s evaluation of what they feel they receive from their job. Measures of
job satisfaction are evaluative in nature, focusing on affect toward what was received or experienced
regarding such issues as pay, promotion opportunities, supervision, and so forth (Spector 1997); such
measures are neither focused on service nor on customer experiences
Organizational Climate In contrast to measures of service climate, measures of generic organizational climate have typically focused on
the general nature of job attributes, supervisory style, interpersonal relationships, and the nature and fairness
of reward systems. In combination, these measures yield what would appropriately be called a climate for
employee well-being (Schneider, Ehrhart, and Macey 2011)
Organizational Culture/ Organizational culture concerns the basic assumptions and values that guide organizational action as
Service Culture transmitted implicitly and explicitly to newcomers through myths, stories, and socialization tactics.
Organizational culture emerges over time and becomes more or less fixed as a function of success; the more
success the organization has, the more fixed it becomes (Martin 2002; Schein 2010). Climate attributes
(polices and routines) may emerge from culture, making it a more distal correlate of customer experiences.
To our knowledge, there is no empirical research on service culture
Service Orientation: Individual Service orientation is an individual’s willingness to treat coworkers and customers with courtesy,
consideration, and tact; it includes perceptiveness regarding customer needs and the ability to communicate
accurately and pleasantly (Frei and McDaniel 1998). Such individual predispositions can be aggregated to unit
and organizational levels, producing customer orientation competencies at these higher levels of analysis
(Ployhart, Weekely, and Ramsey 2009)
Service Organizational service orientation is an organization-wide embracement of a basic set of relatively enduring
Orientation:Organizational organizational policies, practices, and procedures intended to support and reward service-giving behaviors
that create and deliver ‘‘service excellence.’’ Lytle, Hom, and Mokwa’s (1998) definition of organizational
‘‘service orientation’’ is almost identical to the definition of service climate presented earlier
See also Homburg, Hoyer, and Fastnacht (2002) on service-oriented business strategy measures
Table 2. Service Climate Survey Items.
How would you rate the job knowledge and skills of employees in your business to deliver superior quality service?
How would you rate efforts to measure and track the quality of service in your business?
How would you rate the recognition and rewards employees receive for the delivery of superior service?
How would you rate the overall quality of service provided by your business?
How would you rate the leadership shown by management in your business in supporting the service quality effort?
How would you rate the effectiveness of our communications efforts to both employees and customers?
How would you rate the tools, technology, and other resources provided to employees to support the delivery of superior quality
service?
#
Source. From Schneider, White, and Paul (1998) slightly modified American Psychological Association Used by permission.
service-focused practices and rewards. For example, a fre- satisfaction, and loyalty), hereafter called customer experi-
quently used measure of service climate is shown in Table 2 ences (Dean 2004; Schneider and White 2004; Yagil 2008).
from Schneider, White, and Paul (1998); see also the use of this
measure by Chuang and Liao (2010), de Jong, Ruyter, and The ‘‘Strength’’ of the Service Climate. A strong climate is one in
Lemmink (2004), Dietz, Pugh, and Wiley (2004), and Schnei- which employees have consensus on what the climate is. Low var-
der et al. (2009b). The items all focus on service quality and are iance in employee perception of climate attributes reveals a set-
empirically and appropriately intercorrelated, and the aggre- ting’s high climate strength. Research indicates that climate
gate scores across employees within settings reveal (a) a main strength moderates the relationship between climate level and
effect for the units studied (such as branch banks, supermar- customer experiences (Schneider, Salvaggio, and Subirats 2002).
kets, companies) on service climate and (b) significant within The research shows that service climate positiveness, a high
setting agreement across respondents (Schneider and White mean level, is significantly related to customer experiences. In
2004). Research exists with other measures of service climate addition, when the climate perceptions reveal strength, or low
as well (Borucki and Burke 1999; Gebauer, Edvardsson, and variance, the relationship between service climate and customer
Bjurklo 2010a; Johnson 1996), yielding robust and, depending experiences is significantly higher. The research on service cli-
on the outcome studied, stronger (Hong et al. 2013) links to cus- mate relationships, overall, is detailed next in the presentation
tomers’ perceptions of service experiences (i.e., service quality, of a synthesized service climate framework.

A Service Climate Framework serve customers, and Berry (1995) highlighted the role of
inspirational motivation in service leadership to create a ser-
Figure 1 reveals our assessment of what the research literature
vice culture, if not climate. More recently, Walumbwa, Hart-
has established vis-à-vis service climate and its antecedents,
nell, and Oke (2010), in a study of seven multinationals
foundation, and most immediate (mediated and moderated)
operating in Kenya, found that servant leadership, which con-
customer experience consequences. This framework has not
sists of both inspirational and moral components, linked
been subjected to a single comprehensive modeling effort, but
directly to a service climate.
the elements in it have been studied; the bivariate, and in some
Finally, it is not only the formal leader who affects service
cases multivariate, linkages shown have been validated. In
climate. For example, Lam and Schaubroeck (2000), in a true
essence, Figure 1 proposes that with the support of HRM prac-
experimental design, showed that training bank branch opinion
tices, leadership, and other systems (e.g., operations, market-
leaders (vs. randomly selected tellers) how to promote a service
ing, IT), as well as the engagement of employees in their
quality ‘‘attitude’’ yielded significant improvements in teller
work, a strong and positive service climate can be built in orga-
effectiveness of all tellers in a branch when rated by customers
nizations. Such a climate, in turn, yields customer service beha-
and tellers themselves.
vior that produces positive customer experiences (service
In a recent meta-analysis, Hong et al. (2103) found that
quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty) and the
service-oriented leadership appeared to have stronger relation-
financial consequences (increased revenues, market value) that
ships with service climate than did more generic forms of lead-
follow (Lovelock and Wirtz 2004). The framework also reveals
ership, but they did not distinguish between the various forms
existence of mediators and moderators of the link between ser-
of generic leadership as we have here: transformational/vision-
vice climate and customer experiences. The following points
ary leadership, attention to mundane details, and more informal
present in some detail the elements and linkages shown in
sources of leadership. These different forms of leadership may
Figure 1, reading from left to right.
all contribute differently to service climate formation when
combined with the service-focused leadership that is proxi-
mally important for a service climate.
Antecedents of Service Climate In sum, leadership behaviors are central to the creation and
Leadership. Service climate research establishes effects for three maintenance of a service climate. An important finding from
contrasting leadership emphases: management of the ‘‘basics’’ this review suggests leaders’ committed attention to everyday
versus transformational leadership; general versus service- mundane tasks may be as impactful as their stated service
oriented leadership; and formal versus informal leadership. vision and generic motivational inspiration. The impact of this
On the first, service climate research has clearly shown the per- dual focus is evidenced in Walker, Smither, and Waldman’s
sistent management of the basics and endless details create a (2008) study of bank branch leadership. Their measure of lead-
positive and strong climate for service. For example, studies ership included survey items having to do with transforma-
(Salvaggio et al. 2007; Schneider et al. 2005) indicate leaders tional leadership (e.g., establishment of a vision) as well as
who demonstrate commitment to improving service quality— items such as encouraging the unique skills of employees and
by setting high standards for it, recognizing it, removing obsta- resolving differences within the team. They tracked changes
cles to it, modeling it in their own behavior, and ensuring the over time in this comprehensive measure of bank branch lead-
availability of the resources needed to do it—create a service ership for 68 branch managers and showed that changes in
climate. those linked significantly through growth modeling to conco-
These leadership behaviors may sound mundane compared to mitant changes in customer satisfaction ratings. They interpret
the transformational and visionary. Yet, Heskett et al. (1994) this finding as resulting from the positive service climate such
observed that the service leaders they studied held a unique view leaders create.
of leadership, one that emphasized both visionary attributes and
the ‘‘importance of the mundane’’ (p. 164). Netemeyer, Max- HRM Practices. The intermediate linkages between HRM prac-
ham, and Lichtenstein (2010), for example, showed that small tices and organizational outcomes have not been well under-
retail operations managers who worked best at mundane admin- stood (Ferris et al. 1999). Two intervening and interrelated
istrative tasks (store merchandising, managing their time well, theoretical perspectives help explain this process (Bowen and
opening/closing procedures) had more satisfied customers. Ostroff 2004). The first perspective is the social context model
Relevant research also exists on the more visionary aspects (Ferris et al. 1998), which asserts that packages or bundles of
of leadership with regard to service climate. For example, Liao HRM practices determine organizational climate. In service
and Chuang (2007) found that store-level transformational climate research, this is exemplified by Rogg et al. (2001),
leadership (charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual sti- who, in a sample of 385 franchise dealerships, found HRM
mulation, and individualized consideration) was positively practices were mediated by service climate in relationship with
associated with store-level service climate and that service customer experiences. Chuang and Liao (2010) replicated these
climate moderated leadership’s effects on employee service findings, showing that high-performance-oriented HRM work
performance. In a similar vein, Wieseke et al. (2011) show how practices are significant correlates of a service climate, which,
the leader’s own motivation influences employee motivation to in turn, relate to employee service performance. In addition,

Hong et al. (2013) found that packages of service-oriented engaged in their work. Schneider et al. (2009a) suggested that a
HRM practices had stronger relationships with service climate positive service climate exists when the foundation for it first
than the generic, high-performance practices did. exists in the engagement employees experience in their work
Second, the competencies perspective (Ployhart, Van Idde- and work world. Engaged employees are more willing to do the
kinge, and MacKenzie 2011) indicates that appropriate personal- kinds of things a service climate asks of them, and, similarly, a
ity and ability attributes achieved through staff selection and service climate is more easily built on a foundation of engaged
training produce people who collectively may constitute the ele- employees (Schneider et al. 2009a). Indeed, Salanova, Agut,
ments of a service climate. Ployhart, Van Iddekinge, and MacK- and Peiró (2005) proposed that employee engagement is neces-
enzie (2011), for example, show through growth modeling in sary as a foundation for a service climate and revealed empiri-
238 chain restaurants that aggregate improvement in employees’ cally that employee engagement affects customer experiences
service-focused personality and ability also improves training through service climate.
and experience—which, in turn, produces changes in restaurant Employee engagement concerns the feelings of vigor, ded-
performance and effectiveness. We infer this happens because ication, and absorption (Schaufeli, Bakker, and Salanova
service competencies are an important element of a service cli- 2006) that employees have about their work and work world
mate. That is, it has long been known that hiring people with a and the energetic behaviors they display for the good of the
service orientation produces higher levels of service behavior company (Albrecht 2010). This issue of energy contrasts to job
(Frei and McDaniel 1998). Indeed, Ployhart, Weekley, and Ram- satisfaction, which connotes more satiation and comfort than
sey (2009) showed that positive changes in the aggregate service energy and which research shows is both conceptually and
orientation of employees in an organization drove unit effective- empirically different (Christian, Garza, and Slaughter 2011).
ness over time. In sum, the relationship between service-relevant As shown in Figure 1, creation of employee engagement
HRM practices and customer experiences appears to be relies on the following inputs: the resources that support and
mediated by the climate those HRM practices produce. facilitate people’s work (Schaufeli and Bakker 2004), the chal-
lenging and involving work they do (Coelho and Augusto
Systems Support From Operations, Marketing, IT, etc. In their com- 2010; Kahn 2010), and the fairness and resulting trust (Li and
prehensive assessment of service climate, Cooil et al. (2009) Cropanzano 2009) they experience (Macey et al. 2009). In ser-
note that service climate consists of a variety of interrelated vice settings, Bowen, Gilliland, and Folger (1999) reasoned
parts, including features of the context other than HRM, lead- that when employees feel fairly treated, they would feel more
ership, or other employee-focused issues. Schneider’s (1980, emotionally committed to their organization and would exert
pp. 58–59) early study of service climate revealed the impact extra effort to behave conscientiously and altruistically toward
of various functions besides HRM on service climate. The customers; this behavior, in turn, results in customers feeling
study, in which branch climate was significantly linked to cus- fairly treated. Studies have confirmed this hypothesis (Master-
tomer service quality experiences, included the following son 2001; Maxham and Netemeyer 2003; Maxham, Nete-
items: ‘‘The employees sent by Personnel are not able to do meyer, and Lichtenstein 2008; Yagil 2008), and very recently
their jobs well’’; ‘‘Having all customer records in a central some direct links between employee engagement and customer
location makes it easier on the branch’’; ‘‘We are well prepared engagement have also been implied (Brodie et al. 2011).
by Marketing for the introduction of new products and ser-
vices’’; and ‘‘Equipment and machinery in the branch are well
serviced and rarely break down’’ (pp. 58—59).
Service Behaviors as Mediators
In a later study, Schneider, White, and Paul (1998) showed
the reported internal service quality that service delivery people In-Role and Customer-Focused Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
received from various functions (IT, HRM, operations) was (OCBs). The literature suggests service climate does not produce
directly correlated with the service climate they experienced. by itself the customer experiences of interest but that employee
Recently, Ehrhart et al. (2011), in a study of branch banks in service-oriented behavior, as a mediator variable, tangibly
Jamaica, showed that internal service quality from these other yields customer experiences. For example, Liao and Chuang
functions not only had a main effect on service climate but also (2004) found that store service climate is positively associated
moderated the relationship between service climate and cus- with individual employees’ in-role service performance (e.g.,
tomer experiences; we will have more to say on moderators later. finds out what customers need; explains the features and bene-
For now, it is sufficient to note that an established link exists fits of the service). Similarly, Borucki and Burke (1999) found
between the systems support that front line employees of service a relationship between service climate and customer-focused
facilities’ experience and the service climate they perceive. service performance, which reinforces the research on
customer-focused OCB by Bettencourt and his colleagues (Bet-
tencourt and Brown 1997; Bettencourt, Gwinner, and Meuter
A Foundation of Employee Engagement 2001). Also, in a study of 56 supermarket departments noted
Figure 1 displays that in addition to leadership’s emphases on earlier, Schneider et al. (2005) found that service climate was
service quality, HRM, and other systems, a service climate significantly linked to customer experiences via customer-
most likely can exist when the employees in an organization are focused OCB. Indeed, a meta-analysis of the consequences of

OCBs linked them to customer experiences (Podsakoff et al. Internal Service Quality. Lastly, as noted earlier, Ehrhart et al.
2009). (2011) found that high internal service quality from corporate
In summary, service climate, as shown in Figure 1, does not functions to local units moderated the relationship between
directly yield customer experiences; it is employee behavior, local service climate and customer experiences. Thus, internal
particularly in the form of customer-focused OCBs, not just gen- service quality from corporate seems to provide the capability
eric OCBs (Chuang and Liao 2010; Macey and Schneider 2005) to deliver the behaviors that local service climate motivates.
but OCBs regarding service behaviors that customers experi- In sum, these moderator variable studies of the service cli-
ence. Research by Salanova, Agut, and Peiró (2005) neatly tied mate–customer experience link indicate caution when conclud-
together service climate as a mediator, employee engagement, ing the link will always exist. This means that boundary
employee service behaviors, and customer experiences (loyalty). conditions, such as customer contact, intangibility, and so forth,
They found that service climate predicted employee service per- may influence the benefits to be achieved with a focus on service
formance, and then customer loyalty, in a study of 114 hotel ser- climate.
vice units (58 hotel front desk units and 56 restaurants) and that
service climate mediated the link between employee engage-
ment and customer experiences. Furthermore, the potential for
Customer Experiences
moderators of the service climate–customer experiences link Significant relationships with direct customer experiences, as
must also be considered—the topic to which we turn next. well as via mediation and moderation, have proven through
research to be a consequence of service climate (See Figure 1).
We use the term customer experiences because some research
Moderators of the Service Climate–Customer
has focused on customer reports of service quality (Schneider
Experiences Link and Bowen 1985), some has focused directly on customer satis-
In addition to mediators of the service climate–customer experi- faction (Schneider et al. 1996), and other research has focused
ences link, a number of moderators of that relationship have on customer loyalty (Salanova, Agut, and Peiró 2005) and all
been identified. Interestingly, this research has been primarily three simultaneously (Liao and Chuang 2004). Of course, there
based on the early conceptualization of the attributes that distin- is vast marketing and consumer behavior literature on the links
guish services from goods (e.g., Lovelock and Wirtz 2004). among these customer experiences (Verhoef et al. 2009), gen-
erally revealing consistently significant correlations among
Customer Contact. Mayer, Ehrhart, and Schneider (2009) and them and the service quality–customer satisfaction–customer
Dietz, Pugh, and Wiley (2004) proposed and found, for example, loyalty causal stream (Lovelock and Wirtz 2004). We use the
that under high customer contact conditions, service climate is term customer experiences to represent this interrelated set of
more strongly related to customer experiences. In the Dietz, Pugh, robustly correlated constructs.
and Wiley project, the self-reported frequency of customer visits Much of the evidence for the relationship between service
to branch banks was a significant moderator while for the Mayer, climate and customer experiences comes from what has been
Ehrhart, and Schneider project, the level of customer contact was termed linkage research (Pugh, Dietz, Wiley, and Brooks
rated for different departments in supermarkets (e.g., bakery vs. 2002; Wiley 1996). This research has firmly established that
pharmacy vs. groceries). Hong et al. (2013) explored the form service climate relates significantly to customer experiences.
of customer contact in their meta-analysis, contrasting findings As noted earlier, several summaries of this linkage reveal
regarding the linkage between the effects for personal services robust and consistent relationships (Bowen and Pugh 2009;
(directed at the person, as in a bank) with those for nonpersonal Brown and Lam 2008; Dean 2004; Hong et al. 2013; Keining-
services (directed at possessions of the person, as in auto repair) ham and Aksoy 2009; Schneider and White 2004; Yagil 2008).
and found a significantly stronger effect for personal services. The effect sizes for these relationships range widely as a
function of the sample and sample size, the inclusion of med-
Intangibility. Mayer, Ehrhart, and Schneider (2009) also found iators between service climate and customer experiences, and
that the more intangible the service offering is, the stronger the the inclusion of potential moderators of that relationship. For
link is between service climate and customer experiences. example, in Schneider et al. (2009b), the direct correlation was
.48 between service climate and customer satisfaction across
Interdependence. Gittell (2002) proposed that service climate 36 companies, with customer satisfaction serving as a mediator
can be a mechanism to provide the conditions needed for coor- of the service climate–market value relationship. However, in
dination (e.g., in health care teams), and she found that high Schneider et al. (2005), the correlation was .04 on a sample
interdependence leads to stronger links between service cli- of 56 supermarket departments; but (a) the service climate–cus-
mate and customer experiences. Mayer, Ehrhart, and Schneider tomer satisfaction relationship was significantly mediated by
(2009) replicated these findings. In addition, in self-managed service-related OCBs and (b) Mayer, Ehrhart, and Schneider
teams, where interdependence may figure prominently, de (2009) showed that under high contact, high intangibility, and
Jong, Ruyter, and Lemmink (2004) found that service climate’s high interdependence, the correlations were all in the .25 range
effect on service quality was significantly higher for nonroutine and statistically significant. Thus, in the complex world of real
services. organizations, as we noted earlier, expecting the service climate

Table 3. Summary of Established Relationships in the Service Climate Framework.
Service Climate Facets

Strong service climates (climates where the variance in perceptions of service climate is small) magnify the positive level of service climate
(climates where there is a high overall mean on the service climate measure, such as in Table 2) such that service climate is then more
strongly reflected in customer experiences (Schneider, Salvaggio, and Subirats 2002)
Antecedents of service climate
Leadership on mundane issues of generic support and support for service (Salvaggio et al. 2007); transformational leadership (Liao and
Chuang 2007); service-oriented leadership even more so than general leadership (Hong et al. 2013); and role modeling by opinion leaders
(Lam and Schaubroeck 2000) favorably influence service climate
HRM practices that yield service competencies (including customer orientation) favorably influence service climate (Ployhart, Van
Iddekinge, and MacKenzie 2011; Rogg et al. 2001)
General HRM high-performance work practices (Chuang and Liao 2010) favorably influence service climate; service-oriented HRM
practices have a stronger influence than general HRM practices (Hong et al. 2013)
Other systems’ support to service providers from, for example, marketing, HR, operations, IT (Cooil et al. 2009; Schneider 1980;
Schneider, White, and Paul 1998) can favorably influence service climate
A foundation of employee engagement
Engagement is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a service climate, and service climate mediates the relationship between
engagement and customer experiences (Salanova, Agut, and Peiró 2005)
Research indicates the following characteristics help build employee engagement:
Resources needed to do the work (Schaufeli and Bakker 2004)
Job characteristics that present challenge and involvement (Coelho and Augusto 2010)
Fair treatment yielding the trust that promotes engagement behavior (Li and Cropanzano 2009)
Service behaviors as mediators
In-role service behaviors (e.g., identifying customer needs) mediate the service climate–customer experience relationship (Hong et al.
2013; Liao and Chuang 2007)
Customer-focused OCBs, more so than generic OCBs, intervene as a mediator variable between service climate and customer
experiences (Podsakoff et al. 2009; Schneider et al. 2005)
Moderators of the service climate–customer experiences link
Higher levels of each of the following are associated with a stronger service climate–customer experience link (see Hong et al. 2013 and
Mayer, Ehrhart, and Schneider 2009):
Customer contact frequency and/or personal services
Intangibility of the service
Interdependence level required among service providers
Internal service quality from corporate support services (IT, operations, marketing)
Customer experiences
Various direct and indirect significant effects of service climate on customer experiences (service quality, customer satisfaction, and
customer loyalty; see also Verhoef et al. 2009) have been found (Dean 2004; Hong et al. 2013; Yagil 2008). For example, the typical direct
effect for customer satisfaction, the most researched service climate experience, is 0.25 (Hong et al. 2013). These experiences are
reflected in positive financial consequences for organizations (Hong et al. 2013; Schneider et al. 2009b)
Note. HRM ¼ human resource management; OCBs ¼ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors; IT ¼ information technology.
relationship with customer experiences to always be direct and specification of variables and linkages, followed by recom-
simple underestimates the many variables simultaneously at mended measures and methods.
work. On the other hand, a recent meta-analysis of this linkage
(Hong et al. 2013) reveals a typical and significant effect of
.25 as the usual relationship (across 23 studies). Antecedents of Service Climate
Table 3 presents a summary of what the existing research Bundle More Than HR Practices for Theory and Research. HRM
reveals about service climate, its antecedents, foundations, and theory and research have increasingly emphasized how
its direct, mediated, and moderated consequences in customer HRM systems of practices (e.g., Bowen and Ostroff 2004) or
experiences. Although a rich body of evidence, further devel- HRM ‘‘bundles’’ of practices (Subramony 2009), as opposed
opment of the existing research can be guided by the proposed to individual practices, influence organizational outcomes and
future research agenda that follows. through which mediating variables. For example, Subramony’s
(2009) meta-analysis found that HRM bundles have signifi-
cantly greater effects on outcomes than do their constituent
An Agenda for Future Service Climate
individual practices. In research specifically in a service
Theory and Research setting, the study by Chuang and Liao (2010) cited earlier and
Here we build on the findings in Figure 1 and Table 3 to the Hong et al. (2013) meta-analysis showed that high-
suggest future theory building and research on service clim- performance work systems (a bundle of HRM practices) facil-
ate. Table 4 summarizes the proposed agenda for further itate a climate of concern for both customers and employees.

Table 4. An Agenda for Future Theory Building and Research on Service Climate.
Antecedents of service climate

Bundle more than HRM practices for theory and research (HRM and marketing, operations, IT, etc. and the servicescape); assess the
‘‘strength’’ of service climate they create
Conceptualize and measure individual-level attributes (e.g., employees’ customer orientation) in addition to context-level attributes (e.g.,
leadership), including their interaction
Measure the effects of leadership from all levels, not just senior leadership
A foundation of employee engagement
Conceptualize and measure employee engagement as a strategically focused construct
Service behaviors as mediators
Identify and measure in-role behavior and OCBs that map to the SERVQUAL model—reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy
(Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1985)
Contrast employee job satisfaction and service climate as the correlates of the mediating behaviors that yield positive customer
experiences
Moderators of the service climate–customer experience link
Consider cross-cultural influences in addition to the oft-studied ‘‘service type’’ moderators
Assess the strength of B2B linkages relative to those in B2C
Study and model service climate itself as a moderator as well as a main effect
Possible correlates of customer experiences other than those associated with service climate
Assess the following factors’ influence relative to service climate’s on customer experiences:
The other ‘‘Ps’’ of marketing (price, place, promotion, package)
Differences in customer expectations, needs, and cocreation capabilities
Service climate measurement
Combine generic and customized approaches to climate measurement
Include managers as raters of service climate—in addition to customers and employees—and interpret the differences in ratings
Methods that treat the service climate–customer experience link as part of a natural system
Assess multiple content and process climates simultaneously for their potential complementarity or competitive interaction
Use multivariate techniques (e.g., profile analysis and multivariate partial least squares (MPLS), not just linear prediction models, to assess
the complexity and consequences of multiple climates
Address causality by estimating models with longitudinal data
Expansion of the service climate framework
Specify and measure the service climate–financial performance link (see Hong et al. 2013; Schneider et al. 2009b)
Note. HRM ¼ human resource management; IT ¼ information technology; OCBs ¼ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors.
Indeed, Bowen and Ostroff (2004) theorized that when the received less attention; but when such research is accomplished, it
overall mix of HRM practices was high in attributes including reveals significant validity for such individual constructs. For
visibility, relevance, consistency, and validity, then the climate example, Salvaggio et al. (2007) found that managers’ positive
will be not only positive but also strong. core self-evaluations predicted their units’ service climate; de
But a focus only on HRM practices is limiting because so Jong, de Ruyter, and Lemmink (2004) found that individual team
many other practices and issues influence employee experiences members’ tolerance for self-management, flexibility, and inter-
and their likely perceptions of service climate level and the and intra-team support related to team service climate; and Auh
strength of that service climate as well. Thus, research also indi- et al. (2011) found that employees who are conscientious, open
cates that operational and IT (Chase and Haynes 2000; Davis to experience, and agreeable perceive their service climate more
and Heineke 2005) and marketing (Lovelock and Wirtz 2004; positively. These results, combined with the earlier reported
Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler 2005) tactics also influence ser- results on customer orientation at the individual level of analysis
vice climate, as do the very physical attributes of the workplace (Frei and McDaniel 1998) and the aggregated levels of analysis
in the form of servicescapes (Bitner 2000; Parish, Berry, and (Ployhart, Weekley, and Ramsey 2009), suggest these people are
Lam 2008). Following the logic of Bowen and Ostroff (2004), the ones most likely to display the highest levels of customer-
we propose that the more the overall bundle of service-focused focused OCB that a service climate facilitates. In other words,
tactics in HRM, marketing, operations, IT, and the servicescape it is likely the combination of the right individuals and the right
are high in visibility, consistency, validity, and so forth, the context that is important. A few such studies exist (Chuang and
stronger the service climate will be. Liao 2010), but more research could prove both academically
interesting and practically useful.
Conceptualize and Measure Individual-Level Attributes in Addition to
Context-Level Attributes, Including Their Interaction. Both aca- Measure the Effects of Leadership From All Levels, Not Just Senior
demics and practitioners have a contextual-attribute bias on cre- Leadership. There remains a tendency to focus on the role of
ating service climates (see Table 2). Research on the employee senior leadership in shaping the organization’s social context,
attributes and behaviors that matter most for a service climate has that is, climate and culture (Schein 2010). We encourage

additional research on leadership in all manifestations (mun- as additional possible links between service climate and cus-
dane, visionary)—exercised at all levels of the organization. tomer experiences.
Multilevel work on service leadership could borrow from
research on the related construct of market orientation by Lam, Contrast Service Climate and Employee Satisfaction as Correlates of
Kraus, and Ahearne (2010) and the work on safety climate by the Mediating Behaviors. The belief that ‘‘satisfied employees
Zohar and Luria (2005). Both cases revealed via hierarchical lin- make for satisfied customers’’ acquired widespread popular
ear modeling that senior leadership actions and middle manager acceptance from the ‘‘satisfaction mirror,’’ as presented in the
actions each contributed significantly and in combination to the ‘‘service profit chain’’ (Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger 1997).
experiences of frontline employees (Lam, Kraus, and Ahearne Reviews of this relationship have reported conflicting conclu-
2010) and safety/accidents rates (Zohar and Luria 2005). sions, with Dean (2004) stating the relationship is not unequivo-
cally supported, but Brown and Lam (2008) concluding from
their meta-analysis that it is generally true. Specific recent stud-
A Foundation of Employee Engagement ies of the link also reveal a significant relationship (Evanschitzky
et al. 2011; Grandey, Goldberg, and Pugh 2011), one originally
Conceptualize and Measure Employee Engagement as a Strategically
found by Pickle and Friedlander (1967). Our view is that the
Focused Construct. In some ways, employee engagement has
satisfaction mirror is generally true; but as Keiningham and
become a popularized term for the even more generic concept
Aksoy (2009, p. 69) state, it is not the whole truth: ‘‘ . . . if it
of employee attitudes (Macey and Schneider 2008). It would
were that simple, then the primary objective of every company
be useful to make engagement more strategic in focus, just like
would be to make their employees ecstatic.’’
the organizational climate construct evolved from generic ‘‘cli-
Of course, these findings also do not answer the question of
mate’’ to a focus on strategically relevant behaviors and out-
whether employee satisfaction or service climate best predicts
comes—like service. We can see the development of ‘‘service
service performance and customer experiences. For example,
engagement’’ measures that build on the existing notions of the
Way, Sturman, and Raab (2010) found for Food and Beverages
demands-resources generic model of engagement presented ear-
hotel managers a significantly stronger correlation between ser-
lier (Schaufeli and Bakker 2004). Again, focusing energy on ser-
vice climate and job performance than for job satisfaction; and
vice might enhance the probability of service-focused OCB and
Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton (1980) showed that
thus strengthen the OCB mediator between service climate and
employee job satisfaction did not significantly relate to any 1
customer experiences.
of the 11 different facets of bank branch customer experiences
(with branch administration, overall service quality, teller cour-
tesy, etc.), but that branches in which employees reported an
Service Behaviors as Mediators enthusiastic orientation to serving customers correlated signifi-
Identify and Measure In-Role Performance and OCBs That Map to cantly with 8 of the 11 customer reports (see table 3, p. 261).
the SERVQUAL Model. Service behaviors are established as a We propose employee satisfaction is the less direct correlate
link between service climate and customer experiences but of the link to customer experiences and perhaps serves as another
underspecified in theory and research. One conceptual model foundation for service climate. Our logic is that satisfaction
useful for suggesting potential additional mediators for study infers satiation and contentment (Warr 2007) rather than motiva-
is the service quality framework suggested by Parasuraman, tion and behavior, which service climate does infer, making the
Zeithaml, and Berry (1985): reliability of performance, assur- latter more proximal to customer experiences.
ances offered, responsiveness to customer requests and/or
requirements, and empathic behaviors (showing concern and
Moderators of the Service Climate–Customer Experience
interest). There are examples of prior research on employee–
customer relationships, in general, that indicate this could be
Link
a fruitful approach. Grandey, Goldberg, and Pugh (2011) found Consider Cross-Cultural Influences in Addition to Oft-Studied Service-
that service employee responsiveness partially mediated the Type Moderators. Cooil et al. (2009) recommended that vari-
relationship between employee and customer satisfaction. ables such as industry and cultural effects should be included
Homburg, Wieseke, and Bornemann (2009) found that ‘‘cus- to assess more fully the robustness of service climate effects.
tomer need knowledge’’—accurately identifying customers’ The relevance of culture is demonstrated by Chan, Yim, and
hierarchy of needs—mediated between individual employee Lam (2010) who found the effects of customer participation
and organizational context in understanding customer experi- on value creation in financial service firms depended on the
ences. Wieseke, Gelgenmuller, and Kraus (2012) showed that cultural values (power-distance and individualism-collecti-
people who report themselves to be empathic have customers vism) of both employees and customers in Hong Kong versus
who are more satisfied and, interestingly, that when empathic the United States. In an analysis of cross-cultural expansion,
employees interact with empathic customers, the customers are Hallowell, Bowen, and Knoop (2002) reported that France’s
even more satisfied. We thus propose that behaviors suggested higher power-distance required adjustments to the employee
in the marketing and consumer behavior literatures that influ- empowerment culture of the George V Hotel when it opened
ence customer experiences (Verhoef et al. 2009) be studied in Paris. Similarly, Schumann et al. (2010) found cross-

cultural differences in the ways customers learn to trust their For instance, one must consider the relative importance of
service providers. Indeed, regional dialect differences have price, advertising, physical features of a service setting, and
also been found to have effects on customer satisfaction (Mai even diversity of customer expectations, needs, and capabilities
and Hoffmann 2011). In short, more conceptual and empirical to help coproduce the service they receive as potential contri-
work in this domain is needed in our era of increasing multina- butors to customer experiences. Indeed, comparisons of such
tional service delivery. effects and their potential interactions would prove useful.
Assess the Strength of Business-to-Business (B2B) Linkages Relative to

Those in Business to Consumer (B2C). It is important to note that all
Service Climate Measurement
of the studies reported in this review and synthesis have been Combine Generic and Customized Approaches for Service Climate
done in retail consumer service businesses but that research Measures. A generic service climate measure is exemplified
is also needed in B2B settings to ensure the same relationships by the measure shown in Table 2 from Schneider, White, and
hold—and if not, why not. We propose the relationships will Paul (1998), which was built on a content analysis of focus
continue to hold at a minimum and, in fact, might be enhanced: groups (Schneider, Wheeler, and Cox 1992) run in various ser-
B2B contexts establish stronger relationships (Gutek 1995) vice companies. Also, SERV*OR (Lytle, Hom, and Mokwa
between those who serve and those who receive, and such 1998) was developed using a similar process.
B2B settings enhance the nature of interpersonal and business An alternative approach is to develop a customized measure
dependencies. More broadly, the range of possible moderators specifically validated in a particular company. In Schneider
of the service climate–customer experience link is limited only et al. (1996), regional insurance company agents completed a
by researcher creativity, because at present there is no concep- survey of global organizational climate and service climate
tual scheme for mapping such possibilities. More research is items, and these item responses were then correlated with
obviously needed on this issue. regional customer satisfaction and intent to renew data. The 7
items that correlated most strongly and consistently across four
Study and Model Service Climate as a Moderator as Well as a Main quarters with customer satisfaction and intent to renew became
Effect. Most research has treated service climate as a dependent, the company measure of service climate.
mediator, or direct/mediated antecedent of customer experi- Hong et al. (2103) found that the Schneider, White, and Paul
ences but seldom as a moderator for other correlates of cus- (1998) generic measure was the most widely used measure for
tomer experiences. However, limited research reveals that service climate and that other measures had significantly stron-
service climate is a significant moderator of relationships ger relationships with some outcomes than did that one (self- and
between (1) subordinates’ and supervisors’ emotional exhaus- supervisor-rated performance)—but not for customer ratings of
tion and subordinates’ positive emotional display to customers service performance or customer satisfaction. They recom-
(Lam, Huang, and Janssen 2010), (2) leadership’s effects on mended more research to determine how scale characteristics
employee service performance (Chuang and Liao 2010), (3) and outcome prediction affect the relationship between service
employee psychological capital (efficacy, hope, resilience, and climate measures and the various possible consequences of
optimism) and employee performance (Walumbwa, et al. interest.
2010), (4) procedural justice and commitment to the supervisor Overall, we recommend a combination of generic and cus-
with OCB (Walumbwa, Hartnell, and Oke 2010), and (5) the tomized approaches because it has both the benefits of prior
level of internal support employees receive from different func- academic research and practical relevance to a specific com-
tions and customer experiences (Ehrhart et al. 2011). Not often pany. The addition of company-specific items could enhance
appreciated but worth noting is the fact that whenever a vari- respondents’ acceptance of the survey and yield superior rates
able moderates the service climate–customer experience link, of return, both of which could be useful in practice (Higgs and
it is also true that service climate moderates the other variable Ashworth 1996).
to customer experience link (e.g., the work of Mayer, Ehrhart,
and Schneider 2009). Include Managers as Raters of Service Climate in Addition to
These studies reveal the potential for service climate to Customers and Employees, and Interpret Differences in Ratings.
enhance the effects of other features of the service organization. Dean’s (2004) review recommended incorporating the views
In short, this potential could warrant additional research on the of both managers and employees with those of customers in
effects of service climate as not only a mediator of important linkage research. For example, Netemeyer, Maxham, and Lich-
links to customer experience but also a moderator. tenstein (2010) found that in the small retail organizations they
studied, manager performance and satisfaction correlations
with customer satisfaction were as high (mid-0.50s to mid-
Possible Correlates of Customer Experiences Other Than
0.60s) as those for employee performance and satisfaction.
Service Climate Managers serve as models for employees, and this dynamic
Assess the Ps of Marketing and the Characteristics of Customers for warrants more research on manager ratings of service climate
Their Influence on Service Climate. Obviously, there are variables (Walker, Smither, and Waldman 2008; Walumbwa, Hartnell,
other than those in Figure 1 that link to customer experiences. and Oke 2010; Wieseke et al. 2011); knowing this effect clearly

has practical implications for the use of the service climate indicating the relative weights among the variables of interest.
construct. Cooil et al. showed that hypothesized ‘‘causes’’ of the out-
comes were differentially related to them in complex ways,
suggesting again that service organization effectiveness, gener-
Research Methods That Treat the Service Climate–
ally conceived, will benefit from a complex system’s approach.
Customer Experience Link as Part of a Natural System In short, alternatives to simple linear prediction models exist
Assess Multiple Content and Process Climates Simultaneously for and should be explored, perhaps aiding the understanding of
Their Potential Complementarity or Competitive Interaction. Con- service climate causality issues.
tent climates focus on strategic outcomes (e.g., innovation, ser-
vice), and process climates, for example, focus on fairness and Address Causality by Estimating Models With Longitudinal Data.
ethics. Rarely has more than one focus been studied simultane- The framework shown in Figure 1 is the usual unidirectional
ously. Yet, as Kuenzi and Schminke (2009, p. 706) put it in model moving from left to right. But real organizations are part
their extensive review, ‘‘[E]xploring single climates in isola- of larger systems in which the parts influence each other, mak-
tion is unlikely to be the most productive path to creating a full ing causal priority difficult to establish. For example, Schnei-
and accurate understanding of how work climates affect indi- der, White, and Paul (1998) collected service climate and
vidual and collective outcomes within organizations.’’ They customer experience data for three time periods and showed
note that while different climates may be simultaneously stud- that service climate during the first period was as strongly
ied because they have similar antecedents (leadership, HRM related to customer experiences as the latter were to the former.
practices), such climates (e.g., for sales and for service) can Schneider et al. (2003) reported a similar finding in a study
also compete with each other, and this certainly needs to be across 8 years in which they showed that financial and market
studied. performance predicted employee satisfaction as well as, if not
Process climates, such as fairness and ethics, might consti- better than, employee satisfaction predicted financial and mar-
tute the kind of foundation required for a service climate to ket performance.
be built, contributing to the employee engagement shown in Based on such research, one might erroneously reach the
Figure 1. Walumbwa, Hartnell, and Oke (2010) found that both one-way conclusion that happy customers create positive ser-
service climate and procedural justice (fairness) climate vice climates and that financially successful firms have happy
mediated the relationship between servant leadership and OCB. employees. But in real organizational systems, the parts are in
McKay et al. (2011) found that the diversity climate–customer reciprocal causality, and both variables in the relationships of
satisfaction relationship was strongest when stores in a large interest require attention, especially as the organization devel-
U.S. national retail organization were perceived to have posi- ops over time. The dearth of longitudinal panel–type studies on
tive service climates. The Auh et al. (2011) study found that these important relationships hampers clear conclusions about
employee involvement climate (a process climate) strength systems as they grow, develop, and work, and more such multi-
moderated the employee personality–service climate relation- variate longitudinal panel studies are definitely required.
ship. Simultaneously conceptualizing and studying multiple,
complementary, and perhaps competing climates is a poten-
tially fruitful area for climate research in general—and for ser-
Expansion of the Service Climate Framework
vice climate in particular. Specify and Measure the Service Climate–Financial Performance
Link. The service profit chain (Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger
Use Multivariate Techniques (e.g., Profile Analysis) and Multivariate 1997) attracted much attention because it proposed a link
Partial Least Squares (MPLS), not Just Linear Prediction Models, to between the internal world of human service organizations and
Assess the Complexity and Consequences of Multiple Climates. One organizational financial performance. There have been very
possibility for studying multiple climates simultaneously is to few, if any, studies substantiating the service profit chain
use profile analysis. Thus, Schulte et al. (2009) suggested that model, but pieces of it have been tested with some success
it is the overall profile of focused climates in organizations that (Loveman 1998). Also, Hong et al. (2013) made a good case
yield increased understanding and predictability. Profile analy- for service climate being a missing link in the service profit
sis allows for nonlinear estimates of the influence of variables chain.
on outcomes, thereby avoiding the implicit linear prediction Regarding the service climate–financial performance rela-
assumption. tionship, two studies exemplify the possibilities to test that link-
Another possibility, exemplified in the work of Cooil et al. age. A study by Schneider et al. (2009b) showed, in a broad cross
(2009), is to study simultaneously a number of possible conse- section of 44 service companies (finance, transportation, IT, air-
quences (service employee performance, customer experi- lines, hotels, retail), that service climate is significantly linked to
ences, financial outcomes) and their potential antecedents the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI, Fornell et al.
(service climate, leader self-efficacy, HR practices, internal 1996) and that, in turn, the ACSI scores mediate the relationship
support) using MPLS for data analysis. The procedure can be between service climate and Tobin’s q (1969), an index of mar-
viewed as one in which all variable data are entered into an ket value. In this study, the ACSI and Tobin’s q data were col-
exploratory factor analysis with the set of factor loadings lected over 3 years, with results revealing that service climate in

Year 1 of the data collection predicted customer satisfaction in service mind-set in a product-focused organization. Indeed, Fig-
Years 2 and 3—and then market value, too. The second exem- ure 1 (and Table 3) plus our agenda for future research (Table 4)
plar study, by Chuang and Liao (2010) of 133 stores in Taiwan on service climate indicate the antecedents and foundations
(hair and beauty salons, retail stores, and restaurants and cafes), requiring attention for infusion of a service logic into manufac-
found that service climate was significantly linked to unit turing organizations.
employee service performance, and a climate for employee con- Recent examples of empirical work on such culture and cli-
cern linked to employees helping coworkers. Both types of beha- mate issues include works by Gebauer and his colleagues
vior contributed to the stores’ market performance in terms of (Gebauer, Edvardsson, and Bjurklo 2010a; Gebauer et al.
market share, sales growth, and profitability. As a final observa- 2010b; for a summary, see also Gebauer et al. 2012) and Antioco
tion, there are mediators and moderators of the service climate– et al. (2008). Gebauer et al. (2010b) used the Bowen, Siehl, and
financial performance link, pricing parameters, and so on, to be Schneider (1989) framework in a study of European B2B man-
further specified, as was noted for the service climate–customer ufacturing companies and concluded that a specific, comprehen-
experience link. sive service-focused strategy structure configuration is necessary
for success when a manufacturing firm attempts a new and dif-
ferent service strategy.
The Utility of the Service Climate
Antioco et al. (2008) drew upon the service climate litera-
Framework for Analyzing Service ture to study the configuration of organizational parameters
Management Topics in 137 manufacturing companies in the Netherlands, Belgium,
We conclude by demonstrating how a service climate frame- and Denmark. The organizational parameters were essentially
work can enrich the understanding of service infusion in man- dimensions of service climate and service orientation measured
ufacturing (Gustafsson, Brax, and Witell 2010), the cocreation with customizations of the SERV*OR (Lytle, Hom, and
of value within a Service Dominant Logic (SDL) paradigm Mokwa 1998) and the measure used by Homburg, Hoyer, and
(Vargo and Lusch 2004), service climate as a source of sustain- Fastnacht (2002). They found these service-focused parameters
able, competitive advantage (Ployhart, Van Iddekinge, and moderated the main effects of production parameters on sales
MacKenzie 2011), and, finally, the fostering of interdisciplin- such that services supporting the product significantly magni-
ary research in service management. fied sales volume.
Future research should examine (1) change processes in mov-
ing from a goods-oriented to a service-oriented climate and cul-
Service Infusion in Manufacturing ture, and, perhaps most interestingly, (2) how goods-oriented
Service-oriented manufacturing has received considerable and service-oriented climates can coexist in an organization,
attention over the last decade under various labels such as tran- rather than one climate replacing the other. Theoretical direction
sitioning from products to services (Davies 2004; Oliva and on the latter issue might be found in the Kuenzi and Schminke
Kallengberg 2003), servitization (Neely 2008), and service (2009) exploration of competing climates and competing cultures
infusion in manufacturing (Gustafsson, Brax, and Witell in Martin (2002). These writings present a real view of organiza-
2010). Service-driven manufacturing will continue to be tions as typically having potentially competing climates and cul-
among the most significant developments in modern business tures and suggest ways in which such competition can be
for years to come (Gebauer et al. 2012). harnessed for the benefit of an organization’s people and
The key focus is how manufacturing firms can adopt a service performance.
logic for the entire business overall (Gronroos and Helle 2010),
not just for services. Early conceptual work on this perspective
The Customer’s Role in Cocreating Service Climates as
was offered by Bowen, Siehl, and Schneider (1989) who
described a ‘‘service-oriented manufacturing configuration’’ in
the Social Context for the Cocreation of Value
which an overall service gestalt emerged via service-focused SDL dramatically recast the role the customer plays in service,
strategy, structure, and environment—all three elements being extending it from merely helping coproduce the service to truly
internally consistent, complementary, and mutually reinforcing cocreating value (Vargo and Lusch 2004). The role of customers
(for ‘‘configurations,’’ see Miller 1986). They noted that this has evolved theoretically from early descriptions—‘‘clients as
configuration would include a service-related climate and cul- partial employees of service organizations’’ (Mills and Morris
ture promoting flexibility, relational markets, and customer 1986) and ‘‘customers as human resources in service organiza-
coproduction that, in the aggregate, would change the manufac- tion’’ (Bowen 1986)—to ‘‘customers as resource integrators’’
turing firm atmosphere. (Hibbert, Winklhofer, and Temerak 2012) who obtain value by
The need to better understand the role of service climate and integrating their resources with those of the organization and
culture (see Table 1) for service infusion in manufacturing, to other actors in cocreation of value.
use that term, was raised in Ostrom et al.’s (2010) research prio- We propose to begin to understand the interplay of the
rities for service management, highlighting the need to under- cocreation of value with service climate creation and the role
stand (a) the cultural changes that would infuse service logic the customer plays in each part. For example, how do custom-
into goods-logic organizations and (b) the development of a ers simultaneously react to and help ‘‘create’’ climate as the

social context in which cocreation occurs? Edvardsson, Tron- Service Climate Research as a Model for Interdisciplinary
voll, and Gruber (2011) offer an overarching theoretical start- Research in Service Management
ing point wherein they propose a social construction
approach to understanding value cocreation. They emphasize It is useful to reflect on the fact that research on the link
the need to recognize that value cocreation is embedded in a between service climate and customer experiences has been
social context of structure, roles, norms, and values—and of an interdisciplinary nature for 40 years (Schneider 1973).
actors’ own constructions of the social reality those represent. We performed a quick count of the disciplinary sources of the
Customers do not just experience the social context; they journal article citations for the paper as an index of the relative
socially construct their own and that is the context in which interdisciplinary nature of the reviewed research and thinking.
cocreation unfolds. This is very much the ground of psycholo- The ratio of sources for citations is 60:40, with 60% from orga-
gical and social forces at both organizational and societal levels nizational behavior (OB)/HRM and 40% from services market-
of influence and may be exemplified by the earlier described ing/marketing (for some articles it is difficult to tell!). Clearly,
reciprocal causation research of Schneider, White, and Paul understanding of service climate and the variables and linkages
(1998). Edvardsson, Tronvoll, and Gruber maintain that SDL in Figure 1 has emerged from an unusually strong interdisci-
has understated the influence of social forces, and they suggest plinary effort. The linking of internal human/organizational
that social construction theories could help move SDL logic variables (a typical focus in OB) to external customer outcomes
toward a social dominant logic of marketing that places cocrea- (a typical focus in marketing) is surely noteworthy in and of
tion in its naturally occurring social context. itself. Service climate research has been true to the spirit of the
founding of this interdisciplinary field (Fisk, Grove, and John
2000).
Might it be possible to infer from this service climate inter-
Service Climate as a Basis of Sustainable Competitive disciplinary effort the theory-building and research characteris-
Advantage tics likely to encourage interdisciplinary research more
In the language of strategic management, service climate has broadly? Possible clues from service climate research include:
potential competitive advantage because of its relative inimit-
ability (Ployhart, Van Iddekinge, and MacKenzie 2011). Inim- 1. applying theoretical perspectives that incorporate mul-
itability has four major attributes (Barney 1991): tiple stakeholders (employees, customers, and manage-
ment) and collecting data from more than one
1. Resource interconnectedness—The interrelated service stakeholder, certainly including both internal and exter-
climate antecedent and foundation issues explicated in nal sources;
Figure 1 are difficult to put in place and to sustain. 2. linking the work to significant business outcomes, such
2. Social complexity—Part of the value of a service cli- as customer experiences and organizational perfor-
mate is that it acts as glue for people’s common under- mance, on multiple dimensions and time intervals;
standing of what is important, especially when the 3. considering both scholarly and practical implications;
climate is strong. and
3. Causal ambiguity—How to create a service climate is 4. taking seriously what was previously taken seriously
ambiguous and difficult because it is a bundle of when the field of service management first emerged—
mutually reinforcing multiple policies, practices, and that all business functions, in interdependence, are nec-
procedures. Service climate also needs to be ‘‘fitted’’ essary to create positive customer experiences.
to a broader overall configuration of external environ-
ment and business strategy (Miller 1986).
4. Path dependency—The creation of a service climate, as
Conclusion
must be clear from this synthesis and review, is We have attempted to synthesize what is known about the ante-
achieved through continual emphasis over time of the cedents of service climate, the foundations for it, service cli-
centrality of service excellence in all facets of a firm. mate itself, and service climate’s links with customer
The creation and maintenance of a service climate is the experiences, including mediators and moderators. Table 3 sum-
classic example of how there is no single, quick fix to marized the literature support for Figure 1, but we also con-
the design of complex systems. cluded it was not time to be complacent about what we
know. In addition, then, we painted a rather complex portrait
We maintain that a service climate framework can be one of future theory and research needs surrounding service climate
response to the dearth of thought and research on service from (summarized in Table 4) and even suggested the practical con-
the strategy discipline and perspective. Service climate has the sequences of strong and positive service climates may extend
potential to aid a firm’s competitive advantage precisely beyond sole customer experiences to overall competitive
because it is difficult to accomplish and relates significantly advantage. The portrait of future research on service climate
to customer experiences and, through those, to indices of orga- is complex, largely in part because service climate exists in real
nizations’ financial and market performance. organizational systems and therefore is subject to many forces.

In sum, service climate theory—and research—is alive and Bowen, David E. and Cheri Ostroff (2004), ‘‘Understanding HRM–
well, but along with the interdisciplinary effort that has distin- Firm Performance Linkages: The Role of the ‘Strength’ of the
guished its past, it is in need of additional attention to sustain its HRM System,’’ Academy of Review, 29, 203-221.
position in the world of services management and marketing. Bowen, David E., and Stephen W. Gilliland, and Robert Folger (1999),
‘‘HRM and Service Fairness: How Being Fair with Employees Spills
Acknowledgments Over to Customers,’’ Organizational Dynamics, 27 (3), 7-24.
The authors are very grateful to Kay Lemon and two anonymous Bowen, David E., Caren Siehl, and Benjamin Schneider (1989), ‘‘A
reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments through the Framework for Analyzing Customer Service Orientations in
review process for this article; all errors, of course, remain ours. We Manufacturing,’’ Academy of Management Review, 14 (1), 75-95.
contributed equally to this article and authorship is alphabetical. Bowen, David E. (1986), ‘‘Managing Customers as Human Resources
in Service Organizations,’’ Human Resource Management, 25 (3),
Declaration of Conflicting Interests 371-384.
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to Brodie, Roderick J., Linda D. Hollenbeck, Juric Biljana, and Ana Ilic
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. (2011), ‘‘Customer Engagement: Conceptual Domain, Fundamen-
tal Propositions, and Implications for Research,’’ Journal of
Funding Service Research, 14 (3), 252-271.
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author- Brown, Steven P. and Son K. Lam (2008), ‘‘A Meta-Analysis of Rela-
ship, and/or publication of this article. tionships Linking Employee Satisfaction to Customer Responses,’’
Journal of Retailing, 84 (3), 243-255.
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Way, Sean A., Michael C. Sturman, and Carola Raab (2010), ‘‘What Twice he served as Thunderbird’s Chief Academic Officer. His
Matters More? Contrasting the Effects of Job Satisfaction and Ser- research focuses on how organizational behavior/human resource
vice Climate on Hotel Food and Beverage Managers’ Job Perfor- management issues influence employee and customer experiences and
mance,’’ Cornell Hotel Quarterly, 51 (3), 379-397. the ‘‘global mind-set’’ of global leaders. He has published Winning the
Wieseke, Jan, Anja Gelgenmuller, and Florian Krause (2012), ‘‘On the Service Game, Harvard Business School Press and articles in Journal
Role of Empathy in Customer-Employee Exchanges,’’ Journal of of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Review, Sloan Man-
Service Research, 15 (3), 316-331. agement Review, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Operations
Wieseke, Jan, Florian Krause, Sascha H. Alivi, and Tino Kessler-Thones Management, Academy of Management Journal, and Academy of
(2011), ‘‘How Leaders’ Motivation Transfers to Customer Service Management Perspectives. He is a recipient of AMA’s Services Mar-
Representatives,’’ Journal of Service Research, 14 (3), 214-233. keting Interest Group ‘‘Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to
Wiley, Jack W. (1996), ‘‘Linking Survey Data to the Bottom Line,’’ in the Services Discipline Award.’’ David received his PhD from Michi-
Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change, A. I., gan State University.
Kraut, ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 330-359.
Yagil, Dana (2008), The Service Providers. New York: Palgrave Benjamin Schneider is a senior research fellow at CEB Valtera where
Macmillan. he has been since 2003 and professor emeritus of psychology at the
Zeithaml, Valarie A., Mary Jo Bitner, and Dwayne Gremler (2005), University of Maryland. Ben has also taught at Yale University and
Services Marketing, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Michigan State University. He has won numerous awards for his
Zohar, Dov (2000), ‘‘A Group-Level Model of Safety Climate: scholarship including the Distinguished Science Award from SIOP,
Testing the Effect of Group Climate on Microaccidents in Manu- ServSig of the AMA, and the HR and OB Divisions of the Academy
facturing Jobs,’’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 85 (4), 587-596. of Management as well as SHRM’s Losey Award. His main interests
Zohar, Dov and Gil Luria (2005), ‘‘A Multilevel Model of Safety Climate: are in organizational climate and culture, employee engagement, and
Cross-Level Relationships Between Organization and Group-level the role of personality in organizational life. He has published twelve
Climates,’’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (4), 616-628. authored, coauthored, and coedited books and 175 journal articles and
book chapters. Ben has consulted with numerous companies on ser-
vice quality and service climate, innovation, and safety climate as well
Author Biographies
as employee engagement—always trying to link employee experi-
David E. Bowen is the G. Robert & Katherine Herberger Chair in Glo- ences to important corporate outcomes like customer experiences and
bal Management at Thunderbird School of Global Management. market value.

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Journal of Service Research

David E. Bowen1 and Benjamin Schneider2

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Figure 1. A service climate framework.

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Table 1. Service Climate and Related Constructs.

Table 2. Service Climate Survey Items.

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Table 3. Summary of Established Relationships in the Service Climate Framework.

Service Climate Facets

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Antecedents of service climate

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Assess the Strength of Business-to-Business (B2B) Linkages Relative to

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