Vol. 2 No. 20; November 2011
Work Environment, Service Climate, and Customer Satisfaction: Examining
Theoretical and Empirical Connections
Padmakumar Ram
Director of Experiential Education & Associate Professor, School of Management,
New York Institute of Technology
Sixth circle - Zahran Street, P.O. Box 840878, Amman 11184 Jordan
Swapna Bhargavi . G
Research Scholar
Sri KrishnaDevaraya Institute of Management
Sri KrishnaDevaraya University
Ananatapur 515004, India
Gantasala V. Prabhakar
Department Assessment Director & Assistant Professor, School of Management,
New York Institute of Technology
Sixth circle - Zahran Street, P.O. Box 840878, Amman 11184 Jordan
Abstract
The main objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationships among service climate, employee job satisfaction, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction. Structured questionnaires were given to senior employees of selected retail service organizations in India. A total of 369 usable questionnaires were analyzed and the findings indicate that work environment influences service climate, which in turn influences employee job satisfaction, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction. The interactional relationship between Service climate and Job Satisfaction, Service climate and Employee Engagement, Employee Engagement and Job
Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction, Service climate and Customer Satisfaction were proved using hierarchical regression and other statistical tools. Implications and directions for future research are a lso discussed. Key Words: Work environment, Service climate, employee job satisfaction, employee engagement and customer satisfaction INTRODUCTION
For organizations in the service industry, the most appropriate criterion for organizational performance i s customer satisfaction (Schneider& Chung, 1994). Very few studies exist that evaluate