CUSTOMER-ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR: THE CASE OF FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES IN HOTELS

Abstract

While previous studies have explored organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in the hospitality industry, this research proposes a theoretical model to assess the impacts of antecedents related to the hotel work environment, job engagement, and customer-oriented OCB (CO-OCB). The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method were employed to test the research hypotheses from 364 frontline hotel employees in Vietnam. Results confirmed direct relationships between four antecedents (job autonomy, organizational support, co-worker support, and customer contact) and work engagement; between two antecedents (job autonomy and co-worker support) and CO-OCB; as well as the mediating role of work engagement in the linkages between all four constructs and COOCB. Subsequently, practical implications are provided to assist hotel managers and human resource practitioners in enhancing the performance of frontline employees’ discretionary customer service behaviours.