Basic Assumptions of Service Employees: Influence on Job Performance and Market-oriented Behaviors

Abstract

Understanding what drives frontline service employees in their interactions with guests and customers is a focal question in service management. Employees’ basic assumptions may determine employee performance and work behavior in several domains. This study investigates the relation of service employees’ basic assumptions about customers and co-workers with subjective job performance and market-oriented behaviors of service employees. The study sample consists of 241 hotel employees. The analyses revealed that basic assumption about co-worker competence associated positively with customer intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness. The basic assumption about customer control related positively with perceived customer-related performance but negatively with customer intelligence generation and responsiveness. The results of the study suggest that basic assumptions about co-workers can predict customer-related behavior; therefore, researchers should consider that the basic assumptions about customers significantly influence job performance towards customers.