Service orientation: the derivation of underlying constructs and measures
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 3 February 2012
Abstract
Purpose
This paper coins the construct of Service Orientation (SO) and empirically develops its measurement in the context of business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐commerce. SO is operationally defined as the business' overall propensity for delivering service excellence. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that multi‐item measurement scales have sufficient psychometric properties of validity and reliability to be useful for theory building and testing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors followed Menor and Roth's two‐phased approach to develop new multi‐item measurement scales. First, the authors reviewed the literature, held structured interviews with managers and performed six independent rounds of item‐sorting analyses to obtain insights for the initial measurement model specification. Second, survey research procedures were employed to develop and refine a questionnaire to collect data on a sample of senior managers of 181 US businesses that implemented B2B e‐services. The psychometric properties of the SO dimensions were confirmed using structural equations modeling.
Findings
The authors empirically confirm the nomological network of SO as a third‐order latent variable comprised of five combinative service competency bundles: service climate; market focus; process management; human resource policy; and metrics and standards. Together these bundles provide a holistic and integrative representation of the general operating environment's orientation towards customers and a business' general propensity to deliver service excellence. Importantly, the measurement structure of service orientation was found to be invariant for both goods producing and service firms.
Practical implications
The proposed metrics are a useful benchmarking tool for practitioners from both manufacturing and service firms to use to monitor and improve their business's SO.
Originality/value
The paper is believed to be the first to operationally define and measure SO in the context of B2B e‐commerce.
Keywords
Citation
Oliveira, P. and Roth, A.V. (2012), "Service orientation: the derivation of underlying constructs and measures", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 156-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443571211208614
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited