Organizational service orientation and its role in service performance formation: evidence from Polish service industry

Purpose – The paper seeks to evaluate the state of organizational service orientation in service industry in Poland; also to examine the influence of service orientation on key service performance, especially on the quality of service. Employing a cross‐sector approach, it aims to assess the problem of differences of organizational service orientation across different service trade. Design/methodology/approach – In the research process the survey method was employed. The research population enclosed 230 service enterprises operating in three regions of Poland; units were chosen randomly. Serv*Or questions battery designed by Lytle et al. was employed to assess the organizational service orientation. Advantage was taken of correlations analyses and ANOVA. Findings – The weakest element regarding organizational service orientation is employee empowerment, which originates partly from national inclination to individualism, and partly from the central planning political system that existed in the Polish economy in the Communist era. The main conclusion is that organizational service orientation affects service performance. Its influence on service quality and clients' loyalty is substantial; therefore the organizational service orientation concept appears as a predicator of service quality and might be used in the quality management process. It is possible to indicate five service orientation dimensions that differ across sectors: customer treatment, employee empowerment, service standards communication, service vision, and service training. Originality/value – The study takes a cross‐sector approach. No wide cross‐sector study has appeared before in an investigation of organizational service orientation.