SERV*OR: A managerial measure of organizational service-orientation

An organizational service orientation scale (SERV*OR) is developed and validated in this study. Service orientation is defined as an organization-wide embracement of a basic set of relatively enduring organizational policies, practices and procedures intended to support and reward service-giving behaviors that create and deliver "service excellence." The SERV*OR managerial measure captures the extent to which an organization is perceived by its employees as having adopted and embraced specific policies, practices and procedures that represent an organizational service orientation. A comprehensive and rigorous program to develop the valid and reliable measure was undertaken. Key features of the methodology included executive focus group interviews, multiple rounds of pre-testing, multi-sample assessment, and multi-industry replication. The results strongly indicate that organizational service orientation may be represented by a structure comprised of ten factors. The factors are carefully described and theoretically based. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.