The Effect of Management Commitment to Service on Employee Service Behavior: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

The airline industry is considered as one of the most competitive industries in the service field. According to International Air Transportation Association (IATA), more than 230 airlines actively operate all over the world. Kazakhstan is not an exception. It has its own airline company, “Air Astana” has strengthened its position not only in local but also in the international markets. Today, it can offer links to more than 60 destinations and provides service in a high competitive environment. “Air Astana” has been chosen as a case study as an airline service provider. Frontline employees in the airlines were chosen as an object of the research. Organizational commitment towards frontline employees was explored from the management point of view and the following service behavior of employees was tracked. In order to conduct the research, 91 employees, and their managers have been surveyed. The role of service employees was exalted recently, and the necessity of employee development as the service performer for the airline organizations became critical. Because the quality of the service, that a company promises to the customers depends on employee performance. Therefore, frontline employee performance is a key factor for customer satisfaction and further loyalty. In order to evaluate the employee job satisfaction and its influences on employee service performance, much of this research has used the management commitment initiatives. Several studies suggest that organizational support, reward, empowerment, and training as the most significant indexes for job satisfaction and further employee service behavior towards customers and co-workers. The lack of the information about the impact of the management commitment to service employees and its consequent outcome in employee`s attitudes and behaviors has not received as much attention in the airline industry. As a result, it leads the current study to compensate the information in the literature and to present the invaluable resources for the management in the organizations. Keywords: management commitment; job satisfaction, customer service behavior; cooperation.