Do customer service perceptions generalize? The case of student and chair ratings of faculty effectiveness.

Abstract

We conceptualize faculty classroom behavior as service delivery and show that student (customer) evaluations of service effectiveness generalize to chairs' ratings of faculty effectiveness in other facets of the faculty role. We compared students' ratings of 132 professors in the classroom with their chairs' ratings of them in seven other roles. Findings suggest that students' ratings of faculty classroom behavior cluster with chairs' ratings of faculty colleagueship and service and that this cluster is relatively independent of chairs'ratings of faculty publication record, grant support, and professional activity. Results are interpreted in light of Gouldner's (1958a, 1958b) local-cosmopolitan distinction. Some implications for research on faculty effectiveness and customers' evaluations of service are presented.