Supervisor support and customer orientation: The importance of learning goal orientation in the hotel industry

Abstract

Drawing on goal orientation and substitutes for leadership theories, learning goal orientation is hypothesized as a moderator in the relationship between supervisor support and employee customer orientation. Participants were 328 employees of 4- and 5-star hotels in Singapore. Results show that employees with high learning goal orientation do not require a high degree of supervisor support to show a high degree of customer orientation. In contrast, supervisor support is especially important for employees with low learning goal orientation. Practical implications relate to the selection of new employees, individualized attention to current employees, organizational culture, and training.