Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficacies of a set of organizational support mechanisms and personality traits in predicting frontline employees' service recovery and job performances. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through selfadministered questionnaires. A sample of 723 frontline hotel employees in Turkey serves as the study setting. Findings The study results show that organizational support is more effective in differentiating between high and lowperforming frontline employees in the case of service recovery performance. However, job performance overall is more susceptible to the influences of personality traits. Research limitations/implications Replication studies in other regions of Turkey and other countries among frontline employees in the hotel industry as well as other service settings would broaden the database for further generalizations. Including other organizational support mechanisms (e.g. technology support) and personality traits (e.g. customer orientation) would shed further light on our understanding of the relative roles of organizational support and personality traits in predicting frontline employee performance. Practical implications In addition to providing organizational support to their employees, hotel managers should recruit individuals with the relevant personality traits for frontline service jobs. Using these strategies in tandem increases the likelihood of having highperforming employees. Social implications From a macro standpoint, implementation of the strategies discussed here will benefit the hotels in Turkey which are in stiffening competition with their counterparts. Originality/value The study adds to the body of knowledge by investigating simultaneously the relative efficacies of organizational support and personality traits in predicting service recovery and job performances of frontline hotel employees in a developing economy.

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine the nature of relationships between six organizational support mechanisms, a personal resource, and selected psychological and behavioral work outcomes. A related objective of the study is to uncover whether these relationships exhibit similar patterns between employees with different characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: Data for the study were collected from the employees of a large bank in New Zealand. Usable responses were obtained from 530 employees. Findings: Results show that supervisory support is most closely associated with psychological work outcomes. On the other hand, job performance is more susceptible to influences of service technology and empowerment. Also customer orientation, as a personal resource, impacts job performance. Research limitations/implications: Using multiple-informants (e.g. measuring frontline employees' job performance on the basis of their supervisors' or customers' assessments) would help minimize common-method variance. To cross-validate our results, replication studies among other samples of frontline employees in banking as well as other service settings are in order. Practical implications: To fuel greater affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction among frontline employees and to reduce their turnover intentions, management must take proactive actions for the frontline employees to receive support and encouragement from their supervisors. Instituting a structured mentoring program and providing training programs to supervisors in support skills can also pay dividends. Originality/value: The study shows that an undifferentiated approach is warranted in managing employees. Similar strategies would be equally effective in inducing favorable and reducing negative affective and performance outcomes among employees with different demographic characteristics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-334). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent 99.9% of businesses in the UK and they face significant challenges with regards to start-up, survival and growth. Their ability to deal with these challenges is assisted, in some cases, by the provision of business support funded by the public sector. Unfortunately, despite the volume of such businesses, there remains a significant lack of qualitative data into the MSME sector, and their use of university led business support. This thesis examined the business support agenda, the support needs of MSMEs, the role of universities in the provision of business support, and the needs of public funding bodies, with regards to economic sustainability and growth in the West Midlands. The choice to focus on the West Midlands region was largely pragmatic; the researcher has existing relationships with the small business community and University networks within the region allowing for a comparable study of stakeholders with similar environmental, political and economical challenges. Whilst the findings are therefore in relation to the West Midlands region, they have been compared to secondary data and theoretical frameworks in order to propose a contribution, which is applicable to a wider audience. The thesis adopted an exploratory, interpretivist methodology with an emphasis on the practical importance of the research results. Through an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, surveys were used to collect data from MSME business owners, followed by in-depth interviews with university staff in order to produce institutional case studies. The surveys with MSME owners identified a need for support that was free, local, face-to-face and delivered by an organisation with a good reputation for delivering business support. The survey data also indicated confusion amongst MSME owners about the availability of support from universities, as well as questions around the quality of support provided by universities and its impact. The interviews, and case studies, revealed a significant level of interest, and a feeling of responsibility, from universities towards supporting the MSME community. However there were consistent challenges around funding, sustainability, resources, flexibility of delivery, and the longevity of any enterprise strategy. The research makes a useful contribution to knowledge through the development of multiple case studies and the development of a conceptual framework for a sustainable system of university led, MSME business support. The model, and analysis, considers the detailed experiences, challenges and opportunities from the stakeholders and proposed a sustainable support system. This contribution to literature provides a unique perspective for both practical application and for the research community to utilise further.