The effect of Service Improvisation Competence on Hotel Performance

Purpose. The development of a Service Improvisation Competence (Serv-IC)—operationally defined as “the systemic ability of a service firm’s employees to deviate from established service delivery processes and routines to respond in a timely manner to unforeseen events using available resources” (Secchi, 2019, p. 1329)—has been proposed as an effective way to accommodate customer variability while increasing the quality of the service experience. However, empirical evidence of its impact on service performance is scant. This paper tests the effect of Serv-IC on performance in the hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach. This paper develops a conceptual typology of service delivery systems (hereafter service typology is used interchangeably) in the hotel industry based on the experiential content of the service and the amount of standardization of service delivery routines. Then, using a survey of hotel managers, the effect of Serv-IC on hotel performance is estimated within each service group in the typology.

Findings. Serv-IC is associated with increased occupancy in high-process-standardization and high-experience hotel operations but does not have a significant relationship with the average price per room. The results suggest that that managers could invest in Serv-IC to increase loyalty and positive word of mouth, but not to increase prices.

Originality/value. This paper provides evidence of the effectiveness of developing a Service Improvisation Competence while also offering boundary conditions to its applicability. The proposed service typology disentangles the design of service processes from their execution, thereby shedding new light on the complex relationships among service design, employee behaviors, and business outcomes.