A conceptual analysis of nurses' customer-oriented behavior, job satisfaction and affective

Abstract

Introduction: Customer-oriented behavior is an important approach by the organization in order to achieve higher quality service. Recently, many companies have started to enhance customer-oriented behavior on their employee especially frontline employees in various industries namely insurance, logistic, banking and healthcare. However, previous literature provides limited discussion on the relationship between customer-oriented behavior (COB) and other variables such as affective commitment and job satisfaction especially in the Malaysian healthcare context. Aim: The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual analysis of the relationship between job satisfaction, customer-oriented behavior and affective commitment among the nurses in Malaysian context. This paper applies the Affect Theory of Social Exchange and Self Determination Theory to examine the relationship between the study variables. Results: This conceptual analysis proposes that individuals who possess high level of job satisfaction will demonstrate high level of customer-oriented behavior. On the contrary individuals who possess low level of job satisfaction will demonstrate low level of customer-oriented behavior. In addition, those individuals who are strong in affective commitment will have positive outcomes on job satisfaction and exhibiting better customer-oriented behavior. Research Implications: This paper attempts to introduce affective commitment as a moderator on the relationship between job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior. The outcome of this study may guide future empirical study in various healthcare centers such as public clinics, community clinics and dental clinics.