The Service-profit Chain: An Empirical Analysis in the Hotel Industry

This paper examines the links between employee attitudes, customer loyalty and company profitability. From a conceptual point of view, this employee-customer-profit chain, also known as the service-profit chain, is well founded and generally accepted. But for many companies, it seems difficult to demonstrate such links, and several issues must be addressed to uncover the links. To investigate these links empirically, a hotel chain provided data matching employee and customer measures with measures of profitability. We have successfully employed a modeling approach, and the paper reports empirical evidence of the employee-customer-profit chain. As it is possible to estimate the links, we have demonstrated their effect on company profitability. The research findings provide a better understanding of the service-profit chain and may help practitioners in improving company financial performance.