Discretionary HR practices and pro-customer rule-breaking: the roles of affective commitment and customer orientation climate

Despite the evident contributions of human resource management (HRM) to organizational performance, HRM benefits, particularly discretionary HR practices, are still to be fully explored, especially in service organizations. Therefore, this study draws on self-determination theory to investigate the relationship between discretionary HR practices and pro-customer rule-breaking (PCRB) mediated by affective commitment. Additionally, this study proposes perceived customer orientation climate in service organizations as a moderator that enhances the affective commitment-PCRB linkage. Analyzing three-wave data from retail organizations’ employees in Jordan, our findings support that discretionary HR practices positively relate to PCRB, with affective commitment mediating this relationship. The results also indicate that a higher perceived customer orientation climate significantly strengthens the affective commitment-PCRB linkage. This study contributes to the HRM literature by linking discretionary HR practices to employees’ rule-breaking behavior in service organizations. Thus, service organizations can tailor their HR strategy to cultivate positive employee behaviors towards customers.