Leveraging perceived HPWS to improve service encounter quality in high-contact service industries

This study utilizes social exchange theory to explicate how perceived high-performance work systems (perceived HPWS) improve service encounter quality through overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment processes. We amassed survey responses from focal employees and their respective customers in three waves. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the impact of perceived HPWS on service encounter quality via overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment. Results from structural equation modeling affirmed a positive and direct association between perceived HPWS and service encounter quality. Additionally, the positive relationship between perceived HPWS and service encounter quality was uniquely and serially mediated by overall justice and psychological contract fulfillment. The current study makes a novel contribution by revealing how high-contact service organizations can leverage frontline employees' (rather than managers') perception of HPWS to optimize service encounter quality.