Running head: EFFECTS OF CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CULTURE

A Customer-Centric Cultures Effects on Employee Morale and Performance

Ashley Daniels
Siena Heights University

A Customer-Centric Cultures Effect on Employee Morale and Performance

What does it mean to have a customer-centric culture? A customer-centric culture is
based on the idea that everyone within a business is working towards the same goals, values,
mission, and communication to customers. A positive culture can set the tone as to whether a
business is successful or not. Success in a business is defined by how employees function, the
production performance, and overall balance of the company. Developing a culture in which
everyone is working towards the same goals, vision, and mission ensures that productivity is
moving in the right direction. Those goals, vision, and mission should always be centered on
serving people. People, or the customers referenced here, are the reason why companies can
continue to thrive. Without customers, there is no need for products or services. Satisfying these
customers is vital to the companys success. The employee morale, or attitude, directly affects
how the customers are handled. Employees attitudes affect the sales performance through their

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impact on customer service (Simon, Gomez, McLaughlin, & Wittink, 2009). Research indicates
that employees emotions, attitude, satisfaction, and overall outlook of the workplace are
improved by implementing a customer-centric culture. A customer-centric culture will generate
energy through the support and enthusiasm of the entire team (Brown, 2004).
Significance
The purpose of this study is to find out how a customer-centric culture influences
employee morale and performance. Customer-centric culture starts with employees. Employees
are the worker bees in getting a job done. They work on the day-to-day functions in all aspects of
the business. If employees are not motivated, rewarded, recognized, or excited about the job they
do, they will not likely be committed to overall success for the company. In other words, why
would they care to do a good job if they are not satisfied with the morale? The mindset of
employees can be changed by providing a common objective to work toward and focus on. If
they feel valued by the company, they are more likely to be committed to doing exceptional
work.
Studies show that the four most important concepts behind employee morale are job
satisfaction, immediate supervision, integration into the organization, and friendliness and cooperation of fellow employees (Baehr & Renck, 1958). Having the trust that a job will create
personal growth and fulfillment, creates the feeling of satisfaction. Supervision is having the
faith that there is a professional respect between the employee and immediate supervisor.
Working together with the same people every day can cause problems in an environment when
there is not open and thorough communication. There also has to be a feeling of respect and
kindness to nurture wholesome relationships within a company. Working in an environment
filled with hostility and negative attitudes will not promote positive morale. The concept
regarding integration into the organization also correlates with employee morale. One must feel
an awareness of belonging and acceptance within the company. If someone does not feel like

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they play a significant part in the business, they would not likely perform their best. There has to
be a personal value and interest in what the company stands for. The trust for management must
also be present. Trusting that management will serve with integrity will help employees feel as if
they have guidance and direction (Baehr & Renck, 1958). The knowledge of what makes up the
most important concepts of employee morale will help to keep the customer-centric culture at the
forefront of the companys vision.
Literature Review
Business is about people. People, meaning those who work in the business, buy the
product, service, or experience, and have a personal connection to the business. Whatever the
relationship may be to the business, it is vital for the success of that organization. People and
business cannot be separated. If business is based on people first and money second, it will
always be set up for an opportunity to win (Brown, 2004). There is a significant amount of
research that indicates most companies claim to be customer-centric, but in reality, there are
flaws in their customer service practices. One of the reasons businesses cannot seem to get it
right is because very few really understand what customer-centricity really means (Nenonen &
Storbacka, 2015).
If business is moving in a positive direction and customers are happy, the employee
morale within these businesses is going to be at a healthy level. Strong corporate cultures, where
employees hold similar beliefs about the organization and about how they should behave, have a
significant impact on employee job performance and job satisfaction (Sadri, 2014). Employees
feel valued when they feel as if they play a part in the success of a company. Knowing the ins
and outs of the mission and vision of the company will allow the employee to feel a personal
connection to their work environment. This literature review looks at two different parts. The
first perspective is looking at the research done on customer-centricity in the work environment.

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The second part of the review will be digging into the research on employee morale and
performance.
Customer-Centricity in the Work Environment
Research on customer service dates back to the 1960s. Most of the research done at that
time was trying to define and measure what customer service was and the importance of it. In the
late 1980s, research started to develop regarding the way that researchers were bringing different
components into the mix, such as the marketing portion of customer service. The marketing
piece was very important. In order to achieve a competitive advantage from customer service, it
is necessary to establish service levels as part of the firms overall marketing strategy (Sterling &
Lambert, 1989). Moving to present day research, there have been thousands of articles, books,
journals, and studies written on the benefits of providing outstanding customer service. Most of
us are familiar with the concept that customer service is one of the most important parts of a
business. One question to consider about customer service includes, are we listening to our
customers and giving them what they ask for? The other question asks, is our vision and mission
clearly communicated throughout the entire business? Most of the output of information on
customer service today is all about the importance of implementing a customer-centric culture.
Many of the books written on customer service are based on two perspectives. One way is to
convince business managers and owners that customer service is worthwhile and profitable by
presenting statistics and anecdotes about the positive impact of quality service. The other is
designed to motivate and give tips to the individual reader on how to deliver extraordinary
service on a personal level (Brown, 2014). The problem with the majority of the research is that
not enough testing and performance measurements have been conducted on the benefits of a
customer-centric culture.
Employee Morale and Performance

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Employee morale and performance has been studied for much longer. In the 1930s and
1940s, many studies were carried out to determine the correlation of high and low job
satisfaction (Lawler & Porter, 1967). Most of this research made it easy to see that high morale
led to a better job performance. The basis of this research has continued for many years and
continues still today. Baehr & Rencks article The Definition and Measurement of Employee
Morale that was written in 1958 is still referenced. Their research took past studies and tested
them to see if it was relevant. Five most important concepts were proven to be of importance in
present-day businesses. These five factors investigated were immediate supervision, material
rewards, fellow employees, job satisfaction, and organization and management. This knowledge
will in turn keep the vision of the business significant and fresh in the employees mind.
Question
This study is designed to answer: What impact does a customer-centric culture have on
employee morale and performance?
Method
While going through all of the research regarding the question, What effect does a
customer-centric culture have on employee morale and performance?, it was found that most
completed research has been done using a mixed method. This type of method will be best for
the question posed here as well. Surveys will be used to gather information about the morale
within a corporation. Some of the morale questions on the survey will be looking at pay,
management, room for growth, satisfaction, motivation, and turn-over. The qualitative part of the
investigation will be summing up the results from the survey. The second part of the research
will be quantitative. It will be beneficial to look at the performance numbers of corporations.
How well are the corporations doing that are not currently implementing a customer-centric
culture? The corporations will have to be very similar in nature and in how they run to get an
accurate measurement. It will have to be a lengthy test in measurements of time. It can take years

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for companies to implement a customer-centric culture effectively. Observation must be

documented to see what happens to performance once a customer-centric culture is implemented.
This research will be extremely beneficial for organizations of all kinds. Any type of business
that has customers, employees, and products or services will find this research useful.
Research has come a long way in defining what a customer-centric culture really is.
There is much more that should be studied. Much of this information shows bits and pieces of
what makes up a customer-centric culture, but there is no whole picture. There is a need for
bringing together the implementation of such culture and the outcomes of the business once it is
successfully operating. Sageer, Rafat, & Agarwal (2012) state that every organization should
develop strategies that strengthen the work environment and increase the employee morale and
employee satisfaction to enhance employee performance and productivity, which ultimately
results in high profits, customer satisfaction as well as customer retention. Employee morale and
performance seems to be continually tested and evaluated based on founding information.
Studies from the past are still being referenced today. A customer-centric culture has been shown
to be directly correlated to improving employee morale and performance. Corporate culture is a
powerful way for an organization to define itself, create high morale, collaborate uniformity
among its employees, brand recognition among its customers, and set itself apart from its
competitors (Sadri, 2014).
Conclusion
Research shows that a solid foundation of a customer-centric culture within a business
will encourage employees to have an overall better morale and performance in the workplace. In
their study, Simon et al. (2009) found that as employee attitudes improve, customer satisfaction
with service performance increases. Companies benefit from making employees happier. In a
customer-centric culture, the vision is clearly communicated and training is never ending. If
employees feel that their values and skills are being properly recognized, they are going to have

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a stronger motivation, or drive, to do their best. Author, motivational speaker, and President of
High Point University, Nido Quebin (2009) says, If what youre working for really matters,
youll give it all youve got.

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References
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Brown, S. (2014) Who cares? Creating a culture of service in your business. Sharon Center, OH:
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Nenonen, S. & Storbacka, K. (2015). The unbearable lightness of customer centricity. NZ
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