The interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality under different levels of competitive intensity: An application in the shipping industry

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument under different levels of competitive intensity in the shipping industry context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the questionnaire investigation method to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The authors utilized widely accepted and validated instruments as identified in the literature to measure the constructs under examination. The sample consisted of 684 shipping organizations located in Greece. The factorial structures of the constructs were identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the examined relationships were established through regression analyses.

Findings

The findings argue in favor of a parsimonious three-dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL instrument in the shipping industry context, illustrate the associations among the different types of organizational culture and the dimensions of service quality and explicate how the former impacts the latter. Moreover, the findings showed that the above-mentioned interrelationships are conditioned by the varying levels of competitive intensity.

Originality/value

Although much research and writing has occurred on the topics of service quality and organizational culture, relatively less is known about their interrelationships, that is how a company’s culture relates to the service quality offered especially under different levels of competitive intensity. Thus, the current study aims to fill in this gap in the literature and empirically address the need to look at the interrelationships among the theoretical constructs under examination.

Citation

Karakasnaki, M., Psomas, E. and Bouranta, N. (2019), "The interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality under different levels of competitive intensity: An application in the shipping industry", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 217-234. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-10-2017-0096