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Drawing from the social exchange theory, the job demands-resources theory and the employee–organization relationship framework, this article aims to investigate underlying mechanisms through which organizational resources impact frontline service employees’ (FLEs) core service performance and customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

An empirical study was conducted based on a multi-source data from 211 employee–customer pairs, with structural equation modeling used to test hypotheses.

FLE felt gratitude toward the firm fully mediates the impacts of supervisory guidance and employee-oriented relationship investment in influencing employees’ service performance and customer-oriented OCB. The study further finds that when the perceived job autonomy is low, providing supervisory guidance is more effective in eliciting employee gratitude than employee-oriented relationship investments. In contrast, when the perceived job autonomy is high, employee-oriented relationship investment elicits higher employee gratitude than supervisory guidance.

First, as cross-sectional pair data were used to test the proposed hypotheses, a stronger case might be made for the use of longitudinal data. Second, the current study uses a large variety of industries to study the phenomenon of employee gratitude and customer-oriented performance. Third, given recent globalization trends, it is increasingly important for researchers to address how the knowledge gained within an US context is applicable on a global scale. Finally, the two types of organizational resources included in the study are both positive resources.

The findings offer insights about how firms can strategically invest organizational resources to favorably influence FLE gratitude and customer outcomes as well as how job autonomy plays a role in leveraging the impacts of those resources.

This study is one of the few to advance our understanding of how FLE felt gratitude serves as an intervening mechanism through which functional and social resources invested by service organizations lead to desirable customer outcomes. In addition, this study explores the moderating role of FLE perceived job autonomy, suggesting the contingent nature of organizational resources in affecting customer-oriented FLE behaviors, which was rarely attended in previous research.

In today’s society, health and fitness are given much publicity. Advertisements, magazine articles and television shows, trumpeting the benefits of exercise, encourage people to undertake a fitness regimen. Indeed, for the busy executive, an exercise program can lead to a less stressful and more productive life. However, due to busy schedules and the challenge of maintaining interest once the novelty of an activity has faded, many managers quit these programs soon after starting them and return to their sedentary lifestyles. We believe that most people stop exercising because they are not mentally prepared for the difficult realities of maintaining a regular workout program. While most health articles provide the initial spark for beginning athletes, very few offer guidance for the person in the middle and latter stages of an exercise program. This article, which we have based on our personal experience as athletes (the authors have run 15 marathons between them) and on an extensive review of psychological, organizational, and sports‐related research, provides executives with five mental strategies for developing a mindset for maintaining physical fitness during these challenging stages.