Promoting Service Quality and Client Adherence to the Service Plan: The Role of Top Management's Support for Innovation and Learning

Abstract Relationships were examined among management's support for innovation and learning, employee attitudes, and client outcomes. Results from an employee sample within six nonprofit service organizations indicated that if organizational leaders create a work environment supportive of learning and innovation, supervisors may support their staff's empowerment, and staff may respond with increased trust and perceive service quality as higher. The results also indicated that as employees increase their trust in management, they become more affectively committed to the organization. Although fostering employee commitment may provide benefits not shown in this study, commitment did not appear to be directly related to increased perceptions of service quality.