Winning with culture: A case study of customer-oriented casinos

Developing a customer-oriented culture within an organization has been accepted, in both theory and in practice, as a means of increasing customer satisfaction (Athanassopolous, 2000; Deshpande, Farley, & Webster, 1993; Houston, 1986; Shapiro, 1988).With increasing competition in the casino industry, customer satisfaction may be the critical factor for the sustained financial success of a casino (Mayer, Johnson, Hu, & Clark, 1998). While empirical support exists for the relationship between customer-oriented cultures and customer satisfaction, not as much is known about how customer oriented cultures are developed (Chen, 2004). This study sought to enhance current understandings of customer-oriented cultures in a gaming context. Specifically, this study examined organizational culture similarities and differences between two casinos, the VIP Casino [pseudonym] and Shining Star [pseudonym], owned by the same gaming company. While Lucky Dice Entertainment [pseudonym] attempts to create customer-oriented cultures at each of its casinos, customer satisfaction ratings vary greatly between each site, suggesting cultural differences at each location. A multi-methodological case study approach, guided by Schein\u27s (1985) model of culture, was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data in the form of narrative interviews, observation, and questionnaires at the VIP Casino and Shining Star. Thematic analysis of interview and observational data was conducted along with an analysis of responses to the organizational culture questionnaire. Findings demonstrate the contextual and socially constructed nature of organizational culture. While both casinos can be characterized as customer-oriented, themes in the data reveal distinct sets beliefs operating among employees at each casino with regard to the nature of customer service and customer satisfaction. In addition, the emergence of a moral tale is identified as a framing mechanism for employee perceptions of their work and identification with their organizations. The moral tale refers to employee and organization level conceptualizations of gambling as entertainment, and a pervasive focus on customer service as the utmost priority wherein employees define their work roles in terms of customer service. Within this tale, morally neutral definitions and beliefs about work replace the morally stigmatized notions of the casino industry and its associations with crime, vice, and sin