Employee sabotage associated with customer injustice: A comparison of North America and East Asia

Research has found that North American employees react to unfair treatment from customers by engaging in customer-directed sabotage. The present research examined whether customer service employees in East Asia react similarly toward customer injustice. Specifically, we explored whether differences in employee reactions to customer unfairness exist between China and Canada, and whether cultural values (i.e., Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Power Distance) account for these differences. Surveys were administered to 203 front-line employees working in the same hotel chain in China and Canada. Results revealed that the strength of the association between customer injustice and employees' sabotage toward customer was significantly weaker in China than in Canada. Cultural values accounted for these between-country differences, with Individualism as the strongest mediatory factor. Implications and future directions are discussed.