Service climate in organizations: Validating the Italian version of the Service Climate Scale (ISCS)

Service climate refers to employees’ perceptions of the organizational practices and behaviors that are expected and supported with regard to customer service. Service climate is considered to influence employee’s attitudes and behaviors during service encounters with customers and, thus, indirectly influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. Using a 16-item scale, based on Schneider, White, and Paul (1998), this study validates the Italian version of the Service Climate Scale (ISCS). Data were collected in an Italian cooperative that offers health and social services in small rehabilitation centers and nursing homes. A total of 1,384 employees working in 135 centers answered a questionnaire. Results confirmed that construct, convergent, and discriminant validity are satisfactory, and that service climate is described by four factors: global service climate, customer feedback, customer orientation, and managerial practices. This study confirms that the scale proposed is a good measure of service climate in the Italian language.