Effect of Management Commitment to Service Quality on Car-hailing Drivers’ Service Behaviors: The Case of GrabCar in Vietnam

Abstract Background and Purpose: Management Commitment to Service Quality (MSCQ) has been found to positively predict employee’s service quality and service behaviors in different service industries. In the context of sharing economy, the relationship between company and service providers is different from traditional employment relationship. For car-hailing service, drivers are mainly classified as contractors rather than employees. It is, therefore, necessary to understand whether MSCQ influences drivers’ service quality in a car-hailing context. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were collected from 214 GrabCar drivers in Vietnam using online and offline survey. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. Results: The findings suggest that three dimensions of MCSQ, namely reward system, technology support and organizational support exert significant direct impact on drivers’ service behaviors. In addition, job involvement plays an intermediary role in the relationship between MCSQ and service behaviors. Conclusion: This study expands previous research on MCSQ to the car-haling service and confirms the role of job involvement as an important mechanism to improve service quality provided by drivers. Due to the characteristics of the company-service providers’ relationship in the sharing economy, the mechanisms through which MCSQ influences providers’ service performance need to be investigated in further details.