Service employees include salesclerks, nurses, automobile repair technicians, consultants, financial planners, and flight attendants. The shared characteristic of their jobs is substantial interaction with an organization’s customers. OB can help managers increase the success of these customer interactions by showing how employee attitudes and behavior influence customer satisfaction.

Management needs to create a customer-responsive culture. OB can provide considerable guidance in helping managers create such cultures—in which employees establish rapport with customers, put customers at ease, show genuine interest, and are sensitive to a customer’s individual situation. Many organizations have failed because their employees failed to please customers.