Capability, Service Orientation, and Performance in the Investment Management Industry

Prior research has emphasized the significant effect of service orientation on organizational performance. However, little research on service orientation has been conducted in the financial field, including the investment management service industry in which high quality service for clients is required. In this paper, we propose a research model that centers on the concept of service orientation as a type of dynamic capability affecting firm performance. The research variables include job competency, risk management capability, operational capability, service orientation, and service performance. We assume that service orientation partially mediates the effects of risk management capability and operational capability on service performance. To test the model, we collected data from 391 fund managers in 86 teams (37 investment management companies) and analyzed it with partial least squares (PLS) method. Each of the 391 fund managers was asked to answer team level measures, which is effective for team level analysis. We find that job competency positively affects both risk management capability and operational capability, which in turn affect service orientation. Risk management capability and operational capability are assumed to directly affect service performance. However, risk management capability does not influence perceived service performance, whereas operational capability does affect it. This result indicates that risk management capability does not directly affect service performance. However, via service orientation, considering that risk management inconveniences customers and is geared to enhance service orientation, service performance is positively affected. Operational capability does not influence service orientation, whereas it affects perceived service performance. This result reveals that operational capability directly affects firm performance. As expected, service orientation significantly affects the service performance perception of fund managers. This study contributes to the literature by introducing service orientation to the financial industry and measures and tests team-level service performance. Our findings also provide insights to practitioners because to enhance team performance, managers must focus on service orientation in addition to operational capability.