SUSTAINABLE SERVICE RECOVERY AND PERFORMANCE OF BUSINESSES IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The service industry plays an important role in the economic development of South East, Nigeria. This sector significantly contributes to the local economy. Despite the importance of the service industry, there seem to be a decline in the quality of service provision across various sectors. The study therefore determined the relationship between sustainable service recovery and performance of businesses in the service industry in South East Nigeria. The study adopted a correlational survey design. The population of the study consisted of medium-scale enterprises engaged in the service industry in South East, Nigeria. The sample of the study was 400 respondents. Two structured questionnaire were used to collect data for the study. Pearson product moment and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data.  The finding of the study revealed a high positive relationship between sustainable distributive justice, sustainable procedural justice, sustainable interactional justice and performance of businesses in the service industry in South East Nigeria. Furthermore, the finding of the study showed that there is a significant relationship between sustainable service recovery (sustainable distributive, sustainable procedural and sustainable interactional) and performance of businesses in the service industry in South East Nigeria. Sustainable service recovery significantly improves performance of businesses in the service industry in South East Nigeria. It was recommended among others that managers of businesses in the service industry should ensure that compensation offered to customers for service failures is perceived as fair and contributes to the organization's economic growth.