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The interdependence of firms in the marketplace implies that the effectiveness of an action cannot be valued without considering potential reactions. Therefore, the main objectives of this paper are to analyse the effect of the initiating company characteristics on the perceived attributes of its action and to understand the effect of these dimensions on the number of companies that respond to it.

Based on action‐reaction dynamics, a series of hypotheses was theoretically justified inking the characteristics of the actor with the dimensions of its action, and these dimensions with the probability of response from rivals. Their validity with data obtained from a survey of marketing managers of Spanish companies was checked, using a variety of statistical techniques.

Results indicate that the probability of reaction is influenced by the level of visible threat of action. Further findings indicate that the leadership position of the actor has an indirect influence on the probability of response.

The size of the sample and the measures used are both limited. Also, the explanatory capacity of the model could be improved by considering new variables.

Prior knowledge of the probability of a reaction is an important input for the managerial process of strategic planning, capable of improving the success rate in implementing actions and thereby the competitive position.

Few research studies of competitive interaction have focused on the probability of response, into which this paper offers an insight.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of how organization service orientation (OSO) influences job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of customer‐contact employees.

Questionnaires were carried out in 149 hotel firms. One customer‐contact employee and the manager provide the data in each hotel. The constructs were measured using existing scales. Structural equation models were used to examine the effects.

The empirical results enable one to identify the dimensions of OSO on which the managers of hotel firms should place greater emphasis in order to stimulate employee job satisfaction and OCB.

The results are limited by the specificity of the geographic context. It would be of interest to complete the model by incorporating other variables, such as employees' trust of management, role conflict and role ambiguity, and measures of performance such as service quality.

The results indicate that managers must use service communicative leadership and service encounter practices to influence directly employee OCB and human resource management to improve employee job satisfaction and OCB.

The paper provides empirical evidence about the positive effect of the OSO on employee job satisfaction and citizenship behavior in the hospitality industry.

Despite the recognition that the subordinate's influence is a particularly noteworthy feature of the social context with considerable potential to affect the performance evaluation process, there are almost no studies that consider this influence in a selling context. Attempting to contribute to address these needs, the model presented here depicts a number of social and situational factors influencing supervisor's rating of salesperson's performance, primarily operating through affective processes.

Data were collected from 122 salespeople and their immediate managers from 35 firms pertaining to nine different industries.

SEM results indicated that supervisor‐focused impression management was positively related to the supervisor's liking of the salesperson. Consistent as well with prior research is the positive influence of supervisor's affect towards salesperson on the supervisor's ratings of sales performance, both directly and indirectly, through the effect on salesperson's perceived interpersonal skills. Finally, a salesperson's physical attractiveness demonstrated significant positive effects on performance ratings, through the influence on supervisor's liking and salesperson's interpersonal skills.

These results have important managerial implications: sales managers should be aware that salespeople might be using impression management tactics and that the use of these behaviours might influence the way that they evaluate their employee's performance. Managers should also remain vigilant to the potential bias based on physical appearance in hiring and supervising salespeople.

This study contributes to the knowledge of the social and affective variables that influence the sales performance appraisal process, an area of research that is almost unexplored.