How transformational leadership fuels employees’ service innovation behavior

Although there is a consensus that transformational leadership (TFL) is critical to successful service innovation behavior, the relationship between the two remains inconclusive. This study adopts a dual perspective approach that considers both motivational and social-political perspectives to further elicit the influence of TFL on the service innovation behavior of frontline employees. Using multiphase and multisource data from 269 employees and 1396 customers of hair salons, the results show that the perceived organizational climate for innovation, creative self-efficacy, and expected image gains fully mediate the relationship between TFL and employees’ service innovation behavior. TFL positively influences employees’ perceived organizational climate for innovation, which in turn enhances the service innovation behavior of employees through both motivational (i.e. creative self-efficacy) and social-political (i.e. expected image gains) mediating mechanisms. Surprisingly, expected image risks are found to have a non-significant relationship with service innovation behavior. We discuss implications of these findings with respect to innovation literature and management practice, as well as offer suggestions for further research.     

Workplace gossip and frontline employees’ proactive service performance

Managers are interested in promoting frontline employees’ proactive behavior because proactivity is crucial for organizational success. This study examined the link between perceived workplace gossip and employees’ (targets’) proactive service performance by focusing on the mediating role of employees’ harmonious passion and the moderating role of perceived job social support. Using time-lagged survey data from 218 supervisor-subordinate dyads in a commercial bank in China, we found that perceived workplace gossip negatively influences employees’ proactive service performance, and that this relationship is mediated by reduced harmonious passion. In addition, perceived job social support attenuates the negative relationship between perceived workplace gossip and harmonious passion, with harmonious passion having a mediating effect on the relationship between perceived workplace gossip and proactive service performance. These results provide new directions for understanding workplace gossip, harmonious passion, proactive service performance, and job social support. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Employee involvement in ideation and healthcare service innovation quality

ABSTRACT

This study hypothesizes and empirically tests the influence of involvement of (1) frontline employees and (2) top managers in ideation process on healthcare service innovation quality. Based on data from 168 service innovation projects in Dutch healthcare organizations, the empirical results indicate that frontline employee involvement and top management involvement in, respectively, idea generation and idea application both improve the quality of healthcare service innovation. We find that the positive effect of frontline employee involvement is stronger under the condition of higher service innovativeness. In the direct relationship of top management involvement and healthcare service innovation quality, our data do not show such a moderating effect. The key and general managerial implication of the findings is that healthcare organizations are inspired to involve frontline employees in the idea generation processes and involve top managers in the idea application processes of service innovation projects, in order to improve innovation quality.     

Matching the Personal Initiative Capabilities of FLEs to Their Self-Regulatory Processes and the Firm's Initiative Climate

Frontline employees (FLEs) — the people behind the counter, on the phone, or walking the shop floor — can profoundly affect the customer experience. Harnessing the capability of FLEs to positively shape customer experiences is critical for service firms.However, placing the right employee in the right frontline role is not an easy task. To deliver positive service experiences, FLEs must be customer-oriented, placing customers’ interests first. In addition, FLEs need to demonstrate personal initiative by going beyond prescribed job roles to find solutions to customer problems. We propose that personal initiative is an important mediating variable in the relationship between customer orientation and FLE performance. Further, we examine whether this relationship is strengthened or weakened when a firm’s climate encourages initiative-taking behavior and FLEs have a prove or avoid orientation, or engage in deep or surface acting. We test the model across two studies using a multi-respondent data collection procedure within the retail banking sector. Our findings demonstrate that personal initiative mediates the relationship between customer orientation and FLE performance. Notably, this effect is stronger when a firm’s climate encourages initiative-taking and when FLEs have a prove orientation or engage in deep acting, and that the effect is weaker when FLEs have an avoid orientation or engage in surface acting. Our findings underscore that it is only when the fit between FLEs, their roles, and the work climate is right that firms will get the best out of their employees (c.f., Arthur et al. 2006; Kristof-Brown et al., 2005).     

In pursuit of service encounter quality: Will service-oriented high-performance work systems benefit high-contact service industries?

Integrating social exchange and psychological contract theories, this study examines how perceived service-oriented high-performance work systems (service-oriented HPWS) augment high-contact service organizations to improve their service encounter quality. In addition, it also tests the impact of psychological contract fulfillment, innovative work behavior, and prosocial service behavior as parallel and serial mediating variables in the relationship between service-oriented HPWS and service encounter quality. Using survey data collected in three-time lags from 394 full-time frontline employees and their customers across high-contact service contexts, direct and indirect effects of service-oriented HPWS on service encounter quality were tested employing structural equation modeling. The results revealed that service-oriented HPWS is positively associated with service encounter quality via psychological contract fulfillment, innovative work behavior, and prosocial service behavior. The study contributes to the extant literature by integrating social exchange and psychological contract theories in explicating the impact of service-oriented HPWS on service encounter quality.     

The Influence of Service Innovation Capability for Self‐Service Technology Investment

The purpose of this paper is to predict self‐service technology (SST) investment from the extents of service innovation capability (SIC) and electronic customer relationship management (e‐CRM) practices. This study proposes a theoretical framework that delineates the relationships among SIC, e‐CRM practices, and SST investment. The results indicate that SIC has positive impacts on e‐CRM practices, which in turn are positively related to SST investment. Moreover, e‐CRM practices have partial mediating effects on the relationships between SIC and SST investment as well as have partial moderating effects on the relationships between SIC and SST investment. © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

包容型领导对员工创新行为的影响：基于组织和谐的中介作用及组织创新氛围的调节作用

员工创新行为是组织塑造竞争优势的重要环节。尽管已有研究表明领导风格能够对员工创新行为产生显著影响,但目前对于二者之间的作用机制和边界条件却知之甚少。文章基于国内新能源行业422名在职人员的有效调查问卷数据,构建并检验一个被调节的中介效应模型。实证研究结果表明：包容型领导对员工创新行为具有显著正向影响;组织和谐能够在包容型领导与员工创新行为关系中起中介作用;组织创新氛围在包容型领导和组织和谐之间起着正向的调节作用,组织创新氛围越强,包容型领导对组织和谐的影响程度随之增强。文章解释了包容型领导对员工创新行为的作用机理,不仅打开了二者之间的“黑箱”,也为员工在组织中如何有效增强创新行为提供了管理启示和对策建议。     

Service climate and employee service performance: exploring the moderating role of job stress and organizational identification

Drawing on a sample of 368 frontline employees and 45 managers from five Chinese banks, this study examined the relationship between service climate and frontline employee service performance, including in-role and extra-role performance, and the difference of this relationship considering the moderating role of employee's emotional experience (job stress and organizational identification). Empirical results indicated the positive effect of service climate on service performance as hypothesized. Moreover, job stress negatively moderated the relationship between service climate and extra-role performance, while organizational identification positively moderated the climate–performance relationship.     

Employee emotional response toward healthcare organization’s service recovery efforts and its influences on service recovery performance

Previous studies on service recovery performance of frontline employees have focused primarily on the direct relationship with the organizational efforts for service recovery. However, based on the reformulation of attitude theory (appraisal-emotional response-behaviour), we believe that the emotional responses (work engagement and burnout) toward organizational efforts for service recovery of frontline employees mediate the relationship. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how healthcare frontline employees show their emotional response toward the organizational efforts for service recovery and it influence on actual recovery performance. This study uses two conflicting emotional responses, burnout and work engagement, to examine how employees react toward organizational efforts, helping better understand employees?? evaluations of the efforts. Research model and hypothesis were tested using a sample of frontline employees who perform none-clinical activities in hospitals. The results showed that teamwork and empowerment have positive effects on work engagement. In addition, customer complaint management, empowerment, and teamwork influenced negatively on burnout. Lastly, work engagement and burnout showed statistically significant impact of service recovery performance of frontline employees. Among the organizational efforts for service recovery, teamwork was the most important factor in improving frontline employees?? work engagement and lessened their burnout, respectively. Interestingly, customer service training had a negative effect on burnout. Besides, by comparing our research model to two alternative models, we confirmed the validity of the research model.     

Examining human resource practice outcomes and service innovation

This study sought to examine the relationship between human resource practice outcomes and service innovation. It also examines the moderating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between workplace friendship and service innovation, as well as the mediating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between job satisfaction and service innovation. The study employed survey research design. The respondents were selected from across the service industry in Ghana using convenience sampling technique. Items measuring the constructs were adapted from extant literature. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to ascertain the validity of the measurement model. Hierarchical regression was used to analyse the data. The results show that knowledge sharing, job satisfaction, workplace friendship, and employee commitment predict service innovation. However, the interaction of workplace friendship and knowledge sharing has no effect on service innovation. Similarly, the moderation of employee commitment and job satisfaction did not make any contribution to service innovation. The findings imply that service firms must create a friendly working environment, ensuring that employees are satisfied in order to promote service innovation. It also implies that service firms must promote social activities that encourage knowledge sharing, but these social activities must relate to employees’ job.     

Abusive supervision and frontline employees' service performance

The present study examines the link between abusive supervision and frontline employees' service performance by focusing on the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and the moderating role of relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC). The results of analysing 324 supervisor–subordinate dyads in five large hotels in China revealed a negative relationship between abusive supervision and service performance via OBSE. In addition, RISC moderates the mediating effect of OBSE on the abusive supervision–service performance relationship such that the mediating effect is stronger when RISC is high rather than low. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Development of Tertiary Services in the Economy,Labour Market and Employment

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of selected antecedents on the service recovery performance of frontline employees using data from frontline bank employees in Turkey. The results of the path analysis indicate that trait competitiveness, intrinsic motivation, and role ambiguity are significant antecedents of frontline employees' service recovery performance. Results also suggest that the significant consequences of service recovery performance are job satisfaction and intention to leave. The results of the other hypothesised linkages demonstrate that intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and role ambiguity are significantly associated with frontline employees' job satisfaction. In addition, the current empirical findings provide support for the notion that role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion are significant predictors of intention to leave. Limitations of the study, managerial implications, and implications for future research are discussed.     

The golden mean: Research on the mechanism of customer participation in employee service innovation

Service innovation is of importance in achieving business success. This study aims to understand how customer participation affects employees' service innovation through zhongyong thinking and verify the moderating role of leadership empowerment in the service section. Data were collected through a paired questionnaire survey with 352 valid frontline employees and their superiors in the starred hotel industry. Multiple linear regressions and bootstrap analysis were performed to examine the hypotheses. The results indicate that customer participation is positively related to zhongyong thinking and service innovation, and zhongyong thinking partially mediates the main effect. In addition, service innovation is more substantial when leadership empowerment is high, and customer participation has a weaker impact on zhongyong thinking when leadership empowerment is low. This study contributes to the employee service innovation literature by confirming that customer participation and employees' zhongyong thinking play vital roles in the Chinese service context. This study also helps service managers understand that empowering their subordinates can facilitate employees' service innovation.     

Moderating Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on Human Resource Development Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This study examined the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on the relationship between human resource development practices and organizational citizenship behavior of hotels in Thailand. The results from a survey of 733 frontline employees revealed that the relationship between human resource development practices and organizational citizenship behavior was stronger for employees with the high level of perceived organizational support, compared to employees with the low level of perceived organizational support. Therefore, this finding contributes to a significant understanding of moderating effect of perceived organizational support in service organizations. Discussion and implications are also provided.     

Organizational intellectual capital and its relation to frontline service employee innovative behavior: consumer value co-creation behavior as a moderator

Frontline service employee innovative behavior is “the moment of truth” that significantly affects organizational performance. Yet, little research has investigated the effect of organizational intellectual capital on frontline service employee innovative behavior. This study used SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 20.0 to examine the structural model and the hypothetical effects of (1) different dimensions of organizational intellectual capital on frontline service employee innovative behavior and (2) consumer value co-creation on frontline service employee innovative behavior along the dimensions of organizational intellectual capital. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were collected from frontline service employees working at a travel agency located in Taipei, Taiwan. Human capital and customer capital were found to positively affect frontline service employee innovative behavior. The interactions between consumer value co-creation and human and customer capital had a significant moderating effect on frontline service employee innovative behavior.     

真实型领导与领导—成员匹配对工作繁荣的影响：社会嵌入视角

工作繁荣是个体成长和进步的标志，已成为组织管理领域日益关注的重要话题。文章从社会嵌入视角出发，探讨了真实型领导与领导-成员匹配对工作繁荣的影响，考察了真实型领导和领导-成员匹配如何通过工作繁荣的传导机制间接影响员工创新行为，并分析了差序氛围的调节效应。通过对200份有效问卷的实证分析表明：真实型领导与领导-成员匹配都对工作繁荣有显著正向影响；工作繁荣显著正向影响员工创新行为；工作繁荣在真实型领导与员工创新行为之间起完全中介作用，在领导-成员匹配与员工创新行为之间也起完全中介作用；差序氛围负向调节了领导-成员匹配对工作繁荣的影响，且负向调节了工作繁荣在领导-成员匹配与员工创新行为间的中介作用。研究结论不仅拓展了中国情境下有关工作繁荣的研究，而且为组织管理者如何促进员工工作繁荣提供了理论指导。     

Customer Preferences for Frontline Employee Traits: Homophily and Heterophily Effects

Although previous research has underscored the significance of the personality traits of frontline employees (FLEs) in employee service behaviors, knowledge about customer preferences for FLE personality traits is lacking. This study responds to this gap in the literature, empirically assessing customers’ preferences for FLE personality traits. The main research objective is to investigate whether and how these preferences vary with the customer's own personality. The study proposes and tests a conceptual framework that reconciles two opposing theoretical perspectives—homophily and heterophily. The existing research in interpersonal psychology has only given limited support to the heterophily effect, whereas it has consistently evidenced the homophily effect. Moderator analyses indicate these effects are largely invariant across customer and service characteristics. Notwithstanding this, post hoc tests show that the level of preferred FLE traits is positively related to the level of customer traits. Equity theory helps explain these seemingly conflicting results.     

R&D,Human Capital and Export Behavior of Manufacturing and Service Firms in Ghana

ABSTRACT

The paper carries out a detailed analysis of the effects of R&D and human capital as well as their interactions with innovation on export behavior of manufacturing and service firms in Ghana using a dataset of 720 firms that merges the Enterprise, Innovative Capability and the Innovation Follow-up Surveys respectively for Ghana. Using a bivariate probit regression, the results show that R&D and human capital (employees’ education, slack time and formal training) are positive and significantly related to the propensity for firms to export in Ghana. The cross derivatives (differences) for the interaction terms (R&D and innovation, and education and innovation) also showed that these interaction terms have positive effects on the likelihood for firms to export but are significant only for a negligibly small fraction of the sample. Thus, there is no much statistically significant evidence in support of the mediation role of innovation in the relationship between R&D/education and the export behavior.     

Exploring the Role of Productivity Propensity in Frontline Employee Performance: Its Relationship with Customer Orientation and Important Outcomes

Numerous studies have investigated the performance of frontline employees (FLEs) and how these employees influence organizational success. Because customer‐perceived outcomes are important, much attention has been devoted to the customer orientation (CO) construct. The weak influence of CO on external measures, however, has led to numerous research questions. The current work addresses these questions by introducing a new construct, “productivity propensity,” while examining its relationship with CO and multiple outcome measures. Results from two distinct samples suggest that the construct is a valuable addition to the FLE literature.     

Multiple psychological climates and employee self-regulatory focus: Implications for frontline employee work behavior and service performance

Frontline employees (FLEs) play a critical role in shaping customer experiences and purchase intentions in retail settings. Yet not all FLEs display the same work behaviors or motivational tendencies. Adopting person-environment fit theory, this research investigates whether multiple work climates can coexist within a workplace to support FLEs with different work behaviors. Using multisource data from 285 FLEs and 31 supervisors in the retail banking sector, this study examines whether a quality-focused climate and an initiative-focused climate positively influence FLE service performance via different FLE behaviors. It also examines the moderating effect of FLE self-regulatory focus on the relationship between work climate and FLE behaviors. The results demonstrate that when FLEs are willing to innovate and take risks, a work climate that supports initiative-taking will encourage them to go beyond prescribed job roles to satisfy customer needs. In contrast, when FLEs seek to minimize or avoid risks, a work climate that reinforces rule adherence will support them in using standardized procedures to satisfy customer needs. Managers should not assume that one climate fits all or that one climate is better than the other as this study shows that a quality-focused and an initiative-focused climate can operate in tandem to enhance FLE service performance.