Customer showrooming behavior,customer orientation,and emotional labor: Sales control as a moderator

Despite the popularity of customer showrooming behavior (CSB), few studies have investigated how this phenomenon affects salespeople's sales behavior. To answer this research call, we explored the effect of CSB on customer orientation (CO), as they are associated with emotional labor (EL) and perceived sales control as a moderator. We gathered data from 397 salespeople in South Korean department stores. Our study showed that CSB affected deep acting negatively by reducing CO. Perceived outcome-based sales control enhances CSB's negative impact on CO. Nevertheless, perceived behavior-based sales control does not moderate the relationship between CSB and CO. Our results indicate that supervising salespeople using outcome-based control only worsens the effect of CSB on salespeople who combat CSB.     

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.     

Ethical work climate,employee commitment and proactive customer service performance: Test of the mediating effects of organizational politics

This study examined the mediating effects of organizational politics on the relationships between ethical work climate and two employee outcomes: affective commitment and proactive customer service performance. Using 200 survey responses collected from six shopping malls, we found that perceived ethical work climate had a direct effect on employee perceptions of organizational politics, affective commitment and proactive customer service performance. Moreover, perceived organizational politics partially mediated the relationship between ethical climate and affective commitment, but not that between ethical climate and proactive customer service behavior. We recommend retailers develop ethical climate to strengthen their competitive advantage.     

It takes two to interact – Service orientation,negative emotions and customer phubbing in retail service work

The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the relationship between frontline employees' service orientation, negative emotions and handling strategies during situations of customer incivility involving phubbing. In such situations, the logic and the practical implications of service orientation are challenged. Drawing on a survey of 2,940 employees in the Swedish retail sector, the paper shows that service orientation impacts upon how situations involving difficult customers are handled, and that this impact is mediated by employees’ negative emotional reactions. The paper contributes to retail management by pointing to the limitations of solely relying on service orientation and similar ideals in situations of customer incivility.     

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.     

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.     

Extra- and intra-organizational drivers of workplace deviance

Workplace deviance is an employee behavior with detrimental effects on the organizational bottom line, which makes it of great interest for services management research. The author develops and estimates a model for understanding the relationship between extra- and intra-organizational antecedents and job satisfaction, which relates to workplace deviance. The model is tested using a sample of more than 270 occupationally diverse service employees. Results show that perceived customer unfriendliness, role ambiguity and service climate predict job satisfaction, which negatively affects workplace deviance. These results suggest implications for service management research and practice.     

The effect of customer-initiated justice on customer-oriented behaviors

Researchers have been thorough in their examination of the influence of organizational factors (e.g., supervisors, climate) on employees' perceptions of justice in the workplace. However, much less effort has been directed toward understanding how factors external to the organization – namely, customers – influence perceived justice. This represents an important omission because frontline employees are often held accountable for customer satisfaction which, ultimately, may depend on customers' initial treatment of frontline employees. The research reported herein explores this possibility by proposing that (1) customer interpersonal justice enhances employee-customer fit, (2) customer informational justice increases both employee-customer fit and self-efficacy, and (3) employee-customer fit and self-efficacy interact in prediction of frontline employee customer-oriented behaviors. The results affirm the proposed relationships and thus provide initial evidence that employee-customer fit and self-efficacy mediate the effects of perceived customer-justice on customer-oriented behaviors; the implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.     

Hostile Attribution Bias and Negative Reciprocity Beliefs Exacerbate Incivility’s Effects on Interpersonal Deviance

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating roles of hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs in the relationship between workplace incivility, as perceived by employees, and their interpersonal deviance. Data were collected using a three-wave survey research design. Participants included 233 employees from a large manufacturing company in China. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our study revealed that hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs strengthened the positive relationship between workplace incivility and interpersonal deviance. This relationship was the most positive when both hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs were high. The findings provided evidence that directing employees to depress hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs may attenuate the effects of workplace incivility on interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory, research, and management practice are discussed.     

Factors influencing employee perceptions of customer service climate

This study examines the relationships between certain organizational variables and employees' perceptions of the customer service climate in their organization. In addition, the role of organizational commitment in this process is examined. Results indicate that rewarding employees for service excellence, allowing their voice to be heard by upper management, providing employees with the information and technology needed to do their jobs, providing adequate training to customer contact employees, allowing employees enough time to get their tasks done, and providing a work environment conducive to getting work done are all positively associated with employee perceptions of customer service climate. Based on mediated regression and a LISREL analysis, these relationships are all found to be partially mediated by organizational commitment. These results are consistent with previous customer service research, which has found organizational support and rewards to be positively related to customer service. We extend this literature by showing that organizational commitment may be a key variable linking organizational support and rewards to customer service. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for further research are offered.Lincoln National Corporation     

Factors affecting employee willingness to report customer feedback

Effectively capturing consumer feedback can help organizations swiftly react and improve the quality of their service processes and delivery systems. In most organizations, frontline employees are a vital source of customer feedback as they interact with customers frequently and intimately. Thus, the current paper seeks to understand the factors influencing employee willingness to report customer feedback up the organizational channels of communication. The conceptual model was tested empirically using data collected from major chain restaurants in Taiwan involving 332 frontline employees. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized model. The obtained results demonstrate the impact of service climate, perceived organizational support, and internal locus of control on frontline employees’ willingness to report customer feedback.     

Proactive personality and work performance in China: The moderating effects of emotional exhaustion and perceived safety climate

Grounded in the interactionist paradigm, this study shows that emotional exhaustion and perceived safety climate constitute important moderators of the relationship between proactive personality and work performance. More specifically, the study analyzes the relationship between proactive personality and its behavioural outcomes—organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and job performance—and investigates the interactive effects of emotional exhaustion and perceived safety climate. The study involves 485 Chinese airline employees including pilots, flight attendants, engineers, and service employees. Proactive personality positively predicted OCB and individual performance. Emotional exhaustion and perceived safety climate moderated the relationship between proactive personality and individual performance both independently and jointly. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unravelling the impact of psychological empowerment on customer service behaviours as a consequence of ‘Leader-Member Exchange’

This study aims to investigate the cognitive process by which perceived organizational justice and leader–member exchange (LMX) are channelized into role-prescribed and extra-role customer service behaviours. It proposes the mediating role of three forms of psychological empowerment (goal internalization, perceived competence, and perceived control) in the predictor–outcome relationship, and examines this relationship from a comparative view of the role-prescribed and extra-role behaviours. Valid and reliable self-report and supervisory evaluation measures were administered to 282 nurses in Korea. The results indicate that LMX had a significantly greater effect on extra-role behaviours than on role-prescribed behaviours, and that perceived control mediated the relationship between LMX and extra-role behaviours. In terms of justice perceptions, there was no significant comparative effect on customer service behaviours. Furthermore, perceived competence mediated the relationship only between distributive justice and role-prescribed behaviours.     

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.     

Exploring antecedents of customer citizenship behaviors in services

Social exchange theory explains how a party in social interaction provides the other party with reciprocal rewards. Applying this concept to the customer context, this study empirically investigates determinants of customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs) in services. For the generalizability of the study across various service providers, the data were collected based on Bowen’s (1990) classifications of services. With a total of 665 usable customer responses, structural equation modeling was adapted to test the theoretical research model. This study reveals that customers’ perceived support and justice from the service provider positively influence affective commitment toward the organization, resulting in CCBs. The results show that customers’ perception of organizational support has the partial mediation effect between customers’ perception of organizational justice and their affective commitment. Furthermore, customers’ affective commitment partially mediates the relationship between customers’ perceived organizational justice and CCBs, but fully mediates the effect of customers’ perceived organizational support on CCBs.     

Psychological contracts and fairness: The effect of violations on customer service behavior

A conceptual model of the effect of psychological contracts and associated fairness perceptions on customer service organizational citizenship behaviors (CSOCB) is presented. Psychological contracts, individually held beliefs regarding employer-employee reciprocal expectations and obligations, provide a basis for the comprehensive perception of organizational justice. In turn, justice perceptions result in CSOCB, or externally directed extra-role behaviors. When customer contact employees perceive violations, these behaviors are likely to be either negative or a reduction of positive behaviors. Future research is discussed.     

The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks and the Answers All Donors Crave: How You Can Inspire Someone to Give Generously,by H. McKinnon

Organizational learning and customer orientation have been a focus of research for a number of years in both marketing and management literature. Customer learning orientation is conceptualized as three important components: management customer orientation, customer feedback, and employee learning orientation. By drawing from both marketing and organizational research theories, the authors propose a model of customer learning orientation in a public sector organizational setting. Customer learning orientation is hypothesized to have a significant effect on employee attitudes of role ambiguity and self-efficacy, which in turn affects job outcomes of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors. Using a sample of 438 employees of a public sector organization, the authors test the model through a structural equation modeling technique. The results provide general support for the model. Implications for managers of public sector organizations and future research are discussed.     

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.     

Organizational image's partial mediation role between quality and users' satisfaction

Evidences point to the idea that organizational image may be influenced by patients' perception of service quality, and in turn may influence their expectations. The main aim of this research is to analyse the influence of perceived quality on patients' satisfaction and to evaluate the potential mediating effect that organizational image may have on the relationship between both constructs, in the specific context of primary health care. A structural equation modelling approach was applied to data collected on Portuguese primary healthcare units. Results show that perceived service quality has both positive direct and indirect effects on satisfaction, confirming the partial mediation role played by organizational image in the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction and highlighting the importance for healthcare units' administrators to manage both the service quality and the image of the institution.