An investigation of team information processing in service teams: Exploring the link between teams and customers

In an effort to satisfy the needs of increasingly knowledgeable and demanding customers, many organizations are implementing teams in customer contact positions. Unfortunately, stifled information flows and poor communication often impede their effectiveness. To help managers build more effective teams, the authors develop and test a model of team information processing that includes both antecedents (information acquisition, team norms, team size, and team longevity) and outcomes (customer satisfaction with service). Data collected from 61 health care teams, as well as from 1,598 patients served by these teams, are used to investigate the hypothesized relationships between variables. Partial support for the model is provided. Based on these findings, implications for researchers and practitioners are offered. Current knowledge is the life blood of knowledge work, and the ability to transfer it is a key differentiating characteristic between effective and ineffective knowledge work teams.-Fisher and Fisher (1998:174) Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz (deeter-s@ohio.edu) (Ph.D., University of South Florida) is an associate professor of marketing at Ohio University. Her research interests include customer contact teams, business-to-business electronic commerce, sales management, and scale development. She has published in theJournal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of Marketing Education, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and theJournal of Business Logistics, among others. Rosemary P. Ramsey (rosemary.ramsey@wright.edu) (Ph.D., University of Cincinnati) is associate dean in the Raj Sain College of Business at Wright State University. Her research interests include relationship management and measurement. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she held marketing and sales positions for NCR Corporation. She has published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and theJournal of Marketing Education, among others.     

Learning,knowledge productivity and strategic progress

Learning that yields strategically valuable knowledge is vital to an organisation’s progress towards its strategic goals. In increasingly turbulent environments, all types of knowledge have value; the development of knowledge must therefore be a responsibility shared by all organisational members, includ‐ing human resource development professionals. A literature review across three related fields points to the importance of an integrative approach to learning and knowledge processes in an organisation, if they are to aid strategic progress. It suggests the particular importance of corporate vision, of organisational context and of management action, and also indicates some roles and tasks for HRD professionals.     

Actual and perceived consumer vigilance in the retail grocery industry

Economic theory suggests that price competition is in part driven by actively searching buyers. An exploratory study in a major midwestern grocery market revealed that executives responsible for pricing decisions overestimate the size of the price-driven shopping segment. The reasons behind this perception and its impact on pricing decisions are examined.     

Probing the basis for differential pay practices of younger workers in low paying hospitality firms

Understanding the basis for differential pay practices by age is an important policy issue now that claims for pay discrimination on grounds of age may be mounted. Difficulties in determining the relative job worth and personal worth of workers in particular age groups are highlighted. We identify a need to develop a practical mechanism for assessing the validity of age‐related pay differences in keeping with contemporary notions of jobs and skills that will provide a basis for employers to demonstrate objective justification that their employment practices are not discriminatory. More comprehensive and wide‐ranging research is necessary to differentiate age‐related pay practices and develop further theoretical insights.     

Who Benefits from Teams? Comparing Workers,Supervisors, and Managers

This article offers a political explanation for the diffusion and sustainability of team-based work systems by examining the differential outcomes of team structures for 1200 workers, supervisors, and middle managers in a large unionized telecommunications company. Regression analyses show that participation in self-managed teams is associated with significantly higher levels of perceived discretion, employment security, and satisfaction for workers and the opposite for supervisors. Middle managers who initiate team innovations report higher employment security but otherwise are not significantly different from their counterparts who are not involved in innovations. By contrast, there are no significant outcomes for employees associated with their participation in off-line problem-solving teams.     

The Authority Attainment of Women: Competitive Sector Effects

A bstract . Women receive better returns than men in authority in the competitive sector of the economy, all else being equal (including gender-type of occupation and firm size). This finding supports a hypothesis drawn from organizations theory and Becker (1971) (1957). In addition, this analysis shows that while differences in education and hours worked per week do help explain the gender difference in authority in the workplace , gender differences in domestic responsibilities have little direct effect on authority attainment.     

Easy-Come-Easy-Go: Moral Hazard in the Context of Return to Education

This empirical study advances the understanding of the theory of investment in human capital by outlining limitations to its applicability in the context of return to education. The study uses the concept of moral hazard to examine circumstances when financial support for education purpose generates less desirable post-graduation incomes. This study explores the relationship between financial support and post-graduation incomes using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation that is designed to measure the economic situation of individuals. Results suggest that students are less likely to engage in moral hazardous behavior to the degree to which they are older and to the degree to which they receive costlier financial assistance.