Measurement of organizational investments in social capital: The service employee perspective

This paper describes the development and validation of a measure of organizational investments in social capital (OISC). The scale development process is carried out over three stages (item generation, scale purification, scale validation), with two separate data collection phases involving a total of 735 working adults from multiple and diverse service-related workplace settings. As such, the data provide evidence for the face, content, discriminant, convergent and nomological validity, dimensionality and reliability of the OISC measure. The OISC measure is a concise, unidimensional scale that has the potential for significant usage in the development and testing of theory, as well as practical application in retail and other service provision contexts.     

THE EMPOWERMENT OF FRONTLINE SERVICE STAFF IN 3PL COMPANIES

Research on third‐party logistics (3PL) service providers has focused more on managing customer relationships than on managing the frontline personnel who interact with customers on a daily basis. Thus, even though the overall need for 3PL's to be market‐oriented is well‐recognized, relatively little is known about how 3PL companies support and develop frontline service staff to provide better service. This study draws on 3PL company site managers' responses to a postal survey that examines the influences of internal communication, customer service training and managerial coaching for customer contact employees on the relationship between market orientation and frontline service recovery empowerment.     

Individual entrepreneurial orientation role in shaping reactions to new technologies

Significant progress has been made over the last two decades in explaining and predicting user acceptance of novel technologies at work. Although knowledge voids remain, substantial theoretical and empirical support has accumulated in favor of the powerful and parsimonious explanation provided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). One factor that may be related to the adoption of new technologies, but has remained unexplored in the TAM literature, is the proclivity to behave entrepreneurially, known nominally as individual entrepreneurial orientation. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of individual entrepreneurial orientation in facilitating technology adoption under mandated conditions. Predictions are tested using survey data collected from knowledge workers required to use a new technology. Research directions and limitations are discussed.     

A theory of subjective compound lotteries

We develop a Savage-type model of choice under uncertainty in which agents identify uncertain prospects with subjective compound lotteries. Our theory permits issue preference; that is, agents may not be indifferent among gambles that yield the same probability distribution if they depend on different issues. Hence, we establish subjective foundations for the Anscombe-Aumann framework and other models with two different types of probabilities. We define second-order risk as risk that resolves in the first stage of the compound lottery and show that uncertainty aversion implies aversion to second-order risk which implies issue preference and behavior consistent with the Ellsberg paradox.     

A segmentation of Turkish consumers based on their motives to visit shopping centres

This paper aims to contribute to the literature by providing a segmentation of Turkish consumers based on their motives for visiting shopping centres. First, we identified the motives that Turkish consumers had for visiting shopping centres and then we used those motives to segment consumers. Data were collected through a survey from 390 participants living in the six largest cities in Turkey. First, the results showed that Turkish consumers had five groups of motives when it comes to visiting shopping centres. The results of a two-step cluster analysis used for segmentation revealed four distinct segments of Turkish shopping centre visitors. Those segments were named as serious consumers, recreational consumers, enthusiast consumers, pragmatic consumers. These findings suggest that Turkish shopping centre managers need to recognize that Turkish consumers are not a homogeneous unit when it comes to visiting shopping centres. Finally, academic and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.     

The manager’s role in enhancing the transfer of training: a Turkish case study

The process of the transfer of training has a great impact on job productivity, effectiveness and satisfaction. Studies focusing specifically on the role of managers in the process have, however, been limited in number. The general aim of this study is to determine the impact of managers’ reinforcement on participants’ job attitude, productivity, effectiveness and satisfaction in the process of the transfer of knowledge, skill and attitude to be acquired through a training programme into the workplace. The study involves a group of sales representatives participating in the Basic Sales Training Program for Sales Representatives and their supervisors in the Coca‐Cola Bottlers of Turkey. Using experimental and control groups, the study is based on Kirkpatrick’s four–stage evaluation model. The findings obtained are discussed and evaluated with respect to the roles of managers in the transfer of training.     

Market orientation, employee development practices, and performance in logistics service provider firms

Although the utilization of logistics service provider firms is growing exponentially in business-to-business markets, little is known about what enables some of these firms to perform better than others. Building on the resource-based view of the firm, this research proposes that market orientation and certain employee development practices (service-related training, coaching, and empowerment) influence both employee and organizational performance. The hypotheses are tested using data from 123 large logistics service provider organizations. A multi-survey design was utilized wherein managers as well as the frontline service employees who interact directly with customers represented each organization. The findings suggest that (a) market orientation influences organizational and employee performance, (b) coaching moderates both links, (c) service-related training moderates the link with employee performance only, and (d) empowerment does not moderate either link.     

The bank lending channel and Swiss banking: a survey-based approach

This paper investigates the issue of the bank-lending channel in Switzerland. Using survey data to reflect loan supply and demand factors, we investigate the dynamic behaviour of aggregate loans in a VAR setting. Our findings indicate that higher interest rates lead to tightened loan approvals, and liquidity is a binding constraint as the contraction in deposits exceeds the reduction in loan growth following a monetary shock. Thus, banks’ actions seem to aggravate (ameliorate) the initial effects of higher (lower) interest rates on aggregate demand.     

Alleviating job stress to improve service employee work affect: the influence of rewarding

Firms strive to identify interventions that promote customer contact employee (CCE) well-being by mitigating job stress to encourage better service experiences for customers. Drawing on equity theory, this research examines the influences of alternative rewarding approaches on CCE job stress and work-related attitudes, by assessing the effects of intrinsic (social recognition) and extrinsic (monetary) rewarding on CCE job stress, commitment to the organization, and customer orientation. Results of a survey of 220 CCEs from multiple service organizations indicate that social recognition reduces CCE job stress but that, contrary to expectations, monetary rewarding increases it. Moreover, satisfaction with pay has a greater influence on CCE customer orientation than social recognition.