Agreement on service performance ratings between frontline employees and their supervisor

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 721-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter BeomCheol Kim ◽  
Kevin D. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Performance Ratings ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Service Worker ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Rating Agreement ◽  
Supervisory Ratings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether agreement between frontline employee self-ratings and supervisory ratings of service performance functions as an indicator of healthy supervisor-subordination relationships above and beyond what might be indicated simply by either supervisory ratings or self-ratings. Design/methodology/approach Research hypotheses were tested using a sample of 220 matched pairs of frontline service workers and their immediate supervisors from nine full service hotels in the USA. Findings The results show that higher levels of agreement in service performance ratings between employees and supervisors is associated with higher levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational commitment. Practical implications Senior managers can refer to the level of performance rating agreement between customer service employees and their supervisors in assessing supervisors’ competency to manage their work relationship with their subordinates. Originality/value This study examined rating agreement in a service performance context and found rating agreement between subordinates and their supervisor may have a unique effect on service worker effectiveness, producing a unique incremental effect on LMX and organizational commitment. This is important given that few attempts have been made to examine service performance from both subordinates’ and supervisors’ perspectives and the implication that rating agreement may have for improving employee service performance.

Does transformational leadership always matter in frontline service roles?

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 733-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keo Mony Sok ◽  
Phyra Sok ◽  
Lan Snell ◽  
Pingping Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
High Level ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Frontline Service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of frontline service employees (FSEs) motivation (enjoyment of work and driven to work) and ability (customer service ability) in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance. Design/methodology/approach This is a survey-based study which involves 534 FSEs and 135 supervisors in a hair salon setting. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Results show that TFL is significantly related to employee service performance; this relationship is enhanced with the presence of driven to work; yet, it is neutralized with the presence of enjoyment of work. Further, the three-way interaction of TFL, enjoyment of work and customer service ability as well as TFL driven to work, and customer service ability are negatively associated with employee service performance. Practical implications The results advance service managers’ understanding of the importance of FSEs motivation and ability if they are to fully reap the benefits from their FSEs. The role of leader is not always effective in all situations. FSEs with high level of enjoyment of work and customer service ability would least rely on the guidance and support from the supervisors. Originality/value This research is one of the first to examine the role of subordinate’s characteristics (motivation – enjoyment of work and driven to work and ability – customer service ability) as the key moderators in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance.

Gain without pay causes lazybones’ loss

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 634-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Wu ◽  
Jingli Liu ◽  
Xiaopu Shang
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Social Loafing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Informal Relationship ◽  
Processing Theory ◽  
Member Exchange

Purpose Building on social informational processing theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical model of moderated mediation in which social loafing tendency serves as an intervening mechanism that explains associations among two dimensions of leader–member relationships (formal and informal relationships, namely, leader–member exchange and leader–member guanxi) and customer service performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors designed a field study to test the hypotheses presented in this paper. A survey of 304 supervisor–employee pairs and matched customers generally provide support for this model. Findings The authors found that social loafing tendency played a mediating role between leader–member relationships and customer service performance. Co-worker service-oriented OCB moderated the positive relationship between leader–member guanxi and loafing tendency. Research limitations/implications More samples should be collected from both private and state-owned company. Both the informal and formal leader–member relationships should be unanimously included in examining how the leader–member relationships influence focal employee’s attitude and behavior, particularly in societies where the informal relationship plays noticeable role. Practical implications Managers should properly deal with formal and informal relationship with subordinates. Originality/value The influence of leader–member guanxi on employees and organization is controversial in extant literature. In some sense, this finding contributes to extant literature by further clarifying the influence of guanxi on the focal employee’s performance.

Internal marketing, organizational commitment, and job performance in sport and leisure services

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weisheng Chiu ◽  
Doyeon Won ◽  
Jung-sup Bae
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Leisure Services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model and to investigate the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 254 employees at each of 12 municipal sport centers in Taipei City and were analyzed primarily using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings The results indicated that internal marketing has positive effects on organizational commitment and job performance. Moreover, organizational commitment has a positive influence on job performance and plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between internal marketing and job performance. The findings identify the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance. Originality/value This study proposed and tested an empirical model linking internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services. Moreover, this study further probed into the path of influence of internal marketing strategies on job performance of employees by including their organizational commitment in the mediating process. The findings of this study have insightful implications and emphasize the important role of internal marketing in the management of customer service in sports.

Factors influencing organization commitment

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1294-1303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Schulz ◽  
Thomas Martin ◽  
Heather M. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Affective Organizational Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organization Commitment ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Marketing Orientation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of internal marketing orientation, external marketing orientation, and subjective well-being on the affective organizational commitment of frontline employees. Design/methodology/approach Previous research was used to develop hypotheses and develop a questionnaire for this project. An online survey was completed by 108 frontline employees. Findings The hypothesized model of all three variables having positive effects on organization commitment was supported. Internal marketing orientation, external marketing orientation, and subjective well-being were significant predictors of affective organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this study is the cross-sectional, data collection design. A longitudinal study would allow for increased confidence when evaluating causal inferences with this type of data. Practical implications This paper identifies how managers may be able to use internal marketing orientation, external marketing orientation, and subjective well-being as potential tools to increase the affective organizational commitment of frontline employees. Social implications This paper demonstrates the importance of subjective well-being as an important component of life for an employee and success of the organization. Originality/value This paper extends current research on affective organizational commitment by testing a new model that includes internal marketing orientation, external marketing orientation, and subjective well-being as predictor variables.

Customer delight and work engagement

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 380-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Barnes ◽  
Joel E. Collier ◽  
Stacey Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Role Conflict ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Personal Resources ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Customer Contact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Delight ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of the current research is to evaluate how customer contact level and customer service-based role conflict influence the relationship between customer emotions and work engagement, while simultaneously evaluating psychological capital as an outcome of work engagement. Customer service research highlights the impact of employee attitudes and behaviors on customer satisfaction. More recently, this relationship has been examined in reverse, evaluating how customer emotions influence the employee. Unfortunately, previous research has not evaluated variables that inhibit the impact of customer emotions on the employee. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from frontline employees across high and low customer contact service contexts. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – This research provides empirical evidence that employee-perceived customer delight impacts employee work engagement. However, through a process of feedback, customer service-based role conflict impacts the relationship between customer emotions and employee emotions. Finally, the conceptual model illustrates how engaged employees can create their own personal resources vis-à-vis the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Research limitations/implications – This research identifies both antecedent and outcomes variables associated with work engagement, as well as identified mediating factors. Practical implications – Results suggest that the quality and level of contact that frontline employees have with customers impact their work engagement. Furthermore, engaged frontline employees have the ability to create their own personal resources. Originality/value – This research makes contributions to the understanding of the impact of positive customer emotions on frontline employees.

Moderators of the relationship between social bonding and organizational commitment

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Shih-Tse Wang
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Social Bonding ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The commitment of service employees to an organization is a critical concern that affects the success of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the social bonds between the supervisor and the employee, and among employees, foster organizational commitment in employees. The study subsequently explored the moderating role of work status (full-time vs parttime) and employee individualistic values in the relationship between social bonding and commitment. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were collected from the frontline employees of restaurants in Taiwan (n=395). Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between social bonds and relationship commitment and the moderating effect of work status and individualistic values on the social bonding-commitment relationship. Findings – The results show that social bonding is an antecedent to organizational commitment, and work status and individualistic values moderate the social bonding-commitment relationship. The effect of social bonding on organizational commitment is stronger for full-time and less individualistic employees than for part-time and more individualistic employees. Originality/value – This research contributes to knowledge of the effect of social bonding on employee organizational commitment, and provides evidence showing that work status and employee values affect the social bonding-commitment relationship.

The impact of customer organization socialization: a moderated mediation model

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongshen Liu ◽  
Zhihui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Moderated Mediation ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Organization Socialization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeBased on a dyadic perspective, the purpose of this paper is to include the contributions of employee and customer in a service process and to examine the underlying mechanism of customer organization socialization on service performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a unique survey data pertaining to the service industry. The authors collected their data from multiple sources (customers, front-line employees and these employees' managers) in the divisions of a large service organization – Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China. The authors adopted hierarchical regression moderated path analysis approach to examine our moderated mediation model.FindingsThe authors find that both the quality of customer service and the quality of employee service play as moderators in the relationship between customer organization socialization and service performance. And quality of customer service moderates the relationship between customer organization socialization and quality of employee service.Originality/valueThe literature has focused primarily on service performance improvement based on the dyadic perspective of customer and employee. The research develops a moderated mediation model and contributes to the literature by empirically examining customer organization socialization.

Customer prioritization, product complexity and business ties: implications for job stress and customer service performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Volkan Yeniaras ◽  
Ilker Kaya
Keyword(s):  
Job Stress ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Product Complexity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Business Ties

Purpose Drawing on the theoretical lens of the job demands-resources model, this study builds upon and tests a conceptual model that links customer prioritization, product complexity, business ties, job stress and customer service performance. Conceptualizing customer prioritization and product complexity as job demands and business ties as personal job resources, this research explicates the mediating process by which customer prioritization and product complexity affect customer service performance through job stress and its boundary conditions. The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical framework in which business ties moderates the mediated relations of customer prioritization and product complexity to customer service performance. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling and a moderated mediation analysis were used on a unique multi-level, multi-respondent data set of 248 participants from 124 small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey. Findings This study finds that both customer prioritization and product complexity increase job stress. In addition, this paper finds that business ties have a bitter-sweet nature as a personal resource and reverse the relation of customer prioritization to job stress while strengthening the negative direct relation of product complexity to job stress. Finally, this study finds that the indirect relation of customer prioritization to customer service performance through job stress is contingent on business ties. Specifically, this paper finds that high levels of business ties negate the indirect relation of customer prioritization to customer service performance while low levels of business ties exacerbate the negative effects of customer prioritization to customer service performance, channeled through job stress. Practical implications The findings demonstrate the critical role that personal networks play in reducing job stress and enhancing customer service performance for small and medium-sized enterprises that adopt customer-centric strategies such as customer prioritization. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the managers need to cognizant of the undesirable consequences of business ties may have on job stress when boundary-spanners handle a wide range of products/services that are technically complex. Accordingly, this study recommends small and medium-size enterprise managers and owners should be cautious in resource allocation to establish informal, personal ties with suppliers, competitors, customers and other market collaborators. Originality/value This paper offers a deeper perspective of the relations of customer prioritization and product complexity to job stress and customer service performance. This study also specifies business ties as a personal coping resource, which decreases the undesirable consequences when used in small and medium enterprises that adopt customer-centric strategies.

The impact of abusive supervision on service employees’ proactive customer service performance in the hotel industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1992-2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijing Lyu ◽  
Xing Zhou ◽  
Weiwen Li ◽  
Junbao Wan ◽  
Jie Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees

Purpose On the basis of social identity theory, this paper aims to predict and test the influence of abusive supervision on service employees’ proactive customer service performance (PCSP) in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 198 service employee-coworker dyads from 12 hotels in China. Previously developed and validated measures of abusive supervision, organizational identification, collectivism and PCSP were used and found to be highly reliable in this study. Findings Time-lagged data from 12 hotels in China reveal that abusive supervision negatively influences service employees’ PCSP, through organizational identification. In addition, employees’ collectivistic value orientation also strengthens the negative relationship between abusive supervision and organizational identification. These findings have several theoretical and managerial implications, especially for hospitality context. Practical implications First, the study suggests that hotels should design supervisors’ selection, training and monitoring to reduce mistreatment, which could be highly costly to employees’ identification and hence proactive behaviors. In addition, hotel supervisors are encouraged to learn to regulate their emotions by developing emotional management skills and interpersonal skills. Second, because collectivists are more likely to be affected by abusive supervisors, organizations should pay special attention to them by allocating more supportive resources, providing psychological comfort and expert counseling. Finally, hotels and managers should seek to meet individuals’ basic needs by fostering positive relationships between supervisors and employees, offering favorable treatment and connecting an organization’s goals with employees’ individual values. By doing so, employees’ organizational identification will be enhanced and hence contribute to PCSP. Originality/value First, scarcely any study has focused on negative types of leadership styles and how they affect employees’ PCSP. The authors address the research gap by extending the antecedent scope of PCSP to dark side management and provide empirical evidence about the suppressing effects of abusive supervision on PCSP. Second, the focus on organizational identification provides a new extension for social identity theory in application for incurring employees’ proactive behaviors. Third, this study provides a novel contribution by suggesting that the level of collectivism an employee holds can exacerbate the salience of abusive supervision.

Employee adaptive and proactive service recovery: a configurational perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1581-1607
Author(s):  
Graca Miranda Silva ◽  
Filipe Coelho ◽  
Cristiana R. Lages ◽  
Marta Reis
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Service Recovery ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Adaptive Behaviors ◽  
Proactive Behavior ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Practices ◽  
Configurational Approach

Purpose This study aims to investigate the configurations that drive employee service recovery. Rather than analyzing the net effects of individual antecedents of service recovery, which is the common approach in the literature, this study uses a configurational approach to investigate how five antecedents (customer service orientation, rewards, teamwork, empowerment and customer service training) combine to yield employee adaptive and proactive service recovery behaviors. Design/methodology/approach The study collects responses from 90 frontline employees through an online survey. Building on configurational theory, the authors developed and empirically validated four research propositions by using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Findings Three equifinal configurations of managerial practices result in either employee proactive or adaptive service recovery behaviors. Two of these three configurations result in both adaptive and proactive behaviors. In addition, the findings show that two out of the three configurations that lead to proactive behavior in service recovery also lead to the simultaneous existence of proactive and adaptive behaviors in service recovery. None of the sufficient configurations require the presence of all managerial practices. These results underscore that managers do not have to act on every single managerial intervention area to promote service recovery. Research limitations/implications The study advances the knowledge on the antecedents of employee behavior in service recovery by investigating how these antecedents combine to yield different recipes for developing either employee adaptive or proactive behavior in service recovery. Practical implications The findings provide insights for managers into the different combinations of practices that can be used to develop employee proactive or adaptive behavior in service recovery. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that relies on a configurational approach to understand the combinations of managerial practices that result in employee proactive and adaptive behaviors in service recovery.

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