scholarly journals Dignity Transacted: Emotional Labor and the Racialized Workplace

2020 ◽  
pp. 531
Author(s):  
Lu-in Wang ◽  
Zachary Brewster
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status

In interactive customer service encounters, the dignity of the parties becomes the currency of a commercial transaction. Service firms that profit from customer satisfaction place great emphasis on emotional labor, the work that service providers do to make customers feel cared for and esteemed. But performing emotional labor can deny dignity to workers by highlighting their subservience and requiring them to suppress their own emotions in an effort to elevate the status and experiences of their customers. Paradoxically, the burden of performing emotional labor may also impose transactional costs on some customers by facilitating discrimination in service delivery. Drawing on the extant scholarship on emotional labor and ongoing research on full-service restaurants, we argue that the strain and indignities of performing emotional labor, often for precarious compensation, lead servers to adopt various coping strategies, including some that open the door to their delivery of inferior and inhospitable service. When these strains and indignities are coupled with culturally entrenched racial stereotypes and racialized discourse in the workplace, the result is that people of color—a legally protected category of customers—are systematically denied dignity and equality by being excluded from the benefits of welcoming and caring customer service. Discriminatory customer service often is so subtle and ambiguous that it escapes legal accountability. It nevertheless warrants our attention, because it contributes to the social and economic marginalization of people of color. Far from being a mundane or trivial concern, the dynamics described in this Article underscore the various ways in which particular groups come to be designated as suitable targets for a wide range of disregard and mistreatment. These dynamics also illuminate how structural conditions facilitate and promote economic discrimination, as well as the connections between workers’ rights and civil rights.

Accommodating ethnic minority consumers during service encounters: the fine line

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Mady ◽  
John B. Ford ◽  
Tarek Mady
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Perceptions ◽  
Language And Ethnicity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of intercultural accommodation efforts on service quality perceptions among ethnic minority consumers. Specifically, the paper postulates that during an intercultural service encounter, the impact of the service provider’s language and ethnicity on the consumer’s service quality perceptions is moderated by the level of service involvement, consumer acculturation and perceived discrimination, which, in turn, influence purchase intent. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design with an online nationwide consumer panel of Hispanic consumers was conducted where 377 participants were randomly assigned to a series of service encounter scenarios in the banking service context to manipulate accommodation efforts (yes vs no) and the level of involvement with the service (high vs low). Findings When such language and ethnicity accommodations were offered, highly acculturated minority consumers regarded the service encounter less favorably than low acculturated minority consumers. Moreover, during low-involvement service encounters, intercultural accommodations positively impacted consumer’s service quality perceptions compared to situations involving high-involvement services. Also, minority consumers with perceptions of past discrimination had less favorable evaluations of the service quality than when such perceptions were nonexistent when intercultural accommodation efforts were made by the service provider. Research limitations/implications The findings add to the sparse literature that examines the effectiveness of intercultural accommodation and focuses on the combined use of service provider’s language and ethnicity as a means to enhance service quality. Practical implications The study delivers cautions for service firms not to generalize the receptivity of intercultural accommodation efforts. Given the increasingly sizable segments of minority customers, this study offers insights for service providers to develop suitable recruitment strategies and training programs when devising effective ethnic targeting strategies. Originality/value This research is among the first to explain why the effect of target marketing is not homogenous by expanding the research on intercultural accommodations toward a new context considering service involvement levels among varied minority consumer groups.

scholarly journals Audiovisual Translation

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70
Author(s):  
Kristijan Nikolic ◽  
Lindsay Bywood
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Translation Quality ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Media ◽  
Audiovisual Translation ◽  
Translation Systems

The audiovisual translation (AVT) sector has undergone rapid changes in recent years. It would be uncontroversial to state that the various stakeholders: academics; freelancers; technology providers, and language service providers (LSP) are likely to hold diverse and interesting views about what the future holds and how they might be called upon to adapt to recent and future changes. We have conducted qualitative research with representatives of these stakeholders in an attempt to ascertain their concerns and also their predictions for the future. Our motivation was to discover where stakeholders see the sector in the next 10 years. The research was conducted in 2016 and 2018 during the Languages and Media conference on a sample of 160 experts from various sector stakeholder groups. The findings show a broad range of issues that can be summarised into three main themes: the status of the language service provider; the need for standards and metrics; and the importance of training.   Lay summary Audiovisual translation, or media translation such as subtitling and dubbing, has changed a great deal in recent years. Professionals involved in the creation of translations for television and film, which includes the ever-more popular platforms such as Netflix, are likely to have differing views on what the future holds for their industry, especially given the rising volume of translations made by machine translation systems which are then edited by human translators. We have conducted research among professionals involved in the audiovisual translation production process at a conference that takes place in Berlin every two years:  Languages and the Media. This was an ideal place for such work since it attracts subtitlers, translators for dubbing, people who work in TV content translation, and trainers of media translators.  We were hoping to discover the views of a wide range of people about what might happen in the short to medium term in the industry. The research was conducted in 2016 and 2018 among 160 professionals, such as subtitlers and employees of streaming platforms. The findings reveal some issues connected to translating for the media and point to the need for measuring translation quality and investing more resources into media translation training.

A Typology of Service Firms in International Markets: An Empirical Investigation

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Patterson ◽  
Muris Cicic
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
International Service ◽  
Classification Framework ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Operational Activities ◽  
First Time

Globalization of markets and competition has created unlimited opportunities for marketers of services internationally. Service providers, with a wide range of products ranging from professional services to services embedded with tangible goods, have responded to these opportunities. In view of the limited empirical knowledge of service marketers internationally, this article reports on a study of actual experience in serving international customers. In particular, it proposes a classification framework of services as a means of differentiating various marketing practices. The empirical results confirm, for the first time, the usefulness of this classification framework in generating new insights into both strategic and operational activities of international service marketers. Implications for future research and management are also offered.

scholarly journals Identifying the Elements of Great Online Customer Encounters

2022 ◽  
pp. 271-281
Author(s):  
Johanna Heinonen ◽  
Juho Pesonen
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Online Chat ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
Extensive Effort ◽  
The Moment

AbstractCustomer service is a major factor in the success of digital marketing. This study examines the service encounters between tourists and service providers, in this case, Visit Helsinki. The goal is to understand what are the dimensions of service quality in online chat discussions between tourists and DMO personnel and what elements in these discussions support the co-creation of great customer experiences. Altogether 123 chat discussions in June 2020 were downloaded and analysed using qualitative content analysis and statistical tests. The results show that great customer experiences are the result of extensive effort from the customer service agents where they go beyond just providing a satisfactory solution for the customer. The results are managerially important for destinations and tourism businesses around the world and increase the theoretical understanding of the moment of truth concept and its different elements in online service encounters.

The effect of mindfulness on service encounter quality

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Junhong Wang ◽  
Pierre R. Berthon ◽  
Nada Nasr Bechwati
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Mindfulness ◽  
Short Period

Purpose This paper aims to explore the effect of employees’ state mindfulness, a short period of mindful presence, on the quality of the service they provide in a service encounter. Design/methodology/approach Three studies are conducted. A pilot study explores the relationship between state mindfulness and service encounter quality. Experiment 1 examines whether a 15-min mindfulness exercise results in an increase in service employees’ state mindfulness. Experiment 2 tests whether induced state mindfulness produces higher service quality and whether a reminding technique can prolong state mindfulness between service encounters. Findings The results demonstrate the following. First, that more mindful employees provide better service quality. Second, that a short, easily implemented, mindfulness exercise can reliably increase employees’ state mindfulness. Third, induced mindfulness has an impact on subsequent service quality in terms of reliability, assurance, empathy and responsiveness. These effects persist regardless of the service encounter structure (high vs low structure) or the degree of emotional labor involved (high vs low emotionally charged). Finally, the reminding technique developed as part of this research suggests that state mindfulness can be maintained between service encounters. Research limitations/implications As simulated (programmed) customers are used, independent evaluators to assess service quality are used. Service providers in this study are college students; future field studies should consider a wider range of service providers. The research focuses on state mindfulness; exploration of trait mindfulness offers future research opportunities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to empirically examine the link between mindfulness and service quality. It shows that mindfulness can be induced, and through a reminding technique be maintained, and improve service quality across service interactions. This is a powerful finding for marketing managers, for it offers a new method to enhance service provision. Moreover, this research implies that the increase in service quality is likely to be accompanied by reduced job burnout: a double win for employees, employers and customers.

Pathways ahead for New Zealand hill country farming

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.G. Scrimgeour
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Hill Country ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Hill Farming ◽  
The Hill

This paper provides a stocktake of the status of hill country farming in New Zealand and addresses the challenges which will determine its future state and performance. It arises out of the Hill Country Symposium, held in Rotorua, New Zealand, 12-13 April 2016. This paper surveys people, policy, business and change, farming systems for hill country, soil nutrients and the environment, plants for hill country, animals, animal feeding and productivity, and strategies for achieving sustainable outcomes in the hill country. This paper concludes by identifying approaches to: support current and future hill country farmers and service providers, to effectively and efficiently deal with change; link hill farming businesses to effective value chains and new markets to achieve sufficient and stable profitability; reward farmers for the careful management of natural resources on their farm; ensure that new technologies which improve the efficient use of input resources are developed; and strategies to achieve vibrant rural communities which strengthen hill country farming businesses and their service providers. Keywords: farming systems, hill country, people, policy, productivity, profitability, sustainability

РУССКИЙ ЯЗЫК – ЯЗЫК ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ В КГМА

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-53
Author(s):  
Г. Кульбаева
Keyword(s):  
Russian Language ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Main Motivation ◽  
Language Functioning ◽  
Teaching Language ◽  
Medical Academy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Russian Language

Аннотация. В статье рассматривается вопрос о функционировании русского языка в образовательном пространстве КГМА. Большое место в работе занимает роль русского языка в учебной деятельности студентов-медиков. Мотивацией к изучению именно, русского языка являются следующие факторы: статус официального языка; возможность привлечь внимание широкого круга специалистов к своим исследованиям; понимание престижности русского языка. В статье нашли отражение различные формы работы по расширению сферы использования русского языка в медицинской академии. В работе уделено внимание и профильным учебным пособиям, разработанным автором статьи. Анализ некоторых заданий позволяет констатировать тот факт, что содержание пособии определено через компетенции, одной из которых является языковая. Ключевые слова:язык обучения, фундаментальные науки, соматические ФЕ, компетентностная основа, профессиональная направленность, жаргонная лексика. Аннотация. Макалада КММАнын билим берүү мейкиндеги орус тилин өздөштүү маселеси каралат. Орус тили студент-медиктердин окуу ишмердигинде чоң роль ойнойт. Расмий тил статусу, өз изилдөөлөрүнө көпчүлүк адистердин көңүлүн буруу мүмкүнчүлүгү, орус тилинин баркын түшүнүү, өзгөчөлөп билүүгө далил болуп эсептелет. Макалада медициналык академияда орус тили колдонуу чөйрөсүн кеңейтүү боюнча иштөөнү ар кандай формалары көрсөтүлгөн. Эмгекте макаланын автору иштеп чыккан адистик окуу колдонмолорго да көңул бурулган. Кээ бир тапшырмалардын анализи колдонмонун мазмуну компетенция, анын бирөөсү тил аркылуу аныкталганын факт катары көрсөтүүгө мүмкүндүк түзөт. Түйүндүү сөздөр: фундаменталдык илимдер, соматикалык фразеологизмдер, компетенттик негиз, профессионалдык багытталыш, жаргондук лексика. Summary. The article discusses the Russian language functioning in the of the KSMA’s educational space. Russian language plays a big role in the educational activity of the medical students. The main motivation of learning the Russian language has the following points: the status of the official language; the opportunity to attract the attention of a wide range of specialists to their research; understanding of the prestige of the Russian language. The article reflected various forms of work to expand the scope of the use of the Russian language at the medical academy. The work focuses on specialized textbooks developed by the author of the article. An analysis of some tasks allows us to state the fact that the content of the manual is determined through competencies, one of which is the language. Key words: teaching language, fundamental sciences, somatic phraseological unit, slang vocabulary.

The Cities on the Hill

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas K. Ogorzalek
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Social Difference ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Invaluable Tool ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The New Deal

Recent electoral cycles have drawn attention to an urban–rural divide at the heart of American politics. This book traces the origins of red and blue America. The urbanicity divide began with the creation of an urban political order that united leaders from major cities and changed the Democratic Party during the New Deal era. These cities, despite being the site of serious, complex conflicts at home, are remarkably cohesive in national politics because members of city delegations represent their city as well as their district. Even though their constituents often don’t see eye-to-eye on important issues, members of these city delegations represent a united city position known as progressive liberalism. Using a wide range of congressional evidence and a unique dataset measuring the urbanicity of U.S. House districts over time, this book argues that city cohesion, an invaluable tool used by cities to address their urgent governance needs through higher levels of government, is fostered by local institutions developed to provide local political order. Crucially, these integrative institutions also helped foster the development of civil rights liberalism by linking constituencies that were not natural allies in support of group pluralism and racial equality. This in turn led to the departure from the coalition of the Southern Democrats, and to our contemporary political environment. The urban combination of diversity and liberalism—supported by institutions that make allies out of rivals—teaches us lessons for governing in a world increasingly characterized by deep social difference and political fragmentation.

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