Chapter 4 Sales Employee's Emotional Labor: A Question of Image or Support
29 Jul 2011-Vol. 7, pp 107-131
TL;DR: Based on a study of 523 medical sales representatives, the present study investigates the relationships among employees' perception about organizational image, organizational support, and the way they perform their emotional labor during customer interaction as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Based on a study of 523 medical sales representatives, the present study investigates the relationships among employees' perception about organizational image, organizational support, and the way they perform their emotional labor during customer interaction. As predicted, the study found support for a positive relationship of both perceived organizational support and perceived external prestige with the way in which employees perform emotional labor. The study further found the importance of perceived external prestige of the organization in influencing the relationship between perceived organizational support and emotional labor. Implications of the study to practitioners and researchers were discussed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss how the concept of emotional labour evolved in the last thirty years and explain the different dimensions of emotional labor and the attempts made to quantify the construct.
Abstract: Emotional labour is a relatively new topic of research in India. This paper discusses how the concept evolved in the last thirty years. The paper mainly aims to explain the different dimensions of emotional labour and the attempts made to quantify the construct. The paper also focuses the progress in emotional labour research in India. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.
5 citations
Cites background from "Chapter 4 Sales Employee's Emotiona..."
...Mishra (2011) found support for a positive relationship of both perceived organizational support and perceived external prestige with the way in which employees perform emotional labour....
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TL;DR: This paper examined the impact of employees' interactions with external beneficiaries in explaining service performance and found that supervisor support (an internal factor) and contact with beneficiaries (an external factor) influence employee service performance.
Abstract: Customers play a significant role in motivating frontline employees. However, little research has examined the impact of employees’ interactions with external beneficiaries in explaining service performance. In the present study, we borrowed from the job characteristics model and social exchange theory to build our model. Drawing on data from 889 frontline service employees and 2667 customers in the microfinance sector, our study demonstrated that supervisor support (an internal factor) and contact with beneficiaries (an external factor) influence employee service performance. We also investigated employee gratitude as an intervening mechanism through which supervisor support and beneficiary contact improve employee service performance. In addition, we found that employees’ perception of the external prestige of their organization is a powerful force linking the above factors with service performance. Our findings advance the understanding of employee service performance, thus providing significant implications for research and practice.
3 citations
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21 Mar 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of employee communication and perceived external prestige (PEP) on organizational identification were evaluated, and it was shown that employee communication affects organizational identification more strongly than PEP, suggesting that the importance of how an organization communicates internally is even more vital than the question what is being communicated.
Abstract: textEmployees' Organizational Identification (OI) is measured in a customer service organization. Particularly the effects of employee communication and perceived external prestige (PEP) on OI were evaluated. Results show that employee communication affects OI more strongly than PEP. One aspect of employee communication, the communication climate, appears to play a central role: it mediates the impact on OI of the content of employee communication. These results suggest that the importance of how an organization communicates internally is even more vital than the question what is being communicated. Consequences of the results for managing and synchronizing internal and external communication are discussed.
1,047 citations
TL;DR: The Emotional Labour Scale (ELS) as mentioned in this paper is a 15-item self-report questionnaire that measures six facets of emotional display in the workplace, including the frequency, intensity and variety of emotional displays, the duration of interaction, and surface and deep acting.
Abstract: This paper describes the development and validation of the Emotional Labour Scale (ELS) as tested on samples of 296 and 238 respondents. The ELS is a 15-item self-report questionnaire that measures six facets of emotional display in the workplace, including the frequency, intensity and variety of emotional display, the duration of interaction, and surface and deep acting. Estimates of internal consistency for the subscales ranged from .74 to .91. Confirmatory factor analysis results provided support for the existence of six unidimensional subscales. Evidence was also provided for convergent and discriminant validity.
1,012 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic study of distributors for Amway, a network marketing organization, examines the practices and processes involved in managing members' organizational identification and shows that this organization manages identification by using two types of practices: sensebreaking practices that break down meaning and sensegiving practices that provide meaning.
Abstract: An ethnographic study of distributors for Amway, a network marketing organization, examines the practices and processes involved in managing members' organizational identification. It shows that this organization manages identification by using two types of practices: sensebreaking practices that break down meaning and sensegiving practices that provide meaning. When both sensebreaking and sensegiving practices are successful, members positively identify with the organization. When either sensebreaking or sensegiving practices fail, members deidentify, disidentify, or experience ambivalent identification with the organization. A general model of identification management is posited, and implications for both theory and practice are offered.
996 citations
981 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether the display of naturally felt emotions is distinct from surface acting and deep acting as a method of displaying organizationally desired emotions and examined dispositional and situational antecedents of surface acting, deep acting, and the expression of natural felt emotions.
940 citations