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Journal ArticleDOI

Developing Customer Service Innovations for Service Employees: The Effects of NSD Characteristics on Internal Innovation Magnitude:

07 Mar 2011-Journal of Service Research (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 14, Iss: 2, pp 164-179
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors hypothesize that the way firms design (agent codesign and design acceleration) and implement (agent enablement) an internal customer service innovation has direct and joint effects on the magnitude of benefits of the innovation to customer service agents.
Abstract: During product recovery, firms rely on their customer service agents to recover customers’ product failures and deliver superior customer service. However, customers who contact the firm about a product failure often are dissatisfied, which makes customer service agents’ jobs challenging. Therefore, firms continuously try to improve their internal customer service operations to increase benefits for customer service agents and, by extension, their customers. The authors hypothesize that the way firms design (agent codesign and design acceleration) and implement (agent enablement) an internal customer service innovation has direct and joint effects on the magnitude of benefits of the innovation to customer service agents, termed internal innovation magnitude. The authors test the conceptual model using data on 38 internal customer service innovations at a Fortune 500 high-technology firm. The findings extend the internal marketing literature by demonstrating that service employees represent a critical sour...
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors carried out a survey involving Italian manufacturing firms and found statistically significant higher levels of a number of organizational and managerial practices for firms with a higher level of adoption of I4.0 technologies.
Abstract: Currently, the expectancy that surrounds the Fourth Industrial Revolution, commonly referred to as Industry 4.0 (I4.0), is huge. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to unveil whether and how organizational and managerial practices are associated to different levels of adoption of I4.0 technologies.,To reach this aim, the authors carried out a survey involving Italian manufacturing firms. Then, the authors used a cluster analysis and t-test to analyze data.,Results show that two clusters of firms based on their level of adoption of I4.0 technologies (high vs low) can be identified. Then, using a t-test, the authors found statistically significant higher levels of a number of organizational and managerial practices for firms with a higher level of adoption of I4.0 technologies.,This paper contributes to the debate surrounding I4.0 by stressing the organizational and managerial challenges that firms willing to undertake an I4.0 transformation have to face, which goes beyond the sole application of I4.0 technologies.,Entrepreneurs and managers need to be aware that the path toward I4.0 requires not only focusing on the application of the I4.0 technologies, but also on the development of a series of organizational and managerial practices that become key to face the fourth Industrial Revolution.,The authors posit here that I4.0 requires firms to bridge the capability gap, as well as overcome cultural barriers preventing entrepreneurs and managers to change their way of doing business. To this regard, this study highlights I4.0 is an all-encompassing paradigm that involves many dimensions of the firm.

165 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a mediation model that extends the service-dominant logic service innovation framework was used to test the effect of cross-functional teams, FLEs, and learning orientation on innovation outcomes.
Abstract: Businesses rely on knowledge interfaces to gather and integrate knowledge that drives innovation and builds competitive advantage. But key knowledge interfaces such as cross-functional teams (CFTs), frontline employees (FLEs), and learning orientation have not shown consistent effects on innovation outcomes in prior research. This study addresses that problem by testing a mediation model that extends the service-dominant logic service innovation framework developed by Ordanini and Parasuraman. Based on analyses of 160 new service development (NSD) projects, the authors find that CFTs, FLEs, and learning orientation consistently influence NSD sales and process efficiency outcomes when they first create a service having (1) superior attributes and expert frontline employee service delivery (service marketability) and/or (2) a well-targeted launch with formal promotion to internal and external markets (launch effectiveness). Those NSD project characteristics in turn yield favorable new service performance re...

109 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how the collaboration with FLEs along the new service development (NSD) process, namely FLE co-creation, impacts on service innovation performance following two routes of different effects.
Abstract: From a Service-Dominant Logic (S-DL) perspective, employees constitute operant resources that firms can draw to enhance the outcomes of innovation efforts. While research acknowledges that frontline employees (FLEs) constitute, through service encounters, a key interface for the transfer of valuable external knowledge into the firm, the range of potential benefits derived from FLE-driven innovation deserves more investigation. Using a sample of knowledge intensive business services firms (KIBS), this study examines how the collaboration with FLEs along the new service development (NSD) process, namely FLE co-creation, impacts on service innovation performance following two routes of different effects. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results indicate that FLE co-creation benefits the NS success among FLEs and firm’s customers, the constituents of the resources route. FLE co-creation also has a positive effect on the NSD speed, which in turn enhances the NS quality. NSD speed and NS quality integrate the operational route, which proves to be the most effective path to impact the NS market performance. Accordingly, KIBS managers must value their FLEs as essential partners to achieve successful innovation from an internal and external perspective, and develop the appropriate mechanisms to guarantee their effective involvement along the NSD process.

101 citations


Cites background or methods from "Developing Customer Service Innovat..."

  • ...2013), but the potential motivating benefits of treating FLEs as operant resources are still underexplored (Umashankar et al. 2011)....

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  • ...Based on their previous experience, FLEs can achieve a superior understanding of NS delivery process specifications, and can then anticipate the type of support systems that may be required to improve the NS provision (Melton and Hartline 2010; Schneider and Bowen 1984; Umashankar et al. 2011)....

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  • ...…satisfaction, empowerment, and commitment are crucial to their adoption of an innovative role (Lages and Piercy 2012; Ordanini and Parasuraman 2011; Sørensen et al. 2013), but the potential motivating benefits of treating FLEs as operant resources are still underexplored (Umashankar et al. 2011)....

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  • ...customer service), on themagnitude of benefits of the innovation to customer service agents themselves (Umashankar et al. 2011)....

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  • ...Accordingly, it is expected that the greater the FLE outcomes, the greater the extent of their contribution to creating satisfied customers and building long- term customer relationships (Umashankar et al. 2011)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on a negative psychological state of low work-related arousal, manifested in three main forms: a crisis of meaning at work, job boredom, and crisis of growth.

85 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a resource gain spiral at the service encounter is introduced, which runs from FLEs' emotional job engagement to innovative service behavior, and then leads to customer delight and finally customer loyalty.

71 citations


Cites background from "Developing Customer Service Innovat..."

  • ...Despite the importance of FLEs’ innovative service behavior, this topic has remained largely overlooked in extant research (Umashankar, Srinivasan, and Hindman, 2011)....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A scale designed to assess various aspects of the burnout syndrome was administered to a wide range of human services professionals as discussed by the authors, and three subscales emerged from the data analysis: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.
Abstract: A scale designed to assess various aspects of the burnout syndrome was administered to a wide range of human services professionals. Three subscales emerged from the data analysis: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Various psychometric analyses showed that the scale has both high reliability and validity as a measure of burnout.

10,212 citations

Book
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: The Four-Step Method of Inquiry Quality Control The Writing-Up Process Managing Qualitative Research Conclusion as discussed by the authors The four-step method of inquiry quality control is used in this paper.
Abstract: Introduction Nine Key Issues The Four-Step Method of Inquiry Quality Control The Writing-Up Process Managing Qualitative Research Conclusion

5,252 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For consumers, evaluation of a service firm often depends on evaluation of the "service encounter" or the period of time when the customer interacts directly with the firm as mentioned in this paper. But this evaluation may not be accurate.
Abstract: For consumers, evaluation of a service firm often depends on evaluation of the “service encounter” or the period of time when the customer interacts directly with the firm. Knowledge of the factors...

4,811 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors collected 700 incidents from customers of airlines, hotels, and restaurants and used the critical incident method to identify the most frequent service encounter from the customer's point of view.
Abstract: The service encounter frequently is the service from the customer's point of view. Using the critical incident method, the authors collected 700 incidents from customers of airlines, hotels, and re...

4,629 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of burnout, including determinants of and interrelationships among the three burnout components, including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment.
Abstract: Burnout is a unique type of stress syndrome, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. Although burnout has been shown to be potentially very costly in the helping professions, such as nursing, education, and social work, little work has been done thus far to establish its generalizability to industry. This article reviews the literature on burnout and provides a conceptual framework designed to improve the understanding of burnout. Propositions are presented that are aimed at clarifying the dynamics of burnout, including determinants of and interrelationships among the three burnout components.

2,406 citations


"Developing Customer Service Innovat..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Understanding employee-level outcomes is especially critical in service contexts that entail elevated levels of job stress, including product recovery services (Cordes and Dougherty 1993)....

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