Understanding service failure and recovery: A customer-based phenomenographic approach

To date, researchers have largely considered service failure and recovery as a combination of individual constructs, often in isolation, rather than viewing failure and recovery holistically. Consequently, our understanding is fragmented. Furthermore, while some attempt has been made to gain a better understanding of service failure and recovery from both the customer and the employee’s perspective (cf. Bitner et al.1990; McColl-Kennedy and Sparks 2003), no study has employed an interpretative perspective that potentially offers a rich, in-depth approach to this important area of research. Given this gap, our paper presents the value of taking a customer-based interpretive approach to obtaining a fuller understanding of the way customers view service failure and recovery. In this paper we report the findings of our phenomenography study of twenty in-depth interviews. Not only do we argue the benefits of adopting this fresh approach to studying service failure and recovery, we also present an innovative conceptual framework derived from our phenomenographic research findings, which has significant theoretical and practical implications.

An investigation into the antecedents of goal congruence in retail-service settings

The authors report the results of two studies that model the antecedents of goal congruence in retail-service settings. They draw the antecedents from extant research and propose that goal congruence is related to employees' perceptions of morale, leadership support, fairness in reward allocation, and empowerment. They hypothesize and test direct and indirect relationships between these constructs and goal congruence. Results of structural equations modeling suggest an important mediating role for morale and interesting areas of variation across retail and service settings.

Service acculturation:a dyadic study of managerial and employee effects upon service firm performance

The majority of previous research into service quality and services marketing has concentrated upon the measurement of service quality outcomes, rather than the enhancement of the process by which service is delivered. In this study a conceptual model of the service acculturation process is proposed, modelling the input of service managers and employees in the delivery of service quality to customers. The conceptualisation is then empirically tested utilising a dyadic study of the New Zealand hotel industry. Results indicate that 1) a strong commitment to service is important for both managers and employees; and 2) that employees’ teamwork may have an adverse effect on perceived quality of customer service. Implications of the results and future research directions are subsequently discussed.

Analysing the commitment - service quality relationship:a comparative study of retail banking call centres and branches

Adopting an internal marketing approach, this paper attempts to provide a deeper understanding of the organisational commitment—service quality relationship in the service context. This is done by empirically testing the relationships that the three components of organisational commitment (affective, continuance and normative) have with the service quality of customer-contact employees. The hypotheses were framed by critically reviewing the extant literature in the areas of services marketing and human resource management. A large sample comparative study was conducted on employees in call centres and branches of a major retail bank in UK. We explore the important question of how the three components of organisational commitment influence the employee-perceived service quality differently in call centres and in branches. The findings indicate that in branches, both affective commitment and continuance commitment have significant positive impact on service quality while in call centres, only affective commitment is found to affect service quality significantly. Having established the commitment—service quality relationship, the implications for designing internal marketing strategies are further discussed.

A cross-national comparison of cultural value orientations of Indian, Polish, Russian and American employees

This study examines the cultural value orientations (VOs) of employees (managerial and non-managerial) working in three categories of organizations (professional, technical and local services) in India, Poland, Russia and the USA. The analysis is conducted at both the national and organizational levels. The paper hypothesizes cultural differences at the country level and cultural similarities among employees working for professional and technical oriented organizations and divergence in the VOs of employees working for local services organizations. It also hypothesizes differences in the VOs of managerial and non-managerial employees in the four countries. The investigation has been conducted with the help of a questionnaire survey of 1,852 respondents. The outcomes of the analysis show that there are both cross-country cultural differences and similarities among the VOs of employees of the four nations. Further, significant cultural convergence emerges in the VOs of employees working for both professional and technical organizations, however, no significant cultural similarities or differences are observed for employees of service-based organizations in the four countries. There are some similarities emerging between managerial employees in the research countries. The research contributes to the fields of cross-cultural management, international management and international human resource management.

Managing people and performance:An evidence based framework applied to health service organizations

People and their performance are key to an organization's effectiveness. This review describes an evidence-based framework of the links between some key organizational influences and staff performance, health and well-being. This preliminary framework integrates management and psychological approaches, with the aim of assisting future explanation, prediction and organizational change. Health care is taken as the focus of this review, as there are concerns internationally about health care effectiveness. The framework considers empirical evidence for links between the following organizational levels: 1. Context (organizational culture and inter-group relations; resources, including staffing; physical environment) 2. People management (HRM practices and strategies; job design, workload and teamwork; employee involvement and control over work; leadership and support) 3. Psychological consequences for employees (health and stress; satisfaction and commitment; knowledge, skills and motivation) 4. Employee behaviour (absenteeism and turnover; task and contextual performance; errors and near misses) 5. Organizational performance; patient care. This review contributes to an evidence base for policies and practices of people management and performance management. Its usefulness will depend on future empirical research, using appropriate research designs, sufficient study power and measures that are reliable and valid.

The strategic role of relational capabilities in the business-to-business service profit chain

This paper extends the original service profit chain by examining the role of relational capabilities with employees, customers and strategic partners on process and performance outcomes in a business-to-business context. More specifically, we demonstrate how satisfied and loyal employees are better in developing relationships with customers and strategic partners. These relationships enable firms to be more responsive towards customers and become more innovative, which increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and, ultimately, financial performance. Our results provide support for the development of relational capabilities in a business-to-business environment by extending the service profit chain (SPC) model. However, we find that while the development of strong customer relationships contributes to an improved service responsiveness of the firm, strategic partners do not.

The evaluation of information systems in the organisational context of the National Health Service. Available in 2 volumes.

This thesis describes a project which has investigated the evaluation of information systems. The work took place in, and is related to, a specific organisational context, that of the National Health Service (NHS). It aims to increase understanding of the evaluation which takes place in the service and the way in which this is affected by the NHS environment. It also investigates the issues which surround some important types of evaluation and their use in this context. The first stage of the project was a postal survey in which respondents were asked to describe the evaluation which took place in their authorities and to give their opinions about it. This was used to give an overview of the practice of IS evaluation in the NHS and to identify its uses and the problems experienced. Three important types of evaluation were then examined in more detail by means of action research studies. One of these dealt with the selection and purchase of a large hospital information system. The study took the form of an evaluation of the procurement process, and examined the methods used and the influence of organisational factors. The other studies are concerned with post-implementation evaluation, and examine the choice of an evaluation approach as well as its application. One was an evaluation of a community health system which had been operational for some time but was of doubtful value, and suffered from a number of problems. The situation was explored by means of a study of the costs and benefits of the system. The remaining study was the initial review of a system which was used in the administration of a Breast Screening Service. The service itself was also newly operational and the relationship between the service and the system was of interest.

The corporatization of community pharmacy:implications for service provision, the public health function, and pharmacy's claims to professional status in the United Kingdom

Background Pharmacy has experienced both incomplete professionalization and deprofessionalization. Since the late 1970s, a concerted attempt has been made to re-professionalize pharmacy in the United Kingdom (UK) through role extension—a key feature of which has been a drive for greater pharmacy involvement in public health. However, the continual corporatization of the UK community pharmacy sector may reduce the professional autonomy of pharmacists and may threaten to constrain attempts at reprofessionalization. Objectives The objectives of the research: to examine the public health activities of community pharmacists in the UK; to explore the attitudes of community pharmacists toward recent relevant UK policy and barriers to the development of their public health function; and, to investigate associations between activity, attitudes, and the type of community pharmacy worked in (eg, supermarket, chain, independent). Methods A self-completion postal questionnaire was sent to a random sample of practicing community pharmacists, stratified for country and sex, within Great Britain (n = 1998), with a follow-up to nonresponders 4 weeks later. Data were analyzed using SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) (v12.0). A final response rate of 51% (n = 1023/1998) was achieved. Results The level of provision of emergency hormonal contraception on a patient group direction, supervised administration of medicines, and needle-exchange schemes was lower in supermarket pharmacies than in the other types of pharmacy. Respondents believed that supermarkets and the major multiple pharmacy chains held an advantageous position in terms of attracting financing for service development despite suggesting that the premises of such pharmacies may not be the most suitable for the provision of such services. Conclusions A mixed market in community pharmacy may be required to maintain a comprehensive range of pharmacy-based public health services and provide maximum benefit to all patients. Longitudinal monitoring is recommended to ensure that service provision is adequate across the pharmacy network.

Does internal marketing improve service quality in call centres?

Although internal marketing has been conceptually argued to improve service quality, empirical evidence in this respect has been limited. This research investigates the relationship between rewards, which are a key component of internal marketing paradigm, and service quality of frontline employees in banking call centres. In this context, the authors develop hypotheses with the help of literature review, and empirically examine the effects of various extrinsic and intrinsic rewards on service quality. The results indicate that intrinsic rewards have greater effect on service quality than extrinsic rewards, which offer managerial implications and directions for future research.

Internal branding to influence employees' brand promise delivery:a case study in Thailand

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the internal branding process from the perspective of service providers in Thailand. It will reveal the key internal branding mechanisms and empirically assess the relationship between internal branding and employees' brand attitudes and performance. Design/methodology/approach – A case study representing the Thai hotel industry is adopted with mixed methodologies. In-depth interviews are first carried out with 30 customer-interface employees in six major hotels in Thailand. On a census basis, a quantitative survey with 699 respondents from five major hotels in Thailand follows. Findings – Internal branding coordinating marketing with human resource management has a statistically significant impact on attitudinal and behavioural aspects of employees in their delivery of the brand promise. As employees' brand commitment do not have a statistically significant relationship with employees' brand performance, it is not regarded as a mediator in the link between internal branding and employees' brand performance. Practical implications – A number of significant managerial implications are drawn from this study, for example using both internal communication and training to influence employees' brand-supporting attitudes and behaviours. Still, it should be noted that the effect of internal branding on employee behaviours could be dependent on the extent to which it influences their brand attitudes. Originality/value – The paper provides valuable insights, from the key internal audience's perspectives, into an internal branding process. It has empirically shown the relationship between internal branding and the behavioural outcome as well as the partial meditating effects of employees' brand identification, commitment and loyalty.

Internal branding: an enabler of employees' brand-supporting behaviours

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the internal branding process from the employees' perspective; it will empirically assess the relationship between internal branding and employees' delivery of the brand promise as well as the relationships among their brand identification, brand commitment and brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – On a census basis, a quantitative survey is carried out with 699 customer-interface employees from five major hotels. Findings – Internal branding is found to have a positive impact on attitudinal and behavioural aspects of employees in their delivery of the brand promise. As employees' brand commitment does not have a statistically significant relationship with employees' brand performance, it is not regarded as a mediator in the link between internal branding and employees' brand performance. Furthermore, the study shows that brand identification is a driver of brand commitment, which precedes brand loyalty of employees. Practical implications – A number of significant managerial implications are drawn from this study, for example using both internal communication and training to influence employees' brand-supporting attitudes and behaviours. Still, it should be noted that the effect of internal branding on the behaviours could be dependent on the extent to which it could effectively influence their brand attitudes. Originality/value – The results provide valuable insights from the key internal audience's perspectives into an internal branding process to ensure the delivery of the brand promise. It empirically shows the relationship between internal branding and the behavioural outcome as well as the meditational effects of employees' brand identification, commitment and loyalty.

Rewarding customer service? Using reward and recognition to deliver your customer service strategy

This report examines the role of reward and recognition in helping organisations deliver excellent customer service. It identifies the impact that reward and recognition practice has upon customer service and highlights which practices are more effective; shows the extent to which employees are satisfied with the rewards and recognition they receive; indicates those approaches to reward and recognition most associated with staff commitment; and looks at how other factors affect employee satisfaction with reward and recognition.

The association between presenteeism and engagement of National Health Service staff

Objective: Although several studies have demonstrated a relationship between staff engagement and health and wellbeing, none has analysed the association with presenteeism in the National Health Service (NHS) context. Our aim is to determine whether there is a relationship between presenteeism and staff engagement. Methods: A hierarchical logistic multilevel modelling of cross-sectional data from the NHS staff survey (2009) was conducted. We controlled for a range of demographic and socioeconomic background variables, including ethnic group, gender, age and occupational group. The sample was 156,951 respondents across all 390 English NHS trusts, each providing a random sample of employees. Engagement was measured using three facets: motivation, advocacy and involvement, which were also used in a composite score. Results: Therewas a low-to-moderate negative correlation between presenteeismand staff engagement: odds ratio 0.42 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-0.43) for overall staff engagement and 0.53 (95% CI 0.52-0.54) for staff advocacy of the trust; 0.53 (95% CI 0.52-0.54) for motivation and 0.50 (95% CI 0.49-0.51) for involvement. Conclusions: Putting pressure on health-care staff to come to work when unwell is associated with poorer staff engagement with their jobs. © The Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd 2011.

Aligning employee service recovery performance with brand values:the role of brand-specific leadership

This study investigates the effects of brand-specific leadership on employees' brand-aligned service recovery performance (SRP). In order to do so, we empirically test a conceptual model of relationships between brand-specific transformational leadership (TFL) and transactional leadership (TRL), trust in leader and in corporate brand, brand identification, and SRP from employees' perspectives. It is the first study to incorporate trust in corporate brand into the framework. Results from a study of 246 customer-contact employees show that brand-specific TFL has a positive impact on all variables studied, while brand-specific TRL is ineffective in fostering brand-building behaviours. More specifically, brand-specific TFL's effects on employee SRP are mediated by trust in the leader, trust in the corporate brand, and brand identification. Implications and future research directions are discussed. © 2013 Copyright Taylor & Francis.