Eric G. Harris and David E. Fleming
The purpose of this study is to more closely examine the trait antecedents and outcomes of frontline employee productivity propensity. The study is the first to use a job…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to more closely examine the trait antecedents and outcomes of frontline employee productivity propensity. The study is the first to use a job demands-resources perspective on productivity propensity and it reveals that the inclusion of the construct into service worker personality studies significantly improves the explanatory ability of hypothesized models.
Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a job demands-resources perspective and uses an empirical study that included two subsamples: banking and health care. Path analyses were performed using two-group modeling to test the hypotheses. Mediation and hierarchical regressions were also used.
Findings
The findings indicate that the conscientiousness trait has a consistent effect on productivity propensity. More importantly, the findings reveal that productivity propensity influences role ambiguity, job satisfaction and self-rated service performance and that the addition of the construct into personality studies significantly improves the explanatory ability of personality models.
Research limitations/implications
This study presents further evidence that productivity propensity is an important construct in services research. Beyond previously established influences on bottom-line service productivity and manager-rated work performance, the current work indicates that it also influences FLE stress, engagement and work outcomes.
Practical implications
Managers work under pressures to ensure service productivity and are well aware of the importance of selecting job applicants who will fit the service role. This study provides additional evidence that the productivity propensity work resource should be considered when selecting employees. The work also suggests that customer workload and the standardization of the service environment impacts the influence of productivity propensity on service outcomes.
Social implications
Given the importance of transformative service experiences that uplift the experiences of consumers and employees, the productivity propensity of frontline service employees not only impacts the ability of the employee to satisfy customer needs, but also leads the employee to experience increased job satisfaction.
Originality/value
This work is the first work to consider the effects of productivity propensity from a job demands-resources perspective and, as such, the first to examine the influence of the construct on job satisfaction and service delivery.
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John C. Mowen and Eric G. Harris
Proposes and tests a new approach for developing message themes and segmenting markets, termed the message development through personality segmentation – MDPS. This new tool…
Abstract
Proposes and tests a new approach for developing message themes and segmenting markets, termed the message development through personality segmentation – MDPS. This new tool, based on Mowen’s 3M model of motivation and personality, is used to identify a network of key personality traits that may be used as segmentation and message development variables. The approach addresses several criticisms that have been leveled against personality research in marketing. The approach includes four distinct steps that managers can follow to create message themes and segment markets based on motivational networks of personality traits. Provides an empirical example that tests the process in an automotive industry context.
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Eric G. Harris and David E. Fleming
This purpose of this paper is to explore the role of service personality in services marketing and service marketing communications. Central to the study is the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to explore the role of service personality in services marketing and service marketing communications. Central to the study is the influence of perceived customer‐service personality congruency on service outcomes. The causal ordering of perceived customer‐service personality congruency, service perceptions, and service outcomes, is considered. The study also explores the ability of the Five Factor Model traits to explain additional variance in perceived personality congruency beyond the Brand Personality Scale.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical data were gathered via survey administration from 200 customers and 132 employees of a major banking institution. Hierarchical regression analysis and t‐tests were performed to analyze the data.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that service personality assessments should include measures of the human personality and that perspectives from both employees and customers should be included in service personality assessment.
Practical implications
Managers gain much by considering the service personality construct and its influence on service perceptions. Employees directly influence customer perceptions of the firm, and managers should therefore be aware of the types of messages that employees send regarding the service. Human resource departments therefore play central roles in the management of service personality, and employee selection devices are especially important when considering which employees may best fit within the desired service personality.
Originality/value
The value of this paper lies in its ability to delineate more clearly the effects of perceived customer‐service personality congruency and the role that the Five Factor Model traits play in perceived service performance.
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Stanley G. Harris and Eric B. Gresch
Heightened levels of emotions, often negative, accompany the prospect and implementation of organizational changes. The failure to manage the emotions of change is cited as a…
Abstract
Heightened levels of emotions, often negative, accompany the prospect and implementation of organizational changes. The failure to manage the emotions of change is cited as a reason for implementation problems and resistance to change. In this chapter, we examine the influences and consequences of emotions in the context of a large merger. Specifically, we examine the relationships between three cognitive assessments of the merger and the emotional reaction of pleasure toward the merger. With regard to consequences, we explore how pleasure with the merger relates to the length and affective tone of written suggestions for organizational improvements and postmerger attitudes of job satisfaction and turnover intention. Implications of our results are drawn for both scholars and organizational change agents.
Wilfred J. Zerbe, Charmine E.J. Härtel and Neal M. Ashkanasy
The chapters in this volume are drawn from the best contributions to the 2008 International Conference on Emotion and Organizational Life held in Fontainebleau, France. (This…
Abstract
The chapters in this volume are drawn from the best contributions to the 2008 International Conference on Emotion and Organizational Life held in Fontainebleau, France. (This bi-annual conference has come to be known as the “Emonet” conference, after the listserv of members). In addition, these referee-selected conference papers were complemented by additional, invited chapters. This volume contains six chapters selected from conference contributions for their quality, interest, and appropriateness to the theme of this volume, as well as seven invited chapters. We again acknowledge in particular the assistance of the conference paper reviewers (see appendix). In the year of publication of this volume, the 2010 Emonet conference will be held in Montreal, Canada, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, and will be followed by Volumes 7 and 8 of Research on Emotions in Organizations. Readers interested in learning more about the conferences or the Emonet list should check the Emonet website http://www.emotionsnet.org.
Purpose – The Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings have presented new challenges in how the media covers school shootings. These events have transformed Eric Harris, Dylan…
Abstract
Purpose – The Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings have presented new challenges in how the media covers school shootings. These events have transformed Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Seung-Hui Cho not only from disgruntled youth to school killers, but also into actors, writers, and directors of their own narrative.
Methodology/approach – This article focuses on the role of the masculine identity and underlying messages in the communicative process of the shooters. Further examination looks at what particular messages the shooters are communicating through the media. This includes an analysis into their journals, internet postings, and videos that were left behind as archives of the performative scripts. Finally, reflection is presented in terms of which parts of the shooters’ messages are or are not communicated and why.
Findings – This article considers the differences in the Columbine and Virginia Tech cases in terms of who is controlling the information that gets released to the public. In the case of Columbine, information was or was not released by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, whereas in the case of Virginia Tech, nearly all decisions regarding material release was made by the media (particularly NBC News).
Originality/value of paper – This article applies Muschert and Ragnedda's (2010) examination of cultural scripts to two benchmark cases, examining the mediatization of the shooters’ own words.
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This chapter seeks to shed light on the many factors that contribute to people becoming school shooters. These factors are divided into four domains: biological, psychological…
Abstract
This chapter seeks to shed light on the many factors that contribute to people becoming school shooters. These factors are divided into four domains: biological, psychological, social, and cultural. At the biological level, this chapter explores the potential influence of genetics, pre- and post-natal development, and body-related issues that may affect the perpetrators' sense of self. A psychological typology is presented, consisting of psychopathic, psychotic, and traumatized school shooters. Socially, school shooters often have multiple setbacks, failures, and rejections that contribute to their distress. Finally, the cultural domain includes such factors as media violence, role models for killing, and ideologies of hatred and supremacy. Rather than attributing school shootings to a simplistic cause such as bullying, this chapter discusses a wide range of potential influences that combine to cause mass attacks at schools.
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Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover…
Abstract
Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.
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Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.