Jakob Trischler, Anita Zehrer and Jessica Westman
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of different design methods in understanding the customer experience from a contextual and systemic standpoint.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of different design methods in understanding the customer experience from a contextual and systemic standpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
Three design methods (i.e. personas, observations and collaborative service mapping) were applied to analyze customer experiences in two service settings. These methods’ usability was compared across the two settings.
Findings
Personas, as informed by phenomenological interviews, provide insights into the customer’s broader lifeworld context. These insights assist in connecting with and understanding the customer experience from a dyadic customer-firm perspective. The involvement of the customer in service mapping activities supports the validation of findings and gives access to experience dimensions beyond the immediate service setting.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis is limited to three design methods and is based on small samples. Future research should systematically review design methods to provide a basis for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Practical implications
To successfully capture the contextual and systemic nature of the customer experience, managers should apply interpretive approaches and actively involve selected customers as “experts of their experiences”. The study provides guidelines on how design methods can be combined and applied to a more holistic customer experience analysis.
Originality/value
The paper shows that design methods, when applied in a combined form, can support an analysis that captures both in-depth insights into the customer’s lifeworld and the complexity of value constellations.
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Malissa A. Clark, Gregory W. Stevens, Jesse S. Michel and Lauren Zimmerman
This chapter examines the role of leader workaholism in relation to their own and their followers’ well-being. We begin with an overview of workaholism, along with a description…
Abstract
This chapter examines the role of leader workaholism in relation to their own and their followers’ well-being. We begin with an overview of workaholism, along with a description of how workaholism may relate to typical leader behaviors. We propose a conceptual model linking the various components of workaholism to leaders’ well-being and followers’ well-being. In our model, we propose that leaders’ workaholism can negatively influence their own well-being, and also their followers’ well-being through interindividual crossover of affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of workaholism. Furthermore, the negative well-being outcomes experienced by the workaholic leader can also crossover to the followers through interindividual strain–strain crossover. Several moderating factors of these relationships are discussed, as well as avenues for future research.
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This paper aims to introduce an innovative approach to employee engagement through personalized calls targeted at work-from-home (WFH) employees. It explores the effects of these…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce an innovative approach to employee engagement through personalized calls targeted at work-from-home (WFH) employees. It explores the effects of these calls on employee motivation and work behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a case study of a multinational company over a one-year period (2020–2021). In-depth interviewing in the form of engagement calls was used as the primary method of data collection. Seventy-two frontline supervisors were directly involved in calling 1,318 employees totaling 2,671 calls. Content analysis was used to identify key patterns from the data.
Findings
The employees experienced varying degrees of WFH transition based on their response to isolation and work-life boundaries. The calls made a difference to their psychological and emotional wellbeing, reaffirming their confidence in the company’s WFH arrangements and reinforcing their self-worth. This led to the employees engaging more proactively through work process improvisation and working around technological challenges. The calls also uncovered unlearning and relearning as a way of helping them make deeper sense of who they are and how they can contribute more valuably to the company.
Originality/value
This longitudinal research offers fresh insights into the transitions of employees at different phases of their WFH experience based on the first-hand accounts of frontline supervisors. Theoretically, the study contributes to a different perspective of employee engagement and work behaviour from the remote working literature in the context of Covid-19.
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Tova Rosenbloom, Yoav Malka and Shay Israel
The purpose of this paper is to focus on a unique population of airport security guards who work for a specific airline and are frequently sent abroad with short advance notice…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on a unique population of airport security guards who work for a specific airline and are frequently sent abroad with short advance notice. The current study deals with the job burnout of these employees.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 100 airport security guards, employees of a specific airline completed the Attachment Style Questionnaire, the Burnout Questionnaire and Demographic Questions.
Findings
Results indicated that the employees with the preoccupied style suffered more burnout than did those with secure and dismissive-avoidant styles. One of the possible explanations is that people with dismissive-avoidant style enjoy these multiple travels which enable them to be uninvolved with people surrounding them.
Research limitations/implications
This study was based mainly on self-report of both the independent and the dependent variables, with all the disadvantages known to self-report methods.
Practical implications
Points for practitioners are: first, it is recommended to use a selection tool for airport security guards in line with the results of this study; and second, people with avoidance attachment style should potentially be suitable employees for short and multiple travel abroad.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this study contributes a new perspective of the Job Demands-Resources model, that is, the notion that in certain jobs and in specific situations (job demands) insecure attachment style may serve as a job resource rather than as an obstacle.
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Jessica Vieira de Souza Meira and Murat Hancer
This research developed a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship using the social exchange theory as the theoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
This research developed a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship using the social exchange theory as the theoretical framework. This study aims to consider perceived organizational support as the psychological empowerment antecedent, while work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior were considered as its outcome. This study also tested psychological empowerment as a mediator of these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from a sample of frontline hotel employees and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. A total of 242 completed and validated questionnaires were used for the analysis.
Findings
Perceived organizational support had a significant relationship with psychological empowerment (through meaning, competence, self-determination and impact), which also had a significant relationship with work engagement (through meaning and impact) and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (through meaning, self-determination and impact). Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support with work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior.
Originality/value
Although psychological empowerment is receiving further empirical attention in the hospitality field, little is known about its antecedents and outcomes. Hence, this research extends previous studies using the social exchange theory to fill these literature gaps and create a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship.
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Jessica C.M. Li, Jacky C.K. Cheung and Ivan Y. Sun
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of demands from three life domains: society, workplace and family and different resources at the individual, family and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of demands from three life domains: society, workplace and family and different resources at the individual, family and supervisor levels on occupational stress and work engagement among Hong Kong police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey based on a random sample of 514 male and female police officers was conducted, and multivariate regression was employed to assess the effects of demands and resources on work stress and work engagement.
Findings
Family–work conflicts, organizational and operational factors affected work stress and work engagement among police officers. Constructive coping was found to be positively related to work stress and negatively associated with work engagement.
Research limitations/implications
Survey data collected from a single Chinese city may not be generalized to officers in other parts of China or Chinese societies with different social and political contexts.
Originality/value
The present study filled the knowledge gap about factors influencing police stress and engagement. This study provides insights into how to establish relevant contextual measures to reduce police work stress. This study represents one of the first attempts to use a random sample of police officers for the investigation of police stress in Hong Kong.