Yu-Shan (Sandy) Huang and Tom J. Brown
The purpose of this paper is to examine how customer orientation affects frontline service workers’ deep acting and to what extent the effect is moderated by the severity of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how customer orientation affects frontline service workers’ deep acting and to what extent the effect is moderated by the severity of dysfunctional customer behavior (DCB). Service organizations usually want their employees to demonstrate sincere emotions during customer encounters.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a mixed method design using measured variables (e.g. customer orientation) and a scenario-based manipulated variable (i.e. DCB severity). Data from 237 service workers were used to investigate the theoretical model.
Findings
Results showed that perspective taking and emotional sensitivity mediate the positive effect of customer orientation on deep acting. Furthermore, the influence of emotional sensitivity on deep acting is positive when DCB is less severe, but becomes non-significant when DCB becomes severe.
Research limitations/implications
Because the DCB severity is manipulated as a single event, future research can examine its influence based on employees’ experiences. Also, future studies may investigate other mechanisms to explain customer orientation’s effects on deep acting.
Practical implications
This paper provides service organizations an understanding of the key roles of emotional sensitivity and perspective taking in driving deep acting as well as the importance of monitoring DCB severity.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first in marketing to examine the different influences of DCB severity on important employee outcomes. This study also identifies two important mediators to explain how customer orientation drives deep acting.
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Abdullah M. Aljafari and Tom J. Brown
This paper aims to understand the process of initiating ingredient/component (IC) branding from the supplier's perspective. It proposes modeling entrepreneurial orientation (EO…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand the process of initiating ingredient/component (IC) branding from the supplier's perspective. It proposes modeling entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecedent factor and differentiation abilities (functional and reputational) as mediators. Investigating IC branding from the supplier's perspective is critical given the cost and risk associated with implementing such a strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 5,254 manufacturing companies were screened to identify IC supplier firms that meet certain criteria. Survey data were collected from 77 top managers (Chief Executive Officers or Chief Marketing Officers) of IC supplier firms. The paper uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS in analyzing data.
Findings
The results indicate that IC branding is a complex strategy – one involving a number of steps that need to be taken in a specific order. More specifically, results indicate that IC branding starts with EO exerting a positive influence on IC functional differentiation ability (FDA). FDA facilitates reputational differentiation ability (RDA), which in turn encourages the supplier to initiate IC branding.
Originality/value
This paper addresses an important gap by studying the process through, which suppliers initiate IC branding.
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The assessment of service quality has proven to be an important consideration for managers and researchers. The dominant service quality framework posits that consumers consider…
Abstract
The assessment of service quality has proven to be an important consideration for managers and researchers. The dominant service quality framework posits that consumers consider both their own expectations and service provider performance when evaluating service quality. In recent years, however, debate has emerged on how this comparison process should be operationalized and comparative analyses have been performed to assess the psychometric properties and diagnostic usefulness of different operationalizations. Reviews problems in the interpretation of service quality measures and demonstrates the additional diagnostic meaning imputed to service quality scores through the development of measurement norms using a case analysis in a professional services context. Offers recommendations on the measurement of service quality.
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Stephen L. Vargo, Robert F. Lusch, Melissa Archpru Akaka and Yi He
Linda I. Nowak and Judith H. Washburn
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this study suggest that consumer perceptions about product quality, consumer trust, consumer perceptions about pricing, and positive expectations for the consequences of the winery's actions undertaking the pro‐environmental policies, all have strong, positive relationships with the winery's brand equity. Trust in the winery and brand equity for the winery increased significantly when the winery in this study adopted proactive environmental business policies.
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Christian Voegtlin, Ina Maria Walthert and Diana C. Robertson
The chapter examines to what extent research from social cognitive neuroscience can inform ethical leadership. We evaluate the contribution of brain research to the understanding…
Abstract
The chapter examines to what extent research from social cognitive neuroscience can inform ethical leadership. We evaluate the contribution of brain research to the understanding of ethical leaders as moral persons as well the understanding of their role as moral managers. The areas of social cognitive neuroscience that mirror these two aspects of ethical leadership comprise research relating to understanding oneself, understanding others, and the relationship between the self and others. Within these, we deem it relevant for ethical leadership to incorporate research findings about self-reflection, self-regulation, theory of mind, empathy, trust, and fairness. The chapter highlights social cognitive neuroscience research in these areas and discusses its actual and potential contributions to ethical leadership. The chapter thereby engages also with the broader discussion on the neuroscience of leadership. We suggest new avenues for future research in the field of leadership ethics and responsibility.
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In a previous article we have called attention to the danger of eating tinned and bottled vegetables which have been coloured by the addition of salts of copper and we have urged…
Abstract
In a previous article we have called attention to the danger of eating tinned and bottled vegetables which have been coloured by the addition of salts of copper and we have urged upon the public that no such preparations should be purchased without an adequate guarantee that they are free from copper compounds. Copper poisoning, however, is not the only danger to which consumers of preserved foods are liable. Judging from the reports of cases of irritant poisoning which appear with somewhat alarming frequency in the daily press, and from the information which we have been at pains to obtain, there can be no question that the occurrence of a large number of these cases is to be attributed to the ingestion of tinned foods which has been improperly prepared or kept. It is not to be supposed that the numerous cases of illness which have been ascribed to the use of tinned foods were all cases of metallic poisoning brought about by the action of the contents of the tins upon the metal and solder of the latter. The evidence available does not show that a majority of the cases could be put down to this cause alone; but it must be admitted that the evidence is in most instances of an unsatisfactory and inconclusive character. It has become a somewhat too common custom to put forward the view that so‐called “ptomaine” poisoning is the cause of the mischief; and this upon very insufficient evidence. While there is no doubt that the presence in tinned goods of some poisonous products of decomposition or organic change very frequently gives rise to dangerous illness, so little is known of the chemical nature and of the physiological effects of “ptomaines” that to obtain conclusive evidence is in all cases most difficult, and in many, if not in most, quite impossible. A study of the subject leads to the conclusion that both ptomaine poisoning and metallic poisoning—also of an obscure kind—have, either separately or in conjunction, produced the effects from time to time reported. In view of the many outbreaks of illness, and especially, of course, of the deaths which have been attributed to the eating of bad tinned foods it is of the utmost importance that some more stringent control than that which can be said to exist at present should be exercised over the preparation and sale of tinned goods. In Holland some two or three years ago, in consequence partly of the fact that, after eating tinned food, about seventy soldiers were attacked by severe illness at the Dutch manœuvres, the attention of the Government was drawn to the matter by Drs. VAN HAMEL ROOS and HARMENS, who advocated the use of enamel for coating tins. It appears that an enamel of special manufacture is now extensively used in Holland by the manfacturers of the better qualities of tinned food, and that the use of such enamelled tins is insisted upon for naval and military stores. This is a course which might with great advantage be followed in this country. While absolute safety may not be attainable, adequate steps should be taken to prevent the use of damaged, inferior or improper materials, to enforce cleanliness, and to ensure the adoption of some better system of canning.