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1 – 10 of over 1000Joby John, Stephen J. Grove and Raymond P. Fisk
The purpose of this article is to establish the efficacy of jazz improvisation as a useful metaphor to understand and implement features that contribute to excellent service…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to establish the efficacy of jazz improvisation as a useful metaphor to understand and implement features that contribute to excellent service performances.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins by presenting services as performances that often require flexibility and adaptability in their enactment. It then offers the metaphor of jazz improvisation as a means to comprehend and communicate the dynamics of such flexibility and adaptability. Jazz elements are used to illustrate their application to service delivery issues.
Practical implications
Similar to jazz, services deal with complex and real time delivery circumstances; this makes services prone to uncertainty at the service encounter. Lessons from jazz offer service managers guidelines for improvisation by each player in their ensemble that can enable them to adapt to customers and produce a coherent and cohesive performance.
Originality/value
The jazz improvisation metaphor offers a template and guidelines to comprehend and enact principles pertaining to adaptability in services contexts that may be useful for managers in designing service delivery and training frontline service employees.
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Aidan Daly, Stephen J. Grove, Michael J. Dorsch and Raymond P. Fisk
The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of improvisation training, as used in schools of acting, in preparing front‐stage service employees perform their roles when…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of improvisation training, as used in schools of acting, in preparing front‐stage service employees perform their roles when interacting with customers as cabin crew in Aer Arann, a regional Irish airline.
Design/methodology/approach
To discern the relevance and impact of improvisation training, a case study methodology was employed. The subjects of the investigation were seven recently hired cabin crew personnel for Aer Arann. Data for the case study were collected from the new hires at three different times.
Findings
The study shows that participants both enjoyed the improvisation training and found it to be very valuable as preparation for their roles in the airline. A key finding was that the new hires strongly recommended that improvisation training be incorporated into the airline's regular induction training programme. Specifically, participants felt the improvisation training improved their confidence, effectiveness, ability to adapt, spontaneity and comfort in successfully handling unique situations.
Research limitations/implications
As with many case studies, the study presented here focuses on a single company for its data generation. Further, because of the realities of commercial life, the subject pool is quite small, i.e. due to the demands of their position, only seven new hires were available for the 12 hours needed to conduct the training, as well as the subsequent assessment activities. Nevertheless, the case study enabled the authors to gain meaningful insights into the utilisation of improvisation training in a real‐world setting.
Originality/value
The research makes several key contributions. First, it links theory and practice by demonstrating in a real world context the efficacy of framing service as theatre. Second, based on the service theatre literature, the paper details the utility of improvisation training as a means of preparing front‐stage service employees for the rigours of their jobs. Finally, the research presents new, empirically based insights regarding the value and contribution of improvisation training in the services sector.
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Islam Ali Elhadidy and Yongqiang Gao
Drawing on social information processing theory (SIP), this paper examines whether and how humble leadership affects employees' service improvisation (ESI) in the hospitality…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on social information processing theory (SIP), this paper examines whether and how humble leadership affects employees' service improvisation (ESI) in the hospitality industry. Further, the study investigates the mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of creative self-efficacy (CSE).
Design/methodology/approach
To test the proposed relationships, the study adopts a cross-sectional design, administering questionnaires to 456 frontline staff in Egypt’s hospitality industry across three main sectors: restaurants, hotels and travel agencies. SPSS 27 and AMOS 22 were used for statistical analysis.
Findings
The study reveals a positive relationship between humble leadership and ESI, partially mediated by psychological safety. Furthermore, CSE not only strengthens the relationship between psychological safety and ESI but also enhances the indirect effect of humble leadership on ESI via psychological safety.
Practical implications
The study offers valuable insights for practitioners in the hospitality industry. To boost ESI, organizations can incorporate humble leadership attributes into their leadership development programs. Fostering a psychologically safe workplace would facilitate the positive impact of humble leadership on ESI. Recognizing CSE as a pivotal moderator underscores the importance of strategically selecting and developing employees with high CSE. These insights aim to cultivate a more service-oriented and effective workforce in the hospitality industry.
Originality/value
This study significantly contributes to leadership research in the hospitality industry by uncovering a previously unexplored link between humble leadership and ESI. Exploring psychological safety as a mediator and CSE as a moderator enhances our comprehension of how and when humble leadership influences ESI.
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Jessica Vredenburg and Marilyn Giroux
Endorsement deals are a key contributing factor for companies to gain brand recognition and positive brand associations from consumers. However, endorsement relationships can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Endorsement deals are a key contributing factor for companies to gain brand recognition and positive brand associations from consumers. However, endorsement relationships can be risky for firms in the event of an endorser’s bad behavior or involvement in scandals. The purpose of this paper is to examine how brands can use endorsement exit strategies to minimize and even benefit from negative situations involving its endorser.
Design/methodology/approach
After a review of celebrity endorsement literature, the paper investigates the Rio Olympic Games robbery scandal involving American swimmer Ryan Lochte as a detailed case. By studying the timeline of sponsor-related activities, relevant theories and brand outcomes through Google Trends, indications of a calculated and strategic exit from the endorsement relationship emerge.
Findings
The case analysis establishes that sponsors can successfully leverage the negative associations toward a disgraced endorser. Based on the process of meaning transfer, this case proposes that sponsors can benefit from its public dissociation from the endorser and gain awareness from this separation.
Originality/value
This paper is the first study to examine the positive impact of a celebrity endorsement scandal. It highlights the need for managers to actively prepare endorsement exit strategies in the event of negative associations or endorser actions. The timing and scope of the exit strategy can both limit negative meaning transfer, and leverage the situation creating positive perceptions of integrity and ethics for the sponsor.
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Miguel Pina e Cunha, Arménio Rego and Ken Kamoche
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of improvisation in service recovery.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of improvisation in service recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a conceptual discussion that considers the relevance of improvisation in service recovery. It contributes to the clarification of the possible role of improvisation in the transformation of service failures into positive moments of truth.
Findings
The paper argues that improvisation may be viewed as a relevant, albeit largely ignored, topic in service recovery, and recommends that its role should be the object of theoretical and empirical research.
Practical implications
Managers may consider the possibility of creating conditions for competent improvisation to occur, such as training in improvisational skills and the creation of organizational contexts that facilitate the convergence of planning and execution in order to better deal with the characteristics of the situation.
Originality/value
The study addresses the under‐researched role of improvisation in the process of service recovery.
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Enrico Secchi, Aleda Roth and Rohit Verma
The development of a service improvisation competence (Serv-IC), operationally defined as “the systemic ability of a service firm’s employees to deviate from established service…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of a service improvisation competence (Serv-IC), operationally defined as “the systemic ability of a service firm’s employees to deviate from established service delivery processes and routines to respond in a timely manner to unforeseen events using available resources” (Secchi et al., 2019, p. 1329), has been proposed as an effective way to accommodate customer variability while increasing the quality of the service experience. However, empirical evidence of its impact on service performance is scant. This paper tests the effect of Serv-IC on performance in the hospitality industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a conceptual typology of service delivery systems (hereafter service typology is used interchangeably) in the hotel industry based on the experiential content of the service and the amount of standardization of service delivery routines. Then, using a survey of hotel managers, the effect of Serv-IC on hotel performance is estimated within each service group in the typology.
Findings
Serv-IC is associated with increased occupancy in high-process-standardization and high-experience hotel operations but does not have a significant relationship with the average price per room. The results suggest that managers could invest in Serv-IC to increase loyalty and positive word of mouth but not to increase prices.
Originality/value
This paper provides evidence of the effectiveness of developing a service improvisation competence while also offering boundary conditions to its applicability. The proposed service typology disentangles the design of service processes from their execution, thereby shedding new light on the complex relationships among service design, employee behaviors and business outcomes.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational actors interpret and enact technology in cross-boundary work contexts during e-government implementation in a public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational actors interpret and enact technology in cross-boundary work contexts during e-government implementation in a public organization in East Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study methodology involving semi-structured interviews, unobtrusive observations, and archival records was utilized in the study. Interview subjects include management staff, general employees, and information technology (IT) specialists to provide rich descriptions of their work practice.
Findings
Three distinct contexts contribute to cross-boundary work practice in relation to IT use and non-use, namely, standardization (complete IT use), hybridization (partial IT use), and conventionalization (zero IT use). Technology enactment strategies such as acceptance, avoidance, adaptation, and configuration are employed depending on actors’ interpretation of technology complexity and task interdependency.
Practical implications
Early interventions could involve examining how and why employees accept or avoid technology as part of their work practice and how they switch between enactment strategies. Organizations could ensure better team support to capitalize on the robust social interaction in cross-boundary work contexts to develop greater synergy in technology improvisations.
Originality/value
The study extends the technology enactment perspective as it offers new meanings to structures of action by understanding the temporal agentic orientations and how these are constructed by cross-boundary work contexts. It also offers insight into how enactment strategies are developed according to the productive tensions that arise from the interplay of cognitive orientations.
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Chen Yang, Lu Zhang, Xuehang Ling, Xin Qin and Mingyue Li
Digital product and service innovations (DPSI) has attracted widespread attention from both management scholars and practitioners. Previous studies have documented that…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital product and service innovations (DPSI) has attracted widespread attention from both management scholars and practitioners. Previous studies have documented that information technology (IT) capability and digital orientation positively influence DPSI performance. However, the question of whether and how digitalization capability can facilitate DPSI performance remains unresolved. This paper fills these gaps by investigating the mediating role of improvisation capability and the moderating role of technological turbulence.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used two-wave data from 240 matched digital transformation department leaders and senior managers from Chinese firms and examined the hypotheses deploying hierarchical regression and bootstrapping.
Findings
Our analyses reveal positive, significant links between digitalization capability and improvisation capability and between improvisation capability and DPSI performance. The findings further show that the effect of digitalization capability on DPSI performance is partially mediated by improvisation capability and that technological turbulence strengthens the indirect relationship between digitalization capability and DPSI performance through improvisation capability.
Originality/value
Integrating resource-based view, this research provides evidence that the extent to which improvisation capability mediates the relationship between digitalization capability and DPSI performance depends on technological turbulence. It provides a new direction for digitalization capability and DPSI performance.
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José Arias-Pérez and Juan Cepeda-Cardona
This paper aims to analyze the moderating effect of technological turbulence caused by artificial intelligence on the relationship between the traditional knowledge management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the moderating effect of technological turbulence caused by artificial intelligence on the relationship between the traditional knowledge management strategies of personalization (tacit knowledge) and codification (explicit knowledge), and organizational improvisation, which refers to the firm's ability to generate ideas and respond to changes in the technological environment in real time. Until now, individuals have played a key and indispensable role in organizational improvisation since they are the owners of tacit knowledge and users of explicit knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was tested in a sample of firms from sectors in which the adoption of intelligent robots is growing.
Findings
Both personalization and codification have a positive and significant influence on improvisation, the former to a greater extent. Nevertheless, when technological turbulence caused by artificial intelligence occurs, the relationship between personalization and improvisation is weakened, whereas the link between codification and improvisation is strengthened.
Originality/value
Contrary to the pre-digital literature consensus, explicit knowledge is becoming the new major driver of organizational improvisation, while tacit knowledge sharing is losing strength and relevance. This finding may be a first indication that intelligent robots are the new exponents of improvisation for their ability to respond to changes in the environment in real time because of a combination of explicit knowledge, beyond being a mere support tool for humans.
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Naser Valaei, Sajad Rezaei and Maryam Emami
The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationships among explorative learning strategy, improvisational creativity, compositional creativity, and innovation in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationships among explorative learning strategy, improvisational creativity, compositional creativity, and innovation in information and communication technology small- and medium-sized enterprises (ICT-SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 213 valid questionnaires from SMEs’ top management positions were evaluated to investigate the proposed model of the research empirically. As a methodological approach, partial least square (PLS) path modeling approach, a variance-based structural equation modeling was employed.
Findings
The statistical results imply that explorative learning has a positive impact on improvisational creativity and innovation while improvisational creativity has a positive influence on compositional creativity and innovation as well. Compositional creativity and innovation are also positively associated. Surprisingly, improvisational creativity mediates the relationship between explorative learning and innovation. Furthermore, PLS-multi group analysis reveals that heterogeneity exists in the collected data and number of employees is a moderating variable. The results of the research indicate that companies with number of employees between 51 and 100 are more creative and innovative in comparison with other groups. On the other hand, the positive relationship between explorative learning and compositional creativity was not supported in this research.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few research works in the realm of examining the structural relationship among explorative learning strategy, improvisational creativity, compositional creativity, and innovation in ICT-SMEs, regarding the number of employees as a moderating variable.
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