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The Service Providers This page intentionally left blank The Service Providers Dana Yagil © Dana Yagil 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-51497-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-35378-1 ISBN 978-0-230-58267-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230582675 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 To my parents with love and gratitude This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Tables and Figures viii Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I Basic Processes in the Service Context 9 1 Pretending and Dissembling: The Act of Service 11 2 Influence and Control in the Service Interaction 42 3 Social Exchange: Equity and Justice in Service 65 Part II Customer and Service Providers’ Attitudes 81 and Behaviors 4 Being Always Right: Customer Behavior Towards Service 83 Providers 5 Being Only Human: Service Providers’ Behavior Towards 104 Customers 6 Service Provider Attributes 125 7 Organizational Perspectives of the Service Role 140 8 Service Relationships: The Impact of Service Providers on 166 Customers 9 Conclusion: Managerial Implications and Future Research 186 Directions Appendix: Bibliographic List of Electronically Available 204 Questionnaires References 211 Index 233 vii List of Tables and Figures List of Tables 1.1 Dramaturgical concepts and their meaning in the service 20 context 2.1 Examples of service provider and the customer power 55 bases 6.1 Dimensions of customer orientation 128 7.1 Organizational foundation of service climate 147 8.1 Customers’ experiences in service relationships 170 9.1 Managerial implications of service provider variables 198 List of Figures 1.1 Deep acting and surface acting 23 1.2 The effect of role demands on emotional labor 28 2.1 Interdependence in the service interaction 51 4.1 Customer misbehavior, its outcomes, and service 99 providers’ coping strategies 5.1 Adaptive and personalized service 108 5.2 Customer-related factors affecting discrimination in 116 service 7.1 Role stressors in service 154 8.1 The effect of service provider satisfaction and positive 180 emotions on customers viii Preface Customer service is often described as involving three participants: the customer, the service provider and the organization. The organization’s role in service as well as the customer’s perspective have been reviewed in numerous books. Yet, while a number of studies have explored issues relating to service providers, no book has so far integrated the know- ledge regarding these participants in the service process. This book is designed to fill this gap by discussing distinctive issues relevant to ser- vice providers, while linking them to extant research on customers and service in organizations. Employees in customer service jobs merit study not only because they comprise a large sector of the employment market, but also because their role is significant both theoretically and practically. From a conceptual viewpoint, all customer service jobs share distinctive fascinating charac- teristics generated by two basic features of the work: service providers are positioned at the organization’s boundary with the public, and they per- form their job through interpersonal interactions. The boundary position implies that the service providers’ role involves a mediation function between organization and customer, and while they are part of the organ- ization’s work force, their work is performed mostly with people outside the organization. This organizational position involves issues relating to the object of the service providers’ commitment and identification; their involvement in customer-organization conflicts; and the way these two sets of relationships affect each other. The second feature inherent in the customer service job is its social nature, as it involves constant manage- ment of interactions with customers. While these interactions consist of universal interpersonal processes (e.g., social exchange), they are also strictly defined in regard to each party’s role, the verbal content of the interaction, and the progress of the service process. Service providers are expected to manage these complicated social interactions which vary with each customer, and their performance in this respect involves many challenging interpersonal and intrapersonal processes. Not surprisingly, from a practical viewpoint, it is commonly acknow- ledged that the success of service organizations ultimately depends on the performance of service employees. They represent the organization in the perception of the customer; largely determine the quality of the ‘moment of truth’ when the customer encounters the organization; and ix
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