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Does role clarity explain employee‐perceived service quality? A study of antecedents and consequences in call centres

Does role clarity explain employee‐perceived service quality? A study of antecedents and... Purpose – Role clarity of frontline staff is critical to their perceptions of service quality in call centres. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of role clarity and its antecedents and consequences on employee‐perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model, based on the job characteristics model and cognitive theories, is proposed. Key antecedents of role clarity considered here are feedback, autonomy, participation, supervisory consideration, and team support; while key consequences are organizational commitment, job satisfaction and service quality. An internal marketing approach is adopted and all variables are measured from the frontline employee's perspective. A structural equation model is developed and tested on a sample of 342 call centre representatives of a major commercial bank in the UK. Findings – The research reveals that role clarity plays a critical role in explaining employee perceptions of service quality. Further, the research findings indicate that feedback, participation and team support significantly influence role clarity, which in turn influences job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications – The research suggests that boundary personnel in service firms should strive for more clarity in perceived role for delivering better service quality. The limitations are in sample availability from in‐house transaction call centres of a single bank. Originality/value – The contributions of this study are untangling the confusing research evidence on the effect of role clarity on service quality, using service quality as a performance variable as opposed to productivity estimates, adopting an internal marketing approach to understanding the phenomenon, and introducing teamwork along with job‐design and supervisory factors as antecedent to role clarity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Service Industry Management Emerald Publishing

Does role clarity explain employee‐perceived service quality? A study of antecedents and consequences in call centres

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0956-4233
DOI
10.1108/09564230610689777
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – Role clarity of frontline staff is critical to their perceptions of service quality in call centres. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of role clarity and its antecedents and consequences on employee‐perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model, based on the job characteristics model and cognitive theories, is proposed. Key antecedents of role clarity considered here are feedback, autonomy, participation, supervisory consideration, and team support; while key consequences are organizational commitment, job satisfaction and service quality. An internal marketing approach is adopted and all variables are measured from the frontline employee's perspective. A structural equation model is developed and tested on a sample of 342 call centre representatives of a major commercial bank in the UK. Findings – The research reveals that role clarity plays a critical role in explaining employee perceptions of service quality. Further, the research findings indicate that feedback, participation and team support significantly influence role clarity, which in turn influences job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications – The research suggests that boundary personnel in service firms should strive for more clarity in perceived role for delivering better service quality. The limitations are in sample availability from in‐house transaction call centres of a single bank. Originality/value – The contributions of this study are untangling the confusing research evidence on the effect of role clarity on service quality, using service quality as a performance variable as opposed to productivity estimates, adopting an internal marketing approach to understanding the phenomenon, and introducing teamwork along with job‐design and supervisory factors as antecedent to role clarity.

Journal

International Journal of Service Industry Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Oct 1, 2006

Keywords: Customer service quality; Call centres; Employee attitudes; United Kingdom

References

  • The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment
    Allen, N.J.; Meyer, J.P.
  • Structural equation modelling in practice: a review and recommended two‐step approach
    Anderson, J.C.; Gerbing, D.W.