Incorporating Environmental Stimuli into the Service Profit Chain in a Retail Grocery Context: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.

Several theoretical contributions are highlighted; firstly that employee environmental stimuli construct contained five sub-factors, these were termed, E-design, E-music, E-lighting, E-olfaction and E-layout. This highlights the complexities of the environmental stimuli for employees. Furthermore this research found a significant direct link between employee environmental stimuli and employee satisfaction. Considering the literature examining the effects of environmental stimuli on employee behaviour is astonishingly scant (Skandrani et al., 2011), this is an important contribution to several literature streams. Secondly, examining a global configuration of the environmental stimuli can provide a fuller framework for understanding and exploring customer and employee behavioural responses. In particular, customer environmental stimuli should be examined as a multidimensional construct, consisting of five sub-factors, Design, Music, Lighting, Olfaction and Layout. In addition, as the environmental stimuli construct is found to be separate from service quality and serves as an antecedent to service quality; this is a significant contribution to the debate surrounding the multidimensionality of the service quality construct

Servicescapes: A Review of Contemporary Empirical Research

This paper reviews forty three extant contemporary empirical servicescape studies conducted in the area. The review is limited to articles which focus on the servicescape as defined by Bitner (1992) and Mehrabian and Russell (1974) Pleasure, Arousal and Dominance (PAD) dimensions from environmental psychology. The publication time frame covers the period from 1980 to 2007. The review observes key patterns and trends within the literature. The content was analysed on the basis of issues such as research variables, methodological approaches, sampling methods, research origin and the theoretical frameworks underpinning the research. The analysis highlights gaps and further research directions that could be taken. These research opportunities include the expansion of research sites to address the paucity of European research which has been fragmentary in nature to date while simultaneously reflecting on the research design and implementation issues highlighted

An Exploration of the Effects of the Servicescape on Customer and Employee Responses in a Grocery Retail Context

This research investigates the impact of the servicescape on the responses of both the customer and the employee within a retail grocery setting and is exploratory in nature. The paper has its theoretical underpinning in servicescape theory (Bitner, 1992; Homburg and Stock, 2004), physical work environment literature (Davis, 1984; Kuenzi and Schminke, 2009) and the Service Profit Chain (SPC) (Heskett et al., 1994). Interviews with grocery retail store managers were carried out to contextualise the paper though the main research instrument is a large-scale survey of customers and employees. The findings suggest that almost 50 per cent of customer satisfaction is explained by the dimensions of service employee quality and this has important implications for retail managers. The findings also highlight that employee servicescape factors affect employee satisfaction, which in turn impacts employee loyalty. These, alongside other key findings, are presented and discussed. Directions for future research are also highlighted

Let’s pause lecture recording and stop student loneliness

"Social learning theory emphasises the importance of human interaction, such as via collaborative problem-solving. The back-and-forth of ideas, the shared exploration of complex topics, the spontaneity of jokes and stories, that joyful lightbulb feeling when you grasp a point and share it with your peers: these are all casualties when students passively consume recorded lectures.

The influence of the physical work environment on retail employees

Purpose Despite repeated calls for research to explore the effects of the physical work environment on employees within the servicescape literature, gaps in knowledge remain. There is a need to understand the nature, influence and impact of environmental stimuli (e.g. music, colour) on employees. Extant research remains ambiguous on whether employees perceive individual stimuli within their work environment or perceive and interact with their physical work environment as a holistic experience. This study aims to explore the influence of environmental stimuli on employees within their physical work environment and the effect on their satisfaction and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage approach was applied, with expert interviews followed by an employee survey which was analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings This research validates a holistic physical work environment construct, consisting of five dimensions: Colour &amp; Design, Cleanliness &amp; Odour, Music, Lighting and Layout. This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of environmental work stimuli on employee satisfaction, a relationship which is mediated by pleasure. Originality/value Firstly, this study examines the neglected side of servicescape research: employees. Secondly, the findings support the view that employees do not perceive individual elements of their physical work environment as distinct and separate elements but rather perceive, and interact with, their physical work environment as an integrated whole. Evidence of how environmental stimuli at work increase employee job satisfaction is a key takeaway for retail practitioners focussed on improving service experiences for all actors. </jats:sec

Emotional intelligence in front-line/back-office employee relationships

Purpose—This research undertakes a simultaneous assessment of interdependence in the behaviours of front-line and back-office employees and their joint effect on customer-related organizational performance. It also tests for a moderating influence of the emotional intelligence of front-line salespeople and back-office employees. Design/methodology/approach—The sample comprises 105 front-line sales employees and 77 back-office employees. The customer-related organizational performance data come from a U.K. business-to-business (B2B) electronics company. With these triadic data, this study uses partial least squares to estimate the measurement and structural models. Findings—Salespeople’s customer orientation directly affects customer-related organizational performance; the relationship is moderated by salespeople’s emotional intelligence. The emotional intelligence of salespeople also directly affects the customer directed citizenship behaviour of back-office employees. Furthermore, the emotional intelligence of back-office staff moderates the link between the emotional intelligence of salespeople and back-office staff citizenship behaviour. Back-office staff citizenship behaviour in turn affects customer-related organizational performance. Originality/value—The emotions deployed by employees in interactions with customers clearly shape customers’ perceptions of service quality, as well as employee-level performance outcomes. But prior literature lacks insights into the simultaneous effects of front-line and back-office employee behaviour, especially in B2B settings. This article addresses these research gaps by investigating triadic relationships—among back-office employees, front-line employees and customer outcomes—in a B2B setting, where they are of particular managerial interest