Lloyd C. Harris

Leadership style, organizational culture and performance: empirical evidence from UK companies

The topics of leadership and organizational culture have attracted considerable interest from both academics and practitioners. Much of the interest in the two areas is based on explicit and implicit claims that both leadership and culture are linked to organizational performance. However, while the links between leadership and performance and between culture and performance have been examined independently, few studies have investigated the association between the three concepts. This paper examines the nature of this relationship and presents empirical evidence which suggests that the relationship between leadership style and performance is mediated by the form of organizational culture that is present. The paper concludes with a number of implications for theory and practice.

The Consequences of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior

Christopher Lovelock (1994) coined the term jaycustomers to refer to dysfunctional customers who deliberately or unintentionally disrupt service in a manner that negatively affects the organization or other customers. However, to date, no study has explicitly focused on the consequences of such dysfunctional customer behavior. The aim of this article is to advance understanding of the effects of dysfunctional customer actions through concentrating on exploring and describing the consequences of such behavior for those involved in service encounters. In this regard, this study is designed both to respond to recent calls for further research into these issues and to fill this gap in extant knowledge. A review of the literature regarding dysfunctional customer behavior finds limited attention devoted to the effects of such behavior. To explore the nature and dynamics of dysfunctional customer behavior, field research was conducted and extant theory evaluated leading to the development of a propositional inventory and a framework of the effects of such behavior. Briefly, dysfunctional customer behavior was found to have consequences for customer-contact employees, customers, and organizations.

Market Orientation and Performance: Objective and Subjective Empirical Evidence from UK Companies

The link between market orientation and performance has been claimed largely on the basis of the analysis of subjective measures of performance. Consequently, the aim of this study is to examine the links between market orientation and objectively measured financial performance. The paper begins with a brief examination of the definition and components of market orientation. Thereafter, extant research into the consequences of developing market orientation is reviewed critically, leading to the development of a number of research hypotheses. After detailing the research design and methodology adopted in this study, the findings of a survey of UK industry are presented. Briefly, the results indicate that when subjective measures of performance are adopted, market orientation is associated with company performance in certain environmental conditions. However, when objective measures of performance are adopted, we see a narrower range of environmental conditions where market orientation is positively associated with performance. The paper concludes with a series of implications for both theorists and practitioners.

The Greening of Organization Culture: Managers View on the Depth, Degree and Diffusion of Change

The green management literature repeatedly argues that in order to behave in a sustainable manner, organizational actions will need to go beyond technical fixes and embrace new environmentally responsible values, beliefs and behaviors. In this context, developing sustainability is frequently viewed as largely dependent on the extent of green culture change in organizations. However, empirical evidence for such a change in culture is not apparent, although much anecdotal support has been cited. Seeks to address some of the shortcomings in extant literature and supplies contemporary evidence of managers’ perceptions of the extent to which the green culture change is occurring and of factors acting as barriers or facilitators to such change. Begins with a review of the literature pertaining to organizational culture and greening. Following this, details the research design and methodology. Thereafter, lays out the findings of the interviews in detail. Finally, discusses these findings and suggests a number of implications, conclusions and directions for further research.

Strategic human resource management, market orientation, and organizational performance

Research emerging from different fields of organizational analysis has linked both market orientation and strategic human resource management (SHRM) to organizational performance. Although both concepts are premised on the management of organizational culture, no study has investigated their interrelationship or the dynamics between the two concepts and organizational performance. The findings of the paper suggest a direct link between market orientation and performance and indicate that the association between SHRM and performance is mediated by the extent of market orientation exhibited by the organization. Hence, it is argued that SHRM can be viewed as an antecedent to market orientation. These findings lead to a number of conclusions and implications for both theorists and practitioners.

Jaycustomer behavior: an exploration of types and motives in the hospitality industry

Christopher Lovelock originated the term “jaycustomer” behavior to refer to customers who deliberately act in a thoughtless or abusive manner, causing problems for the firm, employees, or other customers. An overview of existing literature reveals the focal concentration of empirical research regarding the listing or categorization of jaycustomer behaviors has been on individual forms. While the need for a development of a typology of general or all‐embracing jaycustomer behaviors has been recognized, and forwarded by a small number of researchers, such efforts have been anecdotal or conceptual in nature, or have emerged as part of wider research. The aim of this study is to advance understanding of the different forms of jaycustomer behaviors through providing empirical insights that explore and describe the activities and motivations of such “deviant” or “dysfunctional” customer behaviors through garnering empirical insights from both customer‐contact employees and customers themselves. After a review of existing literatures and a discussion of the research design and approach adopted, the findings from over 100 in‐depth interviews, utilizing critical incident technique, are presented and the implications of the study discussed.

Exploring Service Sabotage The Antecedents, Types and Consequences of Frontline, Deviant, Antiservice Behaviors

The attitudes and behaviors of frontline, customer-contact service providers are a significant factor in customers’ perceptions and interpretations of service encounters. To date, research into service quality and customer satisfaction has overlooked evidence that suggests that such employees intentionally act in a variety of deviant, counterproductive ways. The aims of this study are first to explore, describe, and classify such behaviors and second to model the antecedents and consequences of such actions. Existing studies and field interviews are used to forward the notion of “service sabotage”, denoting organizational member behaviors that are intentionally designed negatively to affect service. Data reveal that more than 90% of all informants accept that service sabotage is an everyday occurrence in their organization. A typology of service sabotage behaviors is forwarded and a range of antecedents and consequences proposed. The article concludes with a series of implications.

Service Sabotage: A Study of Antecedents and Consequences

Although much of the existing research on employee sabotage and deviance focuses on the manufacturing sector, studies have also found evidence of deliberate employee misbehavior in a variety of service settings. In this study, the authors conceptualize and test a model of service sabotage dynamics that incorporates both the antecedents and the consequences of such behaviors. In doing so, the study contributes contemporary empirical evidence of factors associated with the deliberate sabotage of service by frontline customer-contact personnel. Using a survey-based approach, the authors collected data from 259 respondents from a sample of 1,000 respondents. The findings largely support the hypothesized antecedents of service sabotage and show that a range of individual characteristics, management control efforts, and perceived labor market conditions are linked with service sabotage. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that service sabotage behaviors are associated with individual and group rewards, effects for customers, and other performance measures.

Leadership style and market orientation: an empirical study

There has been considerable research into the barriers to the development of market orientation. However, whilst researchers have alluded to the importance of top management knowledge, skills and commitment, the issues of leadership style has been largely overlooked. This lacuna in marketing theory is despite numerous indirect references to the importance of leaders in developing a market oriented culture. The objective of this study is to explore and describe the role of top management leadership style in influencing the process of market orientation development. Begins with a review of existing definitions of and perspectives on the content and components of market orientation. Thereafter extant research into the barriers and processes of market orientation are examined and critically appraised. Following a discussion of the research methodology adopted, the findings of a survey of leadership style and market orientation are presented. Concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for theory and practice, highlighting the importance of this avenue of research.

Work Intensification and Emotional Labour among UK University Lecturers: An Exploratory Study

Until the early 1980s relatively little research interest was devoted to the concept of emotional labour in organizational settings. Although it is now acknowledged that emotional labour is present at different hierarchical levels and among many occupational groups, no study has explored the issue of emotional labour in the context of work intensi.cation among professional groups. This article presents evidence derived from interviews with university lecturers to assess (1) the frequency and propensity of emotional labour and the extent to which emotional labour is increasingly becoming part of the work of university lecturers, (2) the extent to which such emotional labour is derived from the intensifying changes to the work environment of university lecturers, and (3) the positive and negative consequences of such emotional labour and work intensi.cation. The article .nds evidence of emotional labouring among university lecturers. It is argued that the increase in such emotional labouring is largely a result of the heightened intensi.cation of the academic labour process, which is exacerbated by the multiple and sometimes con.icting demands of various stakeholders. The effects of such emotional labour included both positive and negative consequences. These .ndings lead to a discussion of a series of implications and conclusions.