Mireia Valverde

Distributing HRM responsibilities: a classification of organisations

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to show that HRM is not the sole responsibility of HR departments, but also of other agents inside and outside the organisation, such as top and line managers, and external HRM service providers. This paper seeks to examine how organisations distribute HRM activities and responsibilities among these agents. The study attempts to classify organisations according to agent distribution and to explore whether a number of internal and external context characteristics affect this distribution. Design/methodology/approach – The survey in the paper shows the methodology chosen in order to collect and analyse factual data about the participation of different agents in HRM activities and the characteristics of the organisations and their context. The questionnaire obtained a valid sample of 231 Spanish companies. A multiple correspondence analysis approach was taken in order to cluster the organisations. Findings – The analysis of the data in this paper clearly produced seven groups, each involving organisations that allocated responsibilities to the various agents in a similar fashion. However, no common contextual characteristics were found among the companies in each of the seven categories. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations in the paper are related to the length of the questionnaire, the adequacy of the respondents related to the unit of observation; and the relative newness of the techniques used. Originality/value – The main contribution of the paper consists of the incorporation of existing partial areas of study in the field of HRM (roles of the HR department, devolution to line management, and outsourcing of the HR function) into an integrated study.

Mapping Ethical Consumer Behavior: Integrating the Empirical Research and Identifying Future Directions

The concept of “ethical consumer behavior” has gained significant attention among practitioners and academic researchers, generating increasing but disjointed knowledge on the topic. By analyzing the empirical research on ethical consumer behavior, this article provides researchers with a map to guide future research. In total, we review 80 studies. The main contributions of the article include the identification of the main trends in the ethical consumer literature and the conceptualization of ethical consumer behavior. In addition, several areas for future research are proposed and discussed.

Waiting in line for online services: a qualitative study of the user's perspective

Abstract. This manuscript is conceptually based in the areas of e‐consumer behaviour and e‐services marketing. Specifically, it examines the phenomenon of waiting in terms of the role it plays in the functionality of service delivery over the internet and the effect waiting has on how consumers behave online. A number of previous studies have identified a link between the ‘quickness’ of web sites and the sites overall functionality. The existing knowledge on consumer waiting behaviour in the general context of traditional or ‘off‐line’ services and in the specific context of online services is reviewed. A qualitative empirical study of consumer behaviour in online waiting situations is undertaken. The factors that determine how e‐consumers behave when faced with online waiting situations are identified and explored.

Talent management in Spanish medium-sized organisations

Although the literature on talent management (TM) has grown considerably in the last decade, with the bulk of previous research concentrating on large MNCs, there has been little development on how it applies to small- and medium-sized enterprises and particularly to medium-sized organisations (MSOs), nor to many countries outside Anglo-Saxon management traditions. This study aims to contribute by studying the concept and practices of TM in MSOs in Spain. A multiple case study methodology was used in order to analyse TM perceptions, definitions and practices. The results show very little awareness of the term and rhetoric of TM even when TM principles and practices are applied. We conclude that TM must go beyond specific practices in order to represent a truly strategic approach to effectively deploying human talent, especially as some typical human resource policies associated with TM in large companies do not necessarily apply to MSOs.

Waiting for service on the internet: Defining the phenomenon and identifying the situations

Purpose – E‐consumers consistently complain that the internet is frustratingly slow. Most existing research on this phenomenon is based on the concept of “download delay”, that is, the time required for a web page to fully download to the e‐consumers computer screen. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the phenomenon of waiting for service on the internet with the intention of extending the narrow conceptualisation of the phenomenon of “download delay” to a more user‐based perspective of waiting on the internet.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a qualitative research methodology. The research methods are seven asynchronous virtual focus groups involving 126 intensive internet users over 17 days and 92 participants who maintained personal diaries of waiting on the internet over a nine‐week period.Findings – A new definition of waiting on the internet is proposed based on extensive virtual focus group research. Subsequently, 14 distinct types of internet waiting situations are i...

Waiting online: a review and research agenda

Although waiting on the Internet is widely recognised as a crucial factor in the evolution of e‐commerce and the Internet in general, it is not a widespread topic of research. This article identifies and reviews 21 papers based on 13 separate empirical studies on waiting on the Internet. The literature draws from the areas of marketing, system response time studies and quality of service studies. Having reviewed the existing literature, this article proposes an agenda for future research. Recommendations are made to extend the range of research methodologies applied to this topic, to broaden the definition of waiting on the Internet to include other forms of online waiting, and to continue the interdisciplinary approach to research on online waiting.

Marketing Education, Distance Learning and Hypermedia: Teaching “Current Issues in Marketing” In a Virtual Campus

This article reports on a project at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC: The Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona) to develop a package of hypermedia-based learning materials for the subject, “Current Issues in Marketing” (CIM). The UOC is a distance university entirely based on a virtual campus. The article reviews the issues involved in incorporating new technologies in learning materials, the development of the learning materials, and their functioning within the virtual campus of the UOC. An empirical study is carried out to evaluate the attitudes of students to the project. Suggestions for improving similar future projects are suggested.

Special Issue of International Journal of Human Resource Management: Conceptual and empirical discoveries in successful HRM implementation: call for papers

As the body of evidence has grown over the years showing a positive association between HRM and firm performance (Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Boselie, Dietz, & Boon, 2005; Combs, Liu, Hall, & Ketchen, ...

Human resource management in the Spanish call centre sector: the bird cage model of call centre work

This paper examines the nature of human resource management (HRM) in call centres in Spain. After reviewing the institutional perspective and other previous contributions to the characterisation of HRM practices in call centres, the authors present evidence of the use of high commitment working practices (HCWP) in this sector. The findings report only a moderate presence of HCWP in the sector generally, but the analysis points towards the existence of four significant and distinct clusters of HRM practices. The results also show categorical evidence that work discretion is almost non-existent across all of the clusters, even in those with more evolved high commitment practices. This lack of autonomy, as well as an intensive use of performance monitoring systems, leads us to model the results in a bird–cage analogy.

Insights into emotional contagion and its effects at the hotel front desk

Purpose This paper aims to draw attention to the need for a nuanced view of the emotional contagion framework. It proposes and empirically tests a refined model of emotional contagion and its effects in the hotel sector by focusing on the front-desk service encounter interactions. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from three separate groups of paired informants: receptionists, hotel customers and interaction observers. The sample included 573 full customer service interactions in 47 hotels in Catalonia. The model was tested with structural equation modelling. Findings Emotional contagion has specific mechanisms at the hotel front-desk. No relationship was found between receptionists’ inner mood and their outwardly displayed emotions. Yet, receptionists’ displayed emotions enhance customer mood, and, largely, customer satisfaction. Ultimately, this affects customer behavioural intentions. It was also discovered that guests are able to clearly distinguish between their satisfaction with the specific service encounter at the front desk and the overall satisfaction with the hotel stay. The positive effects of employees’ displayed emotions are of particular importance in lower-star hotels and are less important at the high end. Perceived training opportunities have a positive effect on customer satisfaction and improve the employee-displayed emotion. Research limitations/implications Researchers should examine employee outcomes that are more stable than mood, but may enhance or be related to the effective display of emotions at the front desk, such as employee satisfaction and commitment. In general, emotions and behaviours of employees and consumers should be further examined in other services across the hospitality industry, in different cultural contexts and in terms of their impact on company performance. Researchers should heed the precise type of mechanism that takes place in each service context. Practical implications The hotel management should focus their efforts on ensuring positive emotional performance, regardless of employees’ inner mood. Managers should carefully interpret differentiated results according to whether they have been drawn from overall satisfaction or customer service interaction surveys. The training provision is of particular importance in lower-star hotels, where customer outcomes depend more on employee-displayed emotion. Originality/value This study empirically corroborates that customer outcomes of front-desk services are linked to receptionists’ displayed emotions, and not to employees’ feelings. Onsite data collection, multiple-informant approach, paired dyads and structural equation modelling hold a great potential for study designs that seek insights into interpersonal phenomena in hospitality services research.