Project scope

In Australia, all people consume services, and about 75% of workers are employed in service industries. Service sector business is intensely competitive.

To prosper, many organisations adopt a "service-dominant logic" - a logic that emphasises "customer-centricity" in service delivery. In providing customer-centric service, firms risk losing sight of possible adverse effects on the workload and stress levels of their front-line staff.

This research investigates how firms can provide high quality service, on a sustained basis, whilst also looking after the wellbeing of staff.

The project aims to identify innovative and effective strategies for meeting the needs of customers and employees who are involved in conflictful service transactions.

Building on their previous work in this field, the research team will:

• develop an understanding of behaviours
  1. that occur within service encounters and
  2. that affect outcomes (e.g., satisfaction) for customers and service providers;
• identify the triggers and consequences of these behaviours;
• develop and test a model of the mechanisms through which service encounter behaviours affect participant satisfaction and strain;
• identify factors that change these service behaviour-outcome relationships; and
• develop recommendations for the practical and effective management of service encounter disputes.

The research focuses on instances of service breakdown - situations in which customers are not happy with the quality, quantity, timing, price or some other aspect of the service. These incidents tend to be major sources of strain for all concerned.

Customers frequently express their dissatisfaction, service staff may become defensive, discussion gets heated, and escalating cycles of incivility occurs. The research seeks to identify strategies for recovering from such problematic service situations in ways that balance the interests of all parties. It takes a dyadic approach, addressing the issue from both the customer and the service sector employee perspective.

Underlying the research is a theory specifying that customers and service staff share common psychosocial needs (for understanding, control, respect, a sense of fair play, etc). All acts occurring during service encounters – all greetings, offers, explanations, sales pitches and social niceties – have the potential to satisfy, or violate, these psychosocial needs. The well-being and future loyalty of customers and employees depend on ensuring that these needs are adequately met.