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Abstract In this research, we aim to look at the inner workings of Lead Generation and Add-on Sales through the eye of the people working directly with it. We do that with the objective of understanding what contributes positively to its success and what can cause problems or hinders it throughout all its stages from generating innovative ideas to implementing and selling them. We have chosen a qualitative method to conduct this study using an interpretive paradigm in performing our analysis of the findings. The data was collected by organizing interviews with participants that we selected in collaboration with Telco’s researchers. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded to form our primary data. In addition to that, we have used vast secondary data that was deemed to be relevant to the subject we were researching. After analyzing the results and findings, we look to answer the research questions, which concern the difficulties accompanying the innovative process between initiating an idea and implementing it as well as identifying the enablers and hindrances that arise during the operations of these innovative initiatives called Lead Generation and Add-on Sales. Once factors were identified, further analysis is performed to discuss if these factors are hindrances or enablers to the innovative initiatives at Telco. The frontline employees’ new business ideas (leads) or add-on sales are added as inputs to the ICT systems of this initiative and follow to subsequent phases until reach the commercialization phase in case they succeed, all the phases and processes occur through the ICT systems. In the context of this research, technology plays a key role and not only make the Lead Generation and Add-on sales processes viable but is also a factor that can either facilitate or impede potential leads or add-on sales to succeed. We put forward a model to better illustrate our findings and clarify the reasoning behind them. Despite the delimitations in terms of scope of this research, we believe that our findings and analysis can play a role in contributing to the understanding of factors that can be a barrier in the pursuit for innovation.

Frontline managers in the banking industry support geographically dispersed employees and face significant obstacles in communicating effectively to motivate their virtual team members. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore communication strategies frontline managers in the banking industry used to motivate virtual team members. Vroom's expectancy theory was the conceptual framework for the study. Participants consisted of 5 frontline banking managers in Michigan who had successfully implemented communication strategies to motivate virtual team members. Data were collected using face-to-face semistructured interviews, a review of company documents, and a review of company websites. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis following Yin's 5-step process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding the data. The 3 emergent themes were a clarification strategy, a technology strategy, and a motivation strategy. Frontline banking managers leading virtual teams might use the findings from this study to improve the clarity of their communications with team members, make effective use of technology in their communication strategy, motivate team members through consistent messaging, and offer adequate rewards and facilitating peer competition among team members. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential for frontline banking managers to improve job satisfaction and motivation among virtual team members, resulting in higher employment rates, improved local economic stability, and enhanced rapport and volunteerism within their local communities.

The basic purpose of the research is to understand the significance of internal marketing in influencing frontline employees'job-related attitudes and service quality. Since rewards are considered to be an important compqnent of internal marketing, this research investigates relationships among frontline employee perceptions of rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic), attitudes (three components of organisational commitment viz. affective, normative and continuance, and job satisfaction), and service quality, in banking call centres. In this context, a conceptual model is presented comprising rewards as the antecedentsa, ttitudes as the mediating variables, and service quality of the frontline employees as the outcome variable. The model is empirically tested through a large sample study that is conducted among 4 call centres of a major retail bank in the UK. Following certain qualitative in-depth interviews at the exploratory stage, structural equation modelling (using AMOS) is carried out on 342 useable questionnaires (response rate of more than 50%), to empirically test the proposed framework for the study. The measurement and structural models, after validation and purification, provided satisfactory fit estimates across absolute, incremental and parsimonious measures. The results highlight the importance of rewards, as part of internal marketing, in maintaining employee attitudes, and improving service quality. Intrinsic rewards (like role clarity, training and skill variety) emerged as the most significant of all, as they were found to impact on service quality directly. Extrinsic social rewards (like supervision and team support) were not found to be significant, while the finding regarding extrinsic organisational rewards-service quality relationship was surprising. Although assumed important for perfon-nance, some had no direct effect (pay, and benefits satisfaction, extrinsic exchange), while others (working conditions and promotional opportunities) exerted a negative direct effect on service quality, although the indirect effect of most of these rewards was found to be positive. However, these rewards were considered important for influencing employee attitudes, which in turn influence service quality. In this context, the importance of employee attitudes like affective commitment and job satisfaction is emphasisedfor service quality. The empirical results of the study also reveal that it is the nature of commitment that matters in commitment-service quality relationship. Affective commitment emerged as the only attitude variable to bear a significant positive relationship with service quality. Job satisfaction was not found to impact on service quality directly, although the indirect effect was found to be positive. Normative commitment impacted on service quality indirectly, while continuance commitment was not found to be effective at all. Besides theoretical and methodological contributions, the thesis also provides strong managerial implications and directions for future research in applying internal marketing for improving service quality of frontline employees in call centres. Keywords: internal marketing, rewards, service quality, commitment, job satisfaction, UK banks, call centres, frontline employees.

Darbo tikslas: identifikuoti apgyvendinimo sektoriaus kontaktinių darbuotojų stresorius, bei streso valdymo priemonių veiksmingumą. Darbo uţdaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti streso darbe atsiradimą ir valdymą. 2. Atskleisti apgyvendinimo sektoriaus kontaktinių darbuotojų stresinės veiklos aplinką. 3. Identifikuoti apgyvendinimo sektoriaus kontaktinių darbuotojų stresorius. 4. Išsiaiškinti apgyvendinimo sektoriuje naudojamų streso valdymo priemonių veiksmingumą kontaktiniams darbuotojams. Tiriamasis klausimas: Kokie stresoriai kelia stresą Kauno miesto viešbučių kontaktiniams darbuotojams ir kokios streso darbe valdymo priemonės vertinamos veiksmingiausiomis? Svarbiausi rezultatai ir išvados: Apgyvendinimo sektoriaus kontaktinių darbuotojų veikla pasiţymi didele streso susidarymo tikimybe, nes atliekamas stipraus emocinio pasiruošimo reikalaujantis darbas, atsakoma už labiausiai nenusakomą verslo elementą – klientą ir neretai keli darbai atliekami vienu metu. Empirinio tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, jog apgyvendinimo sektoriaus kontaktiniams darbuotojams labiausiai stresą sukelia darbo kontrolė, atsakomybė už kitus darbuotojus, vaidmens neapibrėžtumas, darbo sąlygos bei darbo krūvis. Veiksmingiausiomis streso valdymo priemonėmis vertinta socialinė vadovų ir kolegų parama, tinkama komunikacija, darbuotojo žinių, įgūdžių atitikimas darbo vietos reikalavimams, įtraukimas į sprendimų priėmimą ir karjeros valdymas. / Purpose: to identify stressors of frontline employees in hospitality industry and effectiveness of stress management interventions. Objectives: 1. To analyse the occurence of work-related stress and its management 2. To reveal how stressful the frontline employees„ activities in hospitality industry are 3. To identify the stressors of frontline employees in hospitality industry 4. To find out the effectiveness of organisational stress management interventions. The research issues: Which stressors cause stress for hotel front-line employees in Kaunas and which stress management interventions are valuated as the most effective? Findings: The environment of frontline employees in hospitality industry characterizes with a high probability of the formation of stress, as the work requires strong emotional preparedness, responsibility for the most indescribable element of business - the client, and ability to carry out few works at once. Empirical results of the study revealed that the stress of frontine hotel employees is caused by job control, responsibility for other workers, the uncertainty of role, working conditions and workload. The most effective stress management interventions were rated as social support from colleagues and managers, adequate communication, employee knowledge, skills, matching job requirements, participation in decision-making and career management.

Through my research I explored the frontline worker’s perspective of anti-oppressive child welfare practice (AOP). Five frontline workers from the Children’s Aid Society of Brant, Ontario (Brant CAS) were interviewed to share how they view their practice, and the child welfare system, through an anti-oppressive lens. An Anti-oppressive theory perspective was the framework for my research, using a narrative methodology. It is through the stories of the participants that we learn there is a variance in the understanding and implementation of AOP that is affecting the practice of frontline workers, the families they work with and possibly placing children at further risk. An outcome of this research is to hopefully improve training, allowing the frontline worker to have a better understanding of the philosophy of AOP and how it applies to their practice. / Graduate

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to create an understanding of what types of initial contacts exist within the service encounter and their functions for the interaction. Design/methodology/approach – To study the initial contact between the employee and the customer, we have used a qualitative approach where observations were the data collecting method. The observations have been conducted in Karlstad at 22 different locations, which generated a total of 83 observations. These observations were analyzed and generated concepts and categories, that were incorporated into themes. Findings – The research showed five types of initial contacts could be identified along with their functions. The types identified are the time effective, the improvised, the committed, the observant and the strategic positioning. Originality/value – By narrowing the interaction to the first moment, this paper contributes knowledge about the initial contact which will facilitate frontline employees work in the face-to-face interaction with customers. Research limitation/implications for future research – The study is conducted in Karlstad. Depending on which kind of industry examined and contextual factors, variations in the result may occur. The findings could differ if cultural perspectives were considered, which could be something to include in future research. Only the face-to-face interaction is examined. This creates opportunities for future research to extend this study by, for instance, investigate the initial contact over internet or phone.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Junehee Kwon / Service sabotage refers to employees' deliberate actions that negatively affect service, functional quality, employee-customer rapport, and company performance. Almost all frontline employees in the hospitality industry have witnessed service sabotage behaviors, and 85% admitted to engaging in such misbehaviors. Despite the prevalence and profound impact of service sabotage, it has been a challenge for researchers to measure the construct and understand specific and contextualized restaurant service sabotage behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to develop a reliable and valid scale to measure restaurant service sabotage. A mixed methods research design was applied. A qualitative study was conducted to explore prevalent restaurant service sabotage behaviors and to generate an item pool for the initial scale, followed by two quantitative studies with two different groups of non-managerial frontline employees in full-service restaurants to refine and validate the scale. Guided by critical incident technique, 243 critical incidents were derived from the in-depth interviews (n = 26). Of those, 28 explicit types of restaurant service sabotage behaviors were identified and further categorized into three behavioral groups: targeting customers, colleagues, and restaurants. In conjunction with scale items extracted from related measures, an initial instrument consisting of 39 items was developed and administered to an online restaurant employee panel by hiring a professional research firm. A total of 419 usable responses were collected and analyzed using principal axis factoring with a promax rotation. Results revealed a 13-item scale with three dominant factors. To validate the scale, 463 usable responses were gathered for data analyses. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated a good model fit of the three-factor model, Chi-square/df=3.15, GFI=.96, CFI=.97, NFI=.95, and RMSEA=.07 while reducing the scale items from 13 to 10 and supporting the scale's dimensionality. Tests for validating construct validity were all fully supported. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were all greater than .70, showing internal consistency of the scale. This psychometrically valid and conceptually sound scale may be applied in future restaurant service sabotage research and may stimulate additional studies to advance the theory and explore the criterion network. Implications, limitations, and direction for future research are discussed.

With an ongoing development in technology, retailers faces new challenges in terms of higher customer expectations. To meet these expectations, retail companies can use in-store technology to enhance the shopping experience and to create more value. This study aims to provide an understanding of in-store technology and how retailers can work with these tools in order to create customer value and improve the customer experience. The purpose of this study will be to investigate the Swedish market and see how Swedish retail companies work with in-store technology.   In this context, the following research questions were formed: (1) How do retail managers use in-store technology to create value for the customers? and (2) How do in-store technology affect frontline employees within retail? In order to answer these questions, a qualitative method was used, where five different retail companies were interviewed, which all have implemented in-store technology. Before the empirical gathering, we chose to keep the companies and the respondents anonymous in order for us to reduce the risk for complications later on in the thesis. This study aims to provide theory and to get an understanding of in-store technology and how companies can use it to develop their business. A conceptual framework was made to clarify which concepts that was used in order to answer these questions. These concepts were in-store technology, customer value creation, convenience, frontline employees, customer engagement and improved customer experience.   The empirical findings generated theory in which the authors developed two models: (1) The value dynamics, which describe how in-store technology and the interplay between managers, frontline employees, and customers generate value to each other. (2) A three step model where the authors have several suggestions of what retail companies should think of when they implement new technology.  The results of this study conclude how retail companies can use in-store technology in order to create customer value to improve the customer experience. In-store technology has created more value for the customer in terms of a more convenient shopping experience, and in-store technology provides the customer with more information which makes the shopping experience more independent as well. In-store technology has also contributed, in some extent, to a better working environment for frontline employees.

Första linjechefer inom LSS-bostäder ansvarar enligt arbetsmiljölagen, 1977:1160(AML) för att säkerställa arbetsmiljön för medarbetare, samtidigt som de skasäkerställa att insatser enligt lag 1993:387, om stöd och service för vissafunktionshindrade (LSS) är av god kvalité och möter stödanvändares behov.Detta, tillsammans med förekomst av utmanande beteende hos de boende, antyderatt första linjechefer har en komplex arbetssituation. Syftet med studien var därföratt undersöka hur första linjechefer inom LSS-bostäder, där det förekommerutmanande beteende, upplever relationen mellan arbetsmiljöåtgärder och detpedagogiska arbetet. Studiens fokus var att identifiera faktorer som verkarfrämjande respektive hindrande i arbetsmiljöarbete och pedagogiskt arbete.Empiri för studien samlades in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sjuförsta linjechefer. Genom tematisk analys har två huvudteman identifierats:upplevelser av yrkesrollen och upplevelsen av relationen mellan arbetsmiljö ochpedagogik. Resultatet har analyserat utifrån Michael Lipsky teori, Street-levelBureaucrats. Resultatet visar att praktiknära ledarskap upplevs centralt för attupprätthålla god kvalité i det pedagogiska arbetet, som i sin tur bidrog till bättrearbetsmiljö. Studien identifierar komplexitet och utmaningar i relationen mellanarbetsmiljöarbetet och det pedagogiska arbetet inom tre kategorier: (1)organisatoriska faktorer; (2) första linjechefens yrkesroll; och (3) bristandekunskap hos personalen. Vidare forskning kan därför behövas om hur praktiknäraledarskap påverkar kunskapsnivån i verksamheten och bemötandet avstödanvändare, samt hur det påverkar både arbetsmiljön och första linjechefersyrkesroll och arbetsuppgifter. / Frontline managers for LSS-housing are responsible according to the WorkEnvironment Act, 1977: 1160 (AML) to ensure adequate the workingenvironment for employees, and at the same time ensure the work provided are ofgood quality and meets the needs of the clients according to Act 1993: 387concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments(LSS). This, together with the presence of challenging behavioramong residents, this is suggested to be complex work situation for frontlinemanagers. The purpose of the study was therefore to investigate how frontlinemanagers for LSS-housing, where challenging behavior occur, experience therelation between work environment and the pedagogical work. The focus of thestudy was to identify factors that appear to promote and obstruct the efforts toensure adequate work environment and pedagogical work. The empirical data forthe study were collected using semi-structured interviews with seven frontlinemanagers. Through thematic analysis, two main themes have been identified:experiences of the professional role and the experience of the relation betweenwork environment and pedagogy. The result has been analyzed with MichaelLipsky theory, Street-level Bureaucrats. The result shows that practice leadershipis perceived as being vital to maintain good quality in the pedagogical work,which in turn contributed to a better working environment. The study identifiescomplexity and challenges in the relation of work environment and pedagogicalwork in three categories: (1) organizational factors, (2) frontline managersprofessional role; and (3) lack of knowledge of the staff. Further research istherefore needed on how practice leadership influences the level of knowledge inthe organization and how it affects the support work with the clients, as well as itaffects, the work environment and the frontline managers professional role andduties.