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.

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This dissertation explores frontline nurses' perceptions of peer support in fostering emotional, professional, and organizational support and commitment in different contexts. This study draws together scholarship on street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) and formal and informal training in nursing to build on research demonstrating that internal organizational elements such as formal training and informal peer interaction continuously develop SLBs' professional and organizational personalities. Also, research traditions on SLBs regard peer interaction as policy implementation using "service styles" to build stronger ties with peers to solve problems and better respond to the needs of citizens and communities. Despite the prominent role peers play in scholarly research on SLBs, few empirical studies have contextualized the meaning of peer support in different settings to examine how it affects professional meaning and organizational commitment in a specific industry. This dissertation expands on the findings of several studies that demonstrate that peer relatedness is an important component of frontline work. The distinctive contribution of this dissertation is using narrative analysis to collect and analyze stories of firsthand experiences told by personal narratives from mental health, military, and emergency nurses in public hospitals to thoroughly compare the perception of informal or formal peer support influence and highlight its evaluative aspects across different settings. This dissertation contributes to the street-level bureaucracy theory by providing empirical evidence in contextualizing peer support as a catalyst for emotional support and a buffer for organizational uncertainty in various emotionally charged healthcare settings. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation focuses on the narratives of frontline nurses in mental health, military, and emergency settings to highlight the impact of peer support on nurses' emotional well-being, as well as professional development, fulfillment, and commitment in diverse healthcare environments. This study illuminates how formal (preceptorship) and informal (mentorship) training or peer support shape nurses' professional identities, engagement, and commitment. Despite the acknowledged importance of peer support in public administration scholarly discourse, few studies have explored its nuanced significance across different healthcare settings. This dissertation addresses this gap by employing narrative analysis to examine narratives from mental health, military, and emergency nurses in public hospitals. By comparing informal and formal peer support perceptions of these different types of nurses, this study explores the realities of frontline healthcare delivery, including the emotional toll and systemic challenges they face, personal development lessons learned, and dynamics surrounding co-supporting quality care through peer support. Subsequently, this study highlights the critical role of peer support in developing and enhancing the psychological drivers — autonomy, mastery, purposefulness — and social drivers — supportive workplace, sense of belonging, and psychological safety— of nurses, thereby fostering a supportive environment and enhancing their competency and the quality and safety of patient care.

The finding of a positive relationship between a set of well-configured commitment human resources practices and performance outcomes at multiple levels of an organization is a well-documented in the strategic human resource management (HRM) literature (e.g., Combs, Lui, Hall, and Ketchen, 2006; Kehoe and Wright, 2013). However, several recent empirical studies (e.g., Liao, Toya, Lepak, and Hong, 2009) find a significant gap between the HR practices organizations report they use and the HR practices employees report they experienced. These more recent findings call into question the extent to which formal HR programs reported by organizational leaders are actually understood and implemented by lower level managers. To the extent that formal HR programs are not fully implemented as intended suggests many organizations may not be getting the full benefits from their HR program investments. The present study addresses this issue by focusing on the problem of HR practices implementation. Drawing on attribution theory, I examine how frontline managers (FLMs) and employees recognize, interpret, and react to commitment HR practices adopted by their organization. Additionally, I tested the influence of the self-transcendence values of FLMs and employees on their attributional processes. In doing so, three models (frontline manager, employee, and multi-level models) were proposed and the hypotheses based on these models were tested. Data collected from 195 employees nested in 61 workgroups provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships. In the frontline manager, tests of hypotheses revealed that FLMs' awareness of commitment HR programs affected their commitment HR attributions and implementation of commitment HR practices. The employee model showed that employees' awareness of commitment HR practices influenced their commitment HR attributions and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). However self-transcendence was not a significant moderator in both models. Finally, the multi-level model suggested that FLMs' implementation of commitment HR practices is a significant predictor of employees' commitment HR attributions. The findings contribute to the strategic HRM literature by demonstrating how organizations can implement commitment HR practices to attain unrealized potential benefits of commitment HR practices. The failure to demonstrate the moderating effect of self-transcendence values on attributional process of commitment HR practices presents a continued challenge for future research. / Ph. D.

Yes / Health Care Workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection with their efforts while protecting the greater community and also exposed to hazards, such as psychological distress, fatigue, and stigma. This study aimed to explore the perception of frontline HCWs on barriers of managing COVID-19 in Fiji. Methods: A qualitative study method was approached to conduct this study among the HCWs who worked on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic based at ten purposively selected health facilities in the Suva subdivision in the Central Division of Fiji. The Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), the Fiji Centre for Communicable Diseases (Fiji CDC), Twomey hospital laboratory, and CWMH laboratory did the main control and most of the operations of other divisions were monitored from these settings. A semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data using in-depth interviews. The participants' responses were audio-recorded and were later transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: A total of twenty-nine HCWs took part in the in-depth interview and the responses were grouped into four themes, which include: workload, poor communication, lack of resources, and hindrance to education. It was also found through this study that some of the HCWs felt tired, frustrated, got rude to patients, and found it difficult to handle situations, which affected them mentally and physically stressed. Conclusion: Managing the COVID-19 cases has been attributed to the presence of many barriers, such as workload, tiredness, frustration, and sometimes difficult-to-handle situations, and the HCWs were indeed affected mentally and physically. Regular training for HCWs and more awareness programs would help the general public to follow the preventive measures, which reduces the cases and would help the HCWs manage COVID-19 well. / Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, Aug 2022.

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Les services sont intangibles et le personnel en contact leur visage. Les employés doivent remplir les promesses implicites et explicites de la marque en internalisant l'image de marque. Mais jusqu’à quel point ? Afin d'explorer et d'étudier la dynamique de l'alignement du personnel en contact, cette recherche a adopté un design mêlant analyse quantitative et analyses quantitatives. Une étude qualitative a été menée pour explorer les antécédents de l'alignement de la marque du personnel en contact. Un total de 8 observations et 92 entretiens avec des clients ont été menés. L’analyse de ces entretiens permet d’identifier les déterminants à l’alignement à la marque. Les résultats montrent que l’alignement est perçu à travers leur qualité d'interaction qui comprend leur attitude, leur comportement, leur expertise et l'apparence du personnel en contact. Par la suite, deux études quantitatives ont été menées pour développer et tester la mesure de l'alignement de la marque du personnel en contact et tester le modèle de la recherche. 567 réponses ont été analysées pour l'étude 1 et 432 pour l'étude 2. Un modèle structurel permet de tester la chaine de conséquence : Qualité Interactionnel – alignement – évaluation globale de la marque et sa valeur. Par ailleurs dans la relation alignement-évaluation globale de la marque et sa valeur, les effets modérateurs de l’authenticité perçue du personnel, la durée de l’interaction et du suralignement sont identifiés. Les résultats de la recherche sont enfin mis en perspective dans une partie conclusive en faisant apparaitre les implications théoriques, managériales ainsi que les limites et perspectives de recherche. / Services are intangible and frontline employees are their face. The employees can be equipped to fulfil the implicit and explicit brand promises by internalizing brand image. In order to explore and investigate the dynamics of frontline employee Brand image alignment in service sector, this study adopted a mix method approach. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the antecedents of FLE brand alignment. A total number of 8 observations and 92 customer interviews were conducted by using Critical incident technique. Our results indicate that FLE brand image alignment is perceived through their interaction quality which consist of employee’s attitude, behaviour, expertise and appearance. Subsequently, two quantitative studies were conducted to develop and test the frontline employee brand alignment measurement. A total number of 567 responses were analysed for study 1 and 432 for study 2. A structural model was tested with outcome variables such as, brand evaluation and customer-based brand equity. Authentic employee behavior positively moderates the relationship between FLE brand alignment and outcome variables. Whereas, interaction duration negatively moderates the relationship between FLE brand alignment and outcome variables. Frontline employee brand alignment appears to be an important concept in service branding. From a managerial point of view the research tends to show that service branding is impacted by FLE brand alignment, especially the way they appear and behave. This study not only explains the concept of FLE brand alignment and develops its measurement but also proposes the determinants to measure the alignment.

Healthcare delivery within the military requires a multifaceted approach to achieve the desired outcomes of safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable health care. The prospect of maintaining a cycle of continuous process improvements within military clinical settings hinge on frontline leaders and middle-level managers who must be prepared to execute the mission and motivate, supervise, coach and mentor the staff. This project showcases a review of current literature translated into the development of an evidence-based Transformational Leadership Induction Program (TLIP) module that consisted of 4 subsections: the environment of care, clinical decision support systems, human resources management, and change management as well as resources for successful leadership within the organization. The training is designed to bridge the transition gap, facilitate role orientation and induction, and socialize frontline and middle-level managers during their role transition. The results of a need assessment survey, approved by the organization, were completed by 30 incumbents and resulted in 57% (17) providing feedback and role-specific contents that were integrated into the development of the TLIP module. The overall response to the survey was positive with 82% (14) of the respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing with the items that they reviewed. The TLIP module provides a medium that translates current evidence into a succinct training platform capable of enhancing leadership transition and handoff. The TLIP module enables a culture of trust, enhances staff satisfaction, and fosters change management and succession planning within the military healthcare system.

In pace with a noticeably fiercer global competition and an increased customer awareness, today’s organizations are faced with vast requirements for higher productivity and stronger customerorientation. This transformation has denoted that human resources have become more and more accentuated, and a consensus has grown for the true power embraced within them. In Sweden, some few prominent leaders have distinguished themselves by being highly successful in reinforcing employee motivation, and their knowledge and experiences are priceless in the pursuit of utilizing the full potential of the workforce. The purpose with this thesis is to study how ten of Sweden’s most successful and acknowledged leaders view and work with employee motivation and critically examine their standpoints. The purpose is furthermore to exemplify how other leaders can strengthen employee motivation through adapting these motivational suggestions. Qualitative cross-sectional interviews were conducted for the empirical research, holding a hermeneutic and inductive research approach. The respondent pool is comprised by both commercial leaders, as well as leaders from the world of sports. They range from being managers over purely service-focused organizations, to being founders of innovative product-producing organizations. The major areas, which are touched upon are; general work motivation intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, communication, and lastly empowerment, responsibility and participation. Four major areas influence employee motivation (The Society and Social Surroundings, The Organization and Business Environment, The Manager and The Employee). This is visualized in the “Four-Factor Model”.