Frontline employee empowerment and perceived customer satisfaction

Author(s):

Teresa Proenca , (Faculty of Economics, CEF.UP, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal)

Ana Torres , (Department of Business and Management, Instituto Politecnico de Viana do Castelo Escola Superior de Ciencias Empresariais, Valenca, Portugal)

Ana Sofia Sampaio , (Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal)

...Show all authors

Single Sentence Summary:

This paper examines the influence of structural empowerment, psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation on perceived customer satisfaction in contact centers revealing that the structural empowerment results in higher levels of perceived customer satisfaction through psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation.

Abstract:

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of structural empowerment, psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation on perceived customer satisfaction in contact centers.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was conducted among 703 employees of a contact center. Data analysis was based on structural equation modeling.

Findings

Structural empowerment results in higher levels of perceived customer satisfaction through psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, structural empowerment effect on psychological empowerment is mediated by intrinsic motivation.

Practical implications

Previous predictions regarding counterproductive impact of empowerment in a low-service heterogeneity sector, such as contact center are challenged and a transformative message is disclosed in what concerns human resource management (HRM) in contact centers.

Originality/value

The research provides valuable insights for both scholars and practitioners regarding the process through which employees’ psychological empowerment and intrinsic motivation improves customer satisfaction in the context of contact centers.

Keywords:

Customer satisfaction, Intrinsic motivation, Psychological empowerment, Contact centers, Structural empowerment

Type:

Research Paper

Publisher:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Received:

08 April 2016

Revised:

29 July 2016

Accepted:

10 October 2016

Copyright:

© Emerald Publishing Limited 2017
Published by Emerald Publishing Limited
Licensed re-use rights only

Citation:

Teresa Proenca, Ana Torres, Ana Sofia Sampaio, (2017) "Frontline employee empowerment and perceived customer satisfaction", Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, Vol. 15 Issue: 2, pp.187-206, https://doi.org/10.1108/MRJIAM-04-2016-0663

Downloads:

The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 918 times since 2017