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Exploring the role of front-line employees as innovators

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  • Marit Engen
  • Peter Magnusson

Abstract

This article aims for a deeper understanding of front-line employees (FLEs) and their boundary-spanning role in service organizations' innovation processes from the vantage points of creativity and service innovation theory. It explores in particular FLEs' processes of creativity by focusing on how ideas emerge and how these ideas are further managed in the organizations' innovation processes. It draws on an in-depth empirical study of three units at a large spa and resort hotel. The article demonstrates how FLEs' ideas are related to the assimilation and utilization of knowledge gained in the customer-supplier interface. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of 'management by weaving', which encompasses the middle managers' roles in the complexity of leading diverse innovation processes in the service organization. By having the roles of facilitator, gatekeeper, and translator, middle managers hold the key position for letting FLEs play the role as innovators.

Suggested Citation

  • Marit Engen & Peter Magnusson, 2015. "Exploring the role of front-line employees as innovators," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 303-324, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:35:y:2015:i:6:p:303-324
    DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2015.1003370
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Schaarschmidt, Mario, 2016. "Frontline employees' participation in service innovation implementation: The role of perceived external reputation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 540-549.
    2. van Esch, Patrick & Arli, Denni & Gheshlaghi, Mahnaz Haji, 2020. "Creating an effective self-managed service climate for frontline service employees," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Sverre J Herstad & Marte CW Solheim & Marit Engen, 2019. "Learning through urban labour pools: Collected worker experiences and innovation in services," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(8), pages 1720-1740, November.
    4. Soheila Raeisi & Meng Lingjie & Nur Suhaili Binti Ramli, 2019. "A Hierarchical Model of Mediation Effect of Motivation (MO) between Internal Marketing (IM) and Service Innovation (SI)," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-26, November.
    5. Hartmann, Mia Rosa & Hartmann, Rasmus Koss, 2023. "Hiding practices in employee-user innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).
    6. Yu Mu & Bart Bossink & Tsvi Vinig, 2018. "Employee involvement in ideation and healthcare service innovation quality," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1-2), pages 67-86, January.
    7. Eide, Dorthe & Fuglsang, Lars & Sundbo, Jon, 2017. "Management challenges with the maintenance of tourism experience concept innovations: Toward a new research agenda," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 452-463.
    8. María Leticia Santos-Vijande & José Ángel López-Sánchez & John Rudd, 2016. "Frontline employees’ collaboration in industrial service innovation: routes of co-creation’s effects on new service performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 350-375, May.

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