IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v52y1999i4p539-564.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Service and Sales

Author

Listed:
  • Rosemary Batt

Abstract

The author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, as compared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in a large unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported service quality and a 9.3% increase in sales per employee. When combined with new technology, teams boosted sales an additional 17.4%. These effects persisted over time. Total Quality Management, by contrast, did not affect performance. This study represents a “strong test†of the efficacy of teams because theory predicts weak outcomes for self-managed teams among service and sales employees in establishments where technology and organizational structure limit opportunities for self-regulation, the nature of work and technology do not require interdependence, and downsizing creates pervasive job insecurity—conditions found at the company studied here.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosemary Batt, 1999. "Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Service and Sales," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(4), pages 539-564, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:52:y:1999:i:4:p:539-564
    DOI: 10.1177/001979399905200403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979399905200403
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979399905200403?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deborah Gladstein Ancona & David F. Caldwell, 1992. "Demography and Design: Predictors of New Product Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 321-341, August.
    2. Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 1991. "The Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 44(2), pages 241-260, January.
    3. John Paul Macduffie, 1995. "Human Resource Bundles and Manufacturing Performance: Organizational Logic and Flexible Production Systems in the World Auto Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(2), pages 197-221, January.
    4. Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn Shaw & Giovanna Prennushi, 1995. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity," NBER Working Papers 5333, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Saul A. Rubinstein, 2000. "The Impact of Co-Management on Quality Performance: The Case of the Saturn Corporation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(2), pages 197-218, January.
    6. Jeffrey B. Arthur, 1992. "The Link between Business Strategy and Industrial Relations Systems in American Steel Minimills," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(3), pages 488-506, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John E. McCarthy, 2021. "Labor‐Management Partnerships' Effects On Unionists' Interaction Networks: Evidence From Us Public Schools," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 277-306, July.
    2. Alexander J. S. Colvin, 2013. "Participation Versus Procedures in Non-Union Dispute Resolution," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 259-283, January.
    3. Thomas A. Kochan, 2000. "On the Paradigm Guiding Industrial Relations Theory and Research Comment on John Godard and John T. Delaney, “Reflections on the ‘High Performance’ Paradigm's Implications for Industrial Relatio," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(4), pages 704-711, July.
    4. Larry W. Hunter, 2000. "What Determines Job Quality in Nursing Homes?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 463-481, April.
    5. Thomas Kochan & Marc Weinstein, 1994. "Recent Developments in US Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 483-504, December.
    6. Vichet Sum, 2015. "Can firms with the best training program withstand the storm of economic policy uncertainty?," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 206-213, February.
    7. Bayo-Moriones, Alberto & Galdon-Sanchez, Jose Enrique & Martinez-de-Morentin, Sara, 2016. "Competitive Strategy, Performance Appraisal and Firm Results," IZA Discussion Papers 10041, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. John E. McCarthy, 2019. "Catching Fire: Institutional Interdependencies in Union‐Facilitated Knowledge Diffusion," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 182-201, March.
    9. Haim Mendelson, 2000. "Organizational Architecture and Success in the Information Technology Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 513-529, April.
    10. BYRON Y. LEE & SANFORD E. DeVOE, 2012. "Flextime and Profitability," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 298-316, April.
    11. Ed Snape & Tom Redman, 2010. "HRM Practices, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, and Performance: A Multi‐Level Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7), pages 1219-1247, November.
    12. Morris M. Kleiner & Jonathan S. Leonard & Adam M. Pilarski, 2002. "How Industrial Relations Affects Plant Performance: The Case of Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(2), pages 195-218, January.
    13. Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel, 2003. "Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems," Working papers 4299-03, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    14. Maury Gittleman & Michael Horrigan & Mary Joyce, 1998. "“Flexible†Workplace Practices: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(1), pages 99-115, October.
    15. Alexander J.S. Colvin, 2003. "Institutional Pressures, Human Resource Strategies, and the Rise of Nonunion Dispute Resolution Procedures," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(3), pages 375-392, April.
    16. Marie-Christine Henninger, 2000. "Nouvelles perspectives théoriques en management des rémunérations," Post-Print hal-01599906, HAL.
    17. Thomas Kochan & Eileen Appelbaum & Carrie Leana & Jody Hoffer Gittell, 2013. "The Human Capital Dimensions of Sustainable Investment: What Investment Analysts Need to Know," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2013-07, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    18. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2013. "The economic organization of employment: systems in human resource management and industrial relations," Chapters, in: Anna Grandori (ed.), Handbook of Economic Organization, chapter 16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Chris Rowley & Saaidah Abdul-Rahman, 2007. "The Management of Human Resources in Malaysia: Locally-owned Companies and Multinational Companies," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 18(4), pages 427-453.
    20. Rosemary Batt, 2001. "Explaining Wage Inequality in Telecommunications Services: Customer Segmentation, Human Resource Practices, and Union Decline," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(2A), pages 425-449, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:52:y:1999:i:4:p:539-564. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.