Abstract
This study focuses on employees’ collective engagement (CE) in knowledge-based service firms. CE is a climate-related construct that refers to how employees collectively express themselves psychically, cognitively, and emotionally in their work role. Moreover, the study explores the consequences of CE, specifically, these that are linked to relationship learning (RL) in intrafirm professional service teams (IPSTs), employee commitment (EC), firms’ innovative capability (FIC), and customers’ creative strategy generation (CCSG). The suggested conceptual model was tested in a survey. All survey participants were employed in consultancy firms and represent the population of employees within the domain of knowledge-based service firms. The findings give support to the conceptual model of consequences of CE. Specifically, the findings reveal that CE plays an imperative role especially for EC and RL in IPSTs. This study contributes to deepen and extend research on employee engagement, which is a relatively new concept. Specifically, the study contributes to reveal how CE is linked to several outcomes critical for service firms. No previous research has examined these aspects. Therefore, this unique study enriches our understanding of knowledge-based service firms with the finding that CE is a key factor to orchestrate successfully to trigger RL in IPSTs, strengthen EC, generate customers’ creative strategies in their service offerings, and boost the knowledge-based service firms’ overall capability to innovate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albdour AA & Altarawneh II (2014) Employee engagement and organizational commitment: Evidence from Jordan. International Journal of Business 19(2):192–212.
Ashforth BE & Humphrey RH (1995) Emotion in the workplace: A reappraisal. Human Relations 48:97–125.
Bailey C, Madden A, Alfes K, & Fletcher L (2015) The meaning, antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews:1–23.
Barney JB (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17(1):99–120.
Barrick MR, Thurgood GR, Smith TA, & Courthright SH (2015) Collective organizational engagement: Linking motivational antecedents, strategic implementation, and firm performance. Academy of Management Journal 58(1):111–135.
Baumruk R (2004). The missing link: The role of employee engagement in business success. Workspan 47:48–52.
Bele E & Glasø L (2010) Tverrfaglige team; et tveegget sverd? 2. Hentet fra http://www.magma.no/tverrdaglige-team-et-tveegget-sverd
Bentein K, Vandenberg RJ, Vandenberghe C, & Stinglhamber F (2005) The role of change in the relationship between commitment and turnover: a latent growth modelling approach. The Journal of Applied Psychology 90:468–482.
Bhatnagar J (2012) Management of innovation: role of psychological empowerment, work engagement and turnover intention in the Indian context. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 23(5):928–951.
Chen MH (2007) Entrepreneurial leadership and new ventures, creativity in entrepreneurial teams. Creativity and Innovational Management 16:239–249.
Denison DR (1996) What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native’s point of view on a decade of paradigm wars. Academy of Management Review 21:619–654.
Eisenhardt KM (1989) Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal 32:543–576.
Ekvall G (1996) Organizational climate for creativity and innovation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 5:105–123.
Fredrickson JB (2001) The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broadenand-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist 56:218–226.
Fredrickson JB & Branigan C (2005) Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion 19(3):313–332.
Furseth PI (2008) Serviceinnovasjon: nye perspektiver og anvendelser. Magma, 5. Hentet fra. http://www.magma.no/serviceinnovasjon-nye-perspektiver-og-anvendelser.
Goffman E (1961) Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co.
Goktan AB & Miles G (2011) Innovation speed and radicalness: Are they inversely related? Management Decision 49(4):533–547.
Hair Jr. JF, Hult GTM, Ringle CM, & Sarstedt M (2014) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). London: SAGE.
Hamel G (1991) Competition for competence and inter-partner learning within international strategic alliances. Strategic Management Journal 12:83–103.
Heracleous L, Wirtz J, & Johnston R (2004) Cost-effective service excellence: Lessons from Singapore Airlines. Business Strategy Review 15(1):33–38.
Hiltz SR (1998) Collaborative learning in asynchronous learning networks: Building learning communities. Address at ‘WEB98,’ Orlando, FL. http://eies.njit.edu/~hiltz/collaborative_learning_in_asynch.htm.
Ireland RD & Hitt MA (1999) Achieving and maintaining competitiveness in the 21st century: the role of strategic leadership. The Academy of Management Executive 13:43–57.
Jansen JJP, Vera D, & Crossan M (2009) Strategic leadership for exploration and exploittation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism. The Leadership Quarterly 20:5–18.
Jaworski BJ & Kohli AK (1993) Market orientation: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Marketing 57:53–70.
Johnson JL & Sohi RS (2003) The development of interfirm partnering competence: platforms for learning, learning activities and consequences of learning. Journal of Business Research 56:757–766.
Joo BK (2010) Organizational commitment for knowledge workers: The roles of perceived organizational learning culture, leader-member-exchange quality, and turnover intention. Human Resource Development Quarterly 21(1):69–85.
Jung DI, Chow C, & Wu A (2003) The role of transformational leadership in enhancing organizational innovation: hypotheses and some preliminary findings. Leadership Quarterly 14:525–544.
Kahn WA (1990) Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal 33:692–724.
Kaye B & Jordan Evans S (2003). Engaging talent. Executive Excellence 20(8):11.
Kim HJ, Shin KH, & Swanger N (2009) Burnout and engagement: a comparative analysis using the big five personality dimensions. International Journal of Hospitality Management 28:96–104.
Lages CR & Piercy NF (2012) Key drivers of frontline employee generation of ideas for customer service improvement. Journal of Service Research:1–16.
Lawson B & Samson D (2001) Developing innovation capability in organizations: A dynamic capabilities approach. International Journal of Innovation Management 5(3):377–400.
Liedtka JM, Haskins ME, Rosenblum JW, & Weber J (1997) The generative cycle: linking knowledge and relationships. Sloan Management Review:47–58.
Lin L (2013). The impact of service innovation of firm performance. The Services Industries Journal 33:1599–1632.
Lockwood NR (2007) Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage: HR’s strategic role. Society for Human Resource Management 1:1–12.
Lovelock C & Wirtz J (2007) Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson International Edition.
Lukas BA, Hult GTM, & Ferrell OC (1996) A theoretical perspective of the antecedents and consequences of organizational learning in marketing channels. Journal of Business Research 36:233–244.
Marsick VJ (2009) Toward a unifying framework to support informal learning theory, research and practice. Journal of Workplace Learning 21(4):265–275.
Menon A, Bharadwaj SG, Adidam PT, & Edison SW (1999) Antecedents and consequences of marketing strategy making: A model and a test. Journal of Marketing 63:18–40.
Meyer JP & Allen NJ (1991) A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review 1:61–89.
Montes FJL, Moreno AR, & Morales VG (2005) Influence of support leadership and teamwork cohesion on organizational learning, innovation and performance: an empirical examination. Technovation 25:1159–1172.
Rich BL Lepine JA, & Crawford ER (2010) Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of Management Journal 53(3):617–635.
Robinson D, Parryman S, & Hayday S (2004) The drivers of employee engagement. Institute of Employment Studies, Report 405.
Ruey-Jer J & Sinkovics RR (2010) Relationship learning and performance enhancement via advancement information technology: The case of Taiwanese dragon electronic firms. International Marketing Review 27(2):200–222.
Ruey-Jer J, Sinkovics RR, & Kim D (2010) Drivers and performance outcomes of relationship learning for supplier in cross-border customer-supplier relationships: The role of communication culture. Journal of International Marketing 18:63–85.
Schaufeli WB, Salanova M, Gonzales-Roma V, & Bakker AB (2002) The measurement of engagement and burnout: a two-sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies 3(1):71–92.
Schneider B (1990) The climate for service: An application of the climate construct. In Schneider, B. (Ed.), Organizational Climate and Culture. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass:383–412.
Schumpeter JA (1934) Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle. Transaction Publishers.
Selnes F & Sallis J (2003) Promoting relationship learning. Journal of Marketing 67:80–95.
Simsons JC & Buitendach JH (2013) Psychological capital, work engagement and organisational commitment amongst call centre employees in South Africa. Journal of Industrial Psychology 39(2):1–12.
Sinkula JM (1994) Market information processing and organizational learning. Journal of Marketing 58:35–45.
Skoglund T (2013). Fra jordbruk til tjenester. Økonomiske Analyser 5:53–55. Hentet fra http://www.ssb.no/nasjonalregnskap-og-konjunkturer/artikler-og-publikasjoner/_attachment/152574?_ts=142c712cb58.
Slater SF & Narver JC (1995) Market orientation and the learning organization. Journal of Marketing 59:63–74.
Slåtten T & Mehmetoglu M (2015) The effects of transformational leadership and perceived creativity on innovation behaviour in the Hospitality industry. Journal of Human resources in Hospitality and Tourism 14(2):195–219.
Slåtten T (2014) Determinants and effects of employees’ creative-self efficacy on innovative activities. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 6(4):326–347.
Slåtten T, Svensson G, & Sværi S (2011) Service Quality and Turnover Intentions as perceived by Employees: Antecedents and Consequences, Personnel Review 40(2):205–221.
Slåtten T & Mehmetoglu M (2011) Antecedents and effects of engaged frontline employees: A study from the hospitality industry. Managing Service Quality 21(1):88–107.
Slåtten T (2011) Emotions in service encounter from an employee and customer perspective. Doctoral Dissertation, Karlstad University, Sweden.
Slåtten T (2011) Antecedents and effects of employee’s feelings of joy on employee innovative behavior. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 3(1):93–109.
Slåtten T, Svensson G, & Sværi S (2011) Empowering leadership and the influence of a humorous work climate on service employees’ creativity and innovative behaviour in frontline service jobs. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences 3:267–284.
Slåtten T (2009) The effect of managerial practices on employee-perceived service quality: the role of emotional satisfaction. Managing Service Quality 19(4):431–455.
Snyder H, Witell L, Gustafsson A, Fombelle P, & Kristensson P (2016) Identifying categories of service innovation: A review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of Business Research 67(7):2401–2408.
Stanley L, Vandenberghe C, Vandenberg R, & Bentein K (2013) Commitment profiles and employee turnover. Journal of Vocational Behavior 82:176–187.
Van de Ven A (1986) Central problems in the management of innovation, Management Science 32:590–607.
Vargo SL & Lusch RG (2004) Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing 68:1–17.
Vera D & Crossan M (2004) Strategic leadership and organizational learning. Academy of Management Review 29(2):222–240.
Wright TA (2006) To be or not to be [happy]? The role of employee well-being. Academy of Management Perspectives 20(3):118–120.
Xu J & Thomas HC (2015) How can leaders achieve high employee engagement? In New Perspectives in Employee Engagement in Human Resources. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Zhou J & Shalley CE (2008) Handbook of Organizational Creativity. New York, NY: Lawrence-Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Terje Slåtten is an associate professor at Lillehammer University College in Norway. Terje Slåtten holds a PhD in Business administration from Karlstad University, Sweden. His research interests include service quality, employee engagement, innovative behavior, leadership, sponsorship, creativity and experiential marketing.
Gudbrand Lien is a professor at Lillehammer University College in Norway. Gudbrand Lien has a dr. oecon (PhD) degree (within finance) from Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). Gudbrand Lien’s main field of research has been within energy finance, energy economics, quantitative innovation studies and agricultural economics.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slåtten, T., Lien, G. Consequences of employees’ collective engagement in knowledge-based service firms. J Serv Sci Res 8, 95–129 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12927-016-0006-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12927-016-0006-7