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Work Organization, Technology, and Performancein Customer Service and Sales
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Cornell University ILR SchoolDigitalCommons@ILR
Faculty Publications - Human Resource Studies Human Resource Studies
7-1-1999
Work Organization, Technology, and Performancein Customer Service and SalesRosemary BattCornell University, [email protected]
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Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Serviceand Sales
AbstractThe author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Total Quality Management and Self-Managed Teams, ascompared to mass production approaches to service delivery, among customer service and sales workers in alarge unionized regional Bell operating company. Participation in self-managed teams was associated with astatistically 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 overtime. 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 andsales 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 createspervasive job insecurity – conditions found at the company studied here.
KeywordsTotal Quality Management, TQM, self-managed teams, teams, production, service delivery, customer service,sales workers, Bell, unionized, quality, sales, technology, downsizing, job security
DisciplinesOrganizational Behavior and Theory
CommentsSuggested CitationBatt, R. (1999). Work organization, technology, and performance in customer service and sales. Industrial andLabor Relations Review, 52, 539-564.http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/hrpubs/5/
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