Service Management/Leadership: Different from Management/Leadership in Industrial Organisations? Available to Purchase

While a vast literature exists on management/leadership, little systematic attention has been given to whether the difference in character between service‐and non‐service production processes demands a different style of management. Because of the direct contact between the client and service provider (particularly at the lowest level of the organisation), optimal reciprocal communication processes, both horizontal and vertical, form an important success factor and prime marketing tool for service systems. This article highlights the role of the manager/leader in optimising the exchange of information between client and service organisation. In this vein, the transactional,transformational and transinformational leadership styles will be contrasted.