The Service Employee′s Pivotal Role in Organizational Success

As the USA continues to progress toward a service‐based economy, the role of the service employee as a contributor to the success of the organization assumes greater prominence. Examines the pivotal role of the field engineer (FE) in a plain paper copier company. Using qualitative research methodologies, identifies and categorizes the unarticulated strategies used by the field engineers to initiate and maintain positive customer relationships. FEs using these categories had positive relationships with their customers. Moreover, the study revealed that successful FEs were granted in‐group status with their supervisor. Based on these results, suggests several techniques to help organizations improve the relationships their service employees have with both customers and superiors.