Table 1 Summary of premises, research... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Summary of premises, research propositions and proposed actions to mitigate the impact of gloomy experiences for service employees in VCC interactions

Premises	Research propositions	Proposed actions
1) The service employees of a firm that strongly promotes VCC frequently encounter various forms of dysfunctional customer behaviour that disrupts service interactions. Many of these employees consequently experience detrimental effects from a variety of undesirable wellness, such as emotional exhaustion, burnout, withdrawal and tension that damage employees' well-being	1) Effective organisational interventions, training and education programs and emotional control techniques can limit the negative impact of dysfunctional customer behaviour on service employees and lead to the maintenance of or the improvement of service employees’ well-being	1(a) Identify the major forms of dysfunctional customer behaviour that have the biggest negative impact on service employees’ well-being 1(b) Examine all the psychological and emotional consequences of dysfunctional customer behaviour on employees’ well-being, including tension, burnout and emotional exhaustion 1(c) Evaluate mechanisms that employees currently use to deal with dysfunctional customer behaviour, including emotional regulation techniques, avoidance strategies and peer support to maintain or enhance their well-being 1(d) Assess organisational interventions such as training, service employee support programs offering private and confidential counselling and provision for any issue related to mental health, substance abuse, anxiety, finances and family and management strategies aimed at limiting the impact of demanding customer interactions and preventing harm to service employees’ well-being
2) Customer incivility, portrayed by rude, disrespectful or inconsiderate behaviour towards service employees in VCC, has grown into an issue encountered by service providers across different sectors. Customer incivility places severe demands on service employees because it requires service employees to control their emotions and carry on with providing services while they experience tension. The negative outcomes of customer incivility are decreased service performance, service quality, increased employee incivility and turnover intentions by service employees	2) A combination of employee resilience training programs, organisational support, pragmatic customer management tactics and strategies and cultivating a supportive work culture, the negative consequences of customer incivility on service employees can be relieved, leading to improved employee well-being and execution of job requirements	2(a) Identify all the distinct types of customer incivility that most often affect service employees and their well-being 2(b) Analyse the psychological and emotional consequences of customer incivility, such as, for instance, stress, burnout and decreased service performance experienced by service employees 2(c) Assess and consider present-day coping strategies used by service employees to deal with customer incivility 2(d) Evaluate organisational practices that empower service employees to mitigate the effects of customer incivility, such as training, co-worker and supervisor support, and management intervention
3) Value co-destruction occurs in firms when one or all the actors involved in VCC use value in a damaging manner that results in value co-destruction. Value co-destruction is initiated by, inter alia, customer misbehaviour, absence of information, an insufficient level of trust, mistakes, an inability to serve and blaming experienced by a service employee. The consequences of value co-destruction are generally relentless for service employees	3) The negative effects of value co-destruction on service employees can be reduced or eradicated, by introducing sound communication procedures, training service employees in conflict resolution and providing organisational support structures, which will result in enhanced job performance, customer satisfaction and service employee well-being	3(a) Record, describe and classify all types of value co-destruction that occur in service interactions and their precise effects on service employees 3(b) Analyse the emotional and psychological impact of interactions emanating from value co-destruction on service employees, including, for instance, mental stress, an insufficient level of trust, mistakes and an inability to serve 3(c) Examine current coping mechanisms used by service employees and how they manage value co-destruction service interactions 3(d) Investigate interventions from the firm’s side such as training, supervisory and managerial support and conflict management methods that enable the alleviation of the negative consequences of value co-destruction 3(e) Assess the effectiveness of communication strategies and customer engagement projects aimed at decreasing the occurrence of value co-destruction in service settings
4) The complexity and emotionally taxing task emanating from boundary spanning activities are generated by interactions with external stakeholders whose objectives and values might diverge substantially from those of the firm the service employee represents. The combination of intimacy and separateness inherent to the boundary-spanning task, stemming from daily interactions, often causes chronic work stress that results in burnout in service employees	4) Targeted interventions such as role clarity, emotional resilience training and organisational support, the undesirable effects of the complexity and emotional demands of boundary-spanning activities on service employees can be diminished, resulting in enhanced job performance and service employee well-being	4(a) Identify the significant boundary-spanning activities and interactions that can cause complexity and emotional tension for service employees 4(b) Investigate the mental and emotional impact of boundary-spanning tasks on service employees, chronic work stress resulting in burnout and role overload 4(c) Evaluate whether organisational structures and support sufficiently mitigate the negative impacts of boundary-spanning activities on service employees 4(d) Explore if training programs are comprehensive and appropriate to prepare service employees with the required skills for managing taxing boundary-spanning tasks 4(e) Determine whether the roles and tasks of service employees are clearly delineated to prevent ambiguity and cognitive overload in boundary-spanning functions
5) Firms with too complex organisational structures and policies, such as multiple layers of management and decentralised processes for decision-making, result in delays in service provision. Delays in decision-making can cause obstructive or harmful consequences for service employees. Such negative consequences can result in missing sales or other targets and cause traumatic outcomes for service employees	5) A combined effort to simplify organisational structures, streamlining policies, and providing clear communication lines should enable firms to reduce the extent of emotional and mental stress on service employees and result in improved well-being, job performance and job satisfaction of service employees	5(a) Identify vital elements of organisational complexity (e.g. indistinct lines of authority, unnecessary rules and regulations, overlapping responsibilities) that create service employee strain 5(b) Analyse the mental and emotional effects of circumnavigating complicated organisational structures and policies, including tension, annoyance and role overload 5(c) Evaluate the role of organisational transparency in improving service employee well-being and reducing the cognitive load required to succeed in complicated processes 5(d) Consider the influence of shortened policies and simplified structures on the proficiency and job satisfaction of service employees 5(e) Investigate the value of training programs to enable service employees to deal with organisational complexity whilst sustaining emotional resilience
6) Resource integration in VCC in service settings are major sources of value for service employees and the actors involved as service actors participate in both integrating their resources and facilitating the integration of resources for other actors. Resource asymmetry between actors can result in the misuse, misalignment or failure to use the available resources. Where resource asymmetry leads to a misintegration or exclusion in the process of VCC, tension can develop in the relationship between the actors with service employees likely to be blamed for the situation. The outcome after evaluating the qualitative and quantitative asymmetries by comparing perceived resource relations before and after an interaction, can lead to evading further interactive value formation that can result in transaction failure and a breakdown in the service ecosystem	6) By providing clear parameters, training and support mechanisms, firms can reduce service employees’ emotional and cognitive burdens from resource integration with customers and resulting in improved service employee well-being	6(a) Examine the details of tasks necessary for resource integration that complicates the task and cause cognitive burdens for service employees 6(b) Identify the emotional and psychological stressors in managing the integration of diverse resources 6(c) Gauge the effectiveness of organisational support structures such as training programs, tools and managerial support to assist service employees in achieving resource integration 6(d) Assess the capabilities offered by technology to simplify resource integration and limit the burden on service employees 6(e) Consider process improvements and streamlined workflows to diminish the challenges accompanying resource integration for service employees

Premises	Research propositions	Proposed actions
1) The service employees of a firm that strongly promotes VCC frequently encounter various forms of dysfunctional customer behaviour that disrupts service interactions. Many of these employees consequently experience detrimental effects from a variety of undesirable wellness, such as emotional exhaustion, burnout, withdrawal and tension that damage employees' well-being	1) Effective organisational interventions, training and education programs and emotional control techniques can limit the negative impact of dysfunctional customer behaviour on service employees and lead to the maintenance of or the improvement of service employees’ well-being	1(a) Identify the major forms of dysfunctional customer behaviour that have the biggest negative impact on service employees’ well-being1(b) Examine all the psychological and emotional consequences of dysfunctional customer behaviour on employees’ well-being, including tension, burnout and emotional exhaustion1(c) Evaluate mechanisms that employees currently use to deal with dysfunctional customer behaviour, including emotional regulation techniques, avoidance strategies and peer support to maintain or enhance their well-being1(d) Assess organisational interventions such as training, service employee support programs offering private and confidential counselling and provision for any issue related to mental health, substance abuse, anxiety, finances and family and management strategies aimed at limiting the impact of demanding customer interactions and preventing harm to service employees’ well-being
2) Customer incivility, portrayed by rude, disrespectful or inconsiderate behaviour towards service employees in VCC, has grown into an issue encountered by service providers across different sectors. Customer incivility places severe demands on service employees because it requires service employees to control their emotions and carry on with providing services while they experience tension. The negative outcomes of customer incivility are decreased service performance, service quality, increased employee incivility and turnover intentions by service employees	2) A combination of employee resilience training programs, organisational support, pragmatic customer management tactics and strategies and cultivating a supportive work culture, the negative consequences of customer incivility on service employees can be relieved, leading to improved employee well-being and execution of job requirements	2(a) Identify all the distinct types of customer incivility that most often affect service employees and their well-being2(b) Analyse the psychological and emotional consequences of customer incivility, such as, for instance, stress, burnout and decreased service performance experienced by service employees2(c) Assess and consider present-day coping strategies used by service employees to deal with customer incivility2(d) Evaluate organisational practices that empower service employees to mitigate the effects of customer incivility, such as training, co-worker and supervisor support, and management intervention
3) Value co-destruction occurs in firms when one or all the actors involved in VCC use value in a damaging manner that results in value co-destruction. Value co-destruction is initiated by, inter alia, customer misbehaviour, absence of information, an insufficient level of trust, mistakes, an inability to serve and blaming experienced by a service employee. The consequences of value co-destruction are generally relentless for service employees	3) The negative effects of value co-destruction on service employees can be reduced or eradicated, by introducing sound communication procedures, training service employees in conflict resolution and providing organisational support structures, which will result in enhanced job performance, customer satisfaction and service employee well-being	3(a) Record, describe and classify all types of value co-destruction that occur in service interactions and their precise effects on service employees3(b) Analyse the emotional and psychological impact of interactions emanating from value co-destruction on service employees, including, for instance, mental stress, an insufficient level of trust, mistakes and an inability to serve3(c) Examine current coping mechanisms used by service employees and how they manage value co-destruction service interactions3(d) Investigate interventions from the firm’s side such as training, supervisory and managerial support and conflict management methods that enable the alleviation of the negative consequences of value co-destruction3(e) Assess the effectiveness of communication strategies and customer engagement projects aimed at decreasing the occurrence of value co-destruction in service settings
4) The complexity and emotionally taxing task emanating from boundary spanning activities are generated by interactions with external stakeholders whose objectives and values might diverge substantially from those of the firm the service employee represents. The combination of intimacy and separateness inherent to the boundary-spanning task, stemming from daily interactions, often causes chronic work stress that results in burnout in service employees	4) Targeted interventions such as role clarity, emotional resilience training and organisational support, the undesirable effects of the complexity and emotional demands of boundary-spanning activities on service employees can be diminished, resulting in enhanced job performance and service employee well-being	4(a) Identify the significant boundary-spanning activities and interactions that can cause complexity and emotional tension for service employees4(b) Investigate the mental and emotional impact of boundary-spanning tasks on service employees, chronic work stress resulting in burnout and role overload4(c) Evaluate whether organisational structures and support sufficiently mitigate the negative impacts of boundary-spanning activities on service employees4(d) Explore if training programs are comprehensive and appropriate to prepare service employees with the required skills for managing taxing boundary-spanning tasks4(e) Determine whether the roles and tasks of service employees are clearly delineated to prevent ambiguity and cognitive overload in boundary-spanning functions
5) Firms with too complex organisational structures and policies, such as multiple layers of management and decentralised processes for decision-making, result in delays in service provision. Delays in decision-making can cause obstructive or harmful consequences for service employees. Such negative consequences can result in missing sales or other targets and cause traumatic outcomes for service employees	5) A combined effort to simplify organisational structures, streamlining policies, and providing clear communication lines should enable firms to reduce the extent of emotional and mental stress on service employees and result in improved well-being, job performance and job satisfaction of service employees	5(a) Identify vital elements of organisational complexity (e.g. indistinct lines of authority, unnecessary rules and regulations, overlapping responsibilities) that create service employee strain5(b) Analyse the mental and emotional effects of circumnavigating complicated organisational structures and policies, including tension, annoyance and role overload5(c) Evaluate the role of organisational transparency in improving service employee well-being and reducing the cognitive load required to succeed in complicated processes5(d) Consider the influence of shortened policies and simplified structures on the proficiency and job satisfaction of service employees5(e) Investigate the value of training programs to enable service employees to deal with organisational complexity whilst sustaining emotional resilience
6) Resource integration in VCC in service settings are major sources of value for service employees and the actors involved as service actors participate in both integrating their resources and facilitating the integration of resources for other actors. Resource asymmetry between actors can result in the misuse, misalignment or failure to use the available resources. Where resource asymmetry leads to a misintegration or exclusion in the process of VCC, tension can develop in the relationship between the actors with service employees likely to be blamed for the situation. The outcome after evaluating the qualitative and quantitative asymmetries by comparing perceived resource relations before and after an interaction, can lead to evading further interactive value formation that can result in transaction failure and a breakdown in the service ecosystem	6) By providing clear parameters, training and support mechanisms, firms can reduce service employees’ emotional and cognitive burdens from resource integration with customers and resulting in improved service employee well-being	6(a) Examine the details of tasks necessary for resource integration that complicates the task and cause cognitive burdens for service employees6(b) Identify the emotional and psychological stressors in managing the integration of diverse resources6(c) Gauge the effectiveness of organisational support structures such as training programs, tools and managerial support to assist service employees in achieving resource integration6(d) Assess the capabilities offered by technology to simplify resource integration and limit the burden on service employees6(e) Consider process improvements and streamlined workflows to diminish the challenges accompanying resource integration for service employees

Source: Authors’ own work