IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/servic/v35y2015i6p303-324.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the role of front-line employees as innovators

Author

Listed:
  • Marit Engen
  • Peter Magnusson

Abstract

This article aims for a deeper understanding of front-line employees (FLEs) and their boundary-spanning role in service organizations' innovation processes from the vantage points of creativity and service innovation theory. It explores in particular FLEs' processes of creativity by focusing on how ideas emerge and how these ideas are further managed in the organizations' innovation processes. It draws on an in-depth empirical study of three units at a large spa and resort hotel. The article demonstrates how FLEs' ideas are related to the assimilation and utilization of knowledge gained in the customer-supplier interface. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of 'management by weaving', which encompasses the middle managers' roles in the complexity of leading diverse innovation processes in the service organization. By having the roles of facilitator, gatekeeper, and translator, middle managers hold the key position for letting FLEs play the role as innovators.

Suggested Citation

  • Marit Engen & Peter Magnusson, 2015. "Exploring the role of front-line employees as innovators," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 303-324, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:35:y:2015:i:6:p:303-324
    DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2015.1003370
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02642069.2015.1003370
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02642069.2015.1003370?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jon Sundbo & Faïz Gallouj, 1998. "Innovation as a loosely coupled system in services," Post-Print halshs-01113675, HAL.
    2. Gallouj, Faiz & Weinstein, Olivier, 1997. "Innovation in services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 537-556, December.
    3. Faïz Gallouj, 2002. "Innovation in the Service Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2391.
    4. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    5. Lucia Crevani & Kristina Palm & Annika Schilling, 2011. "Innovation management in service firms: a research agenda," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(2), pages 177-193, June.
    6. Coelho, Filipe & Augusto, Mário & Lages, Luis Filipe, 2011. "Contextual Factors and the Creativity of Frontline Employees: The Mediating Effects of Role Stress and Intrinsic Motivation," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 31-45.
    7. Marja Toivonen & Tiina Tuominen, 2009. "Emergence of innovations in services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(7), pages 887-902, July.
    8. Faïz Gallouj, 2002. "Innovation in the service economy: the new wealth of nations," Post-Print halshs-00198409, HAL.
    9. Jeroen de Jong & Patrick Vermeulen, 2003. "Organizing Successful New Service Development: A Literature Review," Scales Research Reports N200307, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    10. Eric von Hippel, 1994. ""Sticky Information" and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 429-439, April.
    11. Bruce Tether, 2005. "Do Services Innovate (Differently)? Insights from the European Innobarometer Survey," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 153-184.
    12. Faïz Gallouj, 1997. "Towards a neo-Schumpeterian theory of innovation in services?," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(6), pages 405-420, December.
    13. Ozer, Muammer, 2009. "The roles of product lead-users and product experts in new product evaluation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1340-1349, October.
    14. van der Aa, Wietze & Elfring, Tom, 2002. "Realizing innovation in services," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 155-171, June.
    15. Jon Sundbo, 1997. "Management of Innovation in Services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 432-455, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schaarschmidt, Mario, 2016. "Frontline employees' participation in service innovation implementation: The role of perceived external reputation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 540-549.
    2. Hartmann, Mia Rosa & Hartmann, Rasmus Koss, 2023. "Hiding practices in employee-user innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).
    3. Yu Mu & Bart Bossink & Tsvi Vinig, 2018. "Employee involvement in ideation and healthcare service innovation quality," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1-2), pages 67-86, January.
    4. Eide, Dorthe & Fuglsang, Lars & Sundbo, Jon, 2017. "Management challenges with the maintenance of tourism experience concept innovations: Toward a new research agenda," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 452-463.
    5. van Esch, Patrick & Arli, Denni & Gheshlaghi, Mahnaz Haji, 2020. "Creating an effective self-managed service climate for frontline service employees," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    6. Sverre J Herstad & Marte CW Solheim & Marit Engen, 2019. "Learning through urban labour pools: Collected worker experiences and innovation in services," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(8), pages 1720-1740, November.
    7. Krzysztof Borodako & Jadwiga Berbeka & Michał Rudnicki, 2021. "Innovation Orientation in Business Services," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 19897.
    8. María Leticia Santos-Vijande & José Ángel López-Sánchez & John Rudd, 2016. "Frontline employees’ collaboration in industrial service innovation: routes of co-creation’s effects on new service performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 350-375, May.
    9. Soheila Raeisi & Meng Lingjie & Nur Suhaili Binti Ramli, 2019. "A Hierarchical Model of Mediation Effect of Motivation (MO) between Internal Marketing (IM) and Service Innovation (SI)," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-26, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Witell, Lars & Snyder, Hannah & Gustafsson, Anders & Fombelle, Paul & Kristensson, Per, 2016. "Defining service innovation: A review and synthesis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2863-2872.
    2. Maria de Lurdes Calisto & Soumodip Sarkar, 2017. "Innovation and corporate entrepreneurship in service businesses," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 11(3), pages 581-600, September.
    3. Chang, Yuan-Chieh & Chen, Min-Nan, 2016. "Service regime and innovation clusters: An empirical study from service firms in Taiwan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1845-1857.
    4. Faïz Gallouj, 2012. "Service: innovation, performance and public policy," Working Papers hal-01111765, HAL.
    5. Faïz Gallouj & Maria Savona, 2009. "Innovation in services: a review of the debate and a research agenda," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 149-172, April.
    6. Sundbo, Jon & Orfila-Sintes, Francina & Sorensen, Flemming, 2007. "The innovative behaviour of tourism firms--Comparative studies of Denmark and Spain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 88-106, February.
    7. Faïz Gallouj & Marja Toivonen, 2011. "Elaborating the characteristics-based approach to service innovation: making the service process visible," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 33-58.
    8. Flikkema, Meindert, 2005. "Exploring service development for understanding Schumpeterian innovation in service firms: the deduction of special case criteria," Serie Research Memoranda 0001, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    9. Tether, Bruce S. & Tajar, Abdelouahid, 2008. "The organisational-cooperation mode of innovation and its prominence amongst European service firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 720-739, May.
    10. Jeremy Howells, 2010. "Services and Innovation and Service Innovation: New Theoretical Directions," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Alarcón, José Carlos & Aguilar, Rocio & Galán, Jose Luis, 2019. "Determinants of innovation output in Spanish knowledge-intensive service firms: Stability analysis throughout the economic crisis of 2008," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 228-244.
    12. Andre Barcet, 2010. "Innovation in Services: A New Paradigm and Innovation Model," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz & Miles, Ian, 2013. "Two decades of research on innovation in services: Which place for public services?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 98-117.
    14. Kindström, Daniel & Kowalkowski, Christian & Sandberg, Erik, 2013. "Enabling service innovation: A dynamic capabilities approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1063-1073.
    15. Rinaldo Evangelista & Maria Savona, 2010. "Innovation and Employment in Services," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2008. "Innovation in services and entrepreneurship: beyond industrialist and technologist concepts of sustainable development," Post-Print halshs-01113906, HAL.
    17. Tether, Bruce S. & Tajar, Abdelouahid, 2008. "Beyond industry-university links: Sourcing knowledge for innovation from consultants, private research organisations and the public science-base," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 1079-1095, July.
    18. Trigo, Alexandre & Vence, Xavier, 2012. "Scope and patterns of innovation cooperation in Spanish service enterprises," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 602-613.
    19. Kirsi Hyttinen & Sampsa Ruutu & Mika Nieminen & Faiz Gallouj & Marja Toivonen, 2014. "A system dynamic and multi-criteria evaluation of innovations in environmental services," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(3), pages 29-52.
    20. Matthijs J. Janssen & Koen Frenken & Elena M. Tur & Alexander S. Alexiev, 2022. "The perils of pleasing: Innovation-stifling effects of customized service provision," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1231-1264, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:servic:v:35:y:2015:i:6:p:303-324. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FSIJ20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.