The Library
Forms of employee negative word-of-mouth : a study of front-line workers
Tools
Tools
Tools
Harris, Lloyd C. and Ogbonna, Emmanuel (2013) Forms of employee negative word-of-mouth : a study of front-line workers. Employee Relations, Volume 35 (Number 1). pp. 39-60. doi:10.1108/01425451311279401 ISSN 0142-5455.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01425451311279401
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this article is to supply grounded empirical insights into the forms of negative word-of-mouth by front-line, customer contact employees.
Design/methodology/approach: The article adopts a qualitative approach through interviews with 54 front-line employees in three retail organizations: food, clothing and electronic goods.
Findings: The paper finds four different forms of negative word-of-mouth behaviours which are labelled customer-oriented, anti-management/firm, employee-oriented and anti-competitor word-of-mouth. The paper shows how each of these behaviours varied in terms of the target audience (the intended listeners), the focus of attention (the focal point of comments), the motivation (the perceived rationale for the behaviour) and the extent to which employees perceived their own comments to be truthful.
Research limitations/implications: The article calls for an expansion of research horizon to incorporate a fuller understanding of the dynamics of employee (mis)behaviour in the workplace in relation to resistance, subjectivity, instrumentality and clandestine control of certain aspects of workplace dynamics.
Practical implications: The findings suggest that managers should be concerned with front-line employee negative word-of-mouth especially because some of the examples which were uncovered are potentially damaging to both financial and non financial performance measures.
Originality/value: The article contributes insights into the neglected area of employee negative word-of-mouth. The article argues that the identification of the forms of employee negative word-of-mouth is an important step towards developing a theory of employee negative word-of-mouth that is especially pertinent to front-line service work. The article develops a series of propositions which future researchers may find useful in advancing research in this area.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Marketing & Strategic Management Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Employee Relations | ||||
| Publisher: | Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. | ||||
| ISSN: | 0142-5455 | ||||
| Official Date: | 2013 | ||||
| Dates: |
|
||||
| Volume: | Volume 35 | ||||
| Number: | Number 1 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 39-60 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1108/01425451311279401 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
