Antecedents and effectsof emotional satisfactionon employee-perceived

service qualityTerje Slatten

Lillehammer University College, Lillehammer, Norway

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper has been to study the relationships among: four role stressors (“roleambiguity”, “role overload”, “role conflict”, and “work-family conflict”); emotional satisfaction amongemployees; and employee-perceived service quality.

Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model of the aforementioned relationships hasbeen presented. Hypotheses regarding these relationships were proposed, and data were then collectedby a cross-sectional field study of employees in six post offices in Norway. These data have beenanalysed to test the hypotheses.

Findings – The study has found that “emotional satisfaction” is positively related to“employee-perceived service quality”. Three role stressors (“role overload”, “role conflict”, and“work-family conflict”) were negatively related to emotional satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications – The findings indicate that role stressors have a direct effecton the emotional satisfaction of employees and an indirect effect on employee-perceived service quality.

Practical implications – The study has demonstrated the importance of role stressors indetermining emotional satisfaction among employees, and thus indirectly influencing service quality.In particular, managers should be aware of the effect of work-family conflict on the emotionalsatisfaction of employees (and hence on the service quality they provide to customers).

Originality/value – The paper has developed and tested an original conceptual model of a relativelyunexplored area of services management.

Keywords Employee attitudes, Customer services quality, Employee behaviour, Role ambiguity,Role conflict, Norway

Paper type Research paper

1. IntroductionIt is generally accepted in many industries that customer satisfaction is dependent oncustomers’ perceptions of the performance quality of service employees (Hartline et al.,2000). In this regard, Heskett has proposed a sequential causal model whereby:

. internal-service quality drives;

. employee satisfaction, which enables the delivery of;

. high-value service, resulting in;

. customer satisfaction, leading to;

. customer loyalty, which, in turn, produces; and

. profit and growth.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0960-4529.htm

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Managing Service QualityVol. 18 No. 4, 2008pp. 370-386q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0960-4529DOI 10.1108/09604520810885617

It is apparent from this sequence that Heskett (1990) has posited customer satisfactionas being rooted in employee satisfaction. According to the logic of the model, acompany’s business prospects are ultimately dependent on whether the companyorganizes its internal activities in such a way that they enhance employee satisfactionand deliver high-value service.

The literature on service-quality has demonstrated this link between employeesatisfaction and customer satisfaction (Bitner, 1992; Hartline et al., 2000; Loveman,1998; Schneider and Bowen, 1993). In a large study of 1,277 employees and 4,269customers, Schlesinger and Zornitsky (1991) have found that employee satisfactionwas positively related to customer satisfaction, and Schneider and Bowen (1993) haveconcluded that employee satisfaction was a statistically significant predictor ofservice quality. These empirical studies have confirmed the pithy aphorism reportedlymade by the founder of the Marriott hotel chain: “You can’t make happy guests withunhappy employees” (quoted in Hostage, 1975).

These studies, however, are exceptions from the dominant focus of the serviceliterature that has been on the drivers of customer satisfaction and customer-perceivedquality (Edvardsson and Gustavsson, 2003). Service employees have beenacknowledged as an essential resource in service provision, but there have been fewempirical studies on the role of employee satisfaction in the actual production of servicequality. In particular, no study has explicitly focused on the antecedents of the emotionaldimension of employee satisfaction and its effects on service quality.

There have been calls in the literature formore research in this area.Wong (2004) has,for example, called for more investigation of the role of emotions in service encounters,and Bagozzi (1999) has insisted that there was a need for further research on howemotions influence employee behavior. Cronin (2003) has recommended more empiricalstudies on the emotional dimension of service quality, and Singh (2000) has argued that,there is a need for more systematic studies on the antecedents and consequences ofinteractions with customers (Bagozzi, 1999; Yu and Dean, 2001).

The aim of this paper is, therefore, to undertake an empirical examination of some ofthe antecedents and effects of emotional satisfaction from an employee perspective.Specifically, the study investigates the relationships between:

. role stressors;

. employee emotional satisfaction; and

. employees’ perceptions of service quality.

This study took place in a specific context in order to test whether there is a linkbetween these constructs. Certainly, the use of a specific context has some limitations,but it is suitable for the contributions this study has to offer: the carrying out of aninitial test and the investigation of a neglected area in service research.

With these goals in mind, this paper first reviews the relevant literature anddevelops a conceptual model of the relationships that exist between the construct of“emotional satisfaction” and its antecedents and effects. Next, there is a discussion andproposal of relevant hypotheses. The paper then describes the methodology andfollows with the findings of an empirical study used to test the model and itshypotheses. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practicalimplications for both researchers and managers.

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2. Literature review and conceptual framework2.1 Emotional satisfactionFor some time, the so-called “expectancy disconfirmation theory” has been thedominant model for assessing customer satisfaction (Brookes, 1995; Liljander andStrandvik, 1997). According to this model, satisfaction is determined by the cognitiveconfirmation (or disconfirmation) of customer expectations of service as comparedwith perceptions of the actual service performance received (Danaher and Haddrell,1996). According to Yu and Dean (2001), however, a focus on the cognitive componentof satisfaction and a relative neglect of the emotional component can lead to aninadequate understanding of the satisfaction concept. In this regard, Cronin et al. (2000)have posited emotion as a core attribute in satisfaction and suggested that models ofsatisfaction should include a separate emotional component. Wirtz and Bateson (1999)have similarly contended that a separation of the cognitive and emotional componentsis both necessary and valuable for modeling behavior in service settings.

The literature offers various definitions of emotions, and there is neither a generallyaccepted definition of the term (Cohen and Areni, 1991; Peterson and Wayne, 1986;Richins Marsha, 1997; Wong, 2004) nor a consensus of how to measure them(Edwardson, 1998). Izard (1977, p. 10) has, for example, defined an “emotion” as: “. . . [a]feeling that motivates, organizes, and guides perception, thought, and action”. Incontrast, Bagozzi et al. (1999, p. 184) have defined emotions as “. . . mental states thatarise from cognitive appraisals of events or one’s thoughts”. The present study adoptsthis latter definition. In the context of this study, positive or negative emotions ariseeither from the cognitive appraisals of service events (for example, a frontline serviceemployee’s experience of a computer breakdown) or from thoughts about those events(for example, the employee’s thoughts that he or she might not have the appropriateskills for the job).

Some empirical studies have concluded that, the emotional component ofsatisfaction is a better predictor than the cognitive component for certain importantconstructs of service-quality management. For example, Yu and Dean (2001) havefound that the emotional component of satisfaction had stronger correlations (thanthe cognitive component) with loyalty, word-of-mouth, switching behavior, and thewillingness to pay more. The role of emotion has thus been gaining more attention as acentral element in service-quality management (Wong, 2004; Liljander and Strandvik,1997; Babin and Griffin, 1998).

2.2 Employee emotional satisfaction and employee-perceived service qualityResearch has suggested that, the emotional feelings of employees do influence the waythey interact with customers (Bitner, 1992; van Maanen and Kunda, 1989; Rafaeli andSutton, 1990). Moreover, according to Schlesinger and Heskett (1991), there is a linkbetween employee satisfaction and high quality as perceived by the customer. Thesefindings are in accordance with Gronroos’ (1984) definition of service quality as aperceived judgment. In this regard, the present study has concentrated on employees’personal perceptions of the service quality they provide. Accordingly, this study definedemployee-perceived quality as an employee’s personal evaluations of the service qualitythat he or she delivers to customers. This study proposed, moreover, that a givenemployee’s degree of emotional satisfaction influences this employee-perceived servicequality.

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For these reasons, the first hypothesis was as follows:

H1. The degree of emotional satisfaction among employees is positively related toemployee-perceived service quality.

2.3 Antecedents of employee-emotional satisfactionAccording to Katz and Kahn (1978), roles are sets of behaviours that are expected of aperson in a certain position. Katz and Kahn (1978, p. 188) have observed that: “Key toeffective role behavior is the process of learning the expectations of others, accepting them,and fulfilling them.” If a person in a particular role is not able to fulfil the expectationsassociated with the position, the person will experience stress (Weatherly and Tansik,1992). In the literature on role theory (Kahn et al., 1964), these role demands andperformance expectations are termed “role stressors”.

Four major role stressors were posited for the purposes of this study:

(1) role conflict;

(2) role ambiguity;

(3) role overload; and

(4) work-family conflict.

These four role stressors are discussed in greater detail below.2.3.1 Role conflict. Kahn et al. (1964, p. 56) has defined “role conflict” as “. . . the

simultaneous occurrence of two or more sets of pressure [such] that compliance withone would make more difficult compliance with the other”.

There are several potential sources of such role conflict (Kahn et al., 1964), but allshare one characteristic in common. In all cases, role conflict in service delivery iscaused by an organization or a customer exerting pressure to change the behaviour of afrontline service employee. The stronger the pressures, the greater the conflict createdfor the service employee.

2.3.2 Role ambiguity. House and Rizzo (1972) has defined role ambiguity as a“. . . lack of clarity and predictability of the outcomes of one’s behavior”. In a similarvein, Sell et al. (1981, p. 53) has defined role ambiguity as:

[. . .] the degree to which information is lacking regarding: (1) the scope and limits of one’sresponsibilities; (2) expectations associated with a role and the methods and behaviours forfulfilling one’s job responsibilities; (3) which expectations take priority or stated otherwise, whichelements of the role are most important; and (4) the standards by which one’s performance isappraised.

According to Singh and Rhoads (1991), frontline service employees can experienceambiguity with respect to:

. superiors;

. the company;

. ethical issues;

. customers;

. co-workers;

. family; and

. other managers.

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According to Singh et al. (1996), there are four dimensions to role ambiguity:

(1) Process ambiguity. How a person should get things done and how to achieve theorganisation’s objectives.

(2) Priority ambiguity. When things should be done.

(3) Expectation ambiguity.What is expected of an employee or what that employeeshould be doing, or both.

(4) Behavior ambiguity. How an employee is expected to act in various situations.

The greater the vagueness and unpredictability with regard to these matters, thegreater the ambiguity felt by frontline service employees.

2.3.3 Role overload. According to Jones et al. (1995), role overload occurs if:. an employer demands more of an employee than this person can reasonably

accomplish in a given time; and. the employee perceives the demands of work as excessive.

There are two dimensions to role overload:

(1) Quantitative overload. Referring to excessive work whereby the employeeis capable of meeting the role demand, but there are too many (perhapsconflicting) role demands.

(2) Qualitative overload. Referring to an employee’s inadequate skills and abilities,and even if more time and resources were made available, these would not helpbecause more training and education would be required before the employeecould meet role demands.

2.3.4 Work-family conflict. Work-family conflict arises when responsibilities in thework domain and responsibilities in the family domain become, to some degree,incompatible (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). Responsibilities in each of these areasare important to any given individual; however, taken together, they often placeunreasonable demands on that person.

The changing nature of the workforce and society in general has led to both agreater number of single-parent households and an increase of households in whichboth partners wish to pursue a career. These changes have increased the potential forconflict to occur between work responsibilities and family responsibilities in allworking environments.

Work experiences and family experiences have reciprocal effects. Barling andMacEven (1992) have termed this reciprocity a “spillover effect” from one realm to theother. However, the work-related consequences of family/work conflict have not beenclearly determined (Boles and Babin, 1996). Similarly, no empirical study has assessedthe effects of work-family conflict on the emotional satisfaction of employees.

2.3.5 Summary of role stressors and proposal of hypotheses. Research has indicatedthat the first three role stressors discussed above (“role conflict”, “role ambiguity”, and“role overload”) are negatively related to job satisfaction (Behrman and Perreault, 1984;Singh et al., 1996). On the basis of a large empirical study, Brown and Peterson (1993)have reported that “role conflict” and “role ambiguity” are antecedents to jobsatisfaction. Other studies have also supported “role conflict” and “role ambiguity” asantecedents to job satisfaction (Good et al., 1988; Lysonski, 1985; Teas, 1983).

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The results of these studies on the whole document a negative effect of “role conflict”and “role ambiguity” on employees’ job satisfaction (Keaveney and Nelson, 1993).

Although no study has explicitly assessed the effect of “role overload” on emotionalsatisfaction, it seems reasonable to suppose that this role stressor also has an adverseeffect on the emotional satisfaction of employees.

This study has thus proposed the following three hypotheses:

H2. Role conflict is negatively related to the degree of emotional satisfactionamong employees.

H3. Role ambiguity is negatively related to the degree of emotional satisfactionamong employees.

H4. Role overload is negatively related to the degree of emotional satisfactionamong employees.

With regard to the fourth role stressor (work-family conflict), Boles and Babin (1996)have found a significant negative relationship between work-family conflict andemployee satisfaction. On the basis of their study, and on the basis of intuitivereasoning, this study has also deemed it appropriate to assume that work-familyconflict has a negative effect on the emotional satisfaction of employees. The followinghypothesis was therefore proposed:

H5. Work-family conflict is negatively related to the degree of emotionalsatisfaction among employees.

2.4 Research modelBased on the discussion above, Figure 1 shows the research model for this study. Ascan be seen in the diagram, the model proposes that emotional satisfaction has fourantecedents (i.e. the role stressors discussed above), and that the construct of emotionalsatisfaction has consequently an effect on employee-perceived service quality.

3. Empirical study3.1 Background to the studyFrontline employees in various branches of the Norwegian post office were the focusfor this empirical study. Frontline employees of Norwegian post offices are expected toperform a number of tasks – including the provision of accurate information about thedispatch and arrival of postal items, advice on savings and loans, and information oncurrency conversions. In recent years, the Norwegian post office has undertakensignificant programmes in reorganisation and cost-reduction, which have resulted in amore effective and profitable public-sector company. These changes have, however,caused difficulties for employees, who have been forced to take on a greater numberand variety of service tasks per worker.

3.2 MethodologyThis study employed a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 210 employees fromvarious branches of the Norwegian post office participated in the study. Two of the sixpost offices that participated in the study were located in densely-populated areas,whereas four were located in rural districts. The job tasks at the different post officeswere standardised.

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The survey was self-administered by interested participants in their own time. Allparticipants were informed that the responses would be anonymous.

In all, 149 completed questionnaires were returned, representing an overall responserate of 70.9 per cent. Of the 149 participants, 94 (62.7 per cent) were female.

3.3 Measures3.3.1 Emotional satisfaction. This study used the measure suggested by Reynolds andBeatty (1999) to assess “emotional satisfaction”. This measure has previously beenused to measure emotional satisfaction among customers (Wong, 2004); however, it isreasonable to assume that the measure is similarly appropriate for the assessment ofemotional satisfaction among employees.

The questionnaire asked the employees to indicate their feelings with respect totheir job and workplace on seven-point Likert-type scales. Depending on the emotionsbeing assessed, the scales referred to various ranges of feelings, such as“enjoyable-frustrating”, “disgusted-contented”, “unhappy-happy”, and“pleased-displeased”. The composite reliability coefficient for the measure of“emotional satisfaction” was 0.8.

3.3.2 Employee-perceived service quality. This study utilized a four-item scale tomeasure “employee-perceived service quality” (Dabholkar et al., 2000). Employees wereasked to indicate their perception of the service they provide on a seven-pointLikert-type scale, ranging from 1 – strongly disagree to 7 – strongly agree. The itemson which they were asked to respond were:

(1) Generally, my overall service is excellent.

(2) Generally, I give a service of very high quality.

(3) Generally, I have high standards for my customer service.

(4) Generally, I deliver superior service in every way.

Figure 1.Antecedents and effects ofemotional satisfaction onemployee-perceivedservice quality

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Cronbach’s a coefficient for the measure of “employee-perceived service quality”was 0.78.

3.3.3 Role conflict. The measure suggested by Rizzo et al. (1970) was used to assess“role conflict”. The questionnaire asked employees to indicate their perceived roleconflict at work on a seven-point Likert-type scale. Items assessed in this way included:

. I receive assignments without adequate resources to complete them.

. I receive incompatible requests from two or more people.

. I have to disobey a rule or policy to carry out some assignments.

Cronbach’s a coefficient of reliability for this measure was 0.87.3.3.4 Role ambiguity. This study assessed “role ambiguity” by using a three-item

scale (Rizzo et al., 1970). On a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 – stronglydisagree to 7 – strongly agree, employees were asked to indicate their perceived roleambiguity with respect to the following items:

(1) I have clear, planned goals and objects for my job.

(2) I know what my responsibilities are.

(3) I know exactly what is expected of me.

Cronbach’s a for this measure was 0.62.

3.3.5 Role overload. Two measures for “role overload” were developed specificallyfor the present study:

(1) Quantitative dimension of role overload. “Even if I work hard, I often don’tmanage to do all the work I am expected to do.”

(2) Qualitative dimension of role overload. “I often have to ask one of my colleaguesfor help because I don’t know exactly how to perform the work task.”

Cronbach’s a for these two measures was 0.89.3.3.6 Work-family conflict. For the construct of “work-family conflict”, the

questionnaire asked employees to indicate on a seven-point Likert-type scale, rangingfrom 1 – strongly disagree to 7 – strongly agree, to what degree work was in conflictwith family and personal relationships outside work. The wording of the item was asfollows:

. Generally, I find it easy to combine my private life (time for family, friends, etc.)with my work.

3.4 Results and analysis3.4.1 Preliminary statistical analyses. Table I shows the descriptive statistics, means,standard deviations, and correlations for all constructs. Before performing regressionanalyses to test the proposed hypotheses, this study checked all items and scales fornormality. There were tests for convergent and divergent validity by maximumlikelihood extraction and direct oblimin rotation for all measures (except for “roleoverload” and “work-family conflict”). There were, furthermore, tests for the convergentproperties of the formative construct of “role overload” by principal componentextraction and varimax rotation. The results showed satisfactory convergent properties

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for all constructs used in the study. Tests for discriminant validity showed that all itemson all constructs had satisfactory validity.

3.4.2 Regression analyses. In the first regression analysis, the dependent variable“employee-perceived service quality” was regressed against the independent variable“emotional satisfaction”. In the second regression, “emotional satisfaction” wasthe dependent variable and “role conflict”, “role ambiguity”, “role overload”, and“work-family conflict” were the independent variables. The results are shown in Table II.

As can be seen in the table, the construct of “emotional satisfaction” had a positive effecton “employee-perceived service quality”. The constructs of “role conflict”, “role overload”,and “work-family conflict” were all negatively related to “emotional satisfaction”. However,“role ambiguity” had no significant effect on “emotional satisfaction”. This study has,therefore, found support for all the hypothesised relationships, apart from H3 (whichpostulated a relationship between “role ambiguity” and “emotional satisfaction”).

4. Discussion4.1 Antecedents to emotional satisfactionThree of the four independent variables (“role conflict”, “role overload”, and“work-family conflict”) had a direct effect on “emotional satisfaction”, which then

Construct Min Max Mean SD a SQ ES RC RA RO WFC

Perceived servicequality 1 7 5.14 1.5 0.78 1.00Emotionalsatisfaction 1 7 4.78 1.3 0.80 0.318 * 1.00Role conflict 1 7 3.51 0.5 0.87 20.131 20.461 * 1.00Role Ambiguity 1 7 5.71 0.7 0.62 0.145 20.251 * 0.151 1.00Role overload 1 7 2.90 1.2 0.89 20.321 * 20.638 * 0.488 0.409 * 1.00Work-familyconflict

1 7 3.55 1.5 a 20.117 20.417 * 0.076 0.259 * 0.374 * 1.00

Notes: *Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed); aonly one item for this construct

Table I.Descriptive statistics,means, standarddeviations andcorrelations

Standardized b coefficients Sig.

Direct antecedent to service qualityH1. Emotional satisfaction 0.318 0.000Adjusted R 2 0.101Indirect antecedent to service qualityH2. Role conflict 20.236 0.003H3. Role ambiguity 20.045 0.560H4. Role overload 20.431 0.000H5. Work-family conflict 20.210 0.007Adjusted R 2 0.424

Table II.Results of testingproposed research model

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affected “employee-perceived service quality”. It would thus seem that, the servicedelivered by employees is indirectly related to various aspects of employees’ worksituation (mediated through “emotional satisfaction”). The fourth independent variable“role ambiguity” did not have a significant effect on “emotional satisfaction”.

The findings with respect to “work-family conflict” have shown that this constructhad a significant negative effect on “emotional satisfaction” (b ¼ 20.210, p , 0.01).These findings support those of Williams and Alliger (1994) found that, a conflictbetween work responsibilities and family responsibilities can “spill over” into work.This finding emphasises the importance of managers taking proper account of howoutside influences can affect employee-perceived service quality.

The present study has also shown that “role overload” had a significant indirecteffect on employee-perceived service quality (mediated through “emotionalsatisfaction”). Of all the antecedents to emotional satisfaction considered in thisstudy, “role overload” had the greatest influence (b ¼ 20.431, p , 0.001).As previously noted, “role overload” occurs when either an employer demands moreof an employee than this person can reasonably accomplish in a given time or when anemployee perceives the demands of work as excessive, or both (Jones et al., 1995). Thisstudy tested for both of these forms of “role overload”. The results should serve as awarning against a company policy of focusing only on cost reduction and efficiency; itis apparent that these policies can induce “role overload”, thus reducingemployee-perceived service quality.

As hypothesised, “role conflict” had a negative effect on the emotional satisfactionof employees (b ¼ 20.236, p , 0.01). This result is consistent with previous studies inmarketing and management in which role conflict has been shown to have a significantnegative effect on a variety of constructs, including employee satisfaction (Brown andPetersen, 1993; Goolsby, 1992).

The construct of “role ambiguity” did not have a statistically significant effect onemotional satisfaction. The direction of the relationship was negative (b ¼ 20.045) butnot significant ( p ¼ 0.560).Apossible explanation for this result is that nearly 70per centof thosewho participated in the study had been in their present positions for two years ormore, which implies that they had considerable experience in their roles. Role ambiguityarises from a lack of clarity and predictability regarding the outcomes of behaviour(House and Rizzo, 1972). With increasing experience, it is presumably easier to predictthe outcomes of behaviour, thereby reducing employees’ perceptions of role ambiguity.Another plausible explanation for the non-significant effect might be the nature of thejob content studied here. In the Norwegian post office, most job descriptions are clearlydocumented, which is likely to reduce the potential for employees to perceive roleambiguity.

4.2 Effects of emotional satisfactionThe present study has demonstrated that employees who felt emotionally satisfiedreported higher levels of employee-perceived service quality than those who did not(b ¼ 0.318, p , 0.001). This result is in accordancewith the study of Staw et al. (1994) thatfound that positive emotions have positive influences on task activity and persistence.

Inmany service industries, contact employees are the pre-eminent representatives of thefirm providing the service (Hartline et al., 2000), and it is therefore important that firmscreate a positive environment that encourages frontline employees to keep customers

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satisfiedand loyal.Thenurturingof positive emotionsamongemployeesplaysa critical rolein ensuring that they provide the best possible service to customers. As Dunning and Story(1991) have observed, positive people actually do experience more positive outcomes.

5. Research contributionsPrevious empirical research on services has neglected the sources of employee-perceivedservice quality. No study has explicitly focused on the antecedents of the emotionaldimension of employee satisfaction and its effects on service quality. This present study,in addressing this gap of knowledge, has made the following contributions:

. the design (and testing) of a model of the relationships that exist between theconstruct of “employee emotional satisfaction” and its antecedents and effects;

. the design (and use) of a measurement instrument for the proposed model;

. an exploration of various “role stressors” as antecedents to the emotionalsatisfaction of employees; and

. an exploration of the effects of employee emotional satisfaction on servicequality – including the provision of empirical evidence that employee-perceivedservice quality is affected by emotional satisfaction among employees.

6. Managerial implicationsCustomer-contact employees are a critical asset of service organisations due to theinteractive nature of service delivery (Chung and Schneider, 2002; Hartline et al., 2000).This study has, therefore, important practical implications for managers and theirdecisions and practices with regard to employees.

One general, but important, implication from this study is the importance of measuringemployees’ emotional satisfaction. The measurement of these mental states, which arisefrom cognitive appraisals of events or one’s thoughts, can be a good predictor foremployee-perceived service quality.Managers should,moreover, emphasise emotions as animportant element in service-quality management (Wong, 2004). Consequently, managersshould insist that employee surveys include questions about emotional satisfaction.

Of all the role stress factors examined in this study, “role overload” had the greatestadverse effect on emotional satisfaction. This finding should be interpreted as awarningagainst an exclusively rational focus on cost reduction and efficiency, for it is apparentthat these measures can induce “role overload”. To be sure, a rational focus is vital for afirm’s survival, the attainment of shareholders’ goals, the need to be competitive, etc.However, on the other hand, mangers should bear in mind that such focus has an effecton employees’ emotional satisfaction. This study can serve to remindmanagers that it issensible to keep a good balance between these two areas. One solution for keeping theright balance is to assess the workload of all employees from time to time. Based on suchan assessment, managers may well have to invest more resources or to enhance theknowledge and skills of employees, or both. A strategy of reducing “role overload” islikely to be cost-effective in the long-term by keeping both employees and customerssatisfied and loyal to the firm. In short, all managerial activities should be framed with aview to strengthening emotional satisfaction among employees.

The findings of this study also clearly demonstrate the importance of managerstaking account of “non-job factors” in their assessment of whether employees aredelivering high-quality service to customers. “Work-family conflict” had the second

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greatest adverse effect on emotional satisfaction. In particular, the findings emphasisethe importance of managers’ recognising the potentially adverse effects of work-familyconflict. The realistic scheduling of job tasks and increased autonomy for employees inplanning their work are two effective ways of reducing the conflict between workresponsibilities and home responsibilities. In addition, managers should consider theprovision of access to childcare (either directly or indirectly).

7. Limitations and future researchOf course, when interpreting the results, the reader should take into consideration thelimitations of this study. Yet, these acknowledged limitations also point towards new ideasfor further research.The following limitations and suggestions for future research are noted:

. First, the use of a specific context is a limitation of the study. Future researchcould, therefore, replicate and enlarge upon the present findings by usingsamples from various industries, for example, hospitality and retail industries.

. Secondly, the correlations were relatively low in this study. These figures can beexplained by many reasons. However, there are two points that merit furtherattention. Because this study developed some of the constructs for specificpurposes, it is not at all unreasonable to suppose that this study could haveoverlooked certain important aspects of the constructs, thereby resulting in lowcorrelations. Future research could, then, develop other items in order to have amore sensitive assessment of these constructs. Another reason why there wererelatively low correlations may be that there could be other factors that are eitherantecedents or effects of emotional satisfaction. Future research could, thus, makeimprovements in these two areas and possibly increase the level of correlation.

. Thirdly, this study examined the general effect of emotional satisfaction onemployee-perceived service quality. Future research could seek to establish moreprecisely those specific facets of emotional satisfaction that are the bestpredictors of service quality.

. Fourthly, this study did not focus on the differences between genders. Empiricalstudies have found gender differences in job satisfaction (Lutz, 2007). Futureresearch could deepen our understanding of gender differences by exploringwhether or to what extent there are such differences in emotional satisfaction.

. Fifthly, this study has focused on the antecedents and effects of emotionalsatisfaction from the employees’ perspective. Future studies could focus on otherperspectives in identifying the sources of emotional satisfaction and servicequality. According to Kennedy-McDoll and Anderson (2002, p. 546), “No studyhas attempted to develop a model of leadership style and emotions as mediatorsof performance”. An exploration of the effect of leadership style on emotionalsatisfaction and employee-perceived service quality would be a valuable andimportant area for further research.

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Appendix. Questionnaire used for this studyService quality

. Generally, my overall service is excellent.

. Generally, I give a service of very high quality.

. Generally, I have a high standard of my customer service.

. Generally, I deliver superior service in every way.

Emotional satisfaction. Displeased/pleased.. Unhappy/happy.. Disgusted/contented.. Frustrating/enjoyable.

Role overload. Often it happens that, even if I work hard, I don’t manage to do all the work I am expected

to do.. Often I have to ask some of my colleagues for help, because I don’t have the exact

knowledge of how to perform the task.

Role ambiguity. I have clear, planned goals and objectives for my job (R) *.. I know what my responsibilities are (R) *.. I know exactly what is expected of me (R) *.

Role conflict. I receive assignments without adequate resources to complete them.. I receive incompatible requests from two or more people.. I have to buck a rule or policy in order to carry out some assignments.

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Work-family conflict. Generally speaking, I often find it difficult to combine my private life (ex time for the

family, friends, etc.) with my work.

*(R) indicates a reverse-coded item.

About the authorTerje Slatten is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Lillehammer University College, Norway.His research interests include service quality, complaint handling and loyalty. He is currentlydoing research on the role of emotions in service organizations both from an employee andcustomer perspective. Terje Slatten can be contacted at: terje.slatten@hil.no

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