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Outsourcing frontline functions and implications on customer-oriented behaviors: A case of a telecommunications company and its partners in South Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2013

Chanhoo Song ,
Sunhee Lee  and
Euehun Lee
Chanhoo Song
Affiliation:
Department of Management Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Sunhee Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Chungnam National University, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Euehun Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Management Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
*
Corresponding author: sunhee_lee@cnu.ac.kr
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether outsourcing frontline functions warrants equivalent level of customer-orientated behaviors as provided by a principal organization, and, if not, what the causes of the differences are. A total of 753 frontline workers of a leading South Korean telecommunications company and its partner companies responded to a survey regarding their levels of customer-oriented behaviors, their supervisor's degree of customer orientation, and their organization's training on customer orientation. Structural equation models were then utilized to examine the proposed relationships. The results show that the frontline workers of the partner organizations have a significantly lower level of customer-oriented behaviors compared with those of the principal organization. The immediate supervisor's degree of customer orientation and customer-orientation training accounted for a significant amount of difference found between the principal and partner organizations.

Keywords

customer-oriented behaviorsoutsourcingfrontline workerssupervisortrainingtelecommunications industry
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 210 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2013 

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