A case study on service recovery: Frontline employees’ perspectives and the role of empowerment

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of how frontline employees cope with service recovery situations and recover from them. It also takes a closer look at employee empowerment. This work represents a qualitative case study, and investigates the topic from the perspective of frontline employees. Data collection is implemented by interviewing the case hotel’s frontline personnel. A content analysis method was utilised to analyse the collected data. The findings suggest that the support of colleagues is more crucial in coping with service recovery situations and recovering from them than the support of managers. Personality traits also play a role. A theoretical scheme of the service recovery process from the perspective of frontline employees is developed from the analysis of the interviews. The findings indicate that written instructions would assist employees in service recovery situations.