Service employee adaptiveness

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between managerial control strategies, role-stress and employee adaptiveness among call centre employees. Design/methodology/approach Based on a conceptual model, a questionnaire-based survey methodology is adopted. Data were collected from call centre employees in India and the data were analysed through PLS methodology. Findings The study finds that outcome control and activity control increase role-stress while capability control does not have a significant impact. The interaction between outcome control and activity control also tends to impact role-stress of employees. Role-stress felt by employees has significant negative impact on employee adaptiveness. Research limitations/implications The sampling approach was convenience based affecting the generalisability of the results. Practical implications The paper provides guidelines for utilising managerial control approaches in a service setting. Originality/value The paper looks at managerial control approaches in a service setting – a topic not quite researched before.