On the Front Line: Organization of Work in the Information Economy (Cornell International Industrial and Labor Relations Reports) - Hardcover

Frenkel, Stephen J.; Korczynski, Marek; Shire, Karen A.; Tam, May

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801435870 ISBN 13: 9780801435874

Publisher: ILR Press, 1999

Synopsis

The importance of customer service is widely emphasized in business today. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the organization and dynamics of front-line work. The volume is based on a four-year study of over a thousand employees and eight leading companies in the United States, Australia, and Japan. On the Front Line reveals similarities and differences found in work environments-such as variance in authority relations and division of labor-as well as significant contrasts between management approaches used in Japan and those used in the United States and Australia. By examining how work differs among service, sales, and knowledge-based settings, it also shows how bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, and network forms of organization coexist in the informational economy.This seminal analysis of work in the service sector offers both a benchmark for consultants working with customer-contact organizations and valuable information for anyone concerned with the changing nature of work.

About this title

Review:

"A detailed and rigorously executed study of the nature of front-line work.... On the Front Line will be essential reading for anyone interested in research on work. In a very positive way it raises as many questions as it answers."

--Jim Kitay, University of Sydney "The Journal of Industrial Relations "

"The aim of these rich chapters is to show that the world of work is more complex than has been captured in traditional studies.... Aside from being a great example of the virtues of organizational research, this book also demonstrates how difficult it is to make sense of the current transitions in the workplace."

--Kevin Ward, University of Manchester "Journal of Economic Geography "

"As the authors show, customer-service representatives must walk the delicate line between sincerity and disingenuousness: They must be friendly and helpful to demanding customers while watching out for their employers' interests.... A strong customer-service organization often makes the difference between a successful company and an unsuccessful one. On the Front Line shows us why."

--Matthew Price "Lingua Franca "

"Given the paucity of well-planned and capably executed research on the topic, this book makes a very important contribution to our understanding of factors that shape emerging 'front-line' work and workers.... Frenkel et al.'s five-year cross-national comparative study is the most comprehensive study of these workers to date."

--Motohiro Morishima, Hitotsubashi University "Industrial and Labor Relations Review "

"On the Front Line offers scholars of work organization and the new economy much food for thought. Its close, systematic attention to front-line jobs is especially valuable and needed."

--Amy S. Wharton, Washington State University "Contemporary Sociology "

"The shift from manufacturing to services has important implications for human resource management.... This study is a sophisticated, rigorous exploration of trends in employment."

--Choice

From the Publisher:

about On the Front Line:
The importance of customer service is widely emphasized in business today. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the organization and dynamics of front-line work. The volume is based on a four-year study of over a thousand employees and eight leading companies in the United States, Australia, and Japan. On the Front Line reveals similarities and differences found in work environments--such as variance in authority relations and division of labor--as well as significant contrasts between management approaches used in Japan and those used in the United States and Australia. By examining how work differs among service, sales, and knowledge-based settings, it also shows how bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, and network forms of organization coexist in the informational economy. This seminal analysis of work in the service sector offers both a benchmark for consultants working with customer-contact organizations and valuable information for anyone concerned with the changing nature of work.

About this edition

• Publisher: ILR Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0801435870
• ISBN 13: 9780801435874
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320