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 the Author

Stephen J. Frenkel is a professor in the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales. Marek Korczynski is a lecturer in employment relations at Loughborough University. Karen A. Shire is Associate Professor of Comparative Sociology and Japan Studies at the University of Duisburg, Germany. May Tam is a research fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong.

Reviews

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 *

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 *

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 *

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 *

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 *

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 *



Book Information
ISBN 9780801485671
Author Stephen J. Frenkel
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint ILR Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 907g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 19mm