Improving service-center employees’ performance by means of a sport sponsorship
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Improving service-center employees’ performance by means of a sport sponsorship. / Wagner, Ulrik; Hansen, Kristian Rune; Kristensen, Mette Lund; Josty, Malene.
In: International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2019, p. 43-60.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving service-center employees’ performance by means of a sport sponsorship
AU - Wagner, Ulrik
AU - Hansen, Kristian Rune
AU - Kristensen, Mette Lund
AU - Josty, Malene
N1 - (Ekstern)
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Purpose: Sponsorships targeting an internal audience, e.g. employees, are still under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees perceive and evaluate a sponsorship that is designed with the purpose of improving customer services and explore how the company may benefit from the sponsorship. Design/methodology/approach: The study is anchored in critical realism and based on a single case study using multiple methods. The authors survey the impact of the sponsorship on employees’ (n=653) perceptions of their ability to communicate with customers, to perform their personal best, to engage in teamwork, as well as employee retention. The authors use individual and group interviews to qualify the analysis and the access to company data on customer satisfaction rates to provide an indication of the effect of the sponsorship.Findings: Results indicate that close to half the employees respond that the campaign positively impacted their ability to communicate, improve personal performance and to engage in teamwork. The analysis also reveals that the commitment of the direct leader has an impact on employees’ interest and commitment to the campaign. Data on customer satisfaction show that reducing the number of dissatisfied customers and increasing the number of customers willing to recommend the company to others has been accomplished, thus indicating that the sponsorship has had a positive impact on company performance. Originality/value: By combining sponsorship research with insights from the HRM literature, the study provides empirically based knowledge to the hitherto limited research on the internal audience of sponsorships. The study provides a plausible indication of a positive relation between a sponsorship design and company performance.
AB - Purpose: Sponsorships targeting an internal audience, e.g. employees, are still under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees perceive and evaluate a sponsorship that is designed with the purpose of improving customer services and explore how the company may benefit from the sponsorship. Design/methodology/approach: The study is anchored in critical realism and based on a single case study using multiple methods. The authors survey the impact of the sponsorship on employees’ (n=653) perceptions of their ability to communicate with customers, to perform their personal best, to engage in teamwork, as well as employee retention. The authors use individual and group interviews to qualify the analysis and the access to company data on customer satisfaction rates to provide an indication of the effect of the sponsorship.Findings: Results indicate that close to half the employees respond that the campaign positively impacted their ability to communicate, improve personal performance and to engage in teamwork. The analysis also reveals that the commitment of the direct leader has an impact on employees’ interest and commitment to the campaign. Data on customer satisfaction show that reducing the number of dissatisfied customers and increasing the number of customers willing to recommend the company to others has been accomplished, thus indicating that the sponsorship has had a positive impact on company performance. Originality/value: By combining sponsorship research with insights from the HRM literature, the study provides empirically based knowledge to the hitherto limited research on the internal audience of sponsorships. The study provides a plausible indication of a positive relation between a sponsorship design and company performance.
KW - Critical realism
KW - Human resource management
KW - Internal audience
KW - Middle managers
KW - Olympic rowing
KW - Service-center employees
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049521363&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/IJSMS-10-2017-0109
DO - 10.1108/IJSMS-10-2017-0109
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85049521363
VL - 20
SP - 43
EP - 60
JO - International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
JF - International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
SN - 1464-6668
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 254659671