Question 1

Employees who feel that they are often caught in the middle between company rules and regulations and customer requests for services that are against company rules are experiencing which of the following types of conflict?

Accepted Answer

Organization/client conflict occurs when employees face a dilemma between adhering to company policies and fulfilling customer requests that contradict those policies.

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a cost associated with empowerment?

Accepted Answer

Empowerment can lead to increased labor costs, slower service delivery, bad decisions, and inconsistent service quality. However, it typically leads to better word-of-mouth advertising and a perception of equitable service treatment among customers. Therefore, the only choice that is not a cost associated with empowerment is decreased word-of-mouth advertising.

Question 3

____ gives discretion to front-line personnel to meet the needs of consumers creatively.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment gives front-line personnel the authority to make decisions and take actions to meet the needs of consumers. It allows them to be creative in finding solutions that are effective and efficient in addressing consumer needs. Enfranchisement refers to the process of giving someone the right to vote or participate in decision-making, and is not applicable in this context. Service passion and service climate refer to the attitudes and culture within an organization that facilitate the delivery of quality service, but do not directly give discretion to front-line personnel. Production-lining is a manufacturing process that involves dividing tasks into smaller sub-tasks and repeating them in a sequential manner, and is not relevant to the context of customer service.

Question 4

The two primary roles that boundary-spanning personnel fulfill are:

Accepted Answer

Boundary-spanning personnel act as intermediaries between the organization and external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, regulators, and competitors. They perform two primary roles: information transfer and representation. Information transfer involves gathering, synthesizing, and disseminating information between the organization and external stakeholders. Representation involves being a spokesperson or advocate for the organization to external stakeholders or representing the interests of external stakeholders back to the organization. Sales and profit-production, sales and customer service, process flow and service, and information transfer and profit production are not accurate descriptions of the primary roles of boundary-spanning personnel.

Question 5

Despite popular beliefs,the "Freeloading Fredas" of the world probably represent only _____ of all customers.

Accepted Answer

The "Freeloading Fredas" likely represent a very small fraction of all customers, typically around 1% to 2%. This is because most customers do not engage in behaviors that would classify them as taking undue advantage of services or goods without fair compensation.

Question 6

​Initially,bank tellers were uncomfortable with their new task of selling services to customers.They viewed themselves as bank tellers and not salespersons.This is an example of which type of conflict?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of person/role conflict where the bank tellers, as individuals, feel uncomfortable with their new role as salespersons, which is conflicting with their previous identity and perception of their job.

Question 7

Which of the following customers needs to be "moved offstage" as quickly as possible?

Accepted Answer

Both Badmouth Betty and Hysterical Harold should be moved offstage quickly as they can create a negative atmosphere and potentially disturb other customers. Egocentric Edgar and Dictatorial Dick may require some attention but can be handled with patience and professionalism.

Question 8

Service personnel are influenced by their shared perception of the practices,procedures,and kinds of behaviors that get rewarded.That shared perception is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

The shared perception among service personnel of the practices, procedures, and behaviors that get rewarded is known as the climate for service. This climate can have a significant impact on the attitudes and behavior of service personnel, including their level of engagement, commitment, and motivation to provide high-quality service. The climate for service encompasses factors such as leadership style, communication patterns, team dynamics, and recognition and rewards systems.

Question 9

All of the following are behaviors by which service employees attempt to reduce their role stress except:

Accepted Answer

Engaging the customer is typically a strategy to improve service quality and customer satisfaction, not a method to reduce role stress. Other options like engaging in a people-processing mode, using physical symbols, and engaging in service sabotage are strategies employees might use to cope with or reduce their role stress.

Question 10

A Disney tram driver that is asked to break up a fight between a feuding couple is experiencing which of the following types of conflict?

Accepted Answer

Inter-client conflict occurs when there is a conflict between two or more clients or customers of a particular organization or service, as in this case. The feuding couple are both passengers on the Disney tram, making their conflict an example of inter-client conflict.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of sensitivity training?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is an example...

Question 12

The empowerment approach in which service employees are trained to manage themselves is called:

Accepted Answer

The empowerment approach in which service employees are trained to manage themselves is called high involvement. This approach involves training and developing employees to take charge of their job roles and responsibilities, and to make decisions about how to handle customer interactions and resolve issues on their own. This can improve job satisfaction, increase motivation, and lead to better overall customer experiences.

Question 13

The empowerment approach that utilizes teams and allows employees to use a variety of skills withconsiderable latitude regarding lower-level decisions is:

Accepted Answer

The answer of The empowerment approach that utilizes teams and...

Question 14

All of the following are benefits associated with empowerment except:

Accepted Answer

The statement "empowered front-line employees gain a false sense of power,in turn aiding the customer" implies a potential negative consequence of empowerment - that employees may overstep their boundaries and create unrealistic expectations for customers. This is not a benefit of empowerment.

Question 15

Empowerment coupled with a performance-based compensation method is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Enfranchisement is the term that refers to empowerment combined with a performance-based compensation method, emphasizing both the empowerment of employees and their motivation through performance incentives.

Question 16

Which of the following is a type of conflict experienced by boundary-spanning personnel?

Accepted Answer

Boundary-spanning personnel are those individuals who interact with different stakeholders, including clients, suppliers, regulatory organizations, and colleagues, among others. Consequently, they can experience conflicts related to their role as an agent of the organization and their clients' expectations (organization/client conflict) or conflicts between two or more clients (inter-client conflict). Therefore, options C, D, and A are incorrect. Channel conflict refers to conflicts arising from distribution channels, which do not apply to boundary-spanning personnel. Finally, precise-duty conflict is not a known type of conflict, so option B is also incorrect.

Question 17

Empowerment approaches fall along a continuum that ranges from control-oriented to involvement-oriented.Which of the following empowerment approaches is the most control-oriented?

Accepted Answer

Suggestion involvement is the most control-oriented form of empowerment because it allows management to maintain control over decision-making processes while still soliciting input from employees. This approach involves employees through suggestions but does not necessarily grant them decision-making power, thus keeping the control largely in the hands of management.

Question 18

Which of the following types of interpersonal training provides stereotypes with which a service provider can categorize customers?

Accepted Answer

Behavioral modeling provides examples of behavior to imitate or avoid, which can include stereotypical ways of categorizing customers. Sensitivity training is designed to reduce stereotypes and increase empathy, while role-playing and flexibility training focus on developing communication and problem-solving skills. Red-taping is not a type of interpersonal training.

Question 19

All of the following are boundary-spanners except:

Accepted Answer

Boundary-spanners are individuals who interact with people outside of their organization or specific work group, often serving as a link between the organization and the external environment. Classroom teachers, JCPenney customer service representatives, hospital nurses, and Applebee's servers all interact with the public or clients outside of their immediate organization, making them boundary-spanners. Therefore, none of these options are exceptions to being boundary-spanners.

Question 20

When a lawyer feels a conflict between what she is asked to do and her own personality,orientation,or values she is experiencing _____ conflict.

Accepted Answer

The conflict between a lawyer's personal values and the role they are being asked to perform is a person/role conflict. This can arise, for example, when a lawyer is asked to defend a client who they know is guilty or whose actions conflict with the lawyer's own beliefs.

Quiz 9: People As Strategy: Managing Service Employees