Service Relation and Organizational Context: A Qualitative Research at Shopping Centers

Sofia Alexandra Cruz

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.11.1.05

Authors

Sofia Alexandra Cruz University of Porto, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.11.1.05

Keywords:

Service Work, Service Relation, Work Organization, Shops, Restaurants, Shopping Centers

Abstract

Service work has undergone changes related to their managerial practices, which bring new professional and organizational realities to employees. The purpose of this article is to explore the opportunities of a qualitative research strategy combining both semi-structured interviews and participant observations to consider work organization and analyze the existing modes of service work of different types of shops and restaurants within shopping centers. This analysis considers the existence of a complex service relation that incorporates relational and material dimensions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Sofia Alexandra Cruz, University of Porto, Portugal

Sofia Alexandra Cruz is a sociologist and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Porto, Portugal. She works in the field of sociology of work and professional groups. Her main research topics cover service work, organizations and professional groups, and social entrepreneurship.

References

Abell, Mark, (ed.). 1991. “The Structure of International Franchising Within the European Community: A Statistical Analyses.” Pp. 44-81 in European Franchising, Law, and Practice. London: Waterlow Publications.
Google Scholar

Bolton, Sharon. 2005. Emotion Management in the Workplace. London: Palgrave.
Google Scholar

Bolton, Sharon. 2006. “Una tipologia de la emoción en el lugar de trabajo.” Sociologia del Trabajo 53:3-29.
Google Scholar

Borzeix, Annie. 2000. “Relation de service et sociologie du travail. L’usager: une figure qui nous dérange?” Cahiers du Genre 28:19-48.
Google Scholar

Brochier, Christophe. 2001. “Des jeunes corvéables. L’organisation du travail et la gestion du personnel dans un fast-food.” Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales 138:73-83.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/arss.2001.2762

Burgess, Robert. 1984. In the Field: An Introduction to Field Research. London: Allen & Unwin.
Google Scholar

Czarniawska, Barbara. 1998. A Narrative Approach to Organization Studies. London: Sage.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412983235

Du Gay, Paul. 1996. Consumption and Identity at Work. London: Sage.
Google Scholar

Erstad, Margaret. 1998. “Mystery Shopping Programs and Human Resource Management.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 10(1):34-38.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09596119810199318

Falk, Pasi and Colin Campbell, (eds.). 1997. The Shopping Experience. London: Sage.
Google Scholar

Fuller, Lind and Vick Smith. 1991. “Consumers Reports: Management by Customers in a Changing Economy.” Work, Employment, and Society 5(1):1-16.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017091005001002

Gadrey, Jean. 1994. “Les relations de service et l’analyse du travail des agents.” Sociologie du Travail 3(94):381-389.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/sotra.1994.2183

Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York: Doubleday.
Google Scholar

Gubrium, Jaber F. and James A. Holstein. 2009. Analyzing Narrative Reality. London: Sage.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452234854

Haveman, Heather and Mukti Khaire. 2006. “Organizational Sociology and Analysis of Work.” Pp: 272-298 in Social Theory at Work, edited by M. Korczynski, R. Hodson, and P. K. Edwards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar

Hochschild, Arlie. 2003. The Managed Heart: The Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520930414

Hodson, Randy et al. 2009. “The Benefits of Being There. Evidence From the Literature on Work.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 34(4):470-493.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241605276692

Holstein, James A. and Jaber F. Gubrium. 2007. “Context: Working It Up, Down, and Across.” Pp. 267-281 in Qualitative Research Practice, edited by C. Seale et al. London: Sage.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608191.d24

Hughes, Everett. 1981. Men and Their Work. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Google Scholar

Jeantet, Aurélie. 2003. “À votre service! La relation de service comme rapport social.” Sociologie du Travail 2(45):191-209.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0296(03)00014-1

Jougleux, Muriel. 2005. “La qualité des services: vers un modèle enrichi des écarts de non-qualité.” Économies et Sociétés 17:2037-2063.
Google Scholar

Korczynski, Marek. 2004. “Back-Office Service Work: Bureaucracy Challenged?” Work, Employment, and Society 18(1):97-114.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017004040764

Korczynski, Marek. 2009. “The Mystery Customer: Continuing Absences in the Sociology of Service Work.” Sociology 43:952-967.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038509340725

Korczynski, Marek and Deborah Kerfoot. 2005. “Gender and Service: New Directions for the Study of ‘Front-Line’ Service Work.” Gender, Work, and Organization 12(5):387-399.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2005.00280.x

Leidner, Robin. 1991. “Serving Hamburgers and Selling Insurance: Gender, Work, and Identity in Interactive Service Jobs.” Gender & Society 5(4):154-177.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124391005002002

Leidner, Robin. 1993. Fast Food, Fast Talk. Service Work and the Routinization and Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar

Lowe, Michelle and Louise Crewe. 1996. “Shop Work: Image, Customer Care, and the Restructuring of Retail Employment.” Pp. 196-207 in Retailing, Consumption, and Capital. Towards the New Retail Geography, edited by N. Wrigley and M. Lowe. Essex: Longman.
Google Scholar

Macdonald, Cameron and Carmen Sirianni, (eds.). 1996. “The Service Society and the Changing Experience of Work.” Pp: 1-26 in Working in the Service Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Google Scholar

Mills, Peter. 1986. Managing Services Industries: Organizational Practices in a Post-Industrial Economy. Cambridge: Mass Ballinger.
Google Scholar

Pettinger, Lynne. 2004. “Brand Culture and Branded Workers: Service Work and Aesthetic Labor in Fashion Retail.” Consumption Markets and Culture 2(7):165-184.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1025386042000246214

Pettinger, Lynne. 2005. “Gendered Work Meets Gendered Goods: Selling and Service in Clothing Retail.” Gender, Work, and Organization 12(5):460-478.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2005.00284.x

Pettinger, Lynne. 2006. “On the Materiality of Service Work.” The Sociological Review 54(1):48-65.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2006.00601.x

Ransome, Paul. 2005. Work, Consumption & Culture. Affluence and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century. London: Sage.
Google Scholar

Rapley, Tim. 2007. “Interviews.” Pp. 15-33 in Qualitative Research Practice, edited by C. Seale et al. London: Sage.
Google Scholar

Reiter, Ester. 1997. Making Fast-Food. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Google Scholar

Rifkin, Jeremy. 2000. The Age of Access. London: Penguin.
Google Scholar

Ritzer, George. 1993. The McDonaldization of Society. California: Pine Forge Press.
Google Scholar

Silverman, David. 2013. “What Counts as Qualitative Research? Some Cautionary Comments.” Qualitative Sociology Review 9(2):48-55.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.09.2.05

Terkel, Studs. 2004. Working. People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. New York: New Press.
Google Scholar

Valentine, Gill. 2002. “In-Corporations: Food, Bodies, and Organizations.” Body and Society 8(2):1-20.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034X02008002001

Warhurst, Chris and Dennis Nickson. 2007. “Employee Experience of Aesthetic Labor in Retail and Hospitality.” Work, Employment, and Society 21(1):103-120.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017007073622

Weber, Max. 1959. Il Metodo delle Scienze Storico-Sociali. Torino: Einaudi Editore.
Google Scholar

Weber, Max. 1971. Économie et Société. Paris: Plon.
Google Scholar

Wharton, Amy and Rebecca Erickson. 1993. “Managing Emotions on the Job and at Home: Understanding the Consequences of Multiple Emotional Roles.” Academy of Management Review 18(3):457-486.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1993.9309035147

Whyte, William Foot. 1948. Human Relations in the Restaurant Industry. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Google Scholar