Indian Journal of Industrial Relations: Economics & Social Dev.

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Customer Oriented Bureaucracy & Flexibility: Interactions & Implications in the Services Industry Context


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1 Institute of Management Calcutta, India
     

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Customer oriented bureaucracy is the creation of a fragile social order with dual imperatives of efficiency and customer focus. Human capital flexibility and flexible people management system are critical in the service industry due to the features of simultaneity, variability and intangibility. This paper emphasizes the need for flexibility as opposed to fit in handling the issues related to CoB (customer oriented bureaucracy). Together human capital flexibility and flexible people management practices can mitigate the ensuing tensions related to CoB and in turn have a positive effect on the firm performance. The paper also highlights that the dichotomy of customer oriented bureaucracy is experienced at both organizational and individual levels.
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  • Customer Oriented Bureaucracy & Flexibility: Interactions & Implications in the Services Industry Context

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Authors

Avantika Tomar
Institute of Management Calcutta, India
Amit Dhiman
Institute of Management Calcutta, India

Abstract


Customer oriented bureaucracy is the creation of a fragile social order with dual imperatives of efficiency and customer focus. Human capital flexibility and flexible people management system are critical in the service industry due to the features of simultaneity, variability and intangibility. This paper emphasizes the need for flexibility as opposed to fit in handling the issues related to CoB (customer oriented bureaucracy). Together human capital flexibility and flexible people management practices can mitigate the ensuing tensions related to CoB and in turn have a positive effect on the firm performance. The paper also highlights that the dichotomy of customer oriented bureaucracy is experienced at both organizational and individual levels.

References