Title:

A critical Review of the importance of

team leaders in developing customer
service competences within the front
line team of Air India
Chapter-2 Literature Review
Table of Contents
Chapter-2: Literature Review 4
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Importance of team leaders in developing customer service competences.................................4
2.3 Customer service............................................................................................................... 6
2.4 Customer satisfaction......................................................................................................... 7
2.5 Service Quality.................................................................................................................. 8
2.6 Leadersip competencies and customer satisfaction in developing customer service competences 9
2.! Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 11
References 12
Appendix: 14
2.1 The role of team leaders in developing competences
2.2 The Development of customer service competences
(2.21)The concept of competences (General Discussion)
2.22 The development of customer service competences
This includes: customer service
Quality control and management
Chapter-2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This section is about the iterature revie! of the research study. "n this section
leadership competencies and customer satisfaction in developing customer service
competences and service Quality !ill be described by researcher. #nd then $ustomer
satisfaction% $ustomer service and at last the importance of leadership development in
developing customer service competences !ithin the front line team of #ir "ndia !ill be
mentioned.
2.2 Importance of leadership development in developin customer service
competences
#ccording to &obert 'egan (2(()) because of organi*ations ta+e on the personality of
their leaders% leadership development is vital. ,roductivity can be ma-imi*ed% a positive
culture can be shaped by eadership training and development. ,eople must need to
lead individuals and teams using an appropriate leadership style to achieve this. .n the
other hand George% #% (1///)% for e-ample argue that to achieve organi*ational goals% a
competitive business environment% effective leadership are essentially re0uired.
eaders must be able to give inspiration% motivation and clear direction to their team to
do this. #ccording to 1ohn $.2. (2((3) in assistance of effective leadership%
organi*ation can be succeed and stable in developing customer service competences
!ithin the front line team for any type or si*e of business. 4o% organi*ations often gro!
slo!ly and may lose their direction and competitiveness in absence of effective
leadership.
Cec" tis
#ccording to 'en% 5. (2((6) delegation can be provided by a proper leadership strategy.
The act of assigning productive tas+s to subordinates% is vital to success as a business
leader is called delegation. 7eed to build up leaders to partner !ith you in the potential
as your business gro!s8 this can greatly increase employee satisfaction and loyalty as
!ell and it is very important.
$hec+ your 9arvard referencing
#ccording to &obins% #. (2((:) leaders and leadership styles may need to be changed
to suit specific situations is consideration. 2oreover% 4harma% (1///) mentioned that a
ne! $;. can help from varying his leadership style to become more in line !ith the
culture of ne! company.
<ench 1. (2((=) proper guidance in developing customer service competences !ithin
the front line team can be provided by leadership. Guidance offered by leaders to all
members of the team to ensure they are fulfilling their roles. Training and instructing
team members and ta+ing corrective or even punitive actions !hen necessary are
included to guidance (>oundt et al.% 1//:).
9o!ever% ,eters% T.(1///) mentioned that leadership promotes ?alue in developing
customer service competences !ithin the front line team is also a!a+ened. .n the other
hand 1ason 1ennings(1/6:)% argued that essential values can be promoted by team
leaders that are vital to the success of an organi*ation.
2.! Customer service
During and after a purchase $ustomer service is the provision of service to customers.
1ohn 5aldoni (2((=) argued $ustomer service as a series of activities !hich is designed
to enhance the level of customer satisfaction. .n the other hand ;lton% $ (2(())% for
e-ample% 5aldoni% 1 (2((=) mentioned that product or service can vary t he importance
of customer service. To help customers in ma+ing cost efficient and correct use of a
product% customer support is a range of customer services. 4o it is clear that bringing
customers bac+ is good customer service.
2.4 Customer satisfaction
$ustomer satisfaction is commonly used in mar+eting. #ccording to $ollin% 1.(2(1() ho!
products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer e-pectation is
measured by customer satisfaction. .n the other hand 5ennies% <. (2(()) mentioned
that @the number of customers% or percentage of total customers% !hose reported
e-perience !ith a firm% its products% or its services (ratings) e-ceeds specified
satisfaction goals as definition of customer satisfaction.A Afirms generally as+ customers
!hether their product or service has met or e-ceeded e-pectations in researching
satisfaction.B $ustomers !ill be disappointed and !ill li+ely rate their e-perience as less
than satisfying !hen customers have high e-pectations and the reality falls short.
Different aspects studies in literature antecedents. $onsideration can be focused on t!o
basic constructs. These are customerCs e-pectations earlier to purchase or use of a
product and his comparative perception of the performance of that product after using it.
<hen a product performs more poorly than e-pected% it !ill be negatively confirmed.
<hen a product performs over the e-pectations% the disconfirmation !ill be positive.
The traditional disconfirmation paradigm can be described in four constructs and these
are e-pectations% performance% disconfirmation and satisfaction.
2." #ervice $ualit%
<arren 5.% (1/6=) argued that in customer service% service 0uality is an success and it
has reflection at each service encounter from the vie!point of business administration.
9o!ever% according to $ollins% 1.% (2((6)% there are comparison bet!een perceived
service !ith e-pected service in !hich if the former falls short of the latter the customers
are disappointed. ;conomic competitiveness can be increased by improved service
0uality. 9o!ever% 5ennis%<.% (2(()) argued that there are relationship bet!een service
0uality and customer satisfaction and it has received considerable academic attention in
the past fe! years. # single item scale and many others have used multiple item scales
can be used to research operation customer satisfaction. The lin+ bet!een service
0uality and customer satisfaction has been investigated in this approach.
2.& Leadership competencies and customer satisfaction in developin customer
service competences
The ability of an individual to activate% use and connect the ac0uired +no!ledge in the
comple-% diverse and unpredictable situations can be understood as general
competecies (<arren% 1//=% in 5ernon% 2((:). #ccording to 4ecretan (2((D)
competencies are the ability that can be used for +no!ledge and other capabilities%
!hich is necessary for successful and efficient accomplishment of an appointed tas+%
transaction of !or+% goal reali*ation% or performance of a certain role in the business
process. 'no!ledge% e-pertise% s+ills% personal and behavioral characteristics% beliefs%
motives% values% etc. are competencies. ;llstrEm (1//=8 cited in ?irtanen% 2((() sho!s
differences of a competence from a 0ualification to avoid terminological confusion. 9e
describes competence as an attribute of an employee referring to @a +ind of human
capital or a human resource that can be transformed into productivityB !hile 0ualification
is understood as @re0uirements of a certain class of !or+ tas+s (a Fob)B. "n setting an
e-ample for all those values% behaviors and considerations e-pected from employees%
leaders play an important role. Therefore% it is logical that to set the e-pectations of
employees G !hat they should achieve and ho! they should behave in order to
implement successful changes.
Leadership Competencies 'odel
@$ompetency modelB is the definition% understanding% and implementation of
competencies for selected employees. This competency model has to be synchroni*ed
!ith a core philosophy of organi*ation.
The generic features of public managers !as e-plored by ?irtanen. "n developing
customer service competences !ithin the front line team% there are five competence
areas: tas+ competence% professional competence in substantive policy filed%
professional competence in administration% political competence and ethical
competence (see Table 1). 9e also said that most of the prior research on managerial
competence observed management as a generic profession. Tas+ and professional
competence are same in many !ays but there is an important differences e-ist in the
areas of political and ethical competencies in developing customer service
competences !ithin the front line team of #ir "ndia.
2.( Conclusion
To conclude% it can be understood that if the company can gain some competitive
advantage% it is possible in the business !orld to be leader in the mar+et. "t is important
to ma+e the leadership in the company completive to ma+e competitive advantage so
that it is able to develop customer service competences !ithin the front line team.
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