Резюме на английском языке 24 октября 2018 года (1138034), страница 2
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The methodology may also be considered ascomplex due to it combining both qualitative and quantitative methods of empiricaldata collection.The empirical research basis entailed qualitative and quantitative data gatheredby the author in 2013-2015 using the following methods: documents analysis,participant observation, semi-structured interview and questionnaire-based survey.In order to define the concept of employee customer orientation, the authorcarried out 14 semi-structured interviews with senior and middle managers working in7client service departments of the company's affiliates 3 located in the followingcountries: Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Kazakhstan, Netherlands,Russia, Sweden. The author also conducted 7 interviews with representatives of seniorand middle management of client companies from Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland,Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Sweden.In order to reveal factors of employee customer orientation and to develop amodel of managing personnel customer orientation in a multinational company theauthor conducted a client service employee survey in 12 affiliates in the followingcountries: Brazil, Britain, Germany, India, Ireland, Spain, Italy, China, Mexico, Russia,the USA, France.
Using a competency approach presupposed conducting a survey inthe framework of one company. The questionnaire was sent to 1367 employees (totalpopulation). 356 employees took part in the survey (sampling frame). Thus, theresponse rate was 26%. The above affiliates were selected based on their headcount.The author chose “big” affiliates in terms of their headcount. The questionnaire wasdistributed using on-line platforms, which enabled the author to conduct the survey incompliance with the principle of anonymity and confidentiality of the surveyrespondents' answers.The analysis of quantitative data was carried out using IBM SPSS 22.0.
Theauthor conducted factor, correlation, cluster and regression data analysis.Scientific novelty of the PhD thesis consists in elaborating an approach enablingus to distinguish individual, organizational and external factors affecting employeecustomer orientation in the context of a multinational consulting company, todetermine the current level of employee customer orientation and to manage employeecustomer orientation as a factor of company customer orientation.The author obtained the following results pertaining to new knowledge:1. The author defined the concept of “employee customer orientation” using acompetency approach and suggested that the concept in question should denote acompetency reflecting the employee's ability to take into account the interests ofDifferent company branches were also referred to as “affiliates”. Within the framework of the present PhD thesis theterms “branches” and “affiliates” are considered synonymous.38consumers of goods / services and adapt the company's product in accordance withtheir needs.2.
A theoretical model was developed. It reflects a contextual nature of customerorientation and the following factors which affect it: individual factors (for example,social skills, motivation), organizational factors (for example, corporate culture, humanresource management practices) and external factors (for example, market type, marketconcentration level).
The model shows that the external environment affects employeecustomer orientation through company customer orientation, while the employee is thebearer of the company’s customer orientation.3. The thesis demonstrates the relationship between the company's need incustomer orientated employees and the market concentration index.4. The thesis reveals the impact of significant individual and organizationalfactors on employee customer orientation.5.
The author developed an approach to managing employee customerorientation manifesting itself in a model of managing employee customer orientationwhich demonstrates that employee customer orientation management is a complex taskwhich involves different stakeholders: human resource and marketing communicationsprofessionals, top management of the company, line managers and employeesthemselves.Theoretical significance of the research consists in:- defining employee customer orientation as a competency which can bemanaged in an organizational context;- revealing the link between the market concentration index and the company’sneed in customer oriented employees;- developing an approach to managing employee customer orientation enablingthe company to determine its need in customer oriented employees and ensure asufficient number of customer oriented employees working within the company as itdevelops into the future.9The PhD thesis results can be used when teaching the following subjects such as“HumanResourceManagement”,“OrganizationalTheory”,“OrganizationalBehaviour”, “Marketing”.Practical significance of the research consists in:- using the model of employee customer orientation in view of revealing to whatextent an employee is customer oriented in comparison with other employees based inthe same country (cluster of counties);- a decision-making algorithm enabling a company to properly allocate itsemployees to the company’s clients and develop the employees’ customer orientation;- recommendations on managing employee customer orientation.
Employeecustomer orientation should be defined taking into consideration the specificities of thecompany and position they work in. Afterwards, based on the market concentrationindex the company management should determine its need in customer orientedemployees. Ensuring a strong pipeline of customer oriented employees requires jointeffort of human resource and marketing communications professionals, company topmanagement, line managers and employees themselves.Thesis defense provisions:1.
Employee customer orientation may be considered a competency which isdeveloped under the influence of individual, organization and external factors.2. A company’s need in customer oriented employees is determined while takinginto consideration the global market research market concentration index.3. There are differences in the set of significant factors affecting employeecustomer orientation in developed and developing markets.4. Distinguished in an analytical way common factors affecting employeecustomer orientation irrespective of the market type (developed, developing) theemployee is based in could be taken into consideration by a multinational company forthe purpose of developing its global employee customer orientation policy.5. A management approach developed based on research results and generallyreflected in a management model of employee customer orientation and a decisionmaking algorithm enabling a company to properly allocate its employees to the10company’s clients and develop the employees’ customer orientation may be used bycompanies in view of managing their employee customer orientation in order tostrengthen customer orientation of the companies themselves.Results reliability and validity is ensured through critical analysis of academicliterature on the subject of personnel customer orientation while considering contextualfactors affecting employee customer orientation, a well-grounded choice of empiricalresearch methodology and methods, representativeness of the survey sample, usage ofpiloted and widely used questionnaire items and scrupulous compliance with thestatistical quantitative data analysis procedure.Degree of research results reliability and their appraisal.Research results were presented by the author in the following Russian andinternational research conferences:- 6-th Annual Research Conference “Contemporary Management: Problems,Hypotheses, Research” (Russia, Moscow, NRU-HSE, October, 22nd-23rd, 2013);- 7-th Annual Research Conference “Contemporary Management: Problems,Hypotheses, Research” (Russia, Moscow, NRU-HSE, November, 20th-21st, 2014);- International Scientific Conference of Students and Young Scientists"Lomonosov-2015" (work stream: “Economics - Labour Economics”), (Russia,Moscow, MSU, April, 13th-17th, 2015);- International Research Conference: “Emerging Markets 2015: Business andGovernment Perspectives” (Russia, St.
Petersburg, GSOM, SPbU, October, 13th-17th,2015);- 8-th Annual Research Conference “Contemporary Management: Problems,Hypotheses, Research” (Russia, Moscow, NRU-HSE, November, 12th-13th, 2015).Main research propositions were repeatedly discussed during Human ResourceManagement faculty meetings and the ongoing research seminar of the School ofBusiness Administration of the Faculty of Business and Management of the NRU-HSE.Research results were used by a multinational market research consultingcompany. This is testified by an implementation certificate.11Publications.
The author has published 6 articles (3.7 printer’s sheets) on thePhD thesis topic (3 printer’s sheets written by the author herself). 3 (2.6 printer’ssheets) of the abovementioned 6 articles (2 printer’s sheets written by the authorherself) were published in the journals recommended by the State Commission forAcademic Degrees and Titles of the Ministry for Education and Science of the RussianFederation.Thesis Structure. The thesis comprises an introduction, three chapters, aconclusion, reference list and 8 annexes. The thesis (excluding annexes) is presentedin 166 pages. The thesis (including annexes) is presented in 192 pages.
The paperpresents 19 tables and 14 figures. The reference list comprises 141 publications. 120of the abovementioned publications are in foreign languages.12II.THESIS DEFENSE PROVISIONS1. Employee customer orientation is suggested to be considered as acompetency developed under the influence of individual, organizational andexternal factors“Personnel customer orientation”, the main category of the PhD thesis isconsidered by the author through the prism of a competency approach as a keypersonnel competency needed to ensure company customer orientation as itscompetency assuring its competitive position in the market. Building on scientificmanagement and organizational psychology literature analysis the author suggests twoideas critically important for defining the author’s view on the notion of “competency”and “employee customer orientation”.First, a competency is an integral characteristic (dependent variable) defined bya number of factors such as, for example, knowledge, skills, motivation, decisionmaking authority, business process formalization etc.
(independent variables).Secondly, a competency is not a universal category. It is a contextual categoryto be defined for every single organization.Therefore, within the framework of the present PhD thesis employee customerorientation is viewed as a competency reflecting the employee’s ability to take intoaccount the interests of consumers of goods / services and to adapt the company'sproduct in accordance with their needs.
Employee customer orientation is developedunder the influence of contextual factors.After systematizing employee customer orientation factors based on scientificliterature review the author suggested the following three groups of employee customerorientation factors: individual factors (including intrapersonal factors), organizationalfactors and external factors (factors of the external environment the company operatesin).
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