Can Service Robot Job Creativity, Engagement, and Performance Be as Effective as Human Frontline Service Employees

Ph.D. Research Proposal
Doctoral Program in Business, information and Marketing
Frontline service Employees and Robot
Can Service Robot Job Creativity, Engagement, and Performance Be as Effective as Human
Frontline Service Employees
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Advisor:
Advisor:
Central Queensland University (Sydney)
Business school
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1) Background to the research and research Question (S) to be investigated
The main focus of the research is on identifying whether or not a robot as a frontline
service employee could be as engaged and creative as the human frontline service employees.
With the same, it also seeks for identifying whether or not robot can handle a confused,
frustrated and difficult customer and if the frontline service employees need to gain creativity
for serving a customer. It is to note that customer service is regarded as one of the most
complicated differentiators for the customer loyalty. This is due to the fact that about 33% of
the total Americans claim that a single poor customer service could also make the customers
to switch to the other companies (Puneet Mehta 2018). The customer service job engagement
and creativity is very important in such a competitive market. It is also to mention that the
employee creativity notably aids towards attaining organisational effectiveness, performance
and innovation (Amabile et al. 1996). It is especially true for the frontline employees who are
required for demonstrating creativity for delivering excellent services and meeting the
customers’ expectations with different wants and needs (Wilder, Collier, and Barnes 2014).
As per Amabile (1988), creative process is a very vital element for the individuals in
organization for solving the problems as well as to deal more efficiently with their work so
that they can avoid confusions and attain excellent results. The frontline employees often
experience several unexpected situations. For instance, when the customers see a good range
of product variety and gain some extensive information related to the products and services,
they become confused and stressed to make the right choice and find it difficult to take
decision. In these cases, the help of the service employees increases customer satisfaction and
at the same time, the possibility of buying the product (Huffman and Khan 1998). Also,
frontline employees who show high degree of enthusiasm and engagement for their work
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