A systematic review and meta-analysis: the effect of feedback on satisfaction with the outcome of task performance

Background

Knowledge of how to improve consumer satisfaction with the outcome of co-production in services with high levels of interaction is important for achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage in the service industry.

Objectives

The aim of this paper is to review and meta-analyse research on the relationship between aspects of feedback to customers in interaction-intense encounters and the customer's satisfaction with the outcome.

Methods

We followed recommendations of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review and Interventions to do a review and meta-analysis of relevant empirical research. From January 2018 to July 2018, we systematically searched PsycINFO, Business Source Complete, Science Direct and Web of Science for relevant studies.

Results

A total of six articles – consisting of 22 RCTs – were identified and included in the meta-analysis. Results indicate that feedback valence, with an effect size of 0.61 (0.43, 0.78), and feedback style, with an effect size of 0.82 (0.08, 1.57), have an impact on customers’ satisfaction with the outcome of co-production. For feedback interventions, effect size -0.29 (-0.69, 0.11), and feedback medium, effect size 0.43 (-0.00, 0.86), the results are inconclusive.

Conclusions

The present study suggest that there is a significant relationship between satisfaction with the outcome of co-production and feedback style and valence. To satisfy customers, service providers should offer positive feedback. In order to extend our knowledge, more studies on the effect of different feedback styles on customers' satisfaction with the outcome of co-production are needed.

Improving the effectiveness of the employee performance management process

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of managerial values in improving the effectiveness of employee performance management (EPM).

Design/methodology/approach

The research has been conducted as a conceptual study, in which EPM criteria are compared to managerial values and the related maturity model. A thorough review of the EPM and values literature identified relevant and significant works.

Findings

Despite copious extant literature on EPM, the process is riddled with persistent problems, particularly concerning the manager’s enthusiasm to adequately implement EPM and its subsequent effectiveness. A managerial grounded values framework is, therefore, proposed. Using a circular approach that is assisted by a values maturity model, it serves as a charter that guides the supervisor’s actions, goals, choices, decisions and attitudes; principles that are very much at the heart of an effective EPM process. Curiously, managerial values and EPM have not generally been connected.

Practical implications

This values-based circular framework contributes to the effectiveness of the EPM process and thus to a positive EPM experience that motivates, enhances engagement and guides personal development. When enacted individual values and EPM are linked, they are argued to lead to sustained superior financial performance.

Originality/value

This study makes an important and novel contribution to the performance literature by using a values-based maturity model to improve the effectiveness of the EPM process.

The Good, the Not So Bad, and the Ugly of Competitive Human Resource Practices: A Multidisciplinary Conceptual Framework

Human resource (HR) practices used to inject internal competition into the workplace are the subject of heated debates in business practice; this is however not the case in the field of human resource management (HRM) research. In this article, we first augment previous research in the field to offer an initial conceptualization of competitive HR practices. We then develop a conceptual framework that explains the processes and conditions that drive and determine the impact of competitive HR practices on employees at work. Blending insights from social comparison theory and uncertainty research, we theorize a set of conditions that specify when competitive HR practices unfold their “dark” side, and when the “not so bad” or even “a good side” of competitive HR practices might emerge.