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Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
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Service Sabotage: A Study of Antecedents and Consequences

Lloyd C. Harris

Emmanuel Ogbonna

Cardiff University, United Kingdom

Although much of the existing research on employee sabotage and deviance focuses on the manufacturing sector, studies have also found evidence of deliberate employee misbehavior in a variety of service settings. In this study, the authors conceptualize and test a model of service sabotage dynamics that incorporates both the antecedents and the consequences of such behaviors. In doing so, the study contributes contemporary empirical evidence of factors associated with the deliberate sabotage of service by frontline customer-contact personnel. Using a survey-based approach, the authors collected data from 259 respondents from a sample of 1,000 respondents. The findings largely support the hypothesized antecedents of service sabotage and show that a range of individual characteristics, management control efforts, and perceived labor market conditions are linked with service sabotage. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that service sabotage behaviors are associated with individual and group rewards, effects for customers, and other performance measures.

Key Words: service sabotage • employee deviance • service dysfunction • frontline employees • customer-contact employees

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Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 34, No. 4, 543-558 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0092070306287324
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