Conditions for Service Customization: A Configurational Perspective on Employee Adaptive Behaviors

The provision of customized products and services is a major challenge for firms in various industries. This article aims to improve understanding of workplace conditions stimulating frontline service employees to perform adaptive behaviors that help address the specific needs and wishes of customers. Based on a sample 228 employees from an insurance company, the authors examine how work-related and employee-related factors combine to form workplace configurations that stimulate adaptive behaviors. The findings from this study reveal that there exist several equally effective configurations of factors for enhancing employee adaptive behaviors. Knowledge of these causal patterns of factors helps service managers develop employment strategies and workplace designs to enhance the level of customization and, in turn, favorable customer experiences.