Purpose

This paper integrates the findings of the articles included in the special issue (SI) on frontline employee (FLE) research. Articles included in this SI systematically review multiple research domains, including employee and customer engagement, FLE vulnerability, customer mistreatment, service teamwork and service encounters; provide instructions on effectively conducting meta-analyses and discuss the practical applications of FLE research. This paper also provides future directions for FLE scholarship with a focus on theoretical/methodological rigor and relevance.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that integrates and critically evaluates extant research and provides directions for future scholarship.

Findings

An integrative framework of extant FLE research is proposed consisting of situational predictors, psychological mechanisms, attitudinal/behavioral outcomes and boundary conditions/moderators. Further, three main areas for future scholarship are recommended including examining the transformative effects of technology on FLE work, focusing on decent work for FLEs and conducting practically relevant and impactful research.

Originality/value

This paper provides reflections, integration and future directions for scholarship based on systematic reviews of key domains of FLE research, a primer for conducting systematic reviews (specifically – meta-analysis) and practitioner perspectives on extant research.

中文翻译：

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一线服务人员研究：整合系统文献综述和对未来奖学金的建议

目的

本文整合了一线员工 (FLE) 研究特刊 (SI) 中文章的研究结果。此 SI 中包含的文章系统地回顾了多个研究领域，包括员工和客户参与、FLE 漏洞、客户虐待、服务团队合作和服务遭遇；提供有效进行荟萃分析的指导并讨论 FLE 研究的实际应用。本文还为 FLE 奖学金提供了未来的方向，重点关注理论/方法的严谨性和相关性。

设计/方法论/途径

这是一篇概念性论文，整合并批判性地评估了现有研究，并为未来的学术研究提供了方向。

发现

提出了现有 FLE 研究的综合框架，包括情境预测因素、心理机制、态度/行为结果和边界条件/调节因素。此外，建议未来学术的三个主要领域，包括研究技术对 FLE 工作的变革性影响、关注 FLE 的体面工作以及开展实际相关且有影响力的研究。

原创性/价值

本文基于对 FLE 研究关键领域的系统回顾，提供了学术的反思、整合和未来方向，是进行系统回顾（特别是荟萃分析）的入门读本，以及从业者对现有研究的观点。