Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework

Customers and employees from different cultures are increasingly interacting with each other. However, there is little research in this area and it focuses mostly on the customers’ perspective. This article presents a conceptual framework for intercultural service encounters applicable to both custo...

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Main Authors: Sharma, Piyush, Tam, J.L., Kim, N.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10844
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author Sharma, Piyush
Tam, J.L.
Kim, N.
author_facet Sharma, Piyush
Tam, J.L.
Kim, N.
author_sort Sharma, Piyush
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Customers and employees from different cultures are increasingly interacting with each other. However, there is little research in this area and it focuses mostly on the customers’ perspective. This article presents a conceptual framework for intercultural service encounters applicable to both customers and employees. Findings from an exploratory qualitative study show that perceived cultural distance and intercultural competence influence inter-role congruence, interaction comfort,adequate and perceived service levels, and satisfaction. These findings have important managerial implications for managing the expectations and perceptions of customers and employees involved in the intercultural service encounters and improving their satisfaction with the service experience.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2009
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-108442017-02-28T01:32:57Z Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework Sharma, Piyush Tam, J.L. Kim, N. perceived service level perceived cultural distance intercultural competence adequate service level satisfaction interaction comfort inter-role congruence Customers and employees from different cultures are increasingly interacting with each other. However, there is little research in this area and it focuses mostly on the customers’ perspective. This article presents a conceptual framework for intercultural service encounters applicable to both customers and employees. Findings from an exploratory qualitative study show that perceived cultural distance and intercultural competence influence inter-role congruence, interaction comfort,adequate and perceived service levels, and satisfaction. These findings have important managerial implications for managing the expectations and perceptions of customers and employees involved in the intercultural service encounters and improving their satisfaction with the service experience. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10844 Sage Publications restricted
spellingShingle perceived service level
perceived cultural distance
intercultural competence
adequate service level
satisfaction
interaction comfort
inter-role congruence
Sharma, Piyush
Tam, J.L.
Kim, N.
Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title_full Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title_fullStr Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title_full_unstemmed Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title_short Demystifying Intercultural Service Encounters: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
title_sort demystifying intercultural service encounters: toward a comprehensive conceptual framework
topic perceived service level
perceived cultural distance
intercultural competence
adequate service level
satisfaction
interaction comfort
inter-role congruence
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10844