Journal of Service Research

Call for Papers

Journal of Service Research

Special Issue on “The Interface of Service and Sales”

The Journal of Service Research (JSR) invites competitive article submissions for a special issue on The Interface of Service and Sales scheduled for publication in Spring, 2019. The goal of the special issue is to continue to broaden our understanding of the emerging area of organizational frontline research, specifically related to service and sales.

About JSR: While the journal’s focus is on service research, it is important to note that JSR does not require that all research submitted come from a marketing perspective. The journal welcomes research from many fields, with particular emphases on service management, operations, design, human resources, information systems, and marketing. JSR’s most recent two-year impact factor is an impressive 6.847 (and 6.135 without self-cites), which places it fourth overall among all business journals.

Special Issue Information

Manuscripts are invited for a special issue of JSR on “The Interface of Service and Sales.” All theoretical perspectives, research approaches and methodologies are welcome. Submissions offering comprehensive conceptual frameworks, alternative ways of viewing the interplay between service and sales, and innovative methodological approaches are especially encouraged. In addition, papers set within either B2B or B2C contexts are welcome, and research questions that examine sales and service issues across levels (i.e., organizational, team/manager, frontline employee, and/or customer) are especially encouraged. Papers should be both theoretically well-grounded and managerially relevant.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Organizational-, managerial-, and employee-level variables that influence cross-functional coordination between service and sales personnel.
• The conditions with which greater cross-functional coordination between personnel in service and sales result in greater (lesser) organizational performance or customer value.
• The effects of information silos and knowledge structures housed in separate business units that carry across the same customer(s).
• The utilization of information collected prior to the initial sale to enhance service or vice-versa.
• The relative roles of service and sales personnel for firms engaging in service infusion strategies and how those roles might change during the service infusion process.
• Understanding structural and/or technological (e.g., social media platforms) mechanisms that will allow information to more seamlessly be transferred between sales and service personnel, particularly between frontline sales/service personnel and those in service operations positions.
• How sales and service personnel can work together to maximize (1) the customer experience and (2) customer engagement with the firm.
• Examining fault lines across the sales and service functions of an organization and the related outcomes.
• Ethical dilemmas and job burnout created when sales personnel are required to service key accounts.
• Tension that follows, and strategies to correct, service breakdowns in key sales accounts.

Submission Information:

The extended deadline for submission of manuscripts is October 1, 2018. Papers must follow JSR guidelines for authors. For more information, please visit https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal-of-service-research/journal200746%20#submissionguidelines Manuscripts will go through the regular JSR review process. Only original papers not currently under review or published elsewhere may be submitted. Manuscripts should be submitted through the normal JSR submission process using the online submission and peer review system. Registration and access is available at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/journsr. While submitting, please select “Special Issue Submission –Service and Sales” under “Manuscript Type”.

For further information, please contact the Special Issue Co-Editors:

Adam Rapp
Executive Director, Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre
Schey Professor of Sales
Ohio University
209 Copeland Hall
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: (740) 593-9328
Email: rappa@ohio.edu

Thomas L. Baker
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of Alabama
Box 870225
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Phone: (205) 348-9432
Email: tbaker@cba.ua.edu

Nathaniel Hartmann
Shidler College Faculty Fellow
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Shidler College of Business
2404 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822
Phone: (808) 956-6607
Email: nnhartma@hawaii.edu

Michael Ahearne
C.T. Bauer Professor of Marketing & Research Director, Sales Excellence Institute
University of Houston
4750 Calhoun Road
Houston, Texas 77204-6021
Phone: 713-743-4155
Email: mahearne.uh@gmail.com

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