TY - JOUR
T1 - Compassionate customer service in ethnic minority microbusinesses
AU - Haq, Muhibul
AU - Johanson, Martin
AU - Davies, Julie
AU - Dana, Léo-Paul
AU - Budhathoki, Tribikram
N1 - Dr. Muhibul Haq is a Lecturer in the Department of Management, Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield. He received his PhD in Small Business Management from the University of Bradford. Muhibul’s research interests include sustainable success, competitive advantage, knowledge management, customer relationship management and human resource management practices in micro, small and medium-sized businesses. He has published in several journals including the Journal of Small Business Management, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business and International Journal of Management Development.
Professor Martin Johanson is a Professor at Uppsala University's Department of Business Studies and Director of Research at Dalarna University. In 2020, he was Visiting Professor at the University of Huddersfield, and he holds a grant from the Leverhulme Trust. His early studies were in the field of B2B marketing, and his current focus is on international entrepreneurship. Martin has published in Industrial Marketing Management, International Business Review, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of World Business and Management International Review, and he has written several book chapters.
Dr. Julie Davies is a Reader in the Decent Work & Productivity Centre, Department of People & Performance, in the Faculty of Business Law at Manchester Metropolitan University. She received her PhD in Strategic Management from Warwick University. Julie’s research interests include entrepreneurship and HRM/HRD, public sector middle managers in higher education and healthcare, workplace inclusion, and business school research impact. She has published recently in Academy of Management Learning & Education, Gender, Work & Organization, Human Resource Development Review and the Journal of Small Business Management. She was the UK PI for a 2016-19 Erasmus funded project on HRM in regional SMEs (SHARPEN).
Professor Léo-Paul Dana is a Professor at Montpellier Business School and founding member of the public research centre Montpellier Research in Management, MRM (EA 4557). He is also a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Chair, which is part of LabEx Entreprendre (ANR-10-Labex-11-01) at the Université de Montpellier and funded by the French government. A graduate of McGill University and HEC-Montréal, he was formerly Marie Curie Fellow at Princeton University and Visiting Professor at INSEAD.
Dr. Tribikram Budhathoki is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield. He received his PhD from Loughborough University. His research interests are in cross-cultural studies, brand management, digital orientation and SMEs. Tribikram’s research has been published in International Marketing Review and Journal of Strategic Marketing. In 2015, he received a Best Paper prize in the Entrepreneurial & Small Business Marketing track from the Academy of Marketing.
PY - 2021/3/1
Y1 - 2021/3/1
N2 - Business researchers and policymakers frequently overlook ethnic minority microbusinesses. Yet, together with small and medium-sized organizations, microbusinesses drive both local and national economies. Combining social capital theory with the resource-based view and building upon 43 in-depth interviews, this study proposes a model of ‘compassionate customer service’. In ethnic minority microbusinesses, coethnic culturally sensitive customer service is an important strategic resource for sustainable success, which high street chains lack. A key challenge for ongoing business survival and success is to ensure that future ethnic minority generations sustain coethnic compassionate customer service.
AB - Business researchers and policymakers frequently overlook ethnic minority microbusinesses. Yet, together with small and medium-sized organizations, microbusinesses drive both local and national economies. Combining social capital theory with the resource-based view and building upon 43 in-depth interviews, this study proposes a model of ‘compassionate customer service’. In ethnic minority microbusinesses, coethnic culturally sensitive customer service is an important strategic resource for sustainable success, which high street chains lack. A key challenge for ongoing business survival and success is to ensure that future ethnic minority generations sustain coethnic compassionate customer service.
KW - Customer service
KW - Ethnic minority
KW - Microbusinesses
KW - Resource-based view
KW - Social capital
KW - Survival and sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099183216&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.054
DO - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.054
M3 - Article
VL - 126
SP - 279
EP - 290
JO - Journal of Business Research
JF - Journal of Business Research
SN - 0148-2963
ER -
