Title: Performance excellence through spirituality, emotional labour and customer orientation in insurance industry

Authors: Majid Mohammad Shafiee; Reihaneh Alsadat Tabaeeian; Mastoureh Mehri

Addresses: Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Hezarjarib St., 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran ' Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Hezarjarib St., 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran ' Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Hezarjarib St., 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of spirituality and emotional labour of insurance agents and sellers on their customer orientation and performance excellence. In this research, spirituality and performance are uni-dimensional, while emotional labour and customer orientation have been introduced as multi-dimensional variables. The dimensions of emotional labour were deep acting and surface acting and the dimensions of customer orientation were customer sensing and customer responsiveness. The representatives of insurance companies in Iran were considered as the statistical population of this study. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by experts in this field and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha method. Structural equation modelling with PLS approach was used to test the hypotheses. According to the results, spirituality and emotional labour were antecedents of customer sensing and customer responsiveness. Moreover, the performance has been influenced by customer sensing and responsiveness. This study helps policy makers and insurers seek excellence strategies through spirituality and emotional labour.

Keywords: spirituality; emotional labour; customer orientation; customer sensing; responsiveness; performance excellence.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2020.108557

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2020 Vol.21 No.4, pp.513 - 529

Received: 06 Oct 2018
Accepted: 17 Feb 2019
Published online: 17 Jul 2020 *

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