Changing roles of customers: consequences for HRM

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Abstract
Purpose – The objective of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with an understanding of the implications and consequences of changes in customer roles and involvement on human resource management (HRM) within a service context. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is conceptual and the approach adopted is analytical. Extant research and concepts have been used to analyse customer roles and customer involvement and their effects on employees. Based on these insights, managerial and research implications are discussed. Findings – The insights from this study provide conceptual support for including customers as a relevant reference and/or extension of HRM beyond the organisational boundaries. Customers can actually significantly influence the success of a company's HRM. Research limitations/implications – Analysis of the interrelatedness of customer involvement and HRM is limited to services than encompass emotional and communicative aspects. It is argued that an extension of HRM concepts by considering customers' influence provides great potential for future research opportunities. Practical implications – The paper discusses the contribution of central HRM functions in increasing the customer orientation of employees and companies, reducing role conflicts and role ambiguity, and creating added value for customers. The aspects described here have the potential to contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of HRM and to increase the added value of the HRM function to the organisation. Originality/value – To date, HRM and customer roles generally have been investigated separately. The analysis of the interrelatedness of these two worlds is likely to trigger and encourage innovative research designs and alternative methodological approaches to new research problems, leading to the added potential of novel research findings with important implications for practice.

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