The path to service encounter performance in public and private 'bureaucracies'

In this article service encounter performance is analysed at the job level. From an organisational change perspective front-line jobs and initiatives which potentially influence the service encounters are examined in Danish b anks and local government. On the basis of surveys, front-line employees' p erceptions of the service quality delivered are compared and linked to rece nt structural, educational and technological initiatives in an analysis usi ng structural equation models with latent variables. The results stress the importance of giving authority to the front-line employees in both the pri vate and the public sectors. It is argued that more attention should be pai d to job enrichment and to the involvement of employees as antecedents of s uccessful changes.