We propose that an important prerequisite of helping customers is the capacity to take the customer's perspective. If this is the case, then it is also important to consider the factors that might facilitate perspective taking. To investigate this, 347 customer service agents in a UK call centre were surveyed on the antecedents and outcomes of customer-oriented perspective taking. Managers also supplied ratings of helping behaviour for 141 of the service agents. Structural equation modelling showed a positive relationship between perspective taking and self-reported helping, and this relationship was partially mediated by empathy. Perspective taking was also positively related to managers' ratings of helping but this relationship was not mediated by empathy. In turn, service agents' perspective taking was predicted by the perceived reciprocity of customers and by having a positive customer role orientation (which was itself predicted by job enrichment). Predictors of helping customers included perspective taking, empathy, and having an integrated understanding of the call centre's services. Enhancing employees' perspective taking and their integrated understanding of the organization's services might thus be hitherto neglected avenues for enhancing the quality of customer service.

(1) Background: Realist evaluation is a promising approach for evaluating organisational interventions. Crucial to realist evaluation is the development and testing of middle range theories (MRTs). MRTs are programme theories that outline how the intervention mechanisms work in a specific context to bring about certain outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, no organisational intervention study has yet developed initial MRTs. This study aimed to develop initial MRTs based on qualitative evidence from the development phase of an organisational intervention in a large multi-national organisation, the US food service industry. (2) Methods: Data were collected through 20 semi-structured interviews with the organisation′s managers, five focus groups with a total of 30 employees, and five worksite observations. Template analysis was used to analyse data. (3) Results: Four initial MRTs were developed based on four mechanisms of participation, leadership commitment, communication, and tailoring the intervention to fit the organisational context to formulate ‘what may work for whom in which circumstances?’ in organisational interventions; (4) Conclusions: Our findings provide insights into ‘how’ and ‘which’ initial MRTs can be developed in organisational interventions.

As new work and internship options arise, educators, employers and students seek information about the learning benefits of these new arrangements. This is also the case in terms of e-internships. The purpose of this study was to assess the merit of the effort-reward imbalance model to understand appreciation and performance as reported by the e-interns (also known as virtual interns). The study involved a cross-sectional sample of e-interns. The sample was recruited using the snowball technique and two specialized internship portals. Participants were grouped into a number of conditions. Effort conditions depended on participants’ reported goal clarity and satisfaction with support. Reward conditions were determined based on the (un-)availability of training and payment in e-internships. When participants fell into high effort or low reward conditions, they reported lower perceived performance. They also felt less valued. The reverse pattern was observed when participants completed their internship under low effort and high reward conditions. By identifying conditions under which e-interns will report higher performance and appreciation, employers are provided with starting points for the design and reward practices. In addition, the results suggest that e-internships may share similar characteristics of traditional internships which may similarly vary in terms of the value and rewards they bring to interns.