Between Service and Servility: Role Conflict in Subordinate Service Roles

The concept Subordinate Service Roles (SSRs) is introduced to denote organizational boundary roles in which an organization member performs direct service to a nonmember whose status is higher than that of the service giver. The relative inattention of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Sociology to such roles is pointed out. Various types of role conflict in SSRs are discussed. Some factors affecting the level of conflict in SSRs are proposed, and typical responses of SSRs occupants to role conflict are presented and illustrated. The discussion is based on a review of the literature and on critical incidents of service collected from service givers and clients in two areas: hotels and public transport in Israel.