Abstract
This purpose of this study was to examine customer-centric organizational change|through the theoretical lens of social exchange theory (SET). The focus of this study was employees who constantly weighed the perceived organizational benefits or punishments in response to their behavior. SET theorists have long viewed actors in social exchanges (i.e., employees) as non-emotional beings; however, closer review of the variables constituting social interactions reveals that emotions can often play a critical role in driving behaviors (Lawler & Thye, 1999). In order to be customer-centric, an organization must derive its goals from voice of the customer (VOC) data (listen), communicate these goals broadly throughout the organization (learn), and instruct employees in how to achieve these goals (act) (Tempkin, 2012a). The results of this study suggest that employees may feel frustrated if they do not have access to VOC data (listen), have a clear sense of the firm’s customer-centric vision (learn), and engage in training to learn how to apply customer-centric behaviors to their daily work (act). This study suggests that emotions can play a significant role in customer-centric change and calls for further research to construct support frameworks for customer-centric change agents.|Keywords: Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Organizational Support, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Customer-Centric Change