Disruptive Times, Resilient Frontlines
The 9th Annual Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) Symposium explored the latest scholarly research and industry trends related to organizational frontlines. This event took place on February 22-23, 2024, in St. Pete Beach, FL, before and in conjunction with the 2024 AMA Winter Academic Conference.
The 2024 theme, Disruptive Times, Resilient Frontlines, emphasizes developing a resilient frontline across a range of organizations, including retailers, manufacturers, healthcare providers, hospitality and sales organizations.
The frontlines of most organizations—where organizations connect, engage and service their customers—continue to experience unprecedented disruptions ranging from human resource challenges, evolving consumer behavior and technology integration, as well as economic and socio-political shocks. As organizations look ahead, they must place a new emphasis on a resilient frontline that can continue to meet customer needs regardless of external influences. Moving toward this goal, organizations are adopting a wide range of strategies, including an increased reliance on technology and AI, re-investing in employee recruitment, training and retention strategies, as well as shifting traditional service and selling roles to customers. The 2024 pre-conference event brings together thought leaders in academia with industry leaders to share insights, discuss these grand challenges and develop a productive path forward for organizational frontline research and practice.
To accomplish this goal, the pre-conference event once again will place an emphasis on practical applications through applied research discussions as well as keynote and panel presentations by industry experts implementing frontline strategies.
Pricing
Academic Professionals
$225
Doctoral Students
$199
Registration Is Closed
AMA Event Policies
Thursday, February 22
Introductions and Welcome
Speakers:
- Colleen Harmeling | Florida State University
- Clay Voorhees | University of Alabama
Executive Perspectives on Disruptive Times
Presentations:
“The Evolving Workforce”
Kevin McCall | Market Vice President, Kforce Inc.
Discussants:
- Colleen Harmeling | Florida State University
- Clay Voorhees | University of Alabama
Lightning Talks
Presentations:
“How leaders can stimulate customer complaint forwarding by professionally developing and empowering employees”
Zofia Hartl | Seeburg Castle University, Clemens Hutzinger | Seeburg Castle University, Jaywant Singh | University of Southampton, Benedetta Crisafulli | Birkbeck University of London, Wolfgang Weitzl | University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
“Exploring Racial Inequities Among Blood Donors: Quantifying Lives Saved, Donor Attrition, and Firm Revenue”
Riley Krotz | Florida State University
“Minimizing Bias in Front-Line Research”
Lisa Scheer | University of Missouri
“Aesthetics & Design in Retail Frontline”
Courtney Szocs | Pennsylvania State University
Discussants:
- Kevin McCall | Market Vice President, Kforce, Inc.
Break
Lightning Talks
Presentations:
“Navigating Frontline Employee Dilemmas Regarding Customer’s Deviant Behavior Policy Enforcement”
Kris Lindsey Hall | Louisiana State University, Susana Jaramillo | University of Memphis, Patrick Fennell | Kennesaw State University, Melanie Lorenz | Florida Atlantic University
“Algorithms and Smart Technologies For Firm-Consumer Interactions”
Dip Biswas | University of South Florida
“Unintended consequences of restricting influencer-follower interactions: A platform frontline perspective”
Andrew Crecelius | Iowa State University
“Great Job, Human! When Robot Feedback is Important”
Stephanie Noble | University of Tennessee, Jana Holthower | University of Groningen, Jenny van Doorn | University of Groningen, and Jessica Barfield | University of Tennessee
Discussants:
- Todd Arnold | Oklahoma State University
Dinner Reception
OFR/YOUNG SCHOLAR RESEARCH COMPETITION AWARD CEREMONY
Sponsored by Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Florida State University, Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Alabama, University of Nebraska, and the University of Virginia
Friday, February 23
Breakfast
Sponsored by Florida State University
Re-Group and Discussion of OFR Initiatives and Agenda for the Day
Speakers:
- Colleen Harmeling | Florida State University
- Clay Voorhees | University of Alabama
Young Scholar Finalists’ Presentations
Presentations:
“Identifying Red Flags for Frontline Salespeople’s Non-Compliance: Insight from Big Data and Machine Learning”
Nora Popping | Ruhr University Bochum
Sascha Alavi | University of Oldenburg
Maximilian Frieß | LMU Munich School of Management
Christian Schmitz | Ruhr University, Bochum
“Extended Reality in B2B Sales Processes: A Conceptualization of Extended Reality Technology Implementation Along the B2B Customer Decision Journey”
Janina Riether | University of Manheim
Christian Homburg | University of Mannheim
Robin-Christopher M. Ruhnau | Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Almost There, But Not Quite: How Marginally Missing Sales Quotas Increase Turnover”
Aprit Agrawal | University of Houston
Michael Ahearne | University of Houston
Yashar Atefi | University of Denver
Johannes Habel | University of Houston
Young Scholar Breakouts
Coffee Break
Frontlines in Change: An Executive Perspective
Presentations:
“The Science of Service in Healthcare”
Lara Klick | Vice President of Patient Experience, Tampa General Hospital
“Managing the Frontline of Food Service”
Tony Menendez | Owner-Operator, Chick-fil-A
Discussants:
- Q&A moderated by Jagdip Singh | Case Western University
Closing Comments and Special Session Reminder
Speakers:
- Colleen Harmeling | Florida State University
- Clay Voorhees | University of Alabama
OFR/AMA Winter Academic Conference Sessions
- 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | Resilience on the Organizational Frontline: Academic Perspectives
- 2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. | Resilience on the Organizational Frontline: Executive Perspectives
You must be registered for the 2024 AMA Winter Academic Conference to participate.
Saturday, February 23
OFR/AMA Winter Academic Conference Sessions Continued
- 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | OFR-RMSIG: Joint Special Session
You must be registered for the 2024 AMA Winter Academic Conference to participate.
TradeWinds Island Grand Resort
5500 Gulf Blvd.
St Pete Beach, FL 33706
Phone: (727) 367-6461
Room Rate
We’ve secured an AMA room block at a special rate of $249.00 single/double occupancy per night (excluding taxes and applicable fees which are currently 13%. Taxes and fees are subject to change).
Important Update:
The conference hotel block is almost fully booked. Here is the current room availability:
- Wednesday, February 21: Rooms Still Available
- Thursday, February 22: Rooms Still Available
- Friday, February 23: Sold Out
- Saturday, February 24: Sold Out
To secure one of the remaining rooms at the special AMA rate, call the hotel at (800) 808-9833 or email GroupReservations@twresort.com. Remember to mention the AMA Winter Academic Conference when making your reservation. The discount rate cut-off date for the remaining rooms has been extended to February 5, 2024.
Learn More about Hotel Accessibility and the Hotel’s Cashless Policy.
Our conference team is diligently working to offer alternative booking options for attendees still requiring accommodations.
Our conference team is diligently working to offer alternative booking options for attendees still requiring accommodations. For the time being, we have secured a limited number of rooms at the following locations:
Hyatt Place St. Petersburg / Downtown
25 2nd Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Phone: (727) 220-0950
Room Rate: $379 per night (excluding taxes and applicable fees which are currently 13%. Taxes and fees are subject to change.)
Distance: 9 miles from the conference venue
DoubleTree Beach Resort by Hilton
17120 Gulf Blvd.
North Redington Beach, FL 33708
Phone: (727)391-4000
Room Rate: $359 (city view) or $399 (gulf view) per night (excluding taxes and applicable fees which are currently 13%. Taxes and fees are subject to change.)
Distance: 9 miles from the conference venue. Between Clearwater & St. Pete Beaches.
Please check back here for any updates.
Please know that any hotel room booked outside the AMA negotiated block may not be eligible for the discounted rate. Those reservations may also have a different cancellation policy and will not be eligible for reimbursement in the case of event cancellation.
The Tradewinds Amenities
The following amenities are included in the rate for each hotel room:
- Self-parking (one parking space per bedroom. Additional parking is based on availability at a charge of $25 per day -subject to change.)
- Wi-Fi Internet Access
- Daily Beach Cabana
- Unlimited Use of the Zing Ray Zip Beach Zipline
- High Tide Slide and Surf Wipeout for Each Registered Guest
- and More.
Session and Reception Location
All OFR academic sessions, including the Special Sessions during the Winter Academic Conference, will be held in Tarpon Key.
The Welcome Reception on Thursday, February 22 will be held in the Bellwether Resort: 5250 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach, FL 33706.
Area Attractions, Events and Tourism
Please explore Visit St. Pete/Clearwater for destination information:
ADA
The AMA is committed to providing equal access to our meetings for all attendees. If you are an attendee with a disability and require program accommodations, please contact the AMA Support Center at (800) AMA-1150. A member of our staff will ensure that appropriate access arrangements are made. If you have specific disability-related needs for your hotel sleeping room, please be sure to communicate those directly to the hotel when you make your reservation. In an effort to provide the highest quality of service to all attendees, we require that details of all access requests be communicated to our office at least 14 days in advance of the beginning of the meeting.
Travel Recommendations
- Fly into Tampa International Airport (~30 miles, a 35-45 minute drive)
- Uber costs about $45-75 depending on surge pricing
- Parking is available at the hotel with the cost of the room – When Under the AMA Room Block
- 2 full-service restaurants, 3 full-service bars and 4 quick-service restaurants available on-site at the hotel