Focus & Contribution
The Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) initiative aims to advance the study of interactions and interfaces at the point-of-contact between an organization and its customers that promote, facilitate, or enable value creation and exchange. This initiative redefines the ‘frontline’ as a dynamic setting for a range of marketing phenomena such that “no longer are the frontlines inert backgrounds for organizational action involving customers; rather, they are evolving as sites of vibrant innovations and interventions that engage customers, enhance customer experiences, and motivate value creation”(Singh et al. 2017, p. 3).
Indeed, OFR represents a growing field that integrates various marketing disciplines, including sales, service, retailing, relationship marketing, and strategy. It emphasizes collaboration between academics and practitioners to deepen the understanding of frontlines. This approach aims to generate insights that contribute to both economic and social value, promoting economic opportunity and social justice.
Since its inception, OFR has encouraged interdisciplinary dialogue and supported young scholars’ research. It has played a pivotal role in fostering academic-practitioner partnerships and nurturing innovative research across business disciplines.
Highlighting its impact, OFR has been the focus of several special issues in leading journals. These include the Journal of Service Research’s 2023 special issue on “Frontlines-in-Change” (Vol. 26, Issue 3), the Journal of Retailing’s special issue on “Frontline Management in Retailing” (Vol. 95, Issue 2), and the Journal of Service Research’s 2017 special issue on “Organizational Frontlines” (Vol. 20, Issue 1).
The OFR Initiative is Guided by Five Principles:
- Community Development: A major achievement of the OFR initiative has been fostering the growth of new scholars in frontline research. Since 2017, it has hosted a Young Scholars Research Award competition for Ph.D. students and recent graduates. Winners, who have often continued their involvement in frontline research and symposium attendance, represent diverse fields like services, retailing, sales, and consumer issues related to the organizational frontline. Section 4 provides a comprehensive list of these award winners and their research titles, showcasing the breadth of their contributions.
- Interdisciplinary Integration: We aim to establish the Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) as a field that transcends traditional boundaries. It encourages and supports research from all scholarly domains that explore the firm-customer exchange process. Participants include researchers from marketing, organizational behavior, and management science, with a focus on diversifying scholarly contributions from various disciplines.
- Forward-Thinking Approach: OFR places a strong emphasis on a forward-looking research agenda that appreciates the longstanding significance of frontline topics while also embracing diverse perspectives. It actively engages with the evolving dynamics of frontline technology and artificial intelligence, underscoring the need to integrate theory with practice. This approach is crucial for staying abreast of technological developments and ensuring the field’s ongoing relevance and contribution to the industry.
- Advancement of Frontline Theory: The OFR prioritizes the creation of rigorous, relevant scholarship aimed at solving significant problems and enhancing theoretical understanding of frontline issues. This goal has been realized through numerous symposium and conference presentations, journal articles, and special journal issues.
- Practical Application: OFR stresses the importance of making frontline theory not only intriguing but also practical. Practitioner involvement has been significant from the start, with an emphasis on selecting research topics that are empirically rigorous and highly relevant to industry stakeholders.
History of Inception, Evolution, and Current Status
- Inception: The journey of the Organizational Frontlines Research initiative began in February 2014 at the American Marketing Association Winter Educators Conference. A unique session titled “A ‘Lightning Talk’ on Managing the Customer-Employee Interface,” organized by Tom Brown, Mike Brady, and Alex Zablah, featured 11 marketing scholars from fields like professional selling, services marketing, and retailing management. The unifying theme was the focus on interactions between frontline employees and customers. Presenters, given only five minutes each, created an engaging and dynamic atmosphere. The session’s success and the audience’s enthusiastic response highlighted the potential for developing a structured approach to this area of study.
- Evolution: Buoyed by the initial session’s success, Tom Brown, Todd Arnold, Mike Brady, and Jagdip Singh organized the first Organizational Frontlines Research Symposium in April 2015 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The event drew 43 scholars, including international participants, and several industry professionals. Mary Jo Bitner, then editor of the Journal of Service Research, participated and accepted a proposal for a special issue dedicated to organizational frontline research. The symposium spurred the co-authoring of seven articles and several commentaries for the special issue, establishing a foundational definition of the organizational frontline concept (Singh et al. 2017, pg. 4). The second symposium, hosted by Mike Brady and colleagues, was held the following year at Florida State University, continuing the tradition of blending academic and industry insights.
- Current Status: Since 2017, the annual symposia have become integral pre-conference events at the Winter AMA conferences. These gatherings consistently feature special sessions devoted to organizational frontline research, showcasing the field’s growth and the community’s ongoing commitment to advancing this area of study. Since its first symposium, the OFR community has more than doubled, from 43 to over 125 scholars who consistently participate in OFR activities.
2025 Organizational Frontlines Research Pre-Conference
The 10th Annual Organizational Frontlines Research (OFR) Symposium will explore the latest scholarly research and industry trends related to organizational frontlines. This event is scheduled to take place in conjunction with the 2025 AMA Winter Academic Conference.
SIG Officers 2024-2026
- Co-Chairs
- Colleen Harmeling, Florida State University
- Clay Voorhees, University of Alabama
- Vice Chair of Mentorship
- Todd Arnold, Oklahoma State University
- Vice Chair of Communication
- David Mathis, University of Mississippi
- Vice Chair of Global Engagement
- Jagdip Singh, Case Western University
- Vice Chairs of Strategic Initiatives
- Michael Brady, Florida State University
- Tom Brown, Oklahoma State University
- DOCSIG Liaison
- Allison Smith, University of South Florida
