Key elements of digital competence in professional sales & service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees

• Autorzy: Süße Thomas , Kobert Maria , Siderska Julia

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.2478/emj-2025-0019

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Modern work in sales & service is increasingly enhanced and supported by digital technologies. As a result, frontline employees’ digital competencies are becoming a key success factor for sales & service work. Nevertheless, especially with regards to professional work, there is still a lack of knowledge about how to measure digital competencies. So far, specific empirical contribution focussing on professional digital work environments being increasingly knowledge-intense, collaborative, and virtualized are still very rare. In this article we seek to make a substantial contribution in that area of research. Based on the state-of-the art literature about digital competence among employees in professional work this article is one of the very few that introduces an empirically evaluated scale of digital competence based on a sample size of N=1,283. We suggest a context-related set of five dimensions of digital competence named (1) effective usage of technologies and tools, (2) farsighted & critical information handling, (3) sustained cooperation & communication, (4) integrative knowledge generation, and (5) co-creative problem solving. Evaluation of these five dimensions is conducted with the help of technostress, virtualization of work, space-time flexibility at work and availability for work-related issues. Finally, we present a critical reflection about the scale’s five dimensions.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

digital competence; digitalization of work; digital cooperation; sales & service; frontline employees; human-computer interaction

PL

kompetencje cyfrowe; cyfryzacja pracy; współpraca cyfrowa; sprzedaż i obsługa klienta; pracownicy pierwszej linii; interakcja człowiek-komputer

• Wydawca: Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Białostockiej
• Czasopismo: Engineering Management in Production and Services
• Rocznik: 2025
• Tom: Vol. 17, no. 3
• Strony: 51--67
• Opis fizyczny: ibliogr. 67 poz., tab.

Twórcy

autor

Süße Thomas

• Hochschule Bielefeld - University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Interaktion 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany

• https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6832-7753

autor

Kobert Maria

• Hochschule Bielefeld - University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Interaktion 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1423-9499

autor

Siderska Julia

• Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45A, 15-351 Białystok, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5717-8043

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