Impact of Digitalization on Service Work in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: An Empirical Study in Tax Consultancies

Philipp K. Görs, Henning Hummert, Anne Traum and Friedemann W. Nerdinger

SMR - Journal of Service Management Research, 2019, vol. 3, issue 4, 209-222

Abstract: Digitalization is a megatrend, but there is relatively little knowledge about its consequences for service work in general and specifically in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). We studied the impact of digitalization on psychological consequences for employees in tax consultancies as a special case of KIBS. We compare two tax consulting jobs with very different job demands, those of tax consultants (TCs) and assistant tax consultants (ATCs). The results show that the extent of digitalization at the workplace level for ATCs correlates significantly positively with their job satisfaction. For TCs, the same variable correlates positively with their work engagement. These positive effects of digitalization are mediated in the case of ATCs by the impact on important job characteristics. In the case of TCs, which already have very good working conditions, the impact is mediated by the positive effect on self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical consequences of these results are discussed.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.15358/2511-8676-2019-4-209

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