Leveraging human touch in service interactions: lessons from hospitality

Purpose With the ever-increasing adoption of technology and automation radically changing the nature of service delivery, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of human touch, introducing hospitable service as an enhancement for value creation in service organizations. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on management, social sciences and hospitality literatures, a four-configuration model is presented to illustrate dimensions which arise from the confluence of different degrees of relationship orientation - shared mental models held by the host organization (self- or other-oriented), and guests' service preferences (transactional or relational). Findings A theoretically grounded model of configurations resulting from variations on three key dimensions is offered. These are: employee organization relationships - social exchange processes governing the interactions between employees and their employers; HRM systems - internally consistent combinations of HR practices; and tech-touch trade-off - prioritization of technology vs employees to deliver services. Originality/value This is among the first papers to explore the influence of technology on the degree of human touch in the interface between hospitality employee and customer, and to develop a configuration model through which researchers and practitioners can operate during this declining era of human to human service interactions.