ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Today, the delivery of care is undergoing drastic shifts, everything from where we deliver care to how we provide care. Emerging technologies and innovations are being positioned to disrupt not only healthcare, but also nursing practice. A new generation of nursing students, Generation Z, are entering undergraduate educational programs and are starting to move into the nursing profession. Generation Z or Gen Z are known as digitally tech-savvy individuals born from 1992 onwards. Generation Z is comfortable with technologies and they are also referred as the "digital natives". Researchers reported the new generation of nursing graduates enter the nursing profession feeling unprepared to address the demands of patient care proficiently. Customer-oriented behaviour has been validated as the primary approach to achieve higher quality of care and improving patients’ satisfaction with the healthcare service delivered. Meanwhile, emotional intelligence is a crucial concept for nurses to understand the patients’ perspectives and demands. Extensive researches have empirically supported that emotional intelligence is related to behaviour. Owing to that fact, this paper aims to impart a conceptual analysis of the relationship between tech-savvy trait and customer-oriented behaviour among Malaysian nursing students and mediates by emotional intelligence. This conceptual paper is guided by trait theory and emotional intelligence theory in establishing the proposed theoretical framework. Our conceptual analysis suggests that emotional intelligence significantly mediates the relationship between tech-savvy trait and customer-oriented behaviour. In addition, this study provides an avenue for researchers to examine customer-oriented behaviour in the healthcare context of nursing students population, expansion of trait theory by including a new construct of tech-savvy trait as well as the inclusion of emotional intelligence as a mediator.
Adib, F. I. M., Yu, H., & Ismail, S. A. (2016). Impact of technology to social interaction among family. Research Hub, 2(1), 6-14.
Aebersold, M. (2018). Simulation-based learning: no longer a novelty in undergraduate education. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 23(2), 1-1. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No02PPT39
Ashkanasy, N. M., & Daus, C. S. (2002). Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers. Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), 76– 86. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2002.6640191
Babakus, E., Yavas, U., & Karatepe, O. M. (2017). Work engagement and turnover intentions: Correlates and customer-oriented behaviour as a moderator. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(6), 1580-1598. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2015-0649
Barnett, T., Namasivayam, P., & Narudin, D. A. A. (2010). A critical review of the nursing shortage in Malaysia. International Nursing Review, 57, 32–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-7657.2009.00784.x
Beck, M., & Libert, B. (2017). The rise of AI makes emotional intelligence more important. Harvard Business Review, February. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/02/the-rise-of-ai-makes-emotionalintelligence-more-important
Bitner, M. J., Brown, S. W., & Meuter, M. L. (2000). Technology Infusion in Service Encounters. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 138-149.
Bozalek, V., Ng’ambi, D., Wood, D., Herrington, J., Hardman, J., & Amory, A. (2015). Activity theory, authentic learning and emerging technologies: Towards a transformative higher education pedagogy. London & New York: Routledge.
Brady, M. K., & Cronin, J. J. Jr. (2001). Customer orientation: effects on customer service perceptions and outcome behaviors. Journal of Service Research, 3(3), 241-251.
Butts, J., & Rich, K. (2015). Philosophies and theories for advanced practice nursing (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Campbell, S., & Daley, K. (2013). Simulation scenarios for nursing educators: Making it real (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Cao, Y., Ajjan, H., & Hong, P. (2013). Using social media applications for educational outcomes in college teaching: A structural equation analysis. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(4), 581–593. https://doi:10.1111/bjet.12066
Carlson, C. (2017). Too much tech to connect? 4 strategies to reconnect. Retrieved from https://colettecarlson.com/too-much-tech-to-connect-4-strategies-to-reconnect/
Chicca, J. (2019). Strategies for working with Generation Z. American Nurse Today, 14(2), 48-50.
Clipper, B., Batcheller, J., Thomaz, A. L., & Rozga, A. (2018). Artificial intelligence and robotics: A nurse leader’s primer. Nurse Leader, 16(6), 379-384.
Coˆte´, S., Miners, C. T. H., & Moon, S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and wise emotion regulation in the workplace. In Zerbe, W. J., Ashkanasy, N. and Ha¨rtel, C. E. J. Eds. Research on emotions in organizations. 2, 1–24. Oxford, UK: Elsevier JAI.
Daniel, K., & Darby, D. N. (1997). A dual perspective of customer motivation: a modification, extension and application of the SOCO scale. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8(2), 131-47.
Darby, D. N., & Daniel, K. (1999). Factors that influence nurses’ customer orientation. Journal of Nursing Management, 7, 271-80.
Dasborough, M. T., & Ashkanasy, N. (2002). Emotion and attribution of intentionality in leader–member relationships. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 615–634.
Davidson, J., Thompson, S. R., & Harris, A. (2017). Qualitative data analysis software practices in complex research teams: Troubling the assumptions about portability and transparency. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(10), 751-756.
https://doi:10.1177/1077800417731082
DeGagne, J. C., Oh, J., Kang, J., Vorderstrasse, A. A., & Johnson, C. (2013). Virtual worlds in nursing education: A synthesis of the literature. Journal of Nursing Education, 52(7), 391- 396. https://doi:10.3928/01484834-20130610-03
De Haro, J. M., Castejon, J. L., & Gilar, R. (2018). Personality and salary at early career: The mediating effect of emotional intelligence. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(14), 1844-1862.
Deshpande, R., Farley, J. U., & Webster Jr, F. E. (1993). Corporate culture, customer orientation, and innovativeness in Japanese firms: a quadrad analysis. The Journal of Marketing,57, 23-37.
Dimock, M. (2019). Defining generations: Where millennials end and generation Z begins. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2019/01/17/where-millennialsend-and-generation-z-begins/
Diño, M. J. S., & Ong, I. L. (2019). Research, technology, education & scholarship in the fourth industrial revolution [4IR]: Influences in nursing and the health sciences. Journal of Medical Investigation, 66(1.2), 3-7. https://doi: 10.2152/jmi.66.3.
Donavan, D. T., Brown, T. J., & Mowen, J. C. (2004). Internal benefits of service-worker customer orientation: Job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Journal of Marketing, 68(1), 128-146.
Drago, E. (2015). The effect of technology on face-to-face communication. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 6(1), 2-2.
Dunlap, B. J., Dotson, M. J., & Chambers, T. M. (1988). Perceptions of real-estate brokers and buyers: a sales orientation, customer-orientation approach. Journal of Business Research, 17(2), 175-187.
Fiori, M. (2009). A new look at emotional intelligence: A dual-process framework. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13, 21–44.
Foronda, C. L., Alfes, C. M., Dev, P., Kleinheksel, A. J., Nelson, D. A., Jr., O’Donnell, J. M., & Samosky, J. T. (2017). Virtually nursing: Emerging technologies in nursing education. Nurse Educator, 42(1), 14-17.
Franke, G. R., & Park, J.-E. (2006). Salesperson adaptive selling behavior and customer orientation: a meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(4), 693-702.
George, J. M. (2000). Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional intelligence. Human Relations, 53, 1027–1055
Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, Bloomsburry Publishing, London.
Goleman, D. (2001). An EI-based theory of performance, in Cherniss, C. and Goleman, D. (Eds), The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace: How to Select for, Measure, and Improve Emotional Intelligence in Individuals, Groups, and Organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 27-44.
Halldorsdottir, S. (1996). Caring and uncaring encounters in nursing and health care: Developing a theory [Medical Dissertations]. Linkoping University, Sweden.
Hampton, D. C., & Keys, Y. (2017). Generation Z students: Will they change our nursing classrooms? Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 17(4), 111-115. https://doi:10.5430/jnep.v7n4p111
Harris, M., Pittiglio, L., Newton, S., & Moore, G. (2014). Using simulation to improve the medication administration skills of undergraduate nursing students. Nursing Education Perspectives, 35(1), 26 -29. https://doi: 10.5480/11552.1
Hartline, M. D., Maxham, J. G., & McKee, D. O. (2000). Corridors of influence in the dissemination of customer-oriented strategy to customer contact service employees. Journal of Marketing, 64(2), 35-50.
Hong, E., & Lee, Y. S. (2016). The mediating effect of emotional intelligence between emotional labour, job stress, burnout and nurses' turnover intention. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 22, 625-632. https://doi: 10.1111/ijn.12493
Incerti, F. (2013). An exploration of emotional intelligence and technology skills among students at a Midwestern University [Master Degree Thesis]. Ohio University.
Indvik, L. (2012). Social media fuels low self-esteem anxiety. Retreived from http://mashable.com/2012/07/08/social-media-anxiety-study/#gGegZjq2.uq5
Issenberg, S. B., McGaghie, W. C., Petrusa, E. R., Lee Gordon, D., & Scalese, R. J. (2005). Features and uses of high-fidelity medical simulations that lead to effective learning: a BEME systematic review. Medical Teacher, 27(1), 10–28.
Jeng, S. P. (2018). Enhancing the creativity of frontline employees: the effects of job complexity and customer orientation. International Journal of Logistics Management, 29(1), 387-408.
Johari, H., & Ong, C. H. (2013). Personality traits and customer-oriented behaviour in the health tourism hospitals in Malaysia. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 4(4), 213 -216.
Jordan, P. J., & Troth, A. C. (2004). Managing emotions during team problem solving: Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Human Performance, 17, 195–218.
Kang, S. M., & Bae, S. H. (2015). The Mediating Effect of Emotional Intelligence on the Relationship between Emotional Labor and Psychological Well-being of Clinical Nurses. Journal of Muscle and Joint Health, 22(3), 185-194.
Kanten, P., Kanten, S., Keceli, M., & Zaimoglu, Z. (2017). The antecedents of organizational agility: organizational structure, dynamic capabilities and customer orientation. Press Academia Procedia, 3(1), 697-706.
Kelley, S. W. (1992). Developing customer orientation among service employees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 20(1), 27-36.
Kim, J., Park, J.-H., & Shin, S. (2016). Effectiveness of simulation-based nursing education depending on fidelity: a meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education 16(1), 152.
Kong, L., Liu, Y., Li, G., Fang, Y., Kang, X., & Li, P. (2016). Resilience moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical communication ability among Chinese practice nursing students: A structural equation model analysis. Nurse Education Today, 46, 64-68. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2016.08.028
Law, K. S., Wong, C.-S., & Song, L. J. (2004). The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 483–496
Leckie, C., Widing, R. E., & Whitwell, G. J. (2017). Manifest conflict, customer orientation and performance outcomes in international buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 32(8), 1062-1072.
Madeira, R. N., Sousa, J. L., Pires, V. F., Esteves, L., & Dias, O. P. (2009). A mobile and webbased student learning system. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 1(1), 2441–2448. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2009.01.430
McGrath, S. (2012). The impact of digital technology on social interaction within a household [Research Paper]. National University of Ireland Maynooth. Retrieved from https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sites/default/files/assets/document/SiobhanMcGrath.pdf
McQueen, A. C. H. (2004). Emotional intelligence in nursing work. Journal of Advanced Nursing 47(1), 101–108.
Menor, L. J., Tatikonda, M. V., & Sampson, S. E. (2002). New service development: areas for exploitation and exploration. Journal of Operations Management, 20(2), 135–157. doi:10.1016/s0272-6963(01)00091-2
Miao, C., Humphrey, R. H., & Qian, S. (2017). Are the emotionally intelligent good citizens or counterproductive? A meta-analysis of emotional intelligence and its relationships with organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 144-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.015
Newgensapps. (2018). Exploring the Potential of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) Blog [Internet]. Lucknow: NewGensApps. Available from: https://www. newgenapps.com/blog/exploring-the-potentialof-internet-of-medical-things-iomt
Noh, G. O., Park, K. S., & Im, Y. S. (2016). A study on the mediating effect of emotional intelligence between perfectionism and burnout in advanced practice nurses. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration, 22(2), 109-118.
Periatt, J. A., LeMay, S. A., & Chakrabarty, S. (2004). The selling orientation–customer orientation (SOCO) scale: Cross-validation of the revised version. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 24(1), 49-54.
Pettijohn, C., Rozell, E., & Newman, A. (2010). The relationship between emotional intelligence and customer orientation for pharmaceutical salespeople. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 4(1), 21-39.
Pimmer, C., & Pachler, N. (2014). Mobile learning in the workplace: Unlocking the value of mobile technology for work-based education, in Mohamed Ally & Avgoustos Tsinakos (eds.), Increasing access through mobile learning, 193–203, Commonwealth of Learning and Athabasca University, Vancouver. Retrieved from http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_Mobile Learning_web.pdf
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816
Press, M., & Prytula, M. (2018). Faculty experiences with integrating mandated high- fidelity human patient (HF-HPS) into clinical practice: A phenomenological study. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 15(1), 1-9. doi:10.1515/ijnes-2017- 0047
Price, S. L., Hall, L. M., Angus, J. E., & Peter, E. (2013). Choosing nursing as a career: A narrative analysis of Millenial nurses’ career choice of virtue. Nursing Inquiry, 20(4), 305-316.
Promsri, C. (2019). The association between digital literacy and social intelligence. International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science, 4(4), 1069-1072.
Ramachandran, Y., Jordan, P. J., Troth, A. C., & Lawrence, S. A. (2011). Emotional intelligence, emotional labour and organisational citizenship behaviour in service environments. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 4(2), 136-157.
Ramasubbu, S. (2015). Does technology impact a child’s emotional intelligence? In Promsri, C. (2019). The association between digital literacy and social intelligence. International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science, 4(4), 1069-1072. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/does-technology-impacta-childs-emotional-intelligence_b_7090968
Richardson, K., & Claman, F. (2014). High-fidelity simulation in nursing education: A change in clinical practice. Research Briefs, 35(2), 125-127.
Roberts, J. H. (2000). Developing new rules for new markets. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 31-44.
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., Millett, B., & Jones, M. (2010). OB: The essentials. Australia: Pearson Australia.
Saklofske, D. H., Austin, E. J., Rohr, B. A., & Andrews, J. J. W. (2007). Personality, Emotional Intelligence and Exercise. Journal of Health Psychology, 12(6), 937-948.
Salovey, P., Mayer, J. D., & Caruso, D. (2002). The positive psychology of emotional intelligence. In Snyder, C. R. and Lopez, S. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology, 159–171. New York: Oxford University Press.
Saxe, R., & Weitz, B. A. (1982). The SOCO Scale: A Measure of the Orientation of Salespeople. Journal of Marketing Research, 19(3), 343–351.
Shih, H., & Susanto, E. (2010). Conflict management styles, emotional intelligence, and job performance in public organizations. International Journal of Conflict Management, 21(2), 147-168.
Simples, V. (2018). Emotional intelligence and technology. In Promsri, C. (2019). The association between digital literacy and social intelligence. International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science, 4(4), 1069-1072. Retrieved from http://www.davidbakeronline.com/emotional-intelligenceand-technology/
Singh, D. (2006). Emotional intelligence at Work: A professional guide. (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Smith, M. (2017). Social media isn’t very sociable after all. In Promsri, C. (2019). The association between digital literacy and social intelligence. International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science, 4(4), 1069-1072. Retrieved from https://www.carlajohnson.co/socialmedia-isnt-sociable/
Smith, M. M., Saklofske, D. H., & Nordstokke, D. W. (2014). The link between neuroticism and perfectionistic concern: The mediating effect of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 61,62, 97-100.
Soran, S., Balkan, M. O., & Serin, M. E. (2014). Job stress and performance: The mediating effect of emotional intelligence. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 3(5), 67-75.
Sousa, C. M., & Coelho, F. (2011). From personal values to creativity: evidence from frontline service employees. European Journal of Marketing, 45(7/8), 1029-1050.
Stock, R. M., & Hoyer, W. D. (2005). An attitude-behavior model of sale people’s customer orientation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33(4), 536-552.
Susskind, A. M., Kacmar, K. M., & Borchgrevink, C. P. (2003). Customer service providers’ attitudes relating to customer service and customer satisfaction in the customer-server exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 179-187.
Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Increase in depressive systoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3-17.
Varghese, J., Edward, M., & George, B. P. (2017). Centralization of authority, market orientation, and customer relationship management in the banking sector: a study in India. Management and Economics Review, 2(1), 90-100.
Veletsianos, G. (2010). Emerging technologies in distance education: Theory and practice, AU Press, Edmonton.
Zhang, H., & Yang, F. (2018). The impact of customer orientation on new product development performance: the role of top management support. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 67(3), 590-607.
In-Text Citation: (Misron & Hee, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Misron, A., & Hee, O. C. (2021). A Conceptual Analysis of Tech-Savvy Trait, Emotional Intelligence and Customer-Oriented Behaviour among Malaysian Nursing Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science, 11(2), 679-694.
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode