{"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"_id":"6222","abstract":[{"text":"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.\r\n                ","lang":"eng"}],"title":"Key elements of digital competence in professional sales & service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees","issue":"3","citation":{"ama":"Süße T, Kobert M, Siderska J. Key elements of digital competence in professional sales &#38; service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees. <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i>. 2025;17(3):51-67. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019\">10.2478/emj-2025-0019</a>","apa":"Süße, T., Kobert, M., &#38; Siderska, J. (2025). Key elements of digital competence in professional sales &#38; service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees. <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i>, <i>17</i>(3), 51–67. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019\">https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019</a>","alphadin":"<span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Süße, Thomas</span> ; <span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Kobert, Maria</span> ; <span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Siderska, Julia</span>: Key elements of digital competence in professional sales &#38; service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees. In: <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i> Bd. 17, Walter de Gruyter GmbH (2025), Nr. 3, S. 51–67","ieee":"T. Süße, M. Kobert, and J. Siderska, “Key elements of digital competence in professional sales &#38; service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees,” <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i>, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 51–67, 2025.","mla":"Süße, Thomas, et al. “Key Elements of Digital Competence in Professional Sales &#38; Service Work: Development and Evaluation of a Self-Assessment Scale for Frontline Employees.” <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i>, vol. 17, no. 3, Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2025, pp. 51–67, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019\">10.2478/emj-2025-0019</a>.","chicago":"Süße, Thomas, Maria Kobert, and Julia Siderska. “Key Elements of Digital Competence in Professional Sales &#38; Service Work: Development and Evaluation of a Self-Assessment Scale for Frontline Employees.” <i>Engineering Management in Production and Services</i> 17, no. 3 (2025): 51–67. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019\">https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019</a>.","short":"T. Süße, M. Kobert, J. Siderska, Engineering Management in Production and Services 17 (2025) 51–67.","bibtex":"@article{Süße_Kobert_Siderska_2025, title={Key elements of digital competence in professional sales &#38; service work: Development and evaluation of a self-assessment scale for frontline employees}, volume={17}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2025-0019\">10.2478/emj-2025-0019</a>}, number={3}, journal={Engineering Management in Production and Services}, publisher={Walter de Gruyter GmbH}, author={Süße, Thomas and Kobert, Maria and Siderska, Julia}, year={2025}, pages={51–67} }"},"intvolume":"        17","publication_status":"published","doi":"10.2478/emj-2025-0019","user_id":"263827","has_accepted_license":"1","date_created":"2025-10-08T12:27:14Z","file":[{"content_type":"application/pdf","success":1,"date_updated":"2025-10-08T12:27:08Z","access_level":"open_access","file_id":"6223","creator":"tsuesse","date_created":"2025-10-08T12:27:08Z","relation":"main_file","file_name":"Key_elements_of_digital_competence_in_professional_sales_service_work_Development_and_evaluation_of_.pdf","file_size":575287}],"oa":"1","file_date_updated":"2025-10-08T12:27:08Z","author":[{"last_name":"Süße","orcid_put_code_url":"https://api.orcid.org/v2.0/0000-0001-6832-7753/work/193817357","first_name":"Thomas","full_name":"Süße, Thomas","id":"241496","orcid":"0000-0001-6832-7753"},{"first_name":"Maria","last_name":"Kobert","id":"242937","full_name":"Kobert, Maria"},{"last_name":"Siderska","first_name":"Julia","full_name":"Siderska, Julia"}],"tmp":{"legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode","name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)","short":"CC BY-NC-ND (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by_nc_nd.png"},"type":"journal_article","date_updated":"2025-10-09T08:27:44Z","urn":"urn:nbn:de:hbz:bi10-62221","status":"public","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2543-912X"]},"publication":"Engineering Management in Production and Services","publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","page":"51-67","volume":17,"year":"2025","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1"}]}