About the Study

The study demonstrates how complaints managers are faced with a fundamental contradiction: they are employees of the complained about organization, yet they are expected to impartially oversee a complaint about it; they are caught between their loyalty to the organization/ organizational constraints, and their duty to complainants.  The study also demonstrates that individual complaints managers respond and react very differently to these inherent conflicts in their role. Additionally, the conclusion contains a number of policy recommendations with regard to the role of complaints managers. 

While the research project was carried out in relation to the UK National Health Service, it is applicable to in-house complaints handlers in a variety of settings, as well as other human services professionals who experience similar ethical dilemmas.