Lost in Transition? Managing paradoxical situations by inventing identities

Paragrana ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 306-318
Author(s):  
Iris Clemens
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Life Styles

AbstractThe article focuses on Ashim Ahluwalias documentation John and Jane, which describes the living conditions, life styles and ambitions of six call centre employees in Mumbai at a time when call centres were not yet questioned in Indian society in respect of their working conditions or social implications. One main focus of the documentation therefore is a more general transition of Asian countries. The call centre agents embody almost perfectly this time of transition: Indians during day time who have never been abroad but become well trained Americans at night, their bodies still in India, but their mind overseas. This striking example is taken to analyse the framing of humans in times of globalisation and the related virtuality of constructions, including their own bodies.

scholarly journals Global forces and national Institutions: call centre work in Colombia

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
National Institutions ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this article is to contribute to the discussion about the relationship between global forces and national institutions, from a Latin American perspective. In addition to presenting some data about the diffusion of information and communications technologies in Latin America, we try to establish the relationship between some characteristics of Colombian society and the particular nature of the working conditions and employment relationships in call centres in this country, drawing on some exploratory case studies of call centres carried out in 2004, that formed part of a larger ongoing research project. It concludes that several features that are specific to the Colombian context appear to play a major role in shaping working conditions in Colombian call centres, including the particular characteristics of the labour market, the low regulatory power of the State, low compliance with labour laws, the persistence of the armed conflict that weakens all social and labour movements and the existence of a ‘culture of distrust’. This suggests that the national institutional environment exerts an important role in shaping local working conditions, even when powerful global forces are at play.

Call-centre work: specific characteristics and the challenges of work organisation

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 456-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Weinkopf
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Corporate Form ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Low Pay ◽  
Modern Form

In recent years call-centres have been, in many countries, one of the fastest growing areas of employment. The services provided by them are as diverse as their corporate form: call-centres may form part of existing companies but they may equally well be new independent serviceproviders. It is frequently asserted that they are invariably a modern form of sweatshop or dark satanic mill, with low pay, poor working conditions and highly flexible working time. In this contribution the characteristics of call-centre work are analysed more closely and it is shown that the quality of jobs is in practice extremely variable. In spite of difficult general conditions, a number of starting points for a better organisation of work and collectively agreed regulation exist.

Re-conceptualising call-centres as sites of control: the insider perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 25-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kasabov ◽  
Anna C.C.C. da Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Customer Dissatisfaction ◽  
Customer Centricity

Purpose – The role of call-centres during service recovery has attracted much attention in research. However, marketers know less about controlling customers during recovery interactions and consequences of such control. In order to address this gap and empirically ascertain whether service interactions are marked by customer centricity or by employees exerting control over customers, the aim of the authors was to organise an empirical research in two Brazilian call-centres. Design/methodology/approach – The research consisted of direct, open observation and 33 semi-structured interviews with insiders (call-centre managers, supervisors and operatives). Findings – Four key findings emerged during interviews with insiders. First, control over customers may be more widely practiced than assumed in certain sections of marketing academe. Second, such control is viewed positively by call-centre insiders and is sanctioned by management. Third, control does not disempower and demoralise call-centre staff but protects operatives. Finally, control does not seem to unavoidably generate lasting customer dissatisfaction. These findings are incorporated in a framework of call-centre management which incorporates control through scripting. Research limitations/implications – The discussion calls for the revisit of certain marketing concepts and philosophies, including customer orientation, by demonstrating that control over customers is practised and should not be viewed negatively or avoided altogether in practice and as a topic of analysis. A re-conceptualisation of call-centres as sites of control over customers is proposed. Originality/value – Control and power are rarely analysed in services marketing. This is one of a few studies that makes sense of providers' (insiders') viewpoints and argues that control may play a constructive role and should be seen as a legitimate topic of services and call-centre analysis. As such it addresses a question of intellectual and practical importance which is rarely discussed and may be viewed as incongruous with an age when customers are assumed to have rights.

Labour Conditions

1999 ◽  
pp. 56-75
Author(s):  
Diane Frost
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Poor Treatment

‘Labour Conditions’ defines the working conditions experienced by the Kru, and describes the subsequent strikes, campaigns and petitions that followed as a resulted of poor treatment. The chapter highlights the dangers that a mercantile profession carried for the Kru, including risk of accident or death, lack of compensation, abuse, and poor living conditions.

Call Centre Evolution in the Digital Government

2011 ◽  
pp. 3980-3986
Author(s):  
V. Ambriola ◽  
S. Bertagnini ◽  
L. Pratesi
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Information Service ◽  
The Other ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Digital Government ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Administrative Service ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
Front Office ◽  
Back Office

Public administration is undergoing a radical transformation. Citizens, rather than administrative documents, will be the primary and active subjects of the process of service supply. A new attitude toward administrative service is emerging. Citizens interact with public administration through new channels such as unified administrative counters, multifunction administrative counters, citizen liaisons offices, and Internet. Furthermore, having in mind the goals of shortening the distance between citizens to public administration and improving efficiency and efficacy of public bodies, the use of call and contact centres is quickly spreading out. It is worth to recall the recent case of Allô Service Public, the unified call centre of the French public administration, which on its first day of activation has been contacted by more than 100,000 people, more than any optimistic expectation. For a public administration, a call centre represents a simple way for interacting with citizens. Call centres provide many advantages such as improved efficiency, increased hours of operation, and reduced costs. The main advantage for citizens is that call centres can provide the information they need, as fast as possible and reducing waiting time. Call centres and contact centres are based on an innovative use of the phone channel, on one side, and on multi-channel strategies of access to service and information, on the other side. The combination of these two aspects allows public administration to develop and activate new modes of managing interaction with citizens. A phone-based information service is often the first channel chosen by citizens that want to get in touch with a public body. Call centres, on the other hands, have a relevant role for implementing the link between front-office and back-office services.

Implementing Interorganizational it Systems: Lessons from a Call Centre Project

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Boddy
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Management Issues

The growing power of computer-telephony integration (CTI) systems is encouraging many companies to create call centres. These deal with a growing range of business processes and, in doing so, can be used to challenge established organizational arrangements. The range of human and management issues that need to be dealt with has yet to become clear. Some insights into these are offered from a study of one call centre over 2 years, from shortly before its physical introduction to the present day. These empirical observations are set within the wider literature on organizational change and information technology (IT), particularly the processual and integrationist perspectives. The paper uses the evidence of the case to elaborate the integrationist model so that it reflects the areas of human action more fully. It concludes by outlining the implications of this perspective for managers seeking to build effective call centres or other forms of interorganizational IT system.

scholarly journals Working Conditions in a Selected Sample of Call Centre Companies in Sweden

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Norman ◽  
Ewa Wigaeus Tornqvist ◽  
Allan Toomingas
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Call Centre

The service-profit chain in call centre services

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 616-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorina Chicu ◽  
Mireia Valverde ◽  
Gerard Ryan ◽  
Rosemary Batt
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Company Performance ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Service Profit Chain

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the explanatory power of the service-profit chain (SPC) model in a context that differs from its original conception. The authors do so by considering whether the main relationships it proposes apply in the context of call centre services, characterised by remote services and cost cutting business models. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from a survey of call centre management with a sample of 937 call centres from 14 countries. The analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling. Findings Findings reveal that the SPC model behaves somewhat differently in call centres. Although there is general support for most of the links in the model, the results indicate that customer satisfaction in the call centre industry is a separate outcome, rather than a precursor to company performance. Research limitations/implications As is common in most research of this type, the present study is based on cross-sectional data. Practical implications Managers would be well advised to keep in mind that even minimum investments in human capital can make a difference in customer satisfaction and company results. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the main links in the SPC in non-traditional, non-face-to-face services. It demonstrates that the basic logic of the model is upheld, thus providing evidence that the boundaries of the SPC model may be further pushed in line with the peculiarities of the evolving service economy. Also, the authors make a methodological contribution by proposing a series of organisational level proxies for measuring elements of the chain that are typically assessed using individual level data that is expensive to gather.

Do They Always Have Wounded Selves: Moderating Impact of Job-worth on Burnout and Self-worth of Indian Call Centre Employees

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Tuheena Mukherjee ◽  
Kanika T. Bhal
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Customer Service Representatives ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Numerous researches in call centres indicate the negative psychological impact in the form of burnout experiences of the customer service representatives. The present study argues that burnout experiences do not always have a negative impact on the employee’s self-worth. The relationship is, instead, moderated by the impact of job-worth, which acts as a potential individual resource. The results of the present study conducted on 312 call centre representatives partially confirm our hypotheses. Results indicate that representatives who have high job-worth maintain their self-worth, even when emotionally exhausted. The results also show that employees possessing high job-worth, even with low personal accomplishments on their jobs, maintain their self-worth. We discuss the findings in the Indian call centre context from the perspective of self and identity literature and provide broader implications for practice and research.

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