Human resource management in the Spanish call centre sector: the bird cage model of call centre work

This paper examines the nature of human resource management (HRM) in call centres in Spain. After reviewing the institutional perspective and other previous contributions to the characterisation of HRM practices in call centres, the authors present evidence of the use of high commitment working practices (HCWP) in this sector. The findings report only a moderate presence of HCWP in the sector generally, but the analysis points towards the existence of four significant and distinct clusters of HRM practices. The results also show categorical evidence that work discretion is almost non-existent across all of the clusters, even in those with more evolved high commitment practices. This lack of autonomy, as well as an intensive use of performance monitoring systems, leads us to model the results in a bird–cage analogy.     

Data protection in the outsourced call centre: an exploratory case study

Against a backdrop of growing concern about the protection of consumer data as it is transferred to call centres in offshore locations, this article examines data protection (DP) compliance in the multi-client outsourced call centre. Using an in-depth single case study of a South African outsourcer and drawing on the now extensive body of call centre research, it argues that routine DP compliance is predominantly driven by the employment relationship and the client contract. With no research of this nature ever having been undertaken previously, it is argued that compliance is affected by the manner in which employees are paid, contracted and performance managed. This study also confirms that the employment relationship is an information security measure for organisations.     

Tensions and variations in call centre management strategies

Management strategies in call centres face a series of tensions stemming from conflicts between achieving efficiency and providing a quality service to the customer. Recent research suggests high commitment management (HCM) techniques are being applied in call centres in a paradoxical strategy of ‘low discretion, high commitment’(LDHC). This article presents case findings on four British call centres that confirm the LDHC model but suggest that it operates in a variety of forms. By characterising the research sites according to the combined dimensions of HCM orientation and job design implementation, a typology of LDHC approaches is proposed. These are containment, alleviation, structured employee development and involvement. In essence, the LDHC model is an attempt to reconcile the costs of control with the levers of commitment. However, an examination of the realities of LDHC in action reveals a varied but persistent pull towards control. Fundamentally this exposes LDHC as a substitute for, rather than a reflection of, commitment.     

The experience of work in India's domestic call centre industry

The strategic importance of human resources and their contribution to the effectiveness of business firms are receiving increasing recognition worldwide. In this study, I examine different approaches to human resource management (HRM) practices for business firms in different performance categories. Findings obtained from a study of 315 firms in Taiwan demonstrate that organizational performance is significantly related to the management of such human resource functions as planning, staffing, appraisal, compensation, and training and development. The results also indicate that successful firms are often those that adopt a highly effective approach to the management of their human resources.     

Beyond informality: effectiveness of a new actor for representing call centre workers in Turkey

This article explores the organisational dynamics of the ‘Association of Call Centre Workers’ and aims to discover the effectiveness and sustainability of it as a new actor for representing the interests of call centre workers in Turkey. While traditional trade unions have fundamental problems such as efficacy and representation of various worker groups in changing workplaces, in the Turkish context, they have additional difficulties based on structural and legal constraints. Call centre workers seldom utilise the formal representation channels because of these and some other individual reasons such as a lack of information about their rights and labour movements. Moving from the importance of analysing the informal worker organisational dynamics in the case of a new trade union for call centre workers, the emphasis of the research is on the ability of the Association to develop a form of resistance and representation for the previously unrepresented.     

‘An assembly line in the head’: work and employee relations in the call centre

To date, academic studies of the call centre ‘sector’ remain limited in scope. Here the authors attempt to remedy that omission by analysing the recent and spectacular growth of call centres in the UK, drawing on a wide variety of sources, including two extensive surveys of developments in Scotland during 1997.     

Public Employee Acceptance of New Technological Processes: The case of an internal call centre

Abstract

The present work explores employee acceptance of process innovation in a public administration from a complementary three-fold theoretical perspective, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Cognitive Model of Satisfaction (CMS) and the Satisfaction-loyalty Model (SLM). The proposed model integrates these approaches, and considers the moderating effect of employees' perceived experience with the new process. Although findings support that behavioural intentions are determined by perceived usefulness, satisfaction and attitude towards the new technology, we find that as employees' perceived experience increases, use intention becomes a routine, and the evaluation of the new process proves irrelevant in terms of usefulness or quality.     

Constraints on union organising in the United Kingdom

Despite increased investment by unions in organising, across much of the developed world there is at best modest evidence of a recovery of union membership. This has led to a research interest in the barriers to successful union organising and it is with this critical issue that the following article is concerned. It uses survey and interview data from trainee organisers in Britain to identify the internal and external constraints they have encountered while working on organising campaigns. The findings point to a broad range of organising constraints both within and beyond trade unions. Experience of constraints varies and is shown partly to be a function of the characteristics of organisers, the nature of the organising task in which they are engaged and the systems in place to manage their work.     

Relational union organising in a healthcare setting: a qualitative study

This article explores the impact of a relational organising model within a local UNISON NHS branch. While initial outcomes were modest, we argue that relational approaches have the potential to increase branch engagement with organising activity and to provide a focus on the importance of community within the workplace.     

Union recruitment and organising attempts in Britain in the 1980s

Using information contained in the 1984 workplace industrial relations survey this article examines the extent and pattern of union organising attempts among non-union establishments in the years 1979–84. The results suggest that such attempts have tended to follow relatively traditional lines, although there is some evidence of an increased responsiveness to changing features of the labour market.     

Sisters organising in Japan and Korea: the development of women‐only unions

In this article, I explore the development of women‐only unions in Japan and Korea. Women‐only unions, which organise women workers across enterprises and employment status boundaries in both countries, have appeared only recently and are new areas of research. While the strategy to form autonomous women‐only unions in Japan and Korea is a recent phenomenon, women workers in both countries are continuing a tradition of women's activism that has challenged both management and the male domination of the union movement. By taking a broad scope and by organising the growing non‐full‐time workforce and women employed in small workplaces, the formation of women‐only unions in Japan and Korea is a positive development for both non‐unionised women workers and for the broader workers' movement in general.     

Engaging the stakeholders: corporate views and current trends

This paper is based on research conducted at Imperial College in 1996, in which the authors have reviewed the extent, purpose and motivation of evironmental stakeholder initiatives (ESIs). The research objective was to determine ESIs' impact on corporate environmental management through a survey of businesses engaged in such initiatives, and to propose a set of recommendations for successful implementation of ESIs. Previous research on the subject has mainly discussed the case for stakeholders' involvement, reviewing whom companies would target as stakeholders. This paper goes a step further by assessing the current ESI practices of the researched companies in terms of style, purpose and method of engagement, as well as the target audiences and timing of these initiatives. Five stages of ESI undertaken by companies are identified and the benefits, as well as limiting factors, are discussed. In addition to the research conclusions the key factors for successful ESIs and a set of recommendations for companies engaging in such initiatives are presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

致在中国从事物流运营的欧洲公司

女士们、先生们：首先我想向你们和你们的瑞士Interroll公司，以及苏州工业园的领导们表示衷心的祝贺。     

Spirituality and leadership: Engaging both in higher education

“Although American higher education can justifiably take pride in its capacity to develop the student's ability to manipulate the material world through its programs in science, medicine, technology, and commerce, it has paid relatively little attention to the student's “inner” development—the sphere of values and beliefs, emotional maturity, moral development, spirituality, and self‐understanding.” —from the Foreword to Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education by Alexander W. Astin and Helen S. Astin     

Community-based research: Engaging universities in technology-related knowledge exchanges

Many universities are disengaged from their local regions. While universities are hotbeds of knowledge with the potential to generate new and disruptive technologies, their development strategies and public relations engagements rarely emphasize the potential of universities to act as local and regional economic engines. Similarly, information systems (IS) and other scholars generally aim to make international, not local impacts. Local contributions are often viewed as distractions from more visible and highly rewarded roles in the global scholarly community, such as publishing in international journals. This Global Challenge article argues that universities' local ecosystems are appropriate targets for IS scholarly activity, particularly when this is undertaken in the form of community-based research (CBR). Following conceptual discussions of ‘community’ and key elements of CBR, we draw on the authors' personal research experiences to evaluate the potential contributions of IS scholars in terms of CBR projects focused on technology-related knowledge exchange. After outlining implications and potential future directions for IS researchers, we close by presenting a call to IS scholars to intensify their local ecosystem research collaborations in technology-related knowledge exchanges contexts, in order to increase the relevance and local impact of their research.     

Managed activism: two union organising campaigns in the not‐for‐profit sector

Two union recognition campaigns are contrasted: one focusing on developing workplace activism but with little sectoral focus (a ‘bottom‐up’ campaign), and the other with a sectoral strategy and less emphasis on workplace campaigning (a ‘top‐down’ campaign). The outcomes indicate the need for approaches, which allow both a strong workplace activism and a clear sectoral strategy as both the ‘top‐down’ and ‘bottom‐up’ strategies present difficulties. Although there are positive outcomes in both campaigns, the cases show that unions seeking to represent the interests of previously unorganised groups of workers need influence at both the sectoral and workplace levels if they are to demonstrate their effectiveness.