Three Modules

• Taylorized mass-production
• Professional services
• Hybrid mass-customization

Work organization & labour process

Two Logics 

• Cost-efficient 
• Customer-oriented 

Technologically-driven

High-volume

Low-cost

 

Labour process

Triangular relationship

Customer

Employee

Management

The triangle is not equilateral

Weakness

• Overriding profit: Cost minimization & Profit maximization
• Tensions
• Emotional exhaustion 
• ill-health

Indian Workflows

• Characteristics: Highly standardized, simple in content, tightly scripted and of short duration 
• Essence of strategy: Moving up to the value chain 
• Labour plays Low-value 

Work Organization and Work Experiences

• Similar labour process 
• Long working time causes burnout 
• Highly working pressure causes physical problems 
• Women are more likely to take heavy responsibilities 
• Working environment 
• Differences in statues causes unfair treatment 
• Differences between expectation and reality 
• Work and employment conditions generate both familiar and distinctive 
• forms of resistance 

Indian Call Centre Industry Profile

• The Indian industry originated in the mid-1990s 
• In the late-1990s GE established India’s first voice operation 
• Between 75,000 and 115,000 people were employed in Indian call centres in June 2003 
• To meet the demands of international clients.  The number of medium-to-large third-party establishments is growing 
• Migrating companies engage, not just in third-party outsourcing, but also in partnerships, co-sourcing or remote sourcing relationships with Indian suppliers 
• Companies have invested recently in ‘second tier’ cities 

Political and Economic Contexts

• The fundamental motive: cost advantage. After the recession, the threshold for convincing people about cost savings has come down 

• Key attribute: the ability to speak English over 90% of its revenues come from English-speaking geographies (Nasscom, 2003: 56) 

• Policies  including  the provision of tax incentives and telecoms deregulation have facilitated migration 

Recruitment, Training and Attrition

• Selection 
• Training
• Critical evaluation
• Attrition rate

• Positive outlook 
• People skills 
• Ability to work under pressure 

• Grasp different accents 
• Various cultural nuances 
• Cultural fit

SELECTION

TRAINING

• Language and cultural training 
• Accent training 
• Transnational dimension

CRITICAL EVALUATION

ATTRITION RATE

Attrition rate (%) = (Number of employees resigned during the month / Average number of employees during the month) x 100

where Average number of employees during the month = (Total number of employees at the start of the month + Total number of employees at the end of the month) / 2