The document discusses the offshoring of call center jobs from developed countries to India. While it lowers costs for multinational corporations, it creates problems for Indian workers. They face long hours, intense monitoring, racism from customers who detect their accents, and poor working conditions. Cultural differences and a focus on profits over employee welfare also create managerial issues. The labor process in Indian call centers reproduces problems seen in other countries but in culturally distinctive ways.

1. ‘INDIA CALLING TO THE FAR AWAY TOWNS’
THE CALL CENTER LABOR PROCESS AND
GLOBALIZATION

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3. • DEVELOPED NATIONS AND MULTINATIONALS OFFSHORING CALL CENTER BUSINESS TO INDIA ,
• CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS KEY, EMPLOYEE EMOTIONS AND CONDITIONS ARE NOT CONSIDERED
• IDENTITY PROBLEMS FACED BY THE INDIAN WORKERS. RACISM AND STRESS FROM CUSTOMERS IF
THEY SENSE AN INDIAN ACCENT. POOR TREATMENT OF WORKERS, IN SURVIVABLE WORKING
CONDITIONS, LOW WAGES
• CULTURAL AND MANAGERIAL PROBLEMS FACED AT THE CALL CENTERS DUE TO CULTURAL DIFFERENCE
AND PROFIT MAXIMIZATION STRATEGIES
• HOW THE INDIAN INDUSTRY REPRODUCES IN CULTURALLY DISTINCTIVE FORMS A LABOUR PROCESS
THAT HAS PROVED PROBLEMATIC FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES ALIKE IN THE UK AND ELSEWHERE

4. • CONTRACTING WITH EXTERNAL PROVIDERS IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY TO SUPPLY THE
ORGANIZATION WITH THE PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY
SUPPLIED INTERNALLY (BUCHANAN, DAVID AAND HUCZYNSKI, ANDRZEJ A,
2013)
• MNC’S ARE TAKING OFFSHORING CALL CENTERS FROM DEVELOPED TO DEVELOPING
NATIONS, DEVASTATING THE SERVICE SECTOR IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
• LOWER WAGES IN INDIA, LARGER WORKING POOL, QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS, EXISTING
KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH, THEY ARE QUICKER AT ANSWERING PHONES,
EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH SERVICE (WHITSON, FINANCIAL TIMES, 2002)

5. • LACK OF CONTROL, EXTENSIVE MONITORING , INFREQUENCY
OF BREAKS, EXTENDED WORKING HOURS TO MEET TARGETS,
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS FACED BY THE WORKERS
• ‘GRAVEYARD’ SHIFTS, TEDIOUSNESS OF WORK, POOR WORKING
CONDITIONS (NO TOILET BREAKS, NO AIR CONDITIONERS ETC.)

6. • REPETITIVE, TIGHTLY-CONTROLLED WORK WITH ‘RELATIONAL’ CUSTOMER
INTERACTION BENEVOLENT AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE (BUCHANAN, DAVID
AAND HUCZYNSKI, ANDRZEJ A, 2013)
• MAIN MANAGEMENT PROBLEM IS THAT THE WORK IS DOMINATED BY SHORT
CYCLE TIMES . PREVALENCE OF TARGETS AND BREVITY OF INFREQUENT
BREAKS CREATES EXHAUSTION AND PRESSURE
• LEADING TO HIGH TURNOVER DUE TO INTOLERABLE MANAGEMENT AND
WORKING CONDITIONS

7. ATTITUDINAL CHARACTERISTICS- (POSITIVE OUTLOOK,
PEOPLE SKILLS, ABILITY TO WORK UNDER PRESSURE
EMPLOYER SEEK APPLICANTS ABLE ‘TO GRASP
DIFFERENT ACCENTS AND VARIOUS CULTURAL NUANCES,
OR THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE “CULTURAL FIT” (SCOPE
MARKETING, 2001)
MOST APPLICANTS FAIL BECAUSE OF THICK ACCENTS,
WITH EXPERIENCE ITS BEEN NOTICED THAT ACCENTS
ARE KEY TO CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION

8. • IN 2003 A RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN SEVEN CALL CENTRES ACROSS DELHI, MUMBAI,
AND BANGALORE, FACILITATED BY NASSCOM
• THE RESEARCHERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO THE EMPLOYEES DIRECTLY
• INTERVIEWS WITH THE NASSCOM SENIOR PERSONNEL TOOK PLACE AS WELL, WHICH
INCLUDED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HANDLING OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES BY THE COMPANY
• THE AUTHORS ATTENDED SEVERAL CONFERENCES AS WELL, WHERE THEY GOT A CHANCE TO
TALK TO THE EMPLOYEES THEMSELVES

9. • PROFIT MAXIMIZATION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ARE THE KEY GOALS, EMPLOYEES IN INDIA
ARE EFFICIENT AND CHEAPER COMPARED TO ENGLAND THEREFORE IT IS OFFSHORED THERE.
• THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE MAINLY CONCERNED WITH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, NUMBER OF
CALLS AND CUSTOMER SETTLEMENTS ARE SEEN AS THE OUTPUT OF EVERY EMPLOYEE
• TOUGH METHODS OF RECRUITMENT WITH RIGOROUS TRAINING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE IS USED TO TRAIN THE EMPLOYEES, WORKING CONDITIONS ARE TOUGH, WORKING HOURS
ARE LONG AND BREAKS ARE INFREQUENT. INTENSIVE MONITORING AND CONTROL TO KEEP
PERFORMANCE AT PEAK.

10. WORK IS TEDIOUS, REPETITIVE AND TIRING, THEREFORE THE TURNOVER RATE OF THE JOB IS
HIGHER, WHEN INDIVIDUALS QUIT, THEY QUIT THE INDUSTRY COMPLETELY.
LONG GRAVEYARD SHIFTS CAUSE SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC ISSUES WITHIN EMPLOYEES LIFE, 1/2
THE EMPLOYEES SMOKE, FACE DEPRESSION AND FACE FAMILY ISSUES DUE TO LONG WORKING
HOURS
DISCRIMINATION AND CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION IS FACED WHEN ACCENTS ARE NOT
ACCURATE OR WHEN THE EMPLOYEES CAN NOT UNDERSTAND CERTAIN WESTERN ACCENTS OR
NUANCES.
WOMEN WHO CONSTITUTE HALF THE WORK FORCE ARE PARTICULARLY AFFECTED BY
WORKLOAD BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO MAINTAIN FAMILY WHEN THEY FINISH WORK.

11. • LABOUR PROCESS THEORY IS A LATE MARXIST THEORY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK
UNDER CAPITALISM. ACCORDING TO MARX LABOUR PROCESS REFERS TO THE PROCESS WHEREBY
LABOUR IS MATERIALIZED OR OBJECTIFIED IN USE VALUES.
• EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT 40–60 PERCENT SAVINGS CAN OCCUR WHEN PROCESSES ARE
MIGRATED TO INDIA (NASSCOM, 2002A: 12). INDIA’S KEY ADVANTAGE LIES IN THE LABOUR
COST DIFFERENTIAL, ESTIMATED AT ‘70–80% FOR OFFSHORABLE PROCESSES’ (NASSCOM, 2003:
65),
• ONE CENTRAL CHALLENGE INVOLVES SUSTAINING THE COMMITMENT OF EMPLOYEES, ENSURING
THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS ‘SMILING DOWN THE PHONE’, PERFORMING EMOTIONAL LABOR OF
CONSISTENTLY HIGH QUALITY WITHIN THIS TECHNOLOGICALLY-DRIVEN, HIGH-VOLUME, LOW-
COST LABOR PROCESS.

12. • ULTIMATELY, THE INTERESTS OF CUSTOMERS WERE, AND REMAIN, SUBORDINATED
TO THE IMPERATIVES OF CAPITAL ACCUMULATION AND PROFIT MAXIMIZATION.
THIS DOES NOT DENY THE IMPORTANCE COMPANIES MAY PLACE ON SERVICE
QUALITY, SATISFACTION AND RETENTION, PARTICULARLY FOR HIGH-VALUE
CUSTOMERS, BUT TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE CUSTOMER–MANAGEMENT–AGENT
‘TRIANGLE’ IS NOT EQUILATERAL.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT DRIVEN BY SOME AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZATIONAL
LOGIC, BUT BY THE OVERRIDING REQUIREMENT THAT IT DELIVERS PROFITABLE
OUTCOMES, A FACTOR LEADING EMPLOYERS TO PRIVILEGE QUANTITATIVE
IMPERATIVES AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE

13. • CALL CENTERS HAVE SHRUNK THE TIME AND DISTANCE OF COMMUNICATION, IN THIS CASE THE POLITICAL-ECONOMIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL
CONTEXTUALIZATION FOR OFFSHORING TO INDIA.
• INDIAN WORKERS ARE SUBORDINATED TO THE INTERESTS OF WESTERN COMPANIES AND CUSTOMERS. NOCTURNAL WORKING PATTERNS, ACCENT TRAINING. THESE CREATE TENSION
AND CONTRADICTION FOR THE INDIAN WORKERS APPEALING IT FOR THEM TO MIGRATE TO THESE WESTERN NATIONS IN THE PROMISE OF HIGHER WAGES.
• INDIAN WORKERS ARE NOT SEEN TO BE EQUIVALENTLY GOOD AS WESTERN WORKERS EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE A BETTER SERVICE AND THE SAME POTENTIAL, THE STEREOTYPE IS
BASED ON THE LOCATION AND THE ACCENTS.
• INDIAN CALL CENTER WORK FORCE IS TREATED WITH HORRIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS, LOW WAGE AND LONG TEDIOUS WORKING HOURS.
• INDIAN CALL CENTERS HAVE DIFFERENT LABOR PROCESSES COMPARED TO THOSE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES

14. • BUCHANAN, DAVID A AND HUCZYNSKI, ANDRZEJ A (2013) ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. 8TH EDN. PEARSON.
• TAYLOR, P. & BAIN, P., INDIA CALLING TO THE FAR AWAY TOWNS . SAGE JOURNALS. AVAILABLE FROM:
HTTP://WES.SAGEPUB.COM/CONTENT/19/2/261.FULL.PDF+HTML [ACCESSED JANUARY 25, 2016].
• ANON, 2014. THE SECRET DIARY OF A CALL CENTRE. THE SECRET DIARY OF A CALL CENTRE. AVAILABLE FROM:
HTTPS://DAIRYOFACALLCENTREGUY.WORDPRESS.COM/TAG/WORKING-CONDITIONS/ [ACCESSED MARCH 5, 2016].
• BUDHWAR, P.S. ET AL., 2007. HRM SYSTEMS OF INDIAN CALL CENTRES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY. TANDOFONLINE. AVAILABLE FROM:
HTTPS://WWW.RESEARCHGATE.NET/PUBLICATION/40498721_HRM_SYSTEMS_OF_INDIAN_CALL_CENTRES_AN_EXPLORATORY_STUDY [ACCESSED FEBRUARY 22,
2016].
• C.S.S.OF M.R.H.U.OF L., THE SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE LABOUR PROCESS PERSPECTIVE AND HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROCESS
CONFERENCE. THE SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE LABOUR PROCESS PERSPECTIVE AND HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROCESS CONFERENCE CHRIS SMITH
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.