CALL CENTERS (CENTRES) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and ...

lation of their work task. They were presented with telephone inquiries, and tested for their
knowledge of the correct response. Several findings of a previous study (Matthews and Falconer,
2000) were replicated. Performing the task appeared to be intrinsically stressful, as evidenced
by a large magnitude increase in subjective distress. Individual differences in stress state were
related to strategy for coping with task demands. The ‘big five’ personality traits were compared
with measures of dispositional coping style as predictors of subjective stress state. Coping
measures added significantly to the variance in stress state explained by the big five. Emotionfocused
strategies such as self-criticism appeared to be especially damaging in the customer
service context. Coping measures might be used by organizations to select operators likely to
be resistant to task-induced stress.
Keywords: Behavioral sciences computing, Call centres, Human factors, Marketing, Personnel,
Psychology
(Appears also in Section VII.)
50. Moshavi, Dan and James R. Terborg. The job satisfaction and performance of contingent and
regular customer service representatives: A human capital perspective, International Journal of
Service Industry Management, 13 (4), 2002, 333–347.
Abstract. Although research on customer service representatives (CSRs) in call centers has
increased in recent years, little attention has been paid to the growing use of contingent (temporary)
CSRs in this setting. This study investigated the role that human capital plays in
explaining the job satisfaction and performance of contingent and regular CSRs. Consistent
with our expectations, contingent CSRs had less human capital but higher job satisfaction than
regular workers. In addition, we found that human capital mediated the relationship between
work status and job satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, no performance differences were
found between contingent and regular CSRs. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Keywords: Work, Customer service, Job satisfaction
51. Mulholland, Kate. Gender, emotional labour and teamworking in a call centre, Personnel Review,
31 (3), 2002, 283–303.
Abstract. This article examines teamworking in a call centre and how this is shaped for the
employees by an increase in technical control, the dynamics of emotional labour and gender
politics. The research is based on a case study of call centre work organization in different
sectors, and this paper draws specifically on ethnographic research on two teams and their managers
in broadcasting. Drawing on theoretical insights, it suggests that teamworking results in a
fundamental contradiction involving a “soft” discourse versus a regime of increasing managerial
control. Participation is measured against Thompson and Wallace’s three-dimensional notion of
participation, showing that employees have little discretion over the way work is organized. The
normative aspect of team organization accommodates managerial coping strategies in conditions
of staff shortage via numerical flexibility. However, management’s efforts to disguise control are
resisted by employees who transform workplace discourses into oppositional politics, shattering
the illusion of unity promoted by the pundits of team organization.
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