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

the quality of customer service. Despite these distinctions, larger numbers of operators report an
experience of work which is driven by quantitative imperatives, most manifest in the pervasive
implementation of targets. Targets are also used increasingly to assess and mould the quality
of the call centre operator’s interaction with the customer. Overall, the evidence casts doubt
on the optimistic perspective that call centre work, in time, will come to resemble ‘knowledge
work’.
Keywords: Call centres, Knowledge economy, Taylorism, Work organization
77. Taylor, Steven A., Gary L. Hunter. The impact of loyalty with e-CRM software and e-services,
International Journal of Service Industry Management, 13 (5), 2002, 452–474.
Abstract. E-service is a critical strategic marketing consideration today for many firms, based
largely on the promise of more cost-effective models of self-service relative to large (and expensive)
call centers for technical support and customer service. The rapidly emerging electronic customer
relationship management (e-CRM) industry provides the primary tools for implementing
e-service. Interestingly, the e-CRM industry faces the same challenges and strategic marketing
considerations as their organizational customers, in that they must deliver exceptional service
and support to the companies purchasing/using e-CRM software. A review of organizational
mission/vision statements suggests that e-CRM companies are generally positioning themselves
as exemplars of customer satisfaction provision and relationship management. However, recent
industry analysis suggests that their organizational customers generally report low to ambivalent
ratings on customer satisfaction measures (our study also supports these findings). This
discrepancy could be partly attributed to very little empirical inquiry having appeared to date
to assess the efficacy of existing relationship marketing theories within this fast-moving industry.
The current study provides an exploratory investigation that looks at the well-established (in
other marketing settings) relative influences of quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty in the
formation of future purchase intentions and word-of-mouth behaviors within the e-CRM industry.
Concludes that e-CRM marketers must first identify means of increasing the overall level
of customer satisfaction within their industry, and then begin to consider moving beyond customer
satisfaction toward broader loyalty-based strategic marketing objectives to support their
relationship marketing practices. Practitioner and research implications of the reported study
are discussed.
Keywords: Relationship marketing, E-commerce, Customer loyalty, Consumer behavior, Computer
software
78. van den Broek, Diane. Monitoring and surveillance in call centres: Some responses from Australian
workers, Labour & Industry, 12 (3), 2002, 43–58.
Abstract. Australian call centres currently number around 4,000, in industries such as banking,
public utilities, airlines, information technology, and telecommunications. Of the 200,000
employees in the call centre industry, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) estimates
that around 15 to 20 percent are unionised. Unionised call centres are generally located in the
public or ex-public sector such as the airlines, while employees in other industries including
telecommunications and banking are considerably less unionised. The contract call centres have
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