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

Abstract. Reported studies on call centers emphasize efficiency and control, with possible implications
for service priorities, customer orientation and service quality. However, there is little
empirical research to test assumptions from the customer’s perspective. This study aimed to
establish whether customers expected (predicted) low levels of service from a call center, how
this level compared to the minimum level they considered adequate, and whether the perceived
customer orientation of the call center was related to service quality expectations. Data were
collected in Australia from two sources: End consumers (n = 289) of an insurance provider,
and business customers (n = 325) of a bank. Key findings were similar for both samples. First,
customers had very high levels of adequate (minimum) expectations, and adequate expectations
behaved independently from predicted (forecast) expectations. Second, customer orientation
was associated with predicted expectations but not adequate expectations. The paper concludes
with suggestions for future research and managerial implications.
Keywords: Quality of service, Call centers, Studies, Requirements, Customer relations
90. McCabe, Darren. “A land of milk and honey”? Reengineering the “past” and “present” in a
call centre, The Journal of Management Studies, 41 (5), 2004, 827–856.
Abstract. This article explores how managers in the call centre of a bank, (re)defined, and
drew boundaries around ‘past’ cultural conditions, in relation to the introduction of a Business
Process Reengineering (BPR) regime. Managers represented the ‘past’ negatively, in terms of
conflict and coercion, whilst the ‘present’ was largely described as a Shangri-La of teams and
consensus. This eschewing of the ‘past’ and sublimation of the ‘present’ stood in opposition to
the representations of the staff. Both the ‘staff’ and ‘managers’ seemed to reject or embrace
discourses that challenged or coincided with their understanding of how things are or should
be. In view of this, their understanding of the past/present is inseparable from a consideration
of power and identity. The article examines the interplay between discourses and individuals,
arguing that it is bound up with fear and anxiety, hope and aspiration, memory and nostalgia,
among other, everyday life experiences.
Keywords: Corporate culture, Call centers, Studies, Managers, Business process reengineering,
Banking industry
91. Ramsaran, C. Contact centers or cost centers? Bank Systems + Technology, 41 (1), 2004, 29–31.
Abstract. IM, e-mail and cross-selling are among the ways banks are striving to improve service
and profitability in their contact centers. However, the challenges of staffing, equipping
and managing those centers so that they operate efficiently and cost-effectively have existed just
as long as banks have needed these contact centers. And, as contact centers become increasingly
technology-enabled, bankers have had to balance the sometimes competing demands of
“high-tech and high touch” with other imperatives, ranging from new privacy requirements to
changing expectations of customer service to the need to demonstrate technology ROI. But the
reality remains that, for the most part, the activity at bank contact centers generally is viewed
as a cost—almost the proverbial necessary evil—rather than a revenue generator.
92. Van den Broek, Diane. “We have the values”: Customers, control and corporate ideology in call
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