THE LOCATION BEHAVIOR OF CALL CENTRE FIRMS IN TURKEY

Advances in information and communication technologies bring along changes in working and employment conditions. Automationed work is moved to distant areas and businesses get elaborate, far from the center and network-based. Another change similar to the disintegration of production process is also seen in services sector. While jobs to develop technologies are left to the developed regions, routine and demanding jobs are transferred to peripheries. This situation brings about a centre-periphery division in structuring employment. One of the businesses that have emerged in this process is call centers. Firms, operating in various sectors, obtain call center service from outsource firms.Today, call centers are mostly located in less developed regions. While call centers first originated in developed regions, due to the increased costs in these regions, lots of firms have made their call service investments in less developed regions. Labor-intensive call centers are regarded as a solution to the unemployment in less developed regions. Within this framework, cities in Turkey, were evaluated according to location factors that call center firms take into account in this paper. The second part, the discussions in the literature are presented. Factors that become effective location decision of call centre firms were cited. In the third part, cities in Turkey, were evaluated according to location factors that call center firms take into account. Cities that were suitable for call center investment has been determined. In point of view of employees in call centers located in five cities in less developed and developed regions differences was determined by ANOVA and correspondence analysis. In the result, suggestions have been offered for location decision of call center based on statistical factors and employees' point of view Keywords:labour market, call centre, Turkey, location factors

The Role of Customer Emotions in a Call Center Setting

This thesis investigates the role of customer emotions in a call center setting. Three empirical studies are presented: 1. An exploratory qualitative study shows that emotions play an important role in a call center encounter. A measurement scale is developed using the negative emotions reported: frustration, anger, powerlessness, discouragement and stress, and positive emotions: happiness and relief. 2. A survey of 1440 customers of a French call center and subsequent Structural Equation Modeling shows that emotions have a significant effect on satisfaction and loyalty. 3. A follow-up qualitative study indicates that emotions change during the process of a call, and are accompanied by appraisals of reduced certainty and control. Frustration is shown to be a major customer emotional experience due to the set-up of call center services which generate reduced certainty and control, attributions of employee or company responsibility and appraisals of goal-blocking. The main theoretical contributions come from a) the finding that emotions have a stronger effect on loyalty than does satisfaction, b) empirical testing of a widely acknowledged (but not explicitly tested) notion that negative emotions decrease loyalty more than positive emotions increase it. In a call center context callers begin the call with some negative emotional ‘baggage’ which may enhance the effect on loyalty as compared to positive emotions, c) empirical support for Barrett et al. (2007) and Elfenbein (2007) who suggest that an emotional process characterizes emotional experience better than emotions alone. Managerial implications are a) that the call center industry needs to move away from its traditional performance-metrics basis for measuring customer satisfaction and take customer emotions into account, and b) that to ensure loyalty call center managers should focus more strongly on strategies for avoiding negative customer emotional states than for promoting positive emotions

Information Work and the Proletarian Condition Today: The Perception of Brazilian Call Center Operators

The increase in company outsourcing over the last two decades has led to the development of a new type of worker on the margins of the productive system: the Call Center operator. Responsible for a wide range of information services, the rapid expansion in call centers has stirred the interest of a number of researchers in different areas of knowledge. Analyzing the work of the call center operator, the article looks to deepen our comprehension of the sea-change currently affecting today\u27s working class. In contrast to what many forecasted some 15 years ago, the information revolution has failed to dissolve the opposition between manual and mental work activities: instead, it has served as a key instrument for controlling and routinizing intellectual work

Examining student employees\u27 perceptions of their roles in an outbound call center

A number of case studies in the research literature address the negative effects and perceptions associated with working at a call center. The present study focused on student employees who work at an outbound call center operated by and for their university. The purpose of this study was to examine the students’ perceived roles as call center employees, as well as how these perceptions change over time. The researcher also examined organizational identification and self-efficacy. The sample comprised approximately 38 employees at Madison Connection, an outbound call center operated by James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. The researcher collected data using quantitative and qualitative methods via an online survey and interviews, which were conducted within 30 days of employment and again after 60 days. Results from the research suggest that student employees held positive perceptions of their roles, reporting low levels of role ambiguity and conflict. In addition, organizational identification and self-efficacy were found to have a positive impact on their role perceptions. Therefore, call center managers should communicate clear organizational and role expectations, pair new employees with experienced employees, allow new employees a sufficient amount of time to practice, provide constructive feedback, and model the behaviors that they expect from their employees

Information Work and the Proletarian Condition Today: The Perception of Brazilian Call Center Operators

The increase in company outsourcing over the last two decades has led to the development of a new type of worker on the margins of the productive system: the Call Center operator. Responsible for a wide range of information services, the rapid expansion in call centers has stirred the interest of a number of researchers in different areas of knowledge. Analyzing the work of the call center operator, the article looks to deepen our comprehension of the sea-change currently affecting today\u27s working class. In contrast to what many forecasted some 15 years ago, the information revolution has failed to dissolve the opposition between manual and mental work activities: instead, it has served as a key instrument for controlling and routinizing intellectual work

Reducing Workplace Injuries Among Advice Registered Nurses

An area of concern for clinical nurse leaders (CNLs) is the increasing incidence of workplace injuries in integrated healthcare systems with call centers where repetitive stress injury (RSI) is among the leading causes of workplace injuries. Recurring pain and discomfort that call center Advice Registered Nurses (ARNs) experience hurts them and their teams, influences the operation of the call center, and decreases the quality of care provided to the healthcare system members. Due to high call volumes ARNs do not adequately use breaks or other measures to reduce physical strain. There is an opportunity to reduce RSIs through deployment of management support and existing resources utilizing small interventions that don’t interrupt workflow. To determine interventions for this evidence-based change of practice project an initial microsystem assessment was conducted using ARN safety report data to reveal the number and types of injuries. A subsequent microsystem assessment followed at six months, to identify any changes in the data. The assessments and safety report data suggested possible interventions, from which hotkeys, ForgetMeNot reminders, and microbreaks were chosen. The family of measures were completing ergonomic assessments, decreasing repetitive movements, and stretch break education. The ARNs benefited from the use of hotkeys and microbreaks and in contrast to the teams that do not use ForgetMeNot reminders, the project ARN team did not sustained any RSIs. This change of practice project showed that RSIs could be reduced through interventions specific to call center ARN work practices without interrupting workflow or decreasing productivity. Sustainability of the change of practice depends on leadership and manager support, safety pair engagement, and buy-in from the ARNs who benefit from a reduction in RSIs

Call Center Managers’ Strategies to Address Employee Turnover

Employee turnover is a threat to call center sustainability. Call center leaders who lack strategies to reduce employee turnover have an increased risk of business failure. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies call center leaders use to reduce employee turnover in insurance call centers. The three participants were call center leaders from three different call centers in Raleigh, North Carolina, who implemented strategies to reduce employee turnover. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of public documents from participants’ company websites and analyzed using thematic analysis. Two themes emerged: effective leadership and employee incentives. A key recommendation is for call center leaders to provide both monetary and nonmonetary rewards to employees based on which type of reward motivates their employees not to leave the company. The implications for positive social change include the potential to stabilize employment levels and reduce the unemployment rate

Call Center Managers’ Strategies to Address Employee Turnover

Employee turnover is a threat to call center sustainability. Call center leaders who lack strategies to reduce employee turnover have an increased risk of business failure. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies call center leaders use to reduce employee turnover in insurance call centers. The three participants were call center leaders from three different call centers in Raleigh, North Carolina, who implemented strategies to reduce employee turnover. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of public documents from participants’ company websites and analyzed using thematic analysis. Two themes emerged: effective leadership and employee incentives. A key recommendation is for call center leaders to provide both monetary and nonmonetary rewards to employees based on which type of reward motivates their employees not to leave the company. The implications for positive social change include the potential to stabilize employment levels and reduce the unemployment rate

Impact of Leadership Style on Employee Performance in a Call Center Environment

Call center representatives\u27 performance may impact the operational costs and the level of quality provided to the customer. The specific management problem is the need to ensure that the organizational performance goals are met month after month by employees to reduce costs and increase the organization\u27s efficiency. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between quality evaluation scores and average handle times of call center representatives for each of three leadership styles of front-line managers at transportation call centers in the United States. This study included the theoretical foundation of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership theories. The research design was correlational and non-experimental. The relationship between quality evaluation scores and average handle times of call center representatives was analyzed by using Pearson’s correlation. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire was used to measure the leadership styles of the call center managers. The findings indicated a significant relationship between quality evaluation scores and average handle times of call center representatives who reported to transformational front-line call center managers, which corresponded to the highest performance of call center representatives. The results of the study may promote positive social change by helping companies to determine the most effective leadership style for front-line call center managers to maximize call center representatives’ performance and thus improve call center customers’ satisfaction

Retention Strategies for Call Center Representatives in the U.S. Airline Industry

Voluntary turnover of call center employees threatens productivity, service levels, the customer experience, and the financial stability of businesses. Airline business call center leaders should be concerned about the time, stress, and cost of hiring and training new employees and the negative impact on business outcomes. Grounded in Mitchell’s job embeddedness theory, the purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to explore strategies airline business call center leaders use to reduce voluntary turnover among customer service representatives. The participants were five leaders in an airline business call center located in Houston, Texas. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and a review of organization documents. Through thematic, analysis, five themes emerged: (a) optimal employee-organizational job fit, (b) opportunities for upward and lateral mobility, (c) leadership support for employee engagement, (d) individualized personal and professional communication, and (e) flexibility to accommodate work-life balance. A key recommendation is for airline call center business leaders to pay more attention to the health and well-being of employees. The implications for positive social change include the potential for successful change initiatives that impact employee satisfaction and economic health for the airline industry and its’ customers