Globalisation and Outsourcing: Confronting New Human Resource Challenges in India’s Business Process Outsourcing Industry

In this article, we argue that the rapid growth of the outsourcing industry has resulted in both high turnover and labour shortages and at the same time provided employment opportunities to a new group of employees: young upwardly mobile college graduates. We argue that this particular demographic profile is prone to high turnover and presents new managerial challenges. We then examine the variety of recruitment and retention strategies that companies in the business process outsourcing industry are experimenting with and show that many novel HR strategies are being crafted to address the needs of this young middle-class workforce. We also examine macro efforts by state and central governments and the industry association to help resolve some of these problems

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Autism-Specific Workplace Tool for Employers: A Randomised Controlled Trial

A randomised controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of the Integrated Employment Success Tool (IEST™) in improving employers’ self-efficacy in modifying the workplace for individuals on the autism spectrum. Employers (N = 84) were randomised to the IEST™ or support as usual groups. Measurements of self-efficacy, knowledge and attitudes towards disability in the workplace were obtained at baseline and post-test. Results revealed a significant improvement in self-efficacy within the IEST™ group between baseline and post-test (p = 0.016). At post-test, there were no significant differences between groups in relation to self-efficacy in implementing autism-specific workplace modifications and employer attitudes towards disability in the workplace. Given the lack of significant outcomes, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of the IEST™ for employers

A TYPOLOGY OF TECHNOLOGICAL ENABLERS OF WEBSITE SERVICE FAILURE PREVENTION

An increasing range of services are now offered via online applications and e-commerce websites. However, problems with online services still occur at times, even for the best service providers due to the technical failures, informational failures, or lack of required website functionalities. Also, the widespread and increasing implementation of web services means that service failures are both more likely to occur, and more likely to have serious consequences. In this paper we first develop a digital service value chain framework based on existing service delivery models adapted for digital services. We then review current literature on service failure prevention, and provide a typology of technolo- gies and approaches that can be used to prevent failures of different types (functional, informational, system), that can occur at different stages in the web service delivery. This makes a contribution to theory by relating specific technologies and technological approaches to the point in the value chain framework where they will have the maximum impact. Our typology can also be used to guide the planning, justification and design of robust, reliable web services

The Transition To Blended Learning: Students’ Perceptions Of Online Interaction

This thesis investigates the problem of low student interest and interaction in online synchronous and asynchronous activity during a transitional phase to blended learning. The key research question investigated how students’ experience of blended learning might inform practice, in order to improve students’ participation in online interaction. The participants were a self-selected sample of 581 students aged 19 to 73 years and predominately woman students. This sample was obtained from 13 regions of The Open University across the UK from students who had studied two undergraduate psychology modules at The Open University during the transition in 2012 to a blended learning tuition strategy. A mixed-methods case study design was employed, composed of an adapted version the Course Experience Questionnaire originally designed by Ramsden (1991). This instrument consisted of 37 questions exploring students’ perceptions of the introduction of blended learning into their respective modules, further modified with the addition of a ‘tick-box’ media survey and an expandable window for students to offer open comments on their experience. Factor analysis was applied to the two sets of quantitative data and thematic analysis to the qualitative data set, employing a convergent design. The findings from the three data sets complemented each other to represent the students’ perspectives on blended learning which served to reveal areas of students’ learning and interaction that did not comfortably align with theoretical ideas and expectations regarding blended learning provision, suggesting a social constructivist theoretical explanation to account for this disjuncture. The findings draw attention to the pedagogy and design of blended learning that remain relevant in practice today. Enhancing the performance of curriculum design and delivery is suggested in order to further develop the blended learning experience of students. It is recommended that some reconceptualisation of the tutors’ role should be considered. Further qualitative research to coalesce feedback from module designers, tutors and students on blended learning modules is also recommended

Teleconference training within commercial customer service at US Bank

Research suggests that effective employee training methods are of key importance in the service industry today. The service industry uses customer service as a means of differentiating its product (Davis, 2005; Farrell, 2005; Feiertag, 2005; Furunes, 2005; Higley, 2004a; Jenkins, 1984; Simons, 2005; Walsh, 2004). “Friendliness and a willingness to serve others are the tools of the hotel trade, and training is the sharpener that refines the tools into hospitality machines” (Higley, 2004b). Training is integral in creating a positive environment for customers. If organizations want to ensure customers have this type of environment, employees must have both service and technical knowledge; the employee must know what he or she is doing (Higley, 2004a). The service industry uses various forms of training in order to ensure employees have the required knowledge and skills needed to create a high level of customer service. In many organizations, employees are spread nationwide making traditional classroom based training ineffective and expensive (Roeder, 1986). Large organizations, in particular, have difficulty reaching thousands of employees consistently and in a short amount of time can be a “logistical nightmare” (Burns, 2005). In order to accommodate the distance gap, companies have created extensive training sessions based both on the computer and the telephone. Research has shown both methods to be cost effective and to have the capability to train a large number of people in different locations simultaneously (Off the road again: Training through teleconferencing. 1992; Reach out and train someone: The many faces of distance learning.2002; Teleconferencing fundamentals.2002; Davis, 2005; Eisinger & Smith, 2000; Gentry, 2005; Higley, 2004a; Jenkins, 1984; Pollitt, 2004; Suttell, 2005). Teleconferencing, computer-based, web-based, and videoconferencing are some common training methods currently employed (Teleconferencing fundamentals.2002)

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Context Aware Computing for The Internet of Things: A Survey

As we are moving towards the Internet of Things (IoT), the number of sensors deployed around the world is growing at a rapid pace. Market research has shown a significant growth of sensor deployments over the past decade and has predicted a significant increment of the growth rate in the future. These sensors continuously generate enormous amounts of data. However, in order to add value to raw sensor data we need to understand it. Collection, modelling, reasoning, and distribution of context in relation to sensor data plays critical role in this challenge. Context-aware computing has proven to be successful in understanding sensor data. In this paper, we survey context awareness from an IoT perspective. We present the necessary background by introducing the IoT paradigm and context-aware fundamentals at the beginning. Then we provide an in-depth analysis of context life cycle. We evaluate a subset of projects (50) which represent the majority of research and commercial solutions proposed in the field of context-aware computing conducted over the last decade (2001-2011) based on our own taxonomy. Finally, based on our evaluation, we highlight the lessons to be learnt from the past and some possible directions for future research. The survey addresses a broad range of techniques, methods, models, functionalities, systems, applications, and middleware solutions related to context awareness and IoT. Our goal is not only to analyse, compare and consolidate past research work but also to appreciate their findings and discuss their applicability towards the IoT.Comment: IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials Journal, 201