Globalization of commodification: legal process outsourcing and Indian lawyers

egal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to the contracting of legal work from regions where it is costly to perform, such as the US to areas where it can be performed at a significantly decreased cost. LPO has been made possible by the disaggregation of the legal processes into discrete units, each of which can then outsourced to cheaper service providers. Anecdotal evidence suggests a variety of benefits such as financial gains, opportunities to perform “global” work in a corporate atmosphere and acquisition of important skills and training that enhances the prestige of the host country lawyers. In India, which has played a significant role, LPO firms are viewed as important catalysts in the transformation of the country’s highly stratified legal profession based on social identities. This qualitative study, based on 38 interviews, concludes that the corporate culture was an attractive proposition for lawyers from non-elite backgrounds; however, the commodification of offshored work led to a deprofessionalisation of lawyers, reducing them to “glorified clerks.” As a result, LPO firms only provided parallel avenues for career mobility but did not destabilise the local legal market which at its core remains socially networked

Indian call centres and business process outsourcing : a study in union formation

In this exploratory study of union formation in the Indian call centre/business process outsourcing sector, the authors draw upon evidence from the first detailed survey of members of the recently formed UNITES, and from extensive interviews. This paper engages with mobilisation theory and analyses of trade union formation

Cyberbullying at work: Understanding the influence of technology

We exist at a time when technology has revolutionised the way people work. It is now just as easy to communicate electronically with colleagues thousands of miles away as it is with a coworker in the same building. While there are many advantages of information and communication technologies (ICTs), workplace cyberbullying channeled through ICTs illustrates the potential drawbacks of such technologies. The current chapter examines the limited, yet developing research on workplace cyberbullying. First, we discuss the criteria used to define workplace cyberbullying and the behaviours that encompass it. Second, we present current empirical findings, including research on the actors involved in the process and the antecedents, prevalence and impact of workplace cyberbullying. Finally, we discuss theoretical perspectives on why workplace cyberbullying occurs, highlight the emerging focus on the work context and present some suggestions for future research in this area

'From boom to where?' : The impact of crisis on work and employment in Indian BPO

This article locates Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) within the global supply chains of business services delivery and an international division of service labour. It acknowledges the BPO market’s essential dependence on demand from lead firms in the United States and United Kingdom. Drawing on a conceptual synthesis of the Global Commodity Chain (GCC), Global Value Chain (GVC) and Global Production Network (GPN) frameworks, the article examines the impact of 2008’s financial crisis on employment, work organisation and the experience of work in Indian BPO. Employer/industry sources and employee interviews, reveal reconfigured local labour market dynamics, tightened work discipline, an extensification of working time, work intensification and unprecedented growth in job insecurity. Such changed characteristics suggest a watershed which raises questions concerning the sustainability of models of BPO work constructed in pre-crisis years

Domestic labour : the experience of work in India's other call centre industry

This chapter discusses the experience of work in India's other call centre industry. It is part of a collection which aims to explore the social and cultural issues within the economic changes that have given rise to service work, which represents the largest occupational sector

From boom to where? The experience of post-crisis work and employment in offshored BPO in India

This paper looks at the experience of post-crisis work and employment in offshored BPO in Indi