In spite of everything: Professionalism as mass customised bureaucratic production in a Danish government call centre

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 3, Issue 1

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In spite of everything: Professionalism as mass customised bureaucratic production in a Danish government call centre

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Author(s): Pia Bramming , Ole H. Sørensen , Peter Hasle

Publication date (Print): Summer 2009

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Summer 2009

Volume: 3

Issue: 1

Pages: 114-130

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Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.3.1.0114

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.3.1.0114

SO-VID: 0e632ae4-7be4-421f-bd63-c37e2ddaf79d

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

Andersen, I. (1995) On the Art of Doing Field Studies - An Experience Based Research Methodology , København: Handelshøjskolens Forlag
Andersen, J.G. (2004) Et Ganske Levende Demokrati , Århus: Aahus Universitetsforlag
Andersen, N.Å & A. W. Born (2001) Kærlighed og Omstilling , København: Nyt fra Samfundsvidenskaberne
Bain, P., A. Watson, G. Mulvey, P. Taylor & G. Gall (2002) ‘Taylorism, Targets and the Pursuit of Quantity and Quality by Call Centre Management’, New Technology Work and Employment , Vol 17, No 3:170–185
Bason, C., A. Csonka, & N. Ejler (2003) Arbejdets Nye Ansigter - Ledelse af Fremtidens Medarbejder , København: Børsens Forlag
Batt, R. (2000) ‘Strategic Segmentation and Frontline Services: Matching Customers, Employees, and Human Resource Systems’, International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 11, No 3:540–561
Batt, R., L.W. Hunter & S. Wilk (2002) ‘How and When Does Management Matter? Job Quality and Career Opportunities for Call Center Workers’, in E. Appelbaum, A. Bernhardt & R. J. Murnane (eds) Low-Wage America. How Employers Are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace , New York: Russell Sage Foundation:270–313
Bauman, Z. (1999) Globalisering , København: Hans Reitzels Forlag A/S
Bicknell, H. & H. Knudsen (2006) ‘Comparing German and Danish Employee Representatives on European Works Councils: Do Differences in National Background Matter?’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 48, No 4:435–451
Bristow, G., M. Munday, & P. Griapos (2009) ‘Call Centre Growth and Location: Corporate Strategy and the Spatial Division of Labour’, Environment and Planning , Vol A, No 32:519–538
Callaghan, G. & P. Thompson (2002) ‘“We Recruit Attitude”: the Selection and Shaping of Routine Call Centre Labour’, The Journal of Management Studies , Vol 39, No 2:233
Callon, M. (1986) ‘Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay’, in J. Law (ed) Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge? Sociological Review Monograph , London: Routledge and Kegan Paul:196–233
Due, J. & J.S Madsen (2008) ‘The Danish Model of Industrial Relations: Erosion or Renewal?’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 50, No 3:513–529
Ellis, V. & P. Taylor (2006) ‘“You Don't Know What You've Got Till it's Gone”: Re-Conceptualising the Origins, Development and Impact of the Call Centre’, New Technology, Work and Employment , Vol 21, No 2:107–122
Eurofound (2003) ‘EuroLIFE interactive database’. Accessed on June 10, 2009 from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/qualityoflife/eurlife/index.php.
Florida, R. (2005) Den Kreative Klasse - og Hvordan den Forandrer Arbejde, Fritid, Samfund og Hverdagsliv , Randers: Klim
Flyvbjerg, B. (2001) Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How it Can Succeed Again , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Frenkel, S.J., M. Tam, M. Korczynski & K. Shire (1998) ‘Beyond Bureaucracy? Work Organization in Call Centres’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 9, No 6:957–979
Frese, M., H. Garst & D. Fay (2007) ‘Making Things Happen: Reciprocal Relationships between Work Characteristics and Personal Initiative in a Four-Wave Longitudinal Structural Equation Model’, Journal of Applied Psychology , Vol 92, No 4:1084–1102
Glucksmann, M. (2004) ‘Call Configurations’, Work, Employment and Society , Vol 18, No 4:795–811
Halkier, B. (2002) Fokusgrupper , Frederiksberg C: Samfundslitteratur & Roskilde Universitetsforlag,
Holman, D. (2003) ‘Phoning in Sick? An Overview of Employee Stress in Call Centres’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal , Vol 24, No 3:123–130
Holman, D., C. Chissick & P. Totterdell (2002) ‘The Effects of Performance Monitoring on Emotional Labour and Well-Being in Call Centres’, Motivation and Emotion , Vol 26, No 1:57–81
Lazzarato, M. (1996) ‘Immaterial Labour’, in Virno, Pa MH (ed) Radical Thought in Italy , Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
Lazzarato, M. (2004) ‘From Capital-Labour to Capital-Life’, Ephemera - Theory & Politics in Organization , Vol 4, No 3:187–208
Miller, P. & N. Rose (1997) ‘Mobilizing the Consumer - Assembling the Subject of Consumption’, Theory, Culture & Society , Vol 14, No 1:1–36
Mol, A. & J. Law (1994) ‘Regions, Networks and Fluids: Anaemia and Social Topology’, Social Studies of Science , Vol 24:641–671
Raastrup Kristensen, A. (2007) ‘Reconsidering Flexibility - How Employees Constitute Themselves as Individuals between Home and Work Life’, Conference: Work, Employment and Society (WES) Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 12–14, 2007
Rainnie, A., R. Barrett, J. Burgess & J. Connell (2008) ‘Introduction: Call Centres, the Networked Economy and the Value Chain’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 50, No 2:195–208
Richardson, R. & A. Gillespie (2003) ‘The Call of the Wild: Call Centres and Economic Development in Rural Areas’, Growth and Change , Vol 34, No 1:87–108
Rose, N. (1999) Governing the Soul - the Shaping of the Private Self , London/New York: Free Association Books
Schönauer, A. (2008) ‘Reorganising the Front Line: the Case of Public Call Centre Services’, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation , Vol 2, No 2:131–147
Sennett, R. (1999) Det Fleksible Menneske - Eller Arbejdets Forvandling og Personlighedens Nedsmeltning , Beder: Forlaget Hovedland
Sennett, R. (2006) The Culture of the New Capitalism , Yale: Yale University
Spradley, J.P. (1979) The Ethnographic Interview , Orlando: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
Sprigg, C.A. & P.R. Jackson (2006) ‘Call Centres as Lean Service Environments: Job-Related Strain and the Mediating Role of Work Design’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , Vol 11, No 2:197–212
Sundbo, J. (2007) Oplevelsesøkonomi , København: Samfundslitteratur
Taylor, P. & P. Bain (2007) ‘Reflections on the Call Centre’, Work, Employment and Society , Vol 21, No 2: 349–362
Warren, S. (2002) ‘“Show Me How it Feels to Work Here”: Using Photography to Research Organizational Aesthetics’, Ephemera-Critical Dialogues on Organization , Vol 2, No 3:224–245

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Andersen, I. (1995) On the Art of Doing Field Studies - An Experience Based Research Methodology , København: Handelshøjskolens Forlag

[2] Andersen, J.G. (2004) Et Ganske Levende Demokrati , Århus: Aahus Universitetsforlag

[3] Andersen, N.Å & A. W. Born (2001) Kærlighed og Omstilling , København: Nyt fra Samfundsvidenskaberne

[4] Bain, P., A. Watson, G. Mulvey, P. Taylor & G. Gall (2002) ‘Taylorism, Targets and the Pursuit of Quantity and Quality by Call Centre Management’, New Technology Work and Employment , Vol 17, No 3:170–185

[5] Bason, C., A. Csonka, & N. Ejler (2003) Arbejdets Nye Ansigter - Ledelse af Fremtidens Medarbejder , København: Børsens Forlag

[6] Batt, R. (2000) ‘Strategic Segmentation and Frontline Services: Matching Customers, Employees, and Human Resource Systems’, International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 11, No 3:540–561

[7] Batt, R., L.W. Hunter & S. Wilk (2002) ‘How and When Does Management Matter? Job Quality and Career Opportunities for Call Center Workers’, in E. Appelbaum, A. Bernhardt & R. J. Murnane (eds) Low-Wage America. How Employers Are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace , New York: Russell Sage Foundation:270–313

[8] Bauman, Z. (1999) Globalisering , København: Hans Reitzels Forlag A/S

[9] Bicknell, H. & H. Knudsen (2006) ‘Comparing German and Danish Employee Representatives on European Works Councils: Do Differences in National Background Matter?’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 48, No 4:435–451

[10] Bristow, G., M. Munday, & P. Griapos (2009) ‘Call Centre Growth and Location: Corporate Strategy and the Spatial Division of Labour’, Environment and Planning , Vol A, No 32:519–538

[11] Callaghan, G. & P. Thompson (2002) ‘“We Recruit Attitude”: the Selection and Shaping of Routine Call Centre Labour’, The Journal of Management Studies , Vol 39, No 2:233

[12] Callon, M. (1986) ‘Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay’, in J. Law (ed) Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge? Sociological Review Monograph , London: Routledge and Kegan Paul:196–233

[13] Due, J. & J.S Madsen (2008) ‘The Danish Model of Industrial Relations: Erosion or Renewal?’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 50, No 3:513–529

[14] Ellis, V. & P. Taylor (2006) ‘“You Don't Know What You've Got Till it's Gone”: Re-Conceptualising the Origins, Development and Impact of the Call Centre’, New Technology, Work and Employment , Vol 21, No 2:107–122

[15] Eurofound (2003) ‘EuroLIFE interactive database’. Accessed on June 10, 2009 from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/qualityoflife/eurlife/index.php.

[16] Florida, R. (2005) Den Kreative Klasse - og Hvordan den Forandrer Arbejde, Fritid, Samfund og Hverdagsliv , Randers: Klim

[17] Flyvbjerg, B. (2001) Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How it Can Succeed Again , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[18] Frenkel, S.J., M. Tam, M. Korczynski & K. Shire (1998) ‘Beyond Bureaucracy? Work Organization in Call Centres’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 9, No 6:957–979

[19] Frese, M., H. Garst & D. Fay (2007) ‘Making Things Happen: Reciprocal Relationships between Work Characteristics and Personal Initiative in a Four-Wave Longitudinal Structural Equation Model’, Journal of Applied Psychology , Vol 92, No 4:1084–1102

[20] Glucksmann, M. (2004) ‘Call Configurations’, Work, Employment and Society , Vol 18, No 4:795–811

[21] Halkier, B. (2002) Fokusgrupper , Frederiksberg C: Samfundslitteratur & Roskilde Universitetsforlag,

[22] Holman, D. (2003) ‘Phoning in Sick? An Overview of Employee Stress in Call Centres’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal , Vol 24, No 3:123–130

[23] Holman, D., C. Chissick & P. Totterdell (2002) ‘The Effects of Performance Monitoring on Emotional Labour and Well-Being in Call Centres’, Motivation and Emotion , Vol 26, No 1:57–81

[24] Lazzarato, M. (1996) ‘Immaterial Labour’, in Virno, Pa MH (ed) Radical Thought in Italy , Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

[25] Lazzarato, M. (2004) ‘From Capital-Labour to Capital-Life’, Ephemera - Theory & Politics in Organization , Vol 4, No 3:187–208

[26] Miller, P. & N. Rose (1997) ‘Mobilizing the Consumer - Assembling the Subject of Consumption’, Theory, Culture & Society , Vol 14, No 1:1–36

[27] Mol, A. & J. Law (1994) ‘Regions, Networks and Fluids: Anaemia and Social Topology’, Social Studies of Science , Vol 24:641–671

[28] Raastrup Kristensen, A. (2007) ‘Reconsidering Flexibility - How Employees Constitute Themselves as Individuals between Home and Work Life’, Conference: Work, Employment and Society (WES) Aberdeen, United Kingdom, September 12–14, 2007

[29] Rainnie, A., R. Barrett, J. Burgess & J. Connell (2008) ‘Introduction: Call Centres, the Networked Economy and the Value Chain’, Journal of Industrial Relations , Vol 50, No 2:195–208

[30] Richardson, R. & A. Gillespie (2003) ‘The Call of the Wild: Call Centres and Economic Development in Rural Areas’, Growth and Change , Vol 34, No 1:87–108

[31] Rose, N. (1999) Governing the Soul - the Shaping of the Private Self , London/New York: Free Association Books

[32] Schönauer, A. (2008) ‘Reorganising the Front Line: the Case of Public Call Centre Services’, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation , Vol 2, No 2:131–147

[33] Sennett, R. (1999) Det Fleksible Menneske - Eller Arbejdets Forvandling og Personlighedens Nedsmeltning , Beder: Forlaget Hovedland

[34] Sennett, R. (2006) The Culture of the New Capitalism , Yale: Yale University

[35] Spradley, J.P. (1979) The Ethnographic Interview , Orlando: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

[36] Sprigg, C.A. & P.R. Jackson (2006) ‘Call Centres as Lean Service Environments: Job-Related Strain and the Mediating Role of Work Design’, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , Vol 11, No 2:197–212

[37] Sundbo, J. (2007) Oplevelsesøkonomi , København: Samfundslitteratur

[38] Taylor, P. & P. Bain (2007) ‘Reflections on the Call Centre’, Work, Employment and Society , Vol 21, No 2: 349–362

[39] Warren, S. (2002) ‘“Show Me How it Feels to Work Here”: Using Photography to Research Organizational Aesthetics’, Ephemera-Critical Dialogues on Organization , Vol 2, No 3:224–245