The third way: the renewal of social democracy

For those who teach methodology within social science departments, notably sociology, the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods presents an ongoing problem. Recent developments in the philosophy of science have argued that the two traditions should not have a separate-but-equal status, and should instead interact. By reviewing three positions about this issue ('empiricist', constructionist, and realist) the chapter offers a review of the sociological approach now known as triangulation. The chapter refers to several empirical examples that illustrate the realist position and its strengths. The conclusion of the chapter is a more abstract review of the debate over pluralism in methodology. Triangulation, I argue, is not aimed merely at validation but at deepening and widening one's understanding. As a research aim, this one can be achieved either by a person or by a research team or group. Triangulation and pluralism both tend to support interdisciplinary research rather than a strongly bounded discipline of sociology. (For a copy of this book, you may contact Causeway Press on 01695 576048, email causeway.press@btinternet.com, ISBN 1902796829.)

Triangulation in Social Research: : Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Can Really Be Mixed

Call centers are an increasingly important part of today's business world, employing millions of agents across the globe and serving as a primary customer-facing channel for firms in many different industries. Call centers have been a fertile area for operations management researchers in several domains, including forecasting, capacity planning, queueing, and personnel scheduling. In addition, as telecommunications and information technology have advanced over the past several years, the operational challenges faced by call center managers have become more complicated. Issues associated with human resources management, sales, and marketing have also become increasingly relevant to call center operations and associated academic research.

In this paper, we provide a survey of the recent literature on call center operations management. Along with traditional research areas, we pay special attention to new management challenges that have been caused by emerging technologies, to behavioral issues associated with both call center agents and customers, and to the interface between call center operations and sales and marketing. We identify a handful of broad themes for future investigation while also pointing out several very specific research opportunities.

/pdf/the-modern-call-center-a-multi-disciplinary-perspective-on-2kcrgkbqth.pdf

The Modern Call Center: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective on Operations Management Research

This essay aims to “materialize” organizational communication in three senses. First, we seek to make the field of study bearing this name more tangible for North American management scholars, such that recognition and engagement become common. To do so, we trace the development of the field’s major contribution thus far: the communication‐as‐constitutive principle, which highlights how communication generates defining realities of organizational life, such as culture, power, networks, and the structure–agency relation. Second, we argue that this promising contribution cannot easily find traction in management studies until it becomes “materialized” in another sense: that is, accountable to the materiality evident in organizational objects, sites, and bodies. By synthesizing current moves in this direction, we establish the basis for sustained exchange between management studies and the communication‐as‐constitutive model. Third, we demonstrate how these conceptual developments can “materialize” ...

1 Constitutional Amendments: “Materializing” Organizational Communication

Buying time: The delayed crisis of democratic capitalism

Despite the integration of telephone and VDU technologies, call centres are not uniform in terms of work organization. It is suggested that diversity can best be understood by reference to a range of quantitative and qualitative characteristics. Consequently, perspectives that treat all call centres as if they were the same hybrids of customization and routinization are rejected, along with over-optimistic interpretations of labour control over work organization. Empirical evidence from nine 'workflows' in two call centres - an established financial sector organization and a rapidly growing outsourced operation - provide excellent grounds for an examination of similarity and difference. A picture emerges of workflows which are volume-driven and routinized, involving low levels of employee discretion, and, by contrast, those less dominated by quantitative criteria offering higher levels of operator discretion and an emphasis on the quality of customer service. Despite these distinctions, larger numbers of operators report an experience of work which is driven by quantitative imperatives, most manifest in the pervasive implementation of targets. Targets are also used increasingly to assess and mould the quality of the call centre operator's interaction with the customer. Overall, the evidence casts doubt on the optimistic perspective that call centre work, in time, will come to resemble 'knowledge work'.

Work Organization, Control and the Experience of Work in Call Centres

The paper locates the rise of the call centre within the context of the development of Taylorist methods and technological change in office work in general. Managerial utilisation of targets to impose and measure employees' quantitative and qualitative performance is analysed in four case-study organisations. The paper concludes that call centre work reflects a pardigmic re-configuration of customer servicing operations, and that the continuing application of Taylorist methods appears likely.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/NTWE103.pdf?abstractid=371416&mirid=1&type=2

Taylorism, Targets and the Pursuit of Quantity and Quality by Call Centre Management

The paper locates the rise of the call centre within the context of the development of Taylorist methods and technological change in office work in general. Managerial utilisation of targets to impose and measure employees’ quantitative and qualitative performance is analysed in four case–study organisations. The paper concludes that call centre work reflects a pardigmic re–configuration of customer servicing operations, and that the continuing application of Taylorist methods appears likely.

/pdf/taylorism-targets-and-the-pursuit-of-quantity-and-quality-by-45gailihld.pdf

Taylorism, targets and the pursuit of quantity and quality by call centre management

This article starts from the premise that the way that policy is made plays an important role in how it is subsequently received. It is argued here that New Labour asylum policy and the symbols and rhetoric that accompanied policy-making, constructed asylum seekers as a threat. This construction problematized immigration generally and created a sense of crisis within the policy field. This assumed crisis then acted to encourage hostility within the general population. The hostile political environment then raises significant problems in terms of integration for all migrant groups, but particularly for asylum seekers and refugees. The article contextualizes these developments and locates cohesion and integration ‘problems’ within the policy-making processes of the Government.

/pdf/when-policy-creates-politics-the-problematizing-of-qwe0opsedg.pdf

When Policy Creates Politics: the Problematizing of Immigration and the Consequences for Refugee Integration in the UK

Western states are concerned about maintaining and securing national borders. Across Europe, one response has been to implement restrictive asylum regimes that prevent ‘bogus’ applicants and grant refuge only to the ‘deserving’. Alongside these concerns, states are eager to encourage socially cohesive communities. One recent tool adopted by the UK government has been citizenship policy, including English language/life in the UK tests and citizenship ceremonies. By drawing upon in-depth interviews with refugees in Scotland (UK), this paper explores the impact of the current asylum regime and citizenship policies from the perspective of individual voices that are often absent from wider debates. It explores how temporary refugee status impacts upon individuals' everyday lives including employment and education, and impacts upon children. The data also question the reasons for refugees deciding to become British citizens (or not) and highlight instrumental reasons alongside less tangible factors such as gain...

/pdf/seeking-safety-beyond-refuge-the-impact-of-immigration-and-br16e2zkxi.pdf

Gareth Mulvey

Papers

Work Organization, Control and the Experience of Work in Call Centres

Taylorism, Targets and the Pursuit of Quantity and Quality by Call Centre Management

Taylorism, targets and the pursuit of quantity and quality by call centre management

When Policy Creates Politics: the Problematizing of Immigration and the Consequences for Refugee Integration in the UK

Seeking Safety beyond Refuge: The Impact of Immigration and Citizenship Policy upon Refugees in the UK