Depersonalized Bullying: A Study of Indian Call-Centre Agents - Report Example

Case Study - Depersonalized bullying: A study of Indian call-centre agents Table of Contents Introduction 3 Introduction to the case 4 Analysis of the article 5 Actual scenario 5 Implementation of critical management theory 7 Conclusion 8 Reference List 9 Introduction There is a considerable relevance of critical management studies in the contemporary business environment. Critical management studies give rise to various management theories that serve as a guidance tool for managers whose fundamental responsibility is to transform management practices drastically. The general foundation is based upon a deep scepticism associated with moral defensibility as well as ecological and social sustainability of existing types of organization and management. It is quite remarkable to know that the underlying motivation behind the introduction of critical management studies is not personal failures of individual managers and poor management of particular organizations, but cases of social injustice and environmental destructiveness of wider economic and social systems. The cases of social injustice and environmental destructiveness are outcomes of inadequate organizational management techniques. In this paper the researcher caters to review critical management studies and the ways in which critical management theories are used as management tool and applied in organizations in the post modern world. The study will be done in accordance with a paper published by D’Cruz and Noronha (2003) titled “Experiencing depersonalized bullying: a study of Indian call-centre agents.” In order to be able to do so, it is imperative for the author to establish a premise explaining the aspects and dimensions of critical management studies. The theories associated with critical management studies have often been applied in organization in the post modern society in order to avoid event of social injustice and environmental destructiveness. Critical management studies involve an enhanced understanding of the critiques of management and organization. The application of critical management studies in an organization is highly relevant as it enables managers to do a thorough assessment of political social administration within the organization. In addition, critical management theories are also used by managers and organizational leaders to tackle several issues and the theories also allow the management to converts these issues into benefits for the organization. Critical management study is a recognized standpoint in certain parts of the world and followed predominantly but not exclusively (Grey and Willmott, 2005). Although many corporations follow critical management study, but the theories are not widely circulated (Ozcan, 2012). Organizational management are usually taught effective tactics and strategies that can be directed towards achieving a two-fold objective; first is to enhance productivity of the organization and second is to have a greater control over subordinates. Sometimes those tactics prove to be successful and in some cases those theories fail to achieve the expected objective. In an event of such a failure, the management techniques that led to such an outcome are questioned by world leaders as well as academics. This called for the need to introduce a method that would cater to take a critical view point of organizational management techniques/tactics in order to highlight the loopholes and inadequacies that prevail in those tactics in front of organizations. Organizations can then pay attention to the critical points highlighted within the theories and make changes in their tactics and strategies accordingly (Grice and Humphries, 1997). Not only does critical management enable organizations to implement appropriate management techniques but also allows them to keep check over social and moral injustice taking place within the organization. Business consultants have been seen imparting training as well as consultancy services to managerial boards regarding effective and efficient management techniques in accordance with the inferences drawn from critical management studies. Critical management studies have a broad interlink with intellectual streams and movements which enable organizational managers to be more effective in terms of their decision making capability. Besides that it also allows them to create a flexible work environment that gives equal opportunity to each and every organizational member to attain all round development, keeping away any scope of biasness and social injustice (Ozcan, 2012). Critical theory has had a considerable influence over the development of critical management studies than other associative theoretical underpinnings like post-structuralism, labour process theory and critical realism. Critical theory can be defined as a “socio- philosophical school of thought which is part of the tradition of the enlightenment” (Scherer, 2009, p. 2). The significance of critical theory lies in the fact that it caters to examine social conditions within an organization with the underlying aim of criticizing the unfair use of authority and power. Thus, the fundamental motivation behind the introduction of critical theory is to bring about a change in social tradition followed within institutions in order to set human beings free from subordination, suppression and dependency. Contrasting to the conventional approaches taken towards social theories which simply strives to clarify and understand the social status quo, Critical theory is more development oriented taking into account the need for forming a more rationale, just and humane society. This case study also caters to analyze the effectiveness of critical theory and critical management studies which are or can be implemented by organizations in the contemporary business world in order to resolve problems (Grey and Willmott, 2005). Introduction to the case The article titled “Experiencing depersonalized bullying: a study of Indian call-centre agents” has been written by D’Cruz and Noronha (2003) that utilizes the idea of depersonalized bullying in order to provide clarifications regarding the ways in which employees work in call centres (mainly in Bangalore in Mumbai) experience subordination and oppression. The distinctiveness of such a bullying regime can be associated with the service level agreement that exists between the employers and their clients which forms a key determinant of organizational practices. The professional identities achieved by call centre employee as well as the material gains that they obtain are the obvious reasons behind their acceptance of the difficult working conditions. Alongside explaining different aspects and dimensions of depersonalized bullying, the article also caters to highlight the vital role of capital labour relations in workplace bullying. By this way the authors were able to develop a politicized and contextualized understanding of the situations that exist in Indian call centres. In accordance with this study the researcher will cater to highlight the unfair management practices that are done in Indian call centres and their resultant implications. By doing so, the researcher will be able to gain a holistic view of depersonalized bullying and the reasons which lead to such an environment. Having done this, the researcher will be able to justify the implementation of critical theories in order to resolve such problems. Analysis of the article Actual scenario The cases of workplace bullying have continued to attract considerable attention of research scholars working in the field of mainstream management over the past few years. This is largely because of the consistently increasing evidences of depersonalized bullying taking place in organizations. The continuous augmentation of such events has been a big concern for Human resource managers and other organizational senior representatives. That is why research scholars have consistently pursued their objective of studying various natures of depersonalized bullying in workplace in order to set forth the loopholes that exist in organizational management techniques. By doing so, the researchers aim to bring forth the changes that can be adopted by managers in organizations in order to prevent the occurrences of such issues. The article by D’Cruz and Noronha (2009) caters to do the same. The two academic scholars performed a phenomenological investigation of operational experiences of employees working as call centre agents in international call centres based in Mumbai and Bangalore. The researchers have conducted a thorough study of the organizational culture in Indian call centres and were able to reveal new facts about organizational etiological roles in workplace bullying. A robust analysis of the way in which a call centre works and the human resource management policies adopted within the organization played a crucial role in strengthening the researcher’s critical perspectives on the human resource policies adopted in majority of the call centres based in India. The critical perspectives developed by the authors in this particular study have pointed out a big gap between reality and rhetoric, where organizations who claim to follow soft human resource management techniques are actually using hard human resource management policies. Studies conducted by Alvesson (2001) and Bain and Taylor (2000), have revealed that although many organizations claim to be focused towards the welfare of their employees but they are actually not so focused. According to the authors organizations have been found to make false claims that they consider their employees to be valuable and that they give optimum effort in ensuring number of commitments for the benefit of their employees but in reality they are hardly concerned about the wellbeing of their employees. Similar order of management has been witnessed in the Indian call centre through the case study where employers exert very hard human resource management strategies in order to extract everything out of their employees for the money that is being paid to them. In this case the author has highlighted that interests and objectives of the organization have a greater priority than that of the individual employees. A critical review of the article by D’Cruz and Noronha (2009) pointed out that call centre employees in India are not at all unionized. Each and every organizational member has their personal interest and they are hardly bothered about the objective of the group as a whole. In majority of the cases all they are concerned about is finishing their own target. Thus this is one of the main reasons that they are willing to bully those who stand in between them and their target. According to Batt and Moynihan (2002), given the fact that there is no unionization between the employees they do not stand against the unjustified use of power and authority by senior employees or the management officials. Since the loophole lies within the managerial department, it paralyzes the entire working environment within the call centre. This is another aspect that was understood from the case study. Another aspect shown by D’Cruz and Noronha (2009) is that, employees working in call centres are paid considerably well for the qualification, skills and experience that they possess. The margin of payment is far too high when it comes in comparison with the larger labour market. In addition they are termed as professionals and are subsequently provided with apparently attractive designations in order to manipulate their feelings, enhance their self respect and self esteem (Noronha and D’Cruz, 2009). In addition, call centre mangers adopt such a strategy in order to make their agents feel more important about the purpose of the organizations. However, all these techniques and designations become worthless when they are actually treated like regular labours by means depersonalized bullying and causing harassment (Noronha and D’Cruz, 2009). Another fundamental reason behind the call centre manager’s implementation \of the above mentioned strategy is to compel their employees in to putting their organization’s interest much before their own interests (Poster, 2007). However, in an appropriate working environment the objectives of the organization as well as that of the employees should be in complete alignment. Employees who fail to prioritize on the basis of the company’s terms; they become victims of depersonalized bullying. Cases of depersonalized bullying were identified by the researcher from the article. Depersonalized bullying occurs when call centre employees are forced to work long and considerably difficult hours. In such cases, the employees are often seen experiencing tough working situations where they also have to deal very demanding and innately harsh clients. The employees are often bullied by their superiors that are evident from the massive work target set for them. They are treated harshly by their human resource managers and are also subjected to humiliation during their work (Bain and Taylor, 2000). Organizational leaders and managers in such an environment follow an authoritarian leadership style where emphasis is given strongly over productivity and no concern is shown towards the welfare of the employees. That is why call centre agents who fail to meet their target are not only bullied by their managers and superiors but also by their peers. This is particularly because of intense conditioning where the primary objective of the managers as well as the call centre employees is to satisfy the demands placed by their clients. The authors define these incidences, wherein an organization’s human resource policies, the work behaviour of superiors and managers as well as the attitude of call centre agents amalgamate to create a forceful or harsh working environment as depersonalized bullying (Ramesh, 2004). Implementation of critical management theory As defined within the article, depersonalized bullying is regular suppression, both overt and covert, of employees by structural, contextual and process associated elements of organizational plan which are implemented by managers and supervisors as and when they require. The objective of the call centre managers stimulated by intra-organizational ambitions and extra- organizational requirements, amalgamate together to measure the organizational environment. This environment in turn influences the ideologies of supervisors and managers and also affects the organizational culture. In order to fulfil the organizational objectives managers are often seen enforcing hard human resource management policies. This compels them to use their power and authority in an unjustified manner which results in depersonalized bullying of employees. In order to prevent such mismanagement critical management theories can be extensively applied in organizations. According to critical management theory, rhetoric has outshined reality in human resource management practices in the contemporary business environment. The theories take a critical standpoint on the human resource management policies adopted within call centres. They serve as a solid foundation which can be of great help to call centre mangers enabling them to improve their managerial techniques in order to establish a flexible and self sustaining work environment that allows employees to attain an all round development (Letiche, 2006). Moreover the relevance of critical management theories also lies in the fact that it can shed light on the misdoings conducted in call centres thereby enabling managers to keep a check over any such activity that gives rise to an uncanny situation. Since critical management theory takes a rather critical perspective of the strategies adopted in organizations, the theories were applied to the scenarios presented in the article by D’Cruz and Noronha (2009). After implementing the theory the researcher was able to analyze that whilst the call centre managers claim to be concerned about the welfare and benefits of their employees, the reality is actually stimulated by unfriendly economic rationalism. The theory also revealed that progressive employee practices are rarely implemented in Indian call centres and majority of these organizations adopt harsh practices in order to get the work done by the employees. The employees are subjugated in the event of failure and unionism is strictly discouraged. According to the critical management theory human resource management practitioners behave as wolves however they pose as a sheep. Soft human resource management techniques are implemented in order to work on the identity and self esteem of employees however, they are only done in order to camouflage the harsh reality of workplace in call centres (Ozcan, 2010). In such an environment power and authority is not equally shared among employees and remain largely at the discretion of the employers, managers and supervisors. According to critical management theories it is imperative for organizational managers to prevent the unjust use of authority and power. Critical management theories when implemented as guidance tool by organizational remembers can work very effectively by pinpointing the loopholes that lie within the organizational management strategies and techniques. They enable organizations to understand the needs and expectations of their employees which in turn allow them to give optimum effort to align the same with the needs and demands of the organization. Critical management theory by criticizing the odd management techniques also calls for the necessity for organizations in the contemporary business environment to follow team or sound style of leadership where equal emphasis is led towards both productivity and welfare of employees (Zeidan, 2009). In context of the call centres that has been analyzed in this particular study, it can be said that critical management theories can be used as an assistance tool in order to prevent any form of interpersonal or depersonalized bullying. The theories will serve as a foundation that will allow managers to establish a friendly working environment whereby each and every call centre agent can find a meaning and purpose of the work that they are doing. Moreover, the application of such theories will also be of great help for the employees to deal with their clients effectively and efficiently that will reduce any form of intense conditioning thereby reducing the level of stress. The reduction in the level of stress will lead to a minimization in the degree of bullying (D’Cruz and Noronha, 2013). The theory will also enable the human resource management officials to adopt proper management techniques where they will be able to so enhanced commitment for their employees and return they will also be able to enhance the level of engagement of their employees. According to the labour process theory, the exhibition of negative behaviour is the fundamental factor that differentiates depersonalized bullying from usual nature of capitalist oppression. The relevance of critical management lies in the fact that its application can abolish interpersonal, depersonalized and capitalist oppression (Styhre, 2007). Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that the application of critical management theory is imperative not only for call centre managers but also managers of each and every organizations all over the world. Not all management techniques are perfect, thus critical management theory can be implemented by organizations operating in the contemporary business environment to identify the inadequacies and loopholes that exist in their strategies and make every possible effort to bring about appropriate modifications in their strategies. Critical management theories have been used rigorously by organizations based all over the world in order to prevent social and moral injustice and environmental destructives and the theories have continued to proves its mettle by enabling organizations to achieve this objective. Reference List Alvesson, M., 2001. Knowledge work: Ambiguity, image and identity. Human Relations, 54, pp. 863-866. Bain, P. and Taylor, P., 2000. Entrapped by the ‘electronic panopticon’? Worker resistance in the call centre. New Technology, Work and Employment, 15(1), pp. 2-18. Batt, R. and Moynihan, L., 2002. The viability of alternative call centre production models. Human Resource Management Journal, 12(4), pp. 14-34. D’Cruz, P. and Noranha, E., 2009. Experiencing depersonalised bullying: a study of Indian call-centre agents. Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 3(1), pp. 26-46. DCruz, P. and Noronha, E., 2013. Breathers, Releases, Outlets and Pauses: Employee Resistance in the Context of Depersonalized Bullying. Qualitative Report, 18(36), pp. 1-24. Grey, C. and Willmott, H., 2005. Critical Management Studies: A Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Grice, S. and Humphries, M., 1997. Critical management studies in postmodernity: oxymorons in outer space? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10(5), pp. 412-425. Letiche, H., 2006. Critical management studies (not) in The Netherlands. Critical perspectives on international business, 2(3), pp. 170-182. Noronha, E. and DCruz, P., 2009. Employee identity in Indian call centres: the notion of professionalism. Delhi: SAGE Publications India. Ozcan, K., 2012. From the Frankfurt school to business schools: Critical management studies in Turkey. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 20(1), pp. 107-123. Poster, W. R., 2007. Whos On the Line? 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