Abstract
With the objective of advancing the field of depersonalized bullying at work, two empirical enquiries were undertaken in India. Both studies were rooted in van Manen’s (1998) hermeneutic phenomenology, relied on conversational interviews and included sententious and selective thematic analyses. Study I, looking at targets’ response to depersonalized bullying, explored the experiences of agents working in India’s international-facing call centres. Describing their work environments as oppressive, participants’ narratives highlighted the presence of depersonalized bullying as their superiors resorted to the impersonal and involuntary use of abuse and hostility to realize organizational goals. Participants’ ambivalent reaction to the situation indicated that while they simultaneously valued their professional identity and material returns and rued their oppressive organizational context, they recognized that their gains were limited by but inextricably linked to workplace demands. Participants coped by emphasizing positive aspects of their experiences to reduce their misgivings. Study II, investigating bullies’ response to depersonalized bullying, examined the experiences of managers implementing a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) as part of an organizational change endeavour. Participants whose performance criteria were tied into the successful execution of the VRS reported having no choice but to adopt intimidating and aggressive tactics uniformly across employees as they carried out their task. This engagement with depersonalized bullying precipitated ambivalence in participants. Securing their own position while making others give up theirs through harsh and forceful measures that departed from the earlier congenial organizational culture unleashed professional and personal dilemmas in participants. Nonetheless, being able to contribute to organizational continuity assuaged their discomfort to some extent.
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Notes
- 1.
The call centre industry in India is located within the country’s ITES-BPO sector which encompasses the offshoring and outsourcing of such processes that can be enabled with information technology (IT). This sector has demonstrated impressive and consistent growth over time, even in spite of the 2008–2009 financial crisis. ITES-BPO export revenues grew from US$ 9.9 billion in 2007–2008 to US$ 17.8 billion in 2012–2013 and domestic revenues increased from Rs. (Indian rupees) 88.7 billion in 2008–2009 to Rs. 167 billion in 2012–2013 (NASSCOM [National Association of Software and Services Companies] 2013). Offshored services are provided by international-facing Indian and foreign MNCs (multinational corporations) who serve overseas clients and customers located in developed countries especially the USA and the UK whereas outsourced services are provided by domestic organizations who serve local clients and customers (NASSCOM 2013). India remains the pre-eminent global destination for offshored business activities, offering an unparalleled cost savings advantage (NASSCOM 2013). The availability of quality talent at cost effective rates, focus on optimal cost efficiency and client-centricity, creation of a supportive ecosystem and maintenance of a scalable and secure environment form central pillars of India’s offshoring value proposition (NASSCOM 2013). Though higher-end services and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) are part of the Indian ITES-BPO industry, the main focus remains lower-end services embodying the mass-customized model (Noronha and D’Cruz 2012), operationalized through call centres and back offices (NASSCOM 2013). India’s ITES-BPO workforce was calculated at 917,000 for international-facing jobs and 640,000 for domestic jobs (in the latter case, the figure includes IT and ITES-BPO jobs) in 2012–2013 (NASSCOM 2013), the industry having become a significant avenue for employment especially for the country’s youth (NASSCOM 2013). Despite ITES-BPO employees being covered by several labour laws as promulgated in various Indian states as well as in central legislations, the popular view held in Indian society (and maintained and promoted by ITES-BPO employers, aided by government apathy) is that Indian labour legislation and related institutional measures do not apply here (D’Cruz and Noronha 2010c). On the contrary, the image of the workforce in this sector is that of white-collared professionals (Noronha and D’Cruz 2009). As Taylor and Bain (2005) assert, India remains attractive to companies who wish to capitalize on the possibilities for flexible labour utilization and the absence of trade unions in the Indian ITES-BPO industry facilitates this.
- 2.
Using a conversion rate of Rs. 40 = US$ 1.00, participants’ average monthly salary is equal to about US$ 320. With the monthly expenses for a middle class existence being approximately US$ 280 in cities such as Bangalore and Mumbai, participants expressed great satisfaction with their salaries.
- 3.
The core theme that portrayed the basic structure of agents’ experiences was ‘being professional’. The notion of professionalism embraced agents’ identity, altering their self-concept and enhancing their self-esteem. According to agents, professionals possess superior cognitive abilities, advanced qualifications and a sense of responsibility and commitment to work. They prioritize work over personal needs and inclinations, behaving in a dignified and restrained manner and performing optimally and rationally while on the job. Professionals comply with job and organizational requirements, absorbing emergent strain. Under such circumstances, not only do agents perceive material gains accruing from their job as consistent with the notion of professionalism but also transactional psychological contracts of employment as means of discipline are similarly justified. Though resistance is displayed by some agents a few times, this is described as a temporary outlet to ease job-related strain, coexisting with professional identity—it is not an indicator of anti-work or anti-employer sentiment. Indeed, agents’ professional identity precludes engagement with collectivization attempts which are seen both as discrepant with the fundamental features of professionalism and as redundant in instances where employers protect employee interests.
- 4.
Notwithstanding the stereotype that Indian culture is collectivist, humanist and spiritual, the co-occurrence of individualism, personalized and identity-based interactions and materialism bring in complexity. In spite of their other-oriented and other-worldly stances, Indians pursue individual interests, favour hierarchical and in-group relationships linked to categories such as ethnicity, gender, caste, class, region, religion, age, ordinal position, etc., and value power, status, success and security. Religious beliefs, social contagion and a resource poor environment account for these contradictory dynamics (see Beteille 2006; Kakar and Kakar 2007; Sinha 2008).
- 5.
It is important to acknowledge that participants are not professional by training or task. Their simplified, standardized and routinized jobs do not entail expertise, autonomy and licensing and are not characterized by authority, influence, regulation and a code of ethics, all of which are hallmarks of true professions (Abbott 1988; Freidson 1983; Hughes 1963). Yet, the notion of professionalism is invoked by employers as a means of socioideological control (Evetts 2003; Fournier 1999). Harnessing the prized attributes of professionalism which cohere with the perceived white-collared nature of call centre work and which are highly rated in India’s materialistic society, employers engage this notion to regulate employee identity and circumscribe employee behaviour.
- 6.
Insights into the core theme of ‘being professional’ were deepened through in-depth interviews conducted with 40 call centre managers in Bangalore and Mumbai, all employed with international-facing call centre organizations. Transcripts, derived from the interview data (that were audio-recorded with permission), were analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s (1994) techniques and major themes (through related categories, patterns, sub-themes and themes) were developed and interpretations were made (Patton 1990). Managerial perspectives supported the core theme, showing that the notion of professionalism was used a tool to rein employee identity within the ambit of socioideological control in order to ensure employee conformity and fulfil organizational goals.
- 7.
The reader must note the distinction between clients and customers. Clients are entities seeking services from India-based/Indian service providers while customers are the clients’ service recipients who by virtue of being served by the agents/employees of the service provider are also referred to by the latter as customers.
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D’Cruz, P. (2015). Experiencing Depersonalized Bullying at Work. In: Depersonalized Bullying at Work. SpringerBriefs in Psychology. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2044-2_3
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