Smiling Down the Line : : Info-Service Work in the Global Economy / / Bob Russell.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Russell, Bob,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.)

Just as textile mills and automotive assembly plants have symbolized previous economic eras, the call centre stands as a potent reminder of the importance of information in contemporary economies. Bob Russell's Smiling Down the Line theorizes call centre work as info-service employment and looks at the effects of ever-changing technologies on service work, its associated skills, and the ways in which it is managed. Russell also considers globalization and contemporary managerial practices as centres are outsourced to poorer countries such as India and as new forms of management are introduced, refined, and discarded.Invoking extensive labour force surveys and interviews from Australia and India, Russell examines employee representation, work intensity, stress, emotional labour, and job skills in the call centre work environment. The cross-national approach of Smiling Down the Line highlights the effects of globalization and scrutinizes the similarities and differences that exist in info-service work between different industries and in different countries.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Tables and Figures -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgments -- 1. New Workplaces: The Call Centre -- 2. The Call-Centre Case Studies -- 3. Making a New Occupation -- 4. The Call-Centre Labour Process (1): The Division of Labour, Work Effort, and Job Skill -- 5. The Call-Centre Labour Process (2): Technological Selection and the Means of Communication in Info-Service Work -- 6. HRM and Call Centres: Culture and Identities -- 7. Globalizing Info-Service Work: Outsourcing to India -- 8. Discontent, Resistance, and Organizing in Info-Service Work -- 9. Concluding Refl ections -- Notes -- References -- Index -- Backmatter