The importance of being 'Indian': Identity centrality and work outcomes in an off-shored call center in India

Human Relations

Volumn 61, Issue 11, 2008, Pages 1499-1530

  Das, Diya ^a   Dharwadkar, Ravi ^b   Brandes, Pamela ^c  

^a BRYANT UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Syracuse University

^c Department of Management ^*

Author keywords

Comparative and cross cultural HRM; Comparative and cross cultural management; Emotional labor; Indian call centers; Job employee attitudes; Stress

Indexed keywords

EID: 53449090510     PISSN: 00187267     EISSN: 1741282X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0018726708096636     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Abrams, D. & Randsley De Moura, G. Organizational identification: Psychological anchorage and turnover. In M.A. Hogg & D.J. Terry (Eds), Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, 2001, pp. 131-48.
2. Agle, B.R. & Van Buren, H.J. God and Mammon: The modern relationship. Business Ethics Quarterly, 1999, 9 (4). 563-82.
3. Aihlon-Souday, G. & Kunda, G. The local selves of global workers: The social construction of national identity in the face of organizational globalization. Organization Studies, 2003, 24 (7). 1073-96.
4. Aneesh, A. Virtual immigration: The programming of globalization. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006.
5. Ashforth, B.E. Role transitions in organizational life: An identity-based perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.
6. Ashforth, B.E. & Humphrey, R.H. Emotional labor in service roles: The influence of identity. Academy of Management Review, 1993, 18, 88-115.
7. Barker, G. Factories of the future. The Age, 24 February 1998.
8. Batt, R. & Moynihan, L. The viability of alternative call center production models. Human Resource Management Journal, 2002, 12 (4). 14-34.
9. Batt, R. & Moynihan, L. Human resource management, service quality, and economic performance in call centers. Working Paper No. 04-16, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, ILR School, Cornell University, 2004 (under review Management Science).
10. Batt, R., Doellgast, V. & Kwon, H. Service management and employment systems in U.S. and Indian call centers. In S. Collins & L. Brainard (Eds), Brookings Trade Forum 2005: Offshoring white-collar work - the issues and implications. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2005.
11. Baumeister, R.F. Identity: Cultural change and the struggle for self. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
12. Brandes, P. & Das, D. Locating behavioral cynicism at work: Construct issues and performance implications. In P. Perrewe & D. Ganster (Eds), Research in occupational stress and well being, Vol. 5. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI, 2005, pp. 233-66.
13. Breakwell, G.M. Coping with threatened identities. London: Methuen, 1986.
14. Brendan, P., Tan, T. & Julian, C. The theoretical underpinning of emotional dissonance: A framework and analysis of propositions. Journal of Services Marketing, 2006, 20 (8). 471-8.
15. Brickson, S. The impact of identity orientation on individual and organizational outcomes in demographically diverse settings. Academy of Management Review, 2000, 25 (1). 82-101.
16. Carbado, D. & Gulati, G.M. Working identity. Cornell Law Review, 2000, 85, 1260-308.
17. Carmona, C., Buunk, A.P., Peiro, J.M., Rodriguez, I. & Bravo, M.J. Do social comparison and coping styles play a role in the development of burnout? Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2006, 79 (1). 85-100.
18. Castells, M. The information age: Economy, society and culture: The power of identity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
19. Chattopadhyay, P., Tluchowska, M. & George, E. Identifying the in-group: A closer look at the influence of demographic dissimilarity on employee social identity. Academy of Management Review, 2004, 29 (2). 180-202.
20. Cole, M.S. & Bruch, H. Organizational identity strength, identification, and commitment and their relationships to turnover intention: Does organizational hierarchy matter? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2006, 27 (5). 585-605.
21. Das, D. & Dharwadkar, R. Cultural mimicry and hybridity: On the work of identity in international call centers in India. Presented at the Academy of Management Conference, 2006.
22. Day, N. Religious identity in the workplace. Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta, GA, 2006.
23. Deery, S. & Kinnie, N. Introduction: The nature of management of call center work. In S. Deery & N. Kinnie (Eds), Call centers and human resource management. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 1-24.
24. Deluga, R.J. Leader-member exchange quality and effectiveness ratings: The role of subordinate-supervisor conscientiousness similarity. Group and Organization Management, 1998, 23, 189-216.
25. Devos, T. & Banaji, M.R. American = white? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005, 88 (3). 447-66.
26. Dossani, R. & Kenney, M. Went for cost, stayed for quality? Moving back office to India. Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2003, available online at: [ http://aparc.standford.edu ].
27. Dukerich, J.M., Golden, B.R. & Shortell, S.M. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The impact of organizational identification, identity and image on the cooperative behaviors of physicians. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2002, 47, 507-34.
28. Dutton, J.E. & Dukerich, J.M. Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 1991, 34, 517-54.
29. Ellemers, N. & Rink, F. Identity in work groups: The beneficial and detrimental consequences of multiple identities and group normans for collaboration and group performance. Advances In Group Processes, 2005, 22, 1-41.
30. Ellemers, N., Spears, R. & Doosje, B. Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 2002, 53, 161-86.
31. Elsbach, K.D. & Kramer, R.M. Members' responses to organizational identity threats: Encountering and countering the business week rankings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1996, 41, 442-76.
32. Ethier, K.A. & Deaux, K. Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1994, 67, 243-51.
33. Feather, N.T. & Rauter, K.A. Organizational citizenship behaviors in relation to job status, job insecurity, organizational commitment and identification, job satisfaction and work values. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2004, 77 (1). 81-4.
34. Fernie, S. & Metcalf, D. (Not) hanging on the telephone: Payment systems in the new sweatshops. Discussion paper no. 390, Center for Economic Performance, 1998.
35. Frenkel, S., Korczynski, M., Shire, K. & Tam, M. Beyond bureaucracy: Work organization in call centers. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1998, 9 (6). 957-79.
36. Friedman, T.L. The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 2005.
37. Garson, B. The electronic sweatshop: How computers are transforming the office of the future into the factory of the past. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.
38. George, E. & Chattopadhyay, P. One foot in each camp: The dual identification of contract workers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2005, 50, 68-99.
39. Giddens, A. Modernity and self identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991.
40. Haslam, A. & Reicher, S. Stressing the group: Social identity and the unfolding dynamics of responses to stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2006, 91 (5). 1037-44.
41. Herriot, P. & Scott-Jackson, W. Globalization, social identities and employment. British Journal of Management, 2002, 13, 249-57.
42. Holman, D., Batt, R. & Holtgrewe, U. The global call center report: International perspectives on management and employment, 2007, available online at: [ www.globalcallcenter.org ].
43. Ibarra, H. Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1999, 44, 764-91.
44. Johnson, M.D., Moregeson, F.P., Ilgen, D.R., Meyer, C.J. & Lloyd, J.W. Multiple professional identities: Examining differences in identification across work-related targets. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2006, 91 (2). 498-506.
45. Keller, R.T. The role of performance and absenteeism in the prediction of turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 1984, 27, 176-83.
46. Kreiner, G.E., Hollensbe, E.C. & Sheep, M.L. Where is the 'me' among the 'we'? Identity work and the search for optimal balance. Academy of Management Journal, 2006, 49 (5). 1031-57.
47. Layman, G.C. Religion and political behavior in the United States. Public Opinion Quarterly, 1997, 61, 288-316.
48. Lehrer, E.L. & Chiswick, C.U. Religion as a determinant of marital stability. Demography, 1993, 30, 385-404.
49. Mael, F. & Ashforth, B.E. Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 1992, 13, 103-23.
50. Mael, F.A. & Ashforth, B.E. Loyal from day one: Biodata, organizational identification, and turnover among newcomers. Personnel Psychology, 1995, 48, 309-33.
51. Maltby, J. Personality dimensions of religious orientation. Journal of Psychology, 1999, 133, 631-40.
52. Maslach, C., Jackson, S.E. & Leiter, M.P. Maslach Burnout Inventory manual, 3 rd edn. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1996.
53. McMillin, D. Outsourcing identities: Call centres and cultural transformation in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 21 January 2006.
54. Meyer, J.P., Becker, T.E. & Van Dick, R. Social identities and commitments at work: Toward an integrative model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2006, 27 (5). 65-83.
55. Michener, H.A. & DeLameter, J.D. Social psychology, 3 rd edn. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College, 1994.
56. Mirchandani, K. Practices of global capital: Gaps, cracks and ironies in transnational call centers in India. Global Networks, 2004, 4 (4). 355-73.
57. Moreland, R.L. & Levine, J.M. Newcomers and oldtimers in small groups. In Psychology of group influence, 2 nd edn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989, pp. 142-86.
58. Nandy, A. Time warps: Silent and evasive pasts in Indian politics and religion. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2002.
59. Nunnally, J. Introduction to psychological measurement. New York: McGraw Hill, 1970.
60. Pargament, K.I. The bitter and the sweet: An evaluation of the costs and benefits of religiousness. Psychological Inquiry, 2002, 13 (3). 168-81.
61. Podsakoff, P.M. & Organ, D.W. Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 1986, 12, 531-44.
62. Pratt, M.G. To be or not to be? Central questions in organizational identification. In D.A. Whetten & P.C. Godfrey (Eds), Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1998, pp. 171-207.
63. Pratt, M.G. The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Managing identification among Amway distributors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2000, 45 (3). 456-93.
64. Pratt, M.G. Social identity dynamics in modern organizations: An organizational psychology/organizational behavior perspective. In M.A. Hogg & D.J. Terry (Eds), Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, 2001, pp. 13-30.
65. Raina, A. Speak right for a call centre job. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2004.
66. Ramesh, B. Cyber coolies in BPO: Insecuritites and vulnerabilities of non-standard work. Economic and Political Weekly, January 2004.
67. Raskin, P.M. Women, work, and family: Three studies of roles and identity among working mothers. The American Behavioral Scientist, 2006, 49 (10). 1354-82.
68. Ravishankar, M.N. & Pan, S.L. The influence of organizational identification on organizational knowledge management (KM). Omega, 2008, 36 (2). 221-34.
69. Reade, C. Dual identification in multinational corporations: Local managers and their psychological attachment to the subsidiary versus the global organization. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2001, 12, 405-24.
70. Riketta, M. Attitudinal organizational commitment and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2002, 23, 257-66.
71. Roberts, L. The nature, antecedents and consequences of social identity based impression management: Uncovering strategies for professional image construction in cases of negative stereotyping. Unpublished dissertation, 2002.
72. Roberts, L. Changing faces: Professional image construction in diverse organizational settings. Academy of Management Review, 2005, 30 (4). 685-711.
73. Rosin, H.M. & Korabik, K. Workplace variables, affective responses and intention to leave among women managers. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 1991, 64, 317-30.
74. Rotondi, T., Jr. Organizational identification and group involvement. Academy of Management Journal, 1975, 18, 892-7.
75. Schein, E. Career dynamics: Matching individual and organizational needs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1978.
76. Sellers, R.M., Smith, M., Shelton, J.N., Rowley, S.J. & Chavous, T.M. Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychological Review, 1998, 2, 18-39.
77. Senger, J. The religious manager. Academy of Management Journal, 1970, 13 (2). 179-86.
78. Singh, N., Bartikowski, B., Fassott, G., Chao, M.C.H. & Hoffmann, J.A. A cross-national analysis of global and national identity as a basis for international web site usage. American Marketing Association. Conference Proceedings, 17, 2006, p. 16.
79. Sitt, G. Diverted to Delhi. New York: Filmmakers Library, 1997.
80. Snow, D. & Anderson, L. Down on their luck: A study of homeless street people. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
81. Stangor, C., Lynch, L., Duan, C. & Glas, B. Categorization of individuals on the basis of multiple social features. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1992, 62, 207-18.
82. Stryker, S. Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin / Cummings, 1980.
83. Taylor, P. & Bain, P. India calling to faraway towns: The call center labor process and globalization. Work, Employment and Society, 2005, 19, 261-82.
84. The Economic Times. BPOs run schools to build talent pool, 25 January 2006.
85. The Hindu. Outsourcing security, 1 January 2006, available online at: [ http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2006/01/01/stories/2006010100140400.htm ].
86. Van Dick, R., Wagner, U., Stellmacher, J. & Christ, O. The utility of a broader conceptualization of organizational identification: Which aspects really matter? Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 2004, 77, 171-91.
87. Van Knippenberg, D. & Van Schie, E.C.M. Foci and correlates of organizational identification. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2000, 73, 137-47.
88. Venkatraman, N.V. Offshoring without guilt. MIT Sloan Review, Spring 2004.
89. Verma, V. More sex please, we are BPO. The Telegraph, 16 May 2006, available online at: [ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060514/asp/opinion/ story_6215232.asp ].
90. Weaver, G.R. & Agle, B.R. Religiosity and ethical behavior in organizations: A symbolic interactionist perspective. Academy of Management Review, 2002, 27 (1). 77-97.
91. Weber, M. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. London: Allen and Unwin, 1930 ( 1 st edn, 1904 -5).
92. Wellington, C.A. & Bryson, J.R. At face value? Image consultancy, emotional labor and professional work. Sociology, 2001, 35 (4). 933-46.
93. Wiesenfeld, B.M., Raghuram, S. & Garud, R. Organizational identification among virtual workers: The role of need for affiliation and perceived work-based social support. Journal of Management, 2001, 27, 213-29.