Empowerment, stress and satisfaction: an exploratory study of a call centre

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

Volumn 24, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 131-140

  Holdsworth, Lynn ^a   Cartwright, Susan ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Call centres; Empowerment; Job satisfaction; Stress

Indexed keywords

EID: 84986085516     PISSN: 01437739     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/01437730310469552     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. Amick, B.C. III and Smith, M.J. (1992), “Stress, computer-based work monitoring and measurement systems: a conceptual overview”, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 6-16.
2. Applebaum, S.H. and Honeggar, K. (1998), “Empowerment: a contrasting overview of organizations in general and nursing in particular – an examination of organizational factors, managerial behaviours, job designs and structural power”, Empowerment in Organizations, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 29-50.
3. Best Practices (2000), Managing World-Class Call Centers: Site Findings, available at: www.BenchmarkingReports.com (accessed 8 January 2001).
4. Conger, J.A. and Kanungo, R.N. (1988), “The empowerment process: integrating theory and practice”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 471-482.
5. Cooper, C.L., Sloan, S.J. and Williams, S. (1988), Occupational Stress Indicator: Management Guide, Hodder and Stoughton, London.
6. Datamonitor (1998), Call Centres in Europe; Sizing by Call Centres and Agent Position in 13 European Countries, Datamonitor, London.
7. Deloitte Touche Consulting Group (1999), Call Centre Agent Report: A Survey on Profit and Productivity, Deloitte Touche, Melbourne.
8. DiTecco, D., Cwitco, G., Arsenault, A. and Andre, M. (1992), “Operator stress and monitoring practices”, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 29-34.
9. Holman, D. and Fernie, S. (2000), “Can I help you? Call centres and job satisfaction”, Centrepiece, London School of Economics.
10. Ivancevich, J.M. and Matteson, M.T. (1980), Stress and Work, Scott, Foresman and Co, Glenview, IL.
11. Johnson, J.V. (1997), “Empowerment in future worklife”, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, Vol. 23 No.4, pp. 23-27.
12. Kinnie, N., Hutchinson, S. and Purcell, J. (2000), “‘Fun and surveillance’: the paradox of high commitment management in call centres”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 967-985.
13. Korcynski, M. (2001), “The contradictions of service work”, in Ed. Sturdy, A., Ed. Gruglis, I. and Ed. Willmott, H. (Eds), Customer Service: Empowerment and Entrapment, Palgrave, Hampshire.
14. Liden, R.C. and Tewksbury, T.W. (1995), “Empowerment and work teams”, in Ed. Ferris, G.R., Ed. Rosen, S.D. and Ed. Barnum, D.T. (Eds), Handbook of Human Resources Management, Blackwell, Oxford.
15. Liden, R.C., Wayne, S.J. and Sparrowe, R.T. (2000), “An examination of the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relations between the job, interpersonal relationships, and work outcomes”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 85 No. 3, pp. 407-416.
16. Macher, K. (1988), “Empowerment and bureaucracy”, Training and Development Journal, Vol. 42 No. 9, pp. 41-45.
17. (The) Merchants Group (1997), The Call Centre Benchmarking Report, The Merchants Group Ltd, Milton Keynes.
18. Quinn, R.E. and Spreitzer, G.M. (1997), “The road to empowerment: seven questions every leader should consider”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 37-49.
19. Ripley, R.E. and Ripley, M.J. (1993), “Empowering management in innovative organizations in the 1990s: part 1”, Empowerment in Organizations, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 29-40.
20. Siegall, M. and Gardner, S. (2000), “Contextual factors of psychological empowerment”, Personnel Review, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 703-722.
21. Smith, M.J., Carayon, P., Sanders, K.J., Lim, S-Y. and LeGrande, D. (1992), “Employee stress and health complaints in jobs with and without electronic performance monitoring”, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 17-27.
22. Spreitzer, G.M. (1995), “Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimensions, measurement, and validation”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38 No. 5, pp. 1442-1465.
23. Spreitzer, G.M. (1996), “Social structural characteristics of psychological empowerment”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 483-505.
24. Spreitzer, G.M., Kizilos, M.A. and Nason, S.W. (1997), “A multidimensional analysis of the relationship between psychological empowerment, and effectiveness, satisfaction, and strain”, Journal of Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 679-705.
25. Sulkin, A. (1994), “Empowering call centre agent”, Business Communications Review, Vol. 24 No. 12, pp. 20-23.
26. Thomas, K.W. and Tymon, W.G. Jr (1994), “Does empowerment always work; understanding the role of intrinsic motivation and personal interpretation”, Journal of Management Systems, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 1-13.
27. Thomas, K.W. and Velthouse, B.A. (1990), “Cognitive elements of empowerment: an ‘interpretive’ model of intrinsic task motivation”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 666-681.
28. Thomson, D. (2001), “Power to the people”, Call Centre Focus, Vol. 7 No. 10, pp. 24-28.