CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

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HUMAN ISSUES IN BPO AND CALL CENTER

HISTORY OF BPO

The concept of outsourcing started with Ross Perot when he founded Electronic Data Systems in

1962. EDS would tell a prospective client, "You are familiar with designing, manufacturing and

selling furniture, but we're familiar with managing information technology. We can sell you the

information technology you need, and you pay us monthly for the service with a minimum

commitment of two to ten years.

BPO is the act of transferring some of an organization's repeated non-core and core business

processes to an outside provider to achieve cost reductions while improving service quality.

Because the processes are repeated and a long-term contract is used, outsourcing goes far beyond

the use of consultants. If done well, BPO results in increasing shareholder value. The main

difference between BPO and more traditional IT outsourcing is that BPO offers companies a way

of achieving transformational outcomes much more quickly. In a typical BPO contract, a service

provider takes over a specific corporate function. Effective BPO encompasses much more than

just changing who is responsible for performing the process. In BPO, the outside provider not

only takes on the responsibility to manage the function or business process, but also re-engineers

the way the process has been traditionally done.

The next generation of Business Process Outsourcing has emerged as a priority for businesses looking to

better options in managing their application portfolios. The first wave offered low-cost, off-shore

development labor, but today firms are demanding new, less risky options for applications that are

strategic, complex, or mission-critical, while still taking cost into consideration. Outsourcing has moved

from a niche technology management tool to a mainstream strategic weapon. Business Process 2

Outsourcing leverages process driven efficiencies in terms of organizational excellence, responsiveness

& branding, financial efficiency and customer relationship. BPO is emerging as a powerful and flexible

approach that business leaders can use to achieve a wide range of tactical and strategic aims. The most

common business process that gets outsourced is call centers. Call centers and Help Desks of many

multinational and fortune 500 companies are being outsourced to low waged, English speaking

countries such as Philippines and India. Countries like India with vast IT human resources are also

attracting outsourcing from American IT/Technology companies to outsource their IT Help Desks. Many

of these help desks are state of the art with latest Help Desk software and help desk hardware with

technical savvy IT graduates behind them answering your questions.

It can be defined as the transfer of an organization's entire non-core but critical business

process/function to an external vendor who uses an IT-based service delivery. By doing so, BPO helps an

organization concentrate on its core competencies, improve efficiency, reduce cost and improve

shareholders' value. Though IT outsourcing has been happening for so many years, an increased

momentum has been witnessed since the late 1990s due to the rise of Internet and Communication

technologies. Several global giants from various industries have begun to realize the importance of BPO

and have started outsourcing their non-core business functions. This has given rise to many specialized

BPO vendors across the globe, with India being a major hub owing to its large computer-literate English-

speaking population, low billing rates, strategically favourable time zone and high quality. The BPO

market in India is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

Although the term "business process outsourcing" (BPO) has gained visibility in the IT services industry

only in the past four to five years, the service offering itself has existed for decades. For example, several

of the largest service providers have significant legacy revenue streams that are derived from medical

claims processing contracts. In many instances, these contracts include the entire back-office function.

3

The outsourcing of payroll administration, an accepted practice for many years, is another illustration of

the true age of the BPO market.

This market is now experiencing noticeable momentum in terms of wider user acceptance and the

emergence of new service offering categories, as well as a proliferation of providers from which to

choose. Service providers offer BPO for literally hundreds of business processes. Some of these service

offerings are very stable; some are just emerging and are, therefore, largely untested.

BPO TERMINOLOGY

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING

Business process outsourcing means examining the processes that compose the business and its

functional units, and then working with focused service providers to both re-engineer and outsource

these at the same time. BPO involves the full transfer of responsibility for functions such as transaction

processing, policy servicing, claims management, HR, finance, and compliance to the outsourcing

company. The outsourcing provider then administers these functions on their own systems to agreed

service standards and at a guaranteed cost. Some of the BPO contracts call for performance-based

payouts, tying vendor payments to business performance or overall cost savings.

BUSINESS APPLICATION OUTSOURCING

Company A (vendor) rents applications to Company B (user). Increasingly corporations are renting

applications like enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, messaging and

collaboration, and e-business. The outsourcer provides the mission-critical enterprise application hosting

and management. The goal is to relieve the corporation from day-to-day management and lower the

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total cost of ownership (TCO). The outsourcer hosts the software solution ensuring a preset level of

performance and reliability. This is also termed application service provider (ASP) service.

BUSINESS PROCESS OFF SHORING

Business process off shoring is the transfer of business tasks (medical transcription) or business

processes (call centers) to a low-cost country like India or the Philippines. The interaction is conducted

over telecom networks and the Internet. Off shoring typically include tasks like transaction or accounts

processing, credit card processing, call centers, translation, and transcription. Most of this work can be

sent without the need for in-person interaction. The off shoring of support functions is still relatively

new. The off shoring wave began with IT/software services in the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s

with the Y2K hysteria. With the global economic slowdown, off shoring has vaulted to the forefront as

an effective cost-cutting technique that takes advantage of labour price differentials and favourable

skill/performance ratios.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERVICES OFFERED BY BPO:-

I. CUSTOMER SUPPORT SERVICES

Customer service offerings create a virtual customer service center to manage customer concerns

and queries through multiple channels including voice, e-mail and chat on a 24/7 and 365 days

basis.

Service Example: Customers calling to check on their order status, customers calling to check for

information on products and services, customers calling to verify their account status, customers

calling to check their reservation status etc.

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II. TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES

Technical support offerings include round-the-clock technical support and problem resolution for

OEM customers and computer hardware, software, peripherals and Internet infrastructure

manufacturing companies. These include installation and product support, up & running support,

troubleshooting and Usage support.

Service Example: Customers calling to resolve a problem with their home PC, customers calling

to understand how to dial up to their ISP, customers calling with a problem with their software or

hardware.

III. TELEMARKETING SERVICES

Telesales and telemarketing outsourcing services target interaction with potential customers for

'prospecting' like either for generating interest in products and services, or to up-sell / promote

and cross sell to an existing customer base or to complete the sales process online.

Service Example: Outbound calling to sell wireless services for a telecom provider, outbound

calling to retail households to sell leisure holidays, outbound calling to existing customers to sell

a new rate card for a mobile service provider or outbound calling to sell credit or debit cards etc.

IV. EMPLOYEE IT HELP-DESK SERVICES

Employee IT help-desk services provide technical problem resolution and support for corporate

employees.

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Service Example: of this service include level 1 and 2 multi-channel support across a wide range

of shrink wrapped and LOB applications, system problem resolutions related to desktop,

notebooks, OS, connectivity etc., office productivity tools support including browsers and mail,

new service requests, IT operational issues, product usage queries, routing specific requests to

designated contacts and remote diagnostics etc.

V. INSURANCE PROCESSING

Insurance processing services provide specialized solutions to the insurance sector and support

critical business processes applicable to the industry right from new business acquisition to

policy maintenance to claims processing.

VI. NEW BUSINESS / PROMOTION:

Inbound/outbound sales, Initial Setup, Case Management, Underwriting, Risk assessment, Policy

issuance etc.

VII. POLICY MAINTENANCE / MANAGEMENT:

Record Changes like Name, Beneficiary, Nominee, Address; Collateral verification, Surrender

Audits Accounts Receivable, Accounting, Claim Overpayment, Customer care service via

voice/email etc.

VIII. INTERNET / ONLINE / WEB RESEARCH

Internet Search, Product Research, Market Research, Survey, Analysis. Web and Mailing list

research etc

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IX. DATA ENTRY SERVICES / DATA PROCESSING SERVICES

Data entry from Paper/Books with highest accuracy and fast turn around time (TAT)

Data entry from Image files in any format

Business Transaction Data entry like sales / purchase / payroll.

Data entry of E-Books / Electronic Books

Data Entry: Yellow Pages / White Pages Keying

Data Entry and compilation from Web site

Data Capture / Collection

Business Card Data Entry into any Format

Data Entry from hardcopy/Printed Material into text or required format

Data Entry into Software Program and application

Receipt and Bill Data Entry

Catalog Data Entry.

Data Entry for Mailing List/Mailing Label.

Manu scripting typing in to word

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Taped Transcription in to word.

Copy, Paste, Editing, Sorting, Indexing Data into required format etc.

Data Conversion Services Service Example:

Conversion of data across various databases on different platforms

Data Conversion via Input / Output for various media.

Data Conversion for databases, word processors, spreadsheets, and many other standard

and custom-made software packages as per requirement.

Conversion from Page maker to PDF format.

Conversion from Ms-Word to HTML format

Conversion from Text to Word Perfect.

Conversion from Text to Word to HTML and Acrobat

Convert Raw Data into required MS Office formats.

Text to PDF and PDF to Word / Text / Doc

Data Compilation in PDF from Several Sources.

E-Book Conversion etc.

X. SCANNING, OCR WITH EDITING & INDEXING:

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High speed Image-Scanning and Data capture services

High speed large volume scanning

OCR Data From Scanned page / image

Scan & OCR paper Book in to CD.

ADOBE PDF Conversion Services.

Conversion from paper or e-file to various formats

XI. BOOK KEEPING AND ACCOUNTING:

General Ledger

Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable

Financial Statements

Bank Reconciliation

Assets / Equipment Ledgers etc.

XII. FORM PROCESSING SERVICES

Insurance claim form

Medical Form / Medical billing

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Online Form Processing

Payroll Processing etc.

For many employed in the call centre sector, "the daily experience is of repetitive, intensive and

stressful work, based upon Taylorist principles, which frequently results in employee "burnout".

Brown, more vividly, characterizes the work as "repetitive brain strain". These descriptions are

hardly surprising, in a way, given that call centres are established by organizations to "create an

environment in which work can be standardized to create relatively uniform and repetitious

activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of customer service". This

means, in other words, that workplaces are organized in ways that weaken employee autonomy

and enhance the potential for management control, and "a loss of control is generally understood

to be an important indicator of work-related stress".

There is almost universal consensus that call centre work is stressful. Even in studies that report

the observation that some staff actually enjoys their work, mention of stress is still the norm, and

a significant portion of the call centre literature is devoted to detailing the sources of stress in call

centre work.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PRIMARY DATA:

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RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design encompasses the methodology and procedures employed to conduct

scientific research. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi-

experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-

longitudinal case study), research question, hypotheses, independent and dependent

variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical

analysis plan.

Data Collection Procedure: - Survey

Research Instrument: - Structured Questionnaire.

Sample Size: - 100 

Sample Area: -Chennai region.

Sample procedure: -Stratified Random sampling.

TOOLS OF ANALYSIS

The data collected were classified, analyzed, tabulated and interpreted. Percentage

analysis and other statistical tools like Weighted Average, Rank Correlation and Chi-square

were applied for processing the data.

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS

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Percentage analysis is used to find out the level of opinion gathered from the total

Respondents. It is calculated by dividing the number of opinions of the respondents by total

number of respondents.

CALCULATION OF PERCENTAGE

SOURCES OF DATA:

Kalam Software Technonology = 50 respondents

Absolute BPO = 10 respondents

Slash support = 27 respondents

Zealous call center = 13 respondents

OBJECTIVES

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To have detailed study on Human issues in Bpo Industry. .Doing it under constant

pressure to keep call volumes up, with no time between calls to "recover from an

awkward call or from 'customer rejection'" is even more difficult.

“very little authority or autonomy to rectify problems" that arise is perhaps the most

difficult of all. Many studies report agents as wanting to 'just get off the phones'.

To gain knowledge on the work of Call Centre and BPO.

To find out the fact on why Human Relation Manager not playing vital role in BPO and

Call Centre.

To know on the sentence “Universal consensus that Call Centre work is stressful”.

To find out the reason for more rates of absenteeism.

To get to know why official work disturbs the personal life.

PROBLEM OF STUDY

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Call centres are rooted in contradictory tensions and structural paradoxes, and confront a number

of trades-offs on that basis. These set a context for attitudes towards the organization and can

impose conflicting role requirements on agents. A core example is that of the pressure for

quantity versus the aspiration for quality, the guiding logic of which is the conundrum of trying

to get closer to the customer while routinising, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing

standards. The dichotomy is not completely straightforward, it is important to note. Part of

providing quality service from a management perspective is making sure customers do not wait

too long for their calls to be answered, even though the push to keep queue waiting times short is

typically categorized as part of the pressure towards quantity. As Bain points out, "efforts to

attain what is perceived to be the desired balance between the quantity and the quality of calls

presents a perennial challenge".

LIMITATIONS

The respondents were very busy. Hence, no sufficient co-operation from respondents.

Most of the respondents were reluctant to answer the questions.

It is therefore subjected to respondent’s bias as well as sampling bias.

The result of the study depends upon the information furnished by the respondents.

The result of intense, stressful work may be an effect on workers' health.

There are often high rates of absenteeism and sick leave reported in the literature,

although there is relatively little exploration of these issues, particularly when

compared to turnover. Most often, authors provide a brief list of known health issues.

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CHAPTER 2

CONCEPT OF THE

STUDY

INDUSTRY PROFILE

There has been some dispute amongst researchers as to whether it is appropriate to refer to such

a thing as the "call center industry". As Bain and Taylor point out, "despite similarities in the

integration of computer and telephone technologies, centers differ in relation to a number of

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important variables-size, industrial sector and market, complexity and length of call cycle time,

nature of operations (inbound, outbound or combined), the nature and effectiveness of

representative institutions including trade unions, and management styles and priorities". To this

list of variables, Callaghan and Thompson would add the "degree of product complexity and

variability and the depth of knowledge required to deal with the service interaction". Bain and

Taylor argue that it is more appropriate to use the term "sector", as call Centers are found across

a wide range of industries and may be similar primarily in terms of their core technologies. They

do note, however, that there is a professional literature and a collective identity that is maintained

and developed through conferences and forums. Belt, Richardson and Webster (2000) agree that

call centers are not an 'industry' as the term is generally defined, but rather represent certain ways

of delivering various services using the telephone and computer technologies across traditional

industry boundaries. However, these authors provide three strong reasons defending the practice

of referring to call centers as an industry:

First, the call center community often defines itself as an industry, with numerous national and

international call center conferences and workshops taking place each year, industry journals and

call center forums organized at local levels. Second, the labor force requirements of call centers

are often the same across sectors. This means that many, though not all, call centers share a

common labour pool. Third, the organizational templates and technologies used tend to be very

similar, regardless of the sector.

To this one might add the remarkable similarities that international researchers have found

between technologies used, work practices and key issues including monitoring, control,

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training, and labour demographics for workers in countries as diverse as Germany, Japan,

Australia, Greece, Canada, the US, the UK and the Netherlands.

HUMAN ISSUES IN CALL-CENTER INDUSTRY

STRESS

For many employed in the call center sector, "the daily experience is of repetitive,

intensive and stressful work, based upon Taylorist principles, which frequently results in

employee "burnout". Brown, more vividly, characterizes the work as "repetitive brain strain".

These descriptions are hardly surprising, in a way, given that call centers are established by

organizations to "create an environment in which work can be standardized to create relatively

uniform and repetitious activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent quality of

customer service". This means, in other words, that workplaces are organized in ways that

weaken employee autonomy and enhance the potential for management control, and "a loss of

control is generally understood to be an important indicator of work-related stress".

There is almost universal consensus that call center work is stressful. Even in studies that

report the observation that some staff actually enjoys their work, mention of stress is still the

norm, and a significant portion of the call center literature is devoted to detailing the sources of

stress in call center work.

FOUR KEY STRESSORS

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'Can we get off the phone for a while?'

The primary source of stress reported is inherent to the nature of the job: spending all day

on the phone dealing with people one after another, day after day, is difficult. Doing it under

constant pressure to keep call volumes up, with no time between calls to "recover from an

awkward call or from 'customer rejection'" is even more difficult. And doing it with "very little

authority or autonomy to rectify problems" that arise is perhaps the most difficult of all. Many

studies report agents as wanting to 'just get off the phones'. For example, Belt and colleagues

note "agents in all three sectors [financial services, IT, and third-party services] spoke of the

phenomenon of 'burnout', caused by the pressure of working exclusively 'on the phones'". In the

same study, the authors mention that the issue of 'burnout' was also recognized by some

managers: "It was pointed out that managers face an inherent conflict between the need to

reduce staff boredom and labor turnover, and the pressure to concentrate staff energies on

telephone based work".

"The question of how call center employees deal with stress is an important one,

particularly in view of evidence that a build-up of stress leads to illness, absenteeism and

turnover," writes Houlihan. Many authors agree, and there are a variety of individual coping

mechanisms described in the literature. Tricks to circumvent control mechanisms, such as those

discussed above are sometimes mentioned as attempts at stress reduction, although they are

unreliable in this role as they may also increase stress. Others mention social interaction

squeezed into brief moments--Callaghan and Thompson describe agents using humorous (or

rude) gestures towards the phone, or making faces at colleagues to defuse stress over angry or

abusive callers, and making jokes to combat the tedium of the day. Lankshear and Mason

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describe a similarly social approach to reducing tension in one of the sites they observed, where

staff often laughed and joked with one another in intervals between calls, with management's

approval. More formally, some call centers include stress management as a component in

training programs, and many have, or claim to have, team de-briefings which permit staff to vent

frustrations while discussing difficult calls or dissatisfactions with elements of work.

Knights and McCabe takes a different approach to stress in the workplace. They note

that although much organizational analysis and most of the call center literature tends to

conceptualize stress as an individual problem, it is actually located within "a framework that

emphasizes the interrelationships between structural relations of power and the subjective

interpretations and actions of employees". This more nuance positioning may provide more

insight into call center conditions, as it allows a researcher to consider the response of employees

"forced to interpret the often contradictory demands management place upon them" including

"contradictions…over service quality versus the quantity of work output". "Clearly," these

authors write, "staffs face some fundamental contradictions over unity versus conflict,

uncertainty versus certainty, quality versus quantity and these are at the heart of the reproduction

of stress, resistance and control". This focus on the "contradictory" nature of demands strikes at

the heart of the second inherent sources of stress in (primarily inbound) call center works: the

quality/quantity conflict.

QUALITY/QUANTITY CONFLICT

Typically, organizational rhetoric in inbound call centers is concerned with 'customer

care', or 'keeping customers happy' (providing quality service), yet these goals are juxtaposed

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with an ongoing pressure to keep call times down and call volumes up. Houlihan describes the

difficulty concisely:

Call centers are rooted in contradictory tensions and structural paradoxes, and confront a

number of trades-offs on that basis. These set a context for attitudes towards the organization and

can impose conflicting role requirements on agents. A core example is that of the pressure for

quantity versus the aspiration for quality, the guiding logic of which is the conundrum of trying

to get closer to the customer while routinising, centralizing, reducing costs and prescribing

standards.

The dichotomy is not completely straightforward, it is important to note. Part of

providing quality service from a management perspective is making sure customers do not wait

too long for their calls to be answered, even though the push to keep queue waiting times short is

typically categorized as part of the pressure towards quantity. As Bain points out, "efforts to

attain what is perceived to be the desired balance between the quantity and the quality of calls

presents a perennial challenge".

The practice of ongoing work practice modification and target revision as management

swings from one side to another of the quality/quantity debate is a major source of stress for call

center agents. As Houlihan notes: "The practice of putting a 'drive' on particular targets for

improvement (for example, the collection of renewal dates, the up-selling or cross-selling of

products, the quality of data input, or the intensity of sales push) and continual reprioritisation

means that the 'goalposts' are constantly shifting". Virtually all of the call center authors who

write about work conditions mention the difficulty of dealing with these competing goals.

Korczynski and colleagues suggest that this dilemma is particularly difficult for front-line

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workers because they may be likely "to identify with embodied individual customers, for

interactions with specific customers may be an important arena for meaning and satisfaction

within the work". They contrast this customer-as-individual orientation to the managerial goal of

balancing customer orientation with efficiency, which they suggest leads management to prefer

workers to identify with a generic category, 'the customer', since "such a disembodied image of

the customer will encourage workers to deal with individual customers efficiently because they

will be conscious of the concerns of other customers waiting in a queue".

INTENSITY

The third central stressor in call center work is its intensity. As Bain (2001) argues, "far

from being either in terminal decline or on the wane, Taylorism-in conjunction with a range of

other control mechanisms-is not only alive, well and deeply embedded in the call center labour

process, but its malevolent influence appears to be spreading to previously uncharted territory".

There is widespread consensus that "call centers are a new, and particularly effective,

manifestation of the increasingly capital intensive 'industrialization' of service sector work, and

work performed in them is highly intensive and routine".

Buchanan and Koch-Schulte quote one call center worker who describes the constant

pressure graphically: Ellen: It's almost like the army. It's much regimented. You punch in with a

time clock.

You come in and you sit down, and the numbers are all computerized. As soon as you

finish a call, the minute you hang up another call comes up just this constant, all day,

repetitious… constant sort of like beating on a drum, but day after day.

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The pace of work is determined by the combination of technologies that deliver calls to

the headset and account details to the screen, and workers often have no control over this

process.

Descriptions such as "exhausting," "robotic," "controlled," and agents discussing the

nature of their work often use "machine-like". Houlihan expands on the idea of controlled,

machine-like agents by suggesting that this is in fact exactly the way that the organization

conceives of them:

Call centers are information handling organizations. As currently characterized, the job of

the agent is to be the voice of the organization, interfacing with the client or customer. The

organization rehearses the things it wants said and feeds them through the agent. The agent is

largely constructed as a mouthpiece rather than as a brain.

Buchanan and Koch-Schulte spoke with a call-center worker who articulated her feelings

about the organization's expectations of its agents in very similar terms: Rosa: You are standing

waiting to be used by the technology, and it's a physical embodiment of that. You are standing,

waiting until that call comes in to use you to make money. And you are simply another part of

that machine. When this feeling of being a cog in a machine which never stops as it grinds on,

repeating the same actions over and over again, is combined with "the cumulative emotional

demands presented by the interpersonal nature of the work", stress is inevitable.

TARGETS

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There is a fourth feature of some call center work that may engender stress: performance

targets. There are various types of targets, which may vary between inbound and outbound

centers. Inbound centers typically have targets for call duration, 'wrap time', and daily call

volume. Outbound centers often also have sales or 'completion' targets, which are closely

monitored and upon which pay may be partially based. In addition, in some sectors, inbound call

centers are attempting to introduce the practice of cross selling, where agents attempt to sell

additional products to the customers who call in for another purpose. In these centers, sales

targets similar to those in outbound centers are often in place.

Taylor and Bain argue that particularly in the financial services industry in the UK,

targets are a significant source of stress for workers as more and more importance is placed

upon meeting them in an increasingly competitive business environment. Sales targets, in

particular, are difficult to accept, or meet, for staff who often consider themselves as service

personnel, particularly when they are set centrally and implemented locally: "Cross-selling is

seen by employees, not as an opportunity to engage in creative work, but as an additional and

acute source of pressure". This is especially the case when sales targets are parachuted in on top

of service targets set originally when there was no pressure to produce sales.

As a CSR in Taylor and Bain's study emphasizes: "When somebody phones in for a

balance you have to try to get a sale or get them interested as well as turning the call round in

155 seconds".

Even in centers that claim not to prioritize targets, researchers have found that staff often

feels significant pressure. Targets simply intensify the stress produced by the quantity/quality

debate, or, as one agent is quoted as saying, "They say that they're not really interested in

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numbers. They say that they are more into quality. Well, that's a lie. They're usually more into

numbers than anything". It is important not to over generalize however. While most call centers

do have some targets, they are a source of stress that is directly under management control. Some

call centers are managed in such a way that targets are set to realistically reflect local conditions,

are interpreted in light of other, more subjective information, and are not used punitively or to

intensify work. In some they are even used effectively to motivate and encourage staff. For

example, Lankshear and Mason describe a series of conversations with managers in their call

center site where management consistently conceptualized their performance reports (for

example, one commented that it's 'human nature' for productivity to drop before and after a

holiday), and used their status as an excuse to praise good performance and coach those who

consistently had difficulty meeting targets: "Our best bet is to develop the people we have got"

one manager is quoted as saying.

OTHER HEALTH ISSUES

The result of intense, stressful work may be an effect on workers' health. There are often

high rates of absenteeism and sick leave reported in the literature, although there is relatively

little exploration of these issues, particularly when compared to turnover. Most often, authors

provide a brief list of known health issues. For example, Richardson, Belt and Marshall write

that "Health concerns have been expressed, including tension, sleeplessness, headaches, eye-

strain, repetitive strain injury (RSI), voice loss, hearing problems and burn-out", but they do not

develop the point. More detailed descriptions of the causes and effects of these ailments can be

found in industry and trades union reports. For example, the Trades Union Council (TUC) in its

25

brochure targeted at call center workers, cites the main illnesses to which call center staff are

prone: "back strain and RSI, stress, eyestrain, and voice and hearing loss".

Also in the UK, regulators have been proactive in their examination of the industry, with

the Health and Safety Executive issuing a bulletin on call center regulations, health risks and best

practices in December 2001. They looked specifically at health issues including stress, noise

levels, musculoskeletal disorders (such as back problems) and voice loss, and also at display

screen issues, working environments, requirements for work stations, daily work routines,

training, organizational working practices and shifts.

SLEEPING DISORDERS

No prizes for guessing the most severe ailment afflicting people working in Indian call

centers. Since this is a unique Indian problem, again, no solution appears in sight. Obviously this

affects first timers more severely, as they take time to acclimatize their biological clocks, but

even experienced people or managers are not able to completely escape from it. Some call

centers are looking at devising innovative mechanisms like flexible shifts with sleeping

arrangements in the office premises as possible solutions.

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM RELATED DISORDERS

Working long and odd hours without any sleep, and eating food supplied by external

caterers every day, has led to 41.9% of the respondents suffering from digestive problems.

Especially for the large number of girls working in the industry, the problem is even more

severe. Many call centers are now taking additional care to ensure their caterers supply hygienic

food; besides stipulating strict conditions to maintain the quality of the food they serve.

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DEPRESSION

In last year's survey, this was not among the top disorders, but this year it has climbed up

the chart, affecting nearly one-fourth of the respondents. Not surprising, since, as the industry

matures, the initial glitz and glamour wears away and the real problems come to the fore. Not

only are there several health related issues, but, on top of that, the gradual realization that there is

limited scope in developing a career owing to fewer growth opportunities is increasing the

frustration levels. Coupled with growing mental fatigue and increasingly punishing physical

environments, depression is the obvious end result. Some call centers have now devised different

stress management programs mainly to counter depression.

SEVERE STOMACH RELATED PROBLEMS

Continuing digestive problems lead to severe stomach disorders like gastroenteritis, as

endorsed by more than 24% of the respondents. Even doctors in major cities agree-in recent

times many of the patients with various stomach ailments are from call centers.

EYESIGHT PROBLEMS

Globally call center industry employees are considered a high-risk group for eye-related

problems. While the quality of monitors might impact these disorders, sitting continually without

adequate breaks seems to be the truer reason. The number of people affected seems to be on the

rise-last year only 19% complained; this year it has gone up to 23%. At some point of time, this

problem might also afflict the IT services industry, but for the call center industry, no remedy

seems to be in sight.

EAR PROBLEMS

27

More than 16% of the respondents inform that they have hearing problems. Again, no

surprises here, since a call center job involves taking calls throughout the shift, sitting with

headphones. While quality of headphones does make a difference, it would not be correct to

completely wish the problem away by thinking that changing headphones will solve it. Some

other Human Issues, in Call-Centers, which need Immediate Attention

PERSONAL HABITS

The young executives are getting more than five figure salaries per month in an early age.

They tend to develop certain bad habits such as alcohol, smoking etc. It is not easy to identify

such individuals. It is also very sensitive to talk to them. The professional counsellors can

conduct group-counselling, workshops, educative film shows in order to create awareness on

effects of bad habits. Such actions will enable individuals to realize the importance of good

habits and they could seek one to one Counselling sessions to solve their problems.

DISCIPLINE AND BEHAVIORAL ISSUES

Call centers provide excellent working environment, free food and transportation. There

is always a situation where individual or group of youngsters tend to commit mistakes and abuse

the freedom. They start behaving like in college campus where they have more freedom.

However, the call center executives have more responsibility and accountability, they need to

follow discipline and do well in the job. The most common behaviour is misuse of food, behave

erratically in vans, and smoke in public places, misuse of telephones and other resources of the

company.

28

The supervisors always concentrate on performance and achieving targets. They do not

have time or interest to go deep into these matters and find out the reasons for such behaviour.

The professional counsellor can play a major role in educating the youngsters on discipline;

provide advice to erring executives. The counsellors with their wisdom and experience can tackle

such issues tactfully and bring change within the individuals. As said earlier, to majority of them

this is the first employment and they are fresh out of the colleges. Few tend to behave differently

and they have the "do not care" attitude. Such executives will not take their job seriously, they

indulge in teasing, and joking, talking over mobile phones, have friction within the team. These

aspects may go noticed or unnoticed by the supervisors.

The fact remains that such unacceptable behaviours will cause disturbance to others and overall

it affects the productivity. Sleeping while on duty, reading novels and playing games on the

computer during working hours brings down productivity and quality suffers. The HR

representatives and professional counsellors jointly have a role to bring behavioural change

starting from the training days. Continuous education and Counselling will help to mitigate such

problems and it is possible to prevent serious problems.

INTER-PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP

Executives develop friendship quickly and sometime the friendship breaks and there will

be misunderstanding among the team members and naturally affects the team performance. The

supervisors and counsellors can play a major role to sort out the interpersonal relationship and

develop team spirit. Healthy relationship among the team members has always helped the team

to outperform. When the relationship fails the individuals will also break down mentally. They

29

either absent for duties or fall ill or the performance will come down. It is also true that due to

misunderstanding and break in friendship they change jobs quickly.

LOVE AFFAIR AND MARRIAGES

Few of the boys and girls fall in love quickly. They maintain the healthy relationship, behave in a

matured manner, plan the future course of action and such persons have got married with the

consent of their parents. They work together in the same organization for longer duration. There

are instances, where lovers fall apart, start disliking, creating troubles to each other and vitiating

the atmosphere. They are immature, take instant decisions to break or unite and sometimes go to

an extent of damaging others reputation. The professional counsellors can play an important role

in explaining the importance of marriage, preparation required for marriage, how to enter the

institution of marriage, which is acceptable to both parents and society and about the new role

and responsibility after getting married. Counselling services can definitely give emotional

support to individuals.

ABSENTEEISM

Absenteeism is very high in calls centers. Employees tend to be very irregular to the duty

due to various reasons. The professional counselling services to such irregular employees on one

to one basis will help to bring down the absenteeism. The counsellor can educate and explain the

importance of attending duties to earn the salary and also to meet the organizational goals. Each

individual are unique and the problem they face are also different in nature. Only the

professional counsellors can understand, analyze and provide long lasting solutions for the

individuals.

30

HIGHER EDUCATION AND PART TIME JOBS

It is possible to do higher education while working in BPO units. Few organizations

encourage and offer support services to pursue higher education. However, the time management

by the executives is crucial to go forward in education as well as to maintain the performance

and career growth. Programmes on time management, tips to study, tips to keep fit and such

other programmes can be offered. These steps would help to seek the loyalty of employees to the

organizations and helps greatly for the retention of employees.

Organizations do not grant permission to pursue part time jobs while working in BPO

units. In order to make quick money and to have options open to change the jobs in future will

drive the employees to do part time work. Human body does not permit to stretch beyond one's

capacity.

The executives need to take sufficient rest in the daytime so that energy levels are

maintained. Either due to lack of experience or due to compulsions, the executives keep their one

foot in call center and another in part time jobs. In the long run this would affect individual’s

health. The HR executives must identify such persons and offer professional Counselling

services to them.

REMEDIAL MEASURES FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT

Understanding that the "Stress" is a major concern for all Call-Center Employees, it is a

duty of HR-heads of Call-Centers to address it properly. Some of the common signs and

symptoms of stress although we all experience stress in different ways, there are certain signs

that are most frequently reported. These signs fall into two major categories;

31

physical/behavioural signs and emotional signs. If we become aware of our own stress

symptoms, we will be more effective in dealing with them sooner rather than later. What follows

is a list of some of the most experienced symptoms of stress. The physical/behavioural

symptoms include; muscular tension, muscle spasms and tics, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath

and high blood pressure, cold hands and feet, backaches, headaches and neck aches, stomach

problems, indigestion, irritable bowel and ulcers, feeling fatigued, irritable, decreased ability to

concentrate, insomnia and changes in eating behaviour. Since these physical symptoms may be

related to physical problems, you should consult with your medical doctor before you assume

that your symptoms are purely stress-related.

The emotional symptoms include; anxiety in a variety of situations not limited to the

stressful situation, depression, hopelessness and a strong urge to cry without specific incident,

withdrawal from social interactions and avoidance of previously enjoyed activities,

powerlessness and decreased self esteem, hostility, anger and resentment, fears, phobias and

unwanted thoughts. Learning to become more aware of your own stress symptoms is the first

major step in the stress management and healing process. It is often helpful to monitor your daily

symptoms in a stress diary where you match the stressful events with the symptom experienced.

For example; you made find that if you are stuck in early morning traffic you may experience

irritability and headaches. In this case it will be important to use these symptoms as a cue that

you have to begin managing that stress more effectively when it happens.

CONSEQUENCES OF UNMANAGED STRESS

32

We all know that stress is something that doesn't feel good to us physically and

emotionally. What is even more compelling is what happens below the surface each time we

experience stress. Stress researcher Hans Selye, determined what happens internally each time

we experience something as threatening or stressful. According to Selye, when we perceive a

threat in the environment the thinking part of the brain sends an alarm message to the nervous

system via the hypothalamus. The nervous system then makes changes in the body that prepare

you to handle the perceived danger ahead. These changes include increases in heart rate and

blood pressure as well as pupil dilation. In addition, there are hormones and chemicals secreted

such as adrenaline that give the body the necessary push to be able to manage the threat ahead.

Although there are situations in which these adrenaline surges are very helpful in helping

us mobilize, the constant adrenaline surges due to repeatedly perceived threats have a toxic effect

on the body. For example, recurrent adrenaline surges inhibit some of the other important

functions in the body including growth and tissue repair, digestion and the immune response.

Just as the thinking part of your brain is responsible for turning the stress response on, you can

turn it off by changing the threatening appraisals you are making. Once you are able to determine

that a threat does not exist or that it can be effectively managed, your thinking brain stops

sending panic messages to the nervous system. As a result of this reappraisal, the hormones and

chemicals cease to be released and the body returns to normal.

Bringing the body back to an "un-stressed" state is very important since almost every

system in the body can be damaged by stress. Although our bodies are adaptive and can recover

from periodic stressors, chronic stress has serious consequences. We experience the

33

consequences of stress on three important levels; physically, emotionally and behaviourally.

What follows is a description of the specific consequences in these three categories.

Physically, the body is likely to develop a stress-related disease as a result of the stress

toxins that are released. For example, chronic stress can lead to cardiovascular disease by

elevating blood pressure, damaging the heart and arteries and increasing blood sugar. Respiratory

conditions such as asthma and bronchitis can result from stress-triggered changes in the lungs.

When stress inhibits the body's digestive functions, diseases such as ulcers, colitis and chronic

diarrhoea can occur. In addition, stress contributes to inhibited growth of tissue and bone which

can lead to decalcification and osteoporosis. The immune system is also inhibited by the reduced

efficiency of the white blood cells, making the body more susceptible to disease. Increased

muscle tension, fatigue and headaches are additional consequences of chronic stress.

The second category of consequences of chronic stress is the emotional consequences.

Depression can result from chronic stress due to the constant release and depletion of

non-epinephrine. What also contributes to the depression is the thought that life is terrible and

that it is never going to get better. What then results is a feeling of helplessness and

ineffectiveness, feeling like a failure and a reduction in self-confidence. Individuals who are

depressed are also likely to withdraw from relationships and isolate themselves which often

increases the intensity of the depression. In addition, anxiety and fearfulness are commonly felt

emotions if someone constantly perceives threats around the corner. In addition, individuals who

are chronically stressed are likely to exhibit increased cynicism, rigidity, sarcasm and irritability

since they believe that their situation is not likely to improve.

34

Chronic stress also has significant behavioural consequences. The behavioural

consequences often result from the innate survival urge we have to seek relief, to fight or to flee.

Unfortunately, these relief-seeking behaviours eventually become problematic. For example,

"addictive behaviours" can result from the repeated efforts to soothe or escape the painful stress.

Alcohol, drugs, smoking and overeating are often seen as tools to help manage the stress even

though their effects are short lived and the consequences of chronic use are destructive to the

body and mind.

Unfortunately the mind's ability to deny the long-term consequences in order to fill the

short-term need to escape perpetuates the problem and increases the excessive use behaviour.

Similarly, procrastination, poor planning, excessive sleeping and the avoidance of responsibility

are examples of behaviours used by stressed individuals to temporarily flee from the pain. What

is most significant about these behaviours is their ability to generate additional problems that are

as severe as the original stressor. For example, procrastination or avoidance of the management

of a stressor only serves to increase anxiety and exacerbate the stress experience.

The stress consequences reviewed above suggest that in addition to being physically and

psychologically distressing, they reduce the likelihood of effective goal reaching. The rationale

for properly managing and coping with the stress is for health protection in the future as well as

making the present more productive and satisfying.

MANAGING STRESS

Since stress is an inevitable fact of life that we can't always prevent, our efforts need to be

focused on coping with stress more effectively. What follows is a description of a three pronged

35

approach to stress management which includes behavioural/practical techniques, relaxation

techniques and cognitive/thinking techniques.

The behavioural/practical approaches to stress management include exercise and eating a

healthy, balanced diet, which includes selections from the basic food groups. In addition, it is

recommended that one avoid the excessive use of alcohol, caffeine and sugar, which contribute

to fatigue and vulnerability to mood swings. It is also important to allow the body to rest and

replenish to help inoculate the body against future stress. Building this stress resistance also

includes scheduling time for leisure and pleasure, which provides for a more balanced, fulfilling

life. Anticipating and preparing for recurrent stressors by managing time, setting priorities and

limits, delegating responsibility, and not procrastinating are helpful stress reducing strategies.

These techniques are effective stress management tools because their utilization is within our

control.

The relaxation approaches to stress management include a variety of techniques designed

to help you effectively manage the body/mind tension. Progressive muscle relaxation is an active

form of relaxation where you individually contract the major muscle groups of your body for

about five seconds and then you relax the individual muscle groups for a five second holds. The

contrast experienced by this exercise relieves muscle tension and relaxes the body. Some of the

more passive relaxation approaches include listening to music, reading and using saunas and hot

tubs to relieve tension. Techniques used to relax the mind include meditation and visual imagery.

Meditation teaches you how to clear the mind of stressful and distracting thoughts by

focusing the mental energy on positive coping thoughts. Visual imagery is designed to help the

individual visualize him or herself coping effectively with a stressor that was previously

36

experienced as overwhelming. The behavioural and relaxation approaches described above are

necessary but not sufficient conditions for stress management. The third prong to stress

management, the cognitive or thinking approach, is essential to effective coping with stress.

The cognitive or thinking approaches are an integral part of coping effectively with stress

and now the primary focus of many stress management programs. Since it has been determined

that we can turn off the stress response by changing our threatening/dangerous event appraisals

to appraisals that help us view these events as manageable challenges, we have a direct link to

controlling the stress response. The first step in the cognitive approach is to identify our thoughts

or internal dialog that is negative, perfectionist, black and white, rigid and demanding. In other

words, you are more likely to experience stress if you believe that you, the world and other

people "should or must" behave in a manner consistent with your demands and standards. For

example, you are likely to experience stress if you believe that the world and your life should be

stress free and that you do not have the resources to handle stress if it does occur. In addition,

demands of perfection on yourself and on others important to you, increases the chance of

feeling stressed since these expectations are unrealistic and rigid. After identifying your stress

producing thoughts you are then able to move onto the second step in the cognitive approach;

recognizing the consequences of this negative, rigid dialog.

The motivation to change the stress-producing dialog comes from the determination that

there are serious consequences that result from these negative, rigid thoughts. When you talk to

yourself in a defeated, pessimistic or rigid way, you deny your ability to cope and are not likely

to manage situations effectively or meet goals you set. In addition, perfectionist demands are

experienced as appropriately unrealistic and contribute to a "why bother" attitude. This attitude

37

reduces the likelihood that you will address these demands since it is a realistic fact that no one

or nothing is ever perfect. Once you are convinced that the dialog is negative and

counterproductive, you are ready to move on to the third step in the cognitive approach;

challenging and replacing the negative internal dialog with a healthier, more productive internal

dialog.

This important step in the reappraisal process requires that you challenge your rigid

dialog by asking yourself a series of questions about that rigid dialog. For example, "Why must I

perform perfectly in order to believe I am a valuable human being?" In addition, "Does that

demand for perfection increase my anxiety and reduce the likelihood that I perform well at all?"

"What would I feel like and would I be more motivated if I changed my demand for perfection to

a desire to do well?" Another example of this reappraisal process can be seen in the area of

criticism and rejection. A negative internal dialog that would create stress in this area is "I am

worthless because I was rejected and this proves that no one will ever love me." A healthy

challenge to this belief would be, "How does the opinion of this person reflect my personal

worth?' "How does it follow that this rejection will lead to future rejections?" It is also important

to add, " Even if I were to get rejected repeatedly, could I work to make desired changes in my

personality without condemning myself or feeling worthless?" By replacing the negative, rigid

dialog with more realistic, flexible dialog, you are more likely to feel healthier emotionally and

behave more rationally and productively.

The behavioural, relaxation and cognitive techniques described above have been

determined to be effective ways to manage and cope more effectively with stress. The techniques

38

give the control back to the individual and empower him/her to manage the inevitable stressors

that will occur in life.

39

STRENGTHS WEAKNESS

Solid history in software development.

English proficiency

Government Support

Cost advantage

Strong tertiary education

Process quality focus

Skilled workforce

Expertise in new technologies

Entrepreneurship

Reasonable technical innovations

Reverse brain drain

Existing long term relationships

Positioning & Brand management

Infrastructure

Cultural differences

Sales & marketing

Leverage expertise for higher-value

education

Business process experience

Distance from US

Fear/Uncertainty from Pakistan

Legal system

Poor globalization skis

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Creation of global brands

BPO & Call center offerings

Expansion of existing relationships

Chinese domestic & export market

Leverage relationships in West to

access APAC/Middle East markets

Internal competition for resources

Over-promise / Under-deliver

Regional geopolitical uncertainty

Rising labour costs

Competition from other countries

40

Indian domestic-market growth Sometime blinding nationalism

Government blocking reform/deals

Corruption/piracy/trust

Political & religious instability –war

CHAPTER 3

REVIEW OF

LITERATURE

41

HUMAN ISSUES IN BPO AND CALL CENTER PROCESS

Carrying out transactions over the telephone has a long history, beginning with operator

services and later, reservations lines, particularly for airlines. But in the last 15 to 20 years, the

introduction of information technologies and telecommunications advances has expanded the

types of work it is possible to undertake, while reducing costs. Concurrently, ideas of 'service'

and service relationships continue to be redefined as technology becomes increasingly

ubiquitous, rendering the public more receptive to mediated service interactions.

There are a variety of factors, which have led to the increase of telephone services,

suggest Richardson and Marshall, including the transformation of telephony by "the

development of digital exchanges, intelligent telephone networks and their integration with

computer data bases"; falling telephony costs and the introduction of toll-free numbers; the high

degree of penetration and familiarity of telephone technology; and the ability to communicate

complex information by phone in real time. In addition to technological progress and social

advantages, another likely reason for the burgeoning of the call center industry in the early 1990s

was a significant period of retrenchment in a number of business sectors, including a drive

towards reducing costs and cutting staff-both of which can be accomplished by centralizing

services, reducing branch offices close to the customer, and taking advantage of lower cost real

estate and labour costs in locations outside main business centers. Call centers, of course, permit

all of these activities.

42

The US was in the forefront of the call center movement, yet Nadji Tehrani, editor of

the first trade publication devoted to the telemarketing and call center industries, writes that

when Telemarketing Magazine was launched in 1982 in the United States, there were "only a

handful" of companies conducting market research or handling customer service by phone. He

describes the rapidity of technological development during the ensuing years: "We have seen the

use of 3 x 5 cards and rotary dial phones, evolve to push-button telephones to integrated contact

management software and automated dialing to Web-enabled call centers".

Outsourcing centers that specialize in providing call center services for other companies

are also expanding. Although most call centers in the UK are currently nationally oriented, there

is a move towards pan-European call centers in areas such as hotels, travel, and computing. Still,

despite its rapid rate of growth, the call center industry is relatively new. The "vast majority" of

call centers in the UK have "existed for less than ten years" claims Cameron, while Michel notes

that in Germany, 25% of call centers in the country were established before 1991, and 41%

during what he terms the "call center boom" after 1995. A boom is perhaps an accurate term.

One estimate suggests a rate of growth between 20%-25% a year in Canada, while a 1996

Datamonitor report gave a figure of 40% for call center market growth in Europe, a number

anticipated to hold until the turn of the century. Similarly, as mentioned above, academic interest

in call centers is also quite recent, with the bulk of reported research beginning in the late 1990s

and beginning to accumulate in the last two years.

CALL CENTER

As a first step, it is useful to establish a definition of a call center. This is not a

completely straightforward task, as there are considerable variations between types of call

43

centers, which are spread across several sectors of the economy, and which perform different

functions for different organizations, both within and across sectors.

The broadest definition in the call center literature is that provided by Norling, who

states "a call center is any communications platform from which firms deliver services to

customers via remote, real-time contact". Callaghan and Thompson apply a similarly inclusive

definition, stating that call centers may be "broadly defined as workplaces that integrate

telephone and computer technologies". While these definitions usefully highlight the centrality

of communication technology integration in the call center field, it leaves the boundaries of the

industry somewhat ambiguous.

Taylor and Bain narrow the definition by specifying the types of technologies used:

"we define a call center as a dedicated operation in which computer-utilising employees

receive inbound-or make outbound-telephone calls, with those calls processed and controlled

either by an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) or predictive dialing system. The call center is

thus characterized by the integration of telephone and VDU technologies." Other authors narrow

their definitions by focusing on the types of services which these integrated technologies are

designed to provide. For example, in an early definition, Richardson states "telephone call

centers are specialist technology-intensive offices that are established by organizations in order

to deliver services to customers over the telephone, replacing or complementing face-to-face

interaction with the public”. Similarly, Kinnie, Purcell and Hutchinson provide a tripartite

definition incorporating technology, technological control, and tasks:

We define call centers in the following way

44

Their work is controlled by automatic systems which virtually simultaneously distribute

work, control the pace of that work and monitor their performance;

They are in direct contact with the customer through dealing with in-bound calls, making

out-bound calls or a combination of the two.

Houlihan also includes the types of operations typically performed in a call center within her

definition. She lists the tasks most effectively performed by call centers: "Call centers are

centralized, specialized operations for both inbound and outbound communication handling. Call

center operations are especially suited to information delivery, customer services and sales

operations".

Buchanan and Koch-Schulte go one step further and include in their description the

organizational rationale for establishing call centers. Call centers are a relatively recent

phenomenon made possible by the dissemination of telecommunications and information

technologies. The technology enables telephone service representatives to deal quickly and

remotely with customer needs by connecting the representative to the customer's account

information on his/her computer as the call is relayed to the headset. As call centers can be

centralized in locations far from the customers of a business, they allow firms to cut costs by

reducing the number of local service outlets.

In reviewing these definitions and descriptions, it becomes clear that although there are

variations in stress placed on different elements, there is general agreement about which

elements are key. Borrowing from this accumulation, we might, therefore, define a call center as

a specialized office where agents remotely provide information, deliver services, and/or conduct

45

sales, using some combination of integrated telephone and information technologies, typically

with an aim to enhancing customer service while reducing organizational costs.

CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

46

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the data collected from the respondents by using questionnaire were sort

out and are used for analysis. Percentage analysis method, Rank correlation, Chi-square and

Weighted Average method are used for calculation. This will help to find out the position of the

company in different areas where the analysis is made, and also help to provide proper

suggestions if necessary.

TOOLS OF ANALYSIS

The data collected were classified, analyzed, tabulated and interpreted. Percentage

analysis and other statistical tools like Weighted Average, Rank Correlation and Chi-square

were applied for processing the data.

47

Table: 1

Age

S.No Age No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 18 to 28 Years 42 42

2 29 to 38 Years 20 20

3 39 to 48 21 21

4 49 Years and

Above

17 17

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 1, it is inferred that 42 percent of the respondent’s age are between 18 to 28 years. 48

Table: 2

Gender

S.No Gender No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Male 54 54

2 Female 46 46

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 2, it is inferred that 54 percent of the respondents are male.

49

Table 3

Designation

S.No Designation No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Operational Level

Management

73 73

2 Middle Level

Management

21 21

3 Top Level

Management

6 6

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 3, it is inferred that 73 percent of the respondents are from operational level

management.

50

Table: 4

Years of Experience

S.No Experience No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 0 to 3 Years 59 59

2 4 to 6 Years 22 22

3 7 to 9 Years 11 11

4 10 Years and

Above

8 8

Total 100 100

Inference:

51

From Table 4, it is inferred that 52 percent of the respondents are have experience between 0 to

3.

Table: 5

Annual Salary Income

S.No Income/Annum No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Less than Rs.60,000 5 5

2 Rs.60,000 to

Rs.1,50,000

60 60

3 Rs.1,50,000 to

Rs.2,40,000

24 24

4 Above Rs.2,40,000 11 11

Total 100 100

Inference:

52

From Table 5, it is inferred that 60 percent of the respondents are get annual salary between 60k

to 1.5L.

Table 6:

No. of years of Service in this Organization

S.No Years of

Service

No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 1 to 3 Years 68 68

2 4 to 6 Years 17 17

3 7 to 9 Years 10 10

4 10 Years and

Above

5 5

Total 100 100

Inference:

53

From Table 6, it is inferred that 68 percent of the respondents are have 1 to 3 years services.

Table 7:

Reasons for Joining:

S.No Reasons No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Opportunity for

Growth

35 35

2 Good

Remuneration

27 27

3 Job Security 17 17

4 Job Suited for

specialization

21 21

Total 100 100

Inference:

54

from Table 7, it is inferred that 35 percent of the respondents are join in BPO because of

opportunity for growth.

Table: 8

Used potential by the organization:

S.No Percentage No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 100% 5 5

2 90% 37 37

3 80% 21 21

4 70% 16 16

5 Below 70% 21 21

Total 100 100

Inference:

55

From Table 8, it is inferred that 37 percent of the respondents are response they used 90 % of

potential by the organization

Table 9:

Active participation level in the assignment:

S.No Level No. of respondents Percentage of

respondents

1 Greater

Extent

72 72

2 Some

Extent

25 25

3 Not at all 3 3

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 9, it is inferred that 72 percent of the respondents are response great extent for active

participation level in the assignment.

56

Table 10:

Factors considered for Total Employee Involvement:

S.No Factor No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Group Cohesiveness 20 20

2 Recognition 13 13

3 Role Clarity 17 17

4 Job Rotation 25 25

5 Job Enrichment 10 10

6 Challenging Work 15 15

Total 100 100

Inference:

57

From Table 10, it is inferred that 25 percent of the respondents are response as employee are

involve in job by job rotation.

Table: 11

Job important:

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Greater Extent 38 38

2 Considerable

Extent

27 27

3 Some Extent 24 24

4 Not at all 11 11

Total 100 100

Inference:

58

From Table 11, it is inferred that 38 percent of the respondents are response great extent for job

important.

Table: 12

Affection of job by problems in family

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Always 5 5

2 Sometimes 46 46

3 Never 49 49

Total 100 100

59

Inference:

From Table 12, it is inferred that 72 percent of the respondents are response never for affection

of job by problems in family.

Table: 13

Affection of job by problems from colleagues

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Always 7 7

2 Sometimes 25 25

3 Never 68 68

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 13, it is inferred that 68 percent of the respondents are response never for affection

of job by problems from colleagues.

60

Table: 14

Satisfied level of superior’s approach

S.No Level No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Always 20 20

2 Sometimes 32 32

3 Never 48 48

Total 100 100

Inference:

From Table 14, it is inferred that 48 percent of the respondents are response never Satisfied

level of superior’s approach.

61

Table: 15

Organization receptive of new ideas:

S.No Level No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Always

Receptive

23 23

2 Often

Receptive

42 42

3 Neither 31 31

4 Never 4 4

Total 100 100

Inference:62

From Table 15, it is inferred that 42 percent of the respondents are response often receptive

for organization receptive of new ideas.

Table 16:

Affection of performance level:

S.No Kinds No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Pay Perks 20 20

2 Work

Burden

40 40

3 Peer

Relationship

21 21

4 Work

Environment

19 19

Total 100 100

Inference:63

From Table 16, it is inferred that 40 percent of the respondents are said work burden for

affection of performance level.

Table: 17

Awareness of higher level management

S.No Aware No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Greater Extent 31 31

2 Considerable

Extent

44 44

3 Some Extent 18 18

4 Not at all 7 7

Total 100 100

Inference:

64

From Table 17, it is inferred that 44 percent of the respondents are response considerable

extent for awareness of higher level management.

Table: 18

Work design aspects more stress

S.No Aspects No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Heavy Work Load 20 20

2 Infrequent Rest Breaks 11 11

3 Long Work Hours 10 10

4 Routine Tasks 28 28

5 Under Utilization of Skills 31 31

Total 100 100

65

Inference:

From Table 18, it is inferred that 31 percent of the respondents are response under

utilization of skills for work design aspects more stress.

Table: 19

Lagging by management:

S.No Aspects No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Worker Participation 36 36

2 Proper

Communication

46 46

3 family –

Friendly Policies

18 18

Total 100 100

66

Inference:

From Table 19, it is inferred that 46 percent of the respondents are response proper

communication for lagging by management.

Table: 20

Response for stress in work roles

S.No Kinds No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Conflicts 30 30

2 Uncertain Job

Expectation

41 41

3 Too Many

Responsibilities

29 29

Total 100 100

Inference:

67

From Table 20, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response Uncertain

Job Expectation for stress in work roles.

Table: 21

Kind of concern gives more stress

S.No Kinds No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Job Insecurity 39 39

2 Lack of Opportunity

for Growth

40 40

3 Rapid Change of

Work Nature

21 21

Total 100 100

68

Inference:

From Table 21, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response lack of

opportunity for growth for concern gives more stress.

Table: 22

Work place uncomforted

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Great Extent 31 31

2 Some Extent 64 64

3 No Extent 5 5

Total 100 100

Inference:

69

From Table 22, it is inferred that 41 percent of the respondents are response some extent

for work place uncomforted.

Table: 23

Influence of Health by job stress

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Great Extent 21 21

2 Some Extent 54 54

3 No Extent 25 25

Total 100 100

Inference:70

From Table 22, it is inferred that 54 percent of the respondents are response some extent

for influence of health by job stress.

Table: 24

Job stress hinders the organizational productivity

S.No Response No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Great Extent 21 21

2 Some Extent 71 71

3 No Extent 8 8

Total 100 100

Inference:

71

From Table 24, it is inferred that 71 percent of the respondents are response some extent

for job stress hinders the organizational productivity.

Table: 25

Changes in organization from preventing the job stress

S.No Kinds No. of

respondents

Percentage of

respondents

1 Ensuring Work Load 21 21

2 Job Design 26 26

3 Role Clarity 19 19

4 Proper Communication 14 14

5 Providing Opportunity

for Growth

20 20

Total 100 100

Inference:

72

From Table 25, it is inferred that 26 percent of the respondents are response job design

for changes in organization from preventing the job stress

.

Table: 26

Reducing Job stress

S.No Types Important Neither Not- Important

1 Recognition 45 50 5

2 Appreciation 60 48 2

3 Remuneration 37 59 4

4 Supportive

Colleagues

59 38 3

5 Work

Environment

83 15 2

6 Promotion 84 10 6

7 Involving in

Decision Making

59 26 15

8 Team Sprit 74 21 5

73

CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS

74

SUGGESTIONS &

CONCLUSIONS

FINDINGS

42 percent of the respondent’s age is between 18 to 28 years.

54 percent of the respondents are male.

73 percent of the respondents are from operational level management.

52 percent of the respondents are having experience between 0 to 3.

60 percent of the respondents are getting annual salary between 60k to 1.5L.

68 percent of the respondents are having 1 to 3 years services.

35 percent of the respondents are joining in BPO because of opportunity for growth.

37 percent of the respondents are response they used 90 % of potential by the

organization

75

72 percent of the respondents are response great extent for active participation level in the

assignment.

25 percent of the respondents are response as employee is involved in job by job rotation.

38 percent of the respondents are response great extent for job important.

72 percent of the respondents are response never for affection of job by problems in

family.

68 percent of the respondents are response never for affection of job by problems from

colleagues.

48 percent of the respondents are response never Satisfied level of superior’s approach.

42 percent of the respondents are response often receptive for organization receptive of

new ideas.

40 percent of the respondents are said work burden for affection of performance level.

44 percent of the respondents are response considerable extent for awareness of higher

level management.

31 percent of the respondents are response under utilization of skills for work design

aspects more stress.

46 percent of the respondents are response proper communication for lagging by

management.

41 percent of the respondents are response Uncertain Job Expectation for stress in work

roles.

41 percent of the respondents are response lack of opportunity for growth for concern

gives more stress.

41 percent of the respondents are response some extent for work place uncomforted.

54 percent of the respondents are response some extent for influence of health by job

stress.

71 percent of the respondents are response some extent for job stress hinders the

organizational productivity.

76

26 percent of the respondents are response job design for changes in organization from

preventing the job stress

SUGGESTIONS

Experts point out that continued high growth in an industry can be an issue because it strains

systems and governance processes that need time to mature and to be institutionalized. Indian

BPO industry is currently facing the challenges arising out of its stupendous growth. The major

challenges being faced by the ITES or BPO industry in India can be classified into internal and

external challenges. The internal challenges include shortage of competent managers for the

middle and senior management and the high attrition rates. The external challenge is in the form

of opposition from the US politicians and the UK labor unions against shifting of the BPO

operations by local companies to India. We suggest to do physiological analyse in bpo sector by

Hr and do steps accordingly. For this company need to give training in specialised sector.

CONCLUSION

77

It is desirable to employ professional HR Professionals with knowledge of Human

Psychology in BPO units/call centers. The services offered by professionals may not be felt in

the initial stages. Companies like Tata, L&T, MICO and few others have employed professionals

in their factories. The professionals can do wonders in BPO sectors as well. People are the

backbone of BPO industry and it is certain that professional HR or Human Psychologist can

make inroad in this emerging organization and facilitate the growth of organization in an

immense way.

BIBILOGRAPHY

Journal References:

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3/Rev.5

(1981), reprinted in 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force Oct. 21, 1986.

Documents of the Organization of African Unity (Gino J. Naldi ed., 1992).[London; New

York: Mansell, 246 pp. Contains several important human rights documents including the

1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa,

1982 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, 1988 Rules of Procedure of the

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and 1990 African Charter on the

Rights and Welfare of the Child.]

The International Law of Human Rights in Africa: Basic Documents and Annotated

Bibliography (compiled by M. Hamalengwa et al., 1988).[Dordrecht; Boston: Martinus

Nijhoff, 427 pp.]

78

U.N. Centre for Human Rights, The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,

U.N. Doc. HR/PUB/90/1 (1990).[New York: U.N. Centre for Hum. Rts., 51 pp. Contains

the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the African Commission on Human and Peoples'

Rights. An annex contains a list of countries that have signed, ratified, or acceded to the

Charter.]

Africa, Human Rights, and the Global System (Eileen McCarthy-Arnolds et al. eds.,

1994).

[Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 272 pp. Discusses briefly human rights philosophy,

introduces historical background concerning the evolution of human rights in pre-colonial

and colonial Africa, and covers extensively national and international efforts to address

human rights issues in Africa.]

T. Akinola Aguda, Human Rights and the Right to Development in Africa (1989).[Lagos:

Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, 34 pp.]

Richard Carver & Paul Hunt, National Human Rights Institutions in Africa, Occasional

Paper No. 1 (1991).[The Gambia: Afr. Centre for Democracy & Hum. Rts. Stud., 45 pp.

Discussion of national human rights organizations in the Gambia, Tanzania, Togo,

Uganda, and Zaire, and analysis of emerging efforts to address human rights issues in

Africa. Appendix contains a directory of African national human rights institutions.]

Emerging Human Rights: The African Political Economy Context, Studies in Human

Rights, Number 8 (George W. Shepherd, Jr. & Mark O.C. Anikpo eds., 1990).

[New York: Greenwood Press, 244 pp. Published under the auspices of the Consortium

on Human Rights Development. Scholarly articles in part one discuss theories of human

rights in the African context, dealing with such issues as the universality of human rights,

underdevelopment, and theological perspectives on African human rights. Articles in part

two discuss the link between human rights violations and several issues including

development, equality, and justice, militarization, refugees, feminism, and self-reliance.]

79

Osita C. Eze, Human Rights in Africa: Some Selected Problems (1984).[Lagos:

Published by the Nigerian Inst. of Int'l Affairs in cooperation with Macmillan Nigeria

Publishers, 314 pp. Treats human rights theory and examines human rights situations in

pre-colonial and colonial Africa, and in independent African states. Discusses self-

determination, racial discrimination and apartheid, women's rights, refugee issues, and

regional promotion and protection of human rights. Appendices include OAU

Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, Monrovia

Proposal for the Setting Up of an African Commission on Human Rights, and the African

Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.]

Rhoda E. Howard, Human Rights in Commonwealth Africa (1986).[Totowa, N.J.:

Rowman & Littlefield, 250 pp. Discusses various aspects of African human rights,

including economic, communal, political, civil, and women's rights.]

Human Rights and Development in Africa 152-76 (Claude E. Welch, Jr. & Ronald I.

Meltzer eds., 1984).[Albany, N.Y.: State University of N.Y. Press, 349 pp. Discusses

general human rights issues in contemporary Africa, regional responses including the

work of NGOs and the Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and presents

several views on the "right to development" and self-determination. Appendices contain

the Banjul Charter, a summary of basic human rights guaranteed in the Charter and other

major human rights treaties, and a list of major African human rights conferences held

between 1961-81. Bibliography also included.]

Human Rights and Governance in Africa (Ronald Cohen et al. eds., 1993)

[Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Fla., 285 pp. Part I contains scholarly articles that

present several theoretical approaches to human rights in Africa, and Part II contains

scholarly articles that discuss substantive human rights issues including women's rights,

refugees, minority rights, education, and academic freedom.]

Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Abdullahi Ahmed An- Na`im &

Francis M. Deng eds., 1990).[Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 399 pp.

Discusses African human rights in the context of various conceptions of international

80

human rights, including traditional "western" perspectives, Christian and Muslim

perspectives, several African cultural perspectives, and cross-cultural perspectives.]

Human Rights Watch, Academic Freedom and Human Rights Abuses in Africa, An

Africa Watch Report (1991). [New York: Human Rights Watch, 153 pp. Details human

rights abuses committed against members of academic communities in Cameroon,

Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,

Togo, Uganda, Zaire, and Zimbabwe. Also presents recommendations for African

governments, academics, organizations of academics, NGOs, donor governments, and

UNESCO to take action that will "encourage the independence and autonomy of

academic institutions and academic pursuits." An appendix lists detained African

academics.]

Website:

www.forbes.com

www.wilsonlearning.com

www.custominsight.com

81

ANNEXURE

82

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Age :

18 to 28 29 to 38 39 to 48 49 & above

2. Gender :

o Male

o Female

3. Designation:

o Operational Level Management

o Middle Level Management

o Top Level Management

4. Years of Experience:

o 0 to 3 Years

o 4 to 6 Years

o 7 to 9 Years

o 10 Years and Above

5. Your Annual Salary Income

o Less than Rs.60,000

o Rs.60,000 to Rs.1,50,000

o Rs.1,50,000 to Rs.2,40,000

o Above Rs.2,40,000

83

6. Your Years of Service in this Organisation

o 1 to 3 Years

o 4 to 6 Years

o 7 to 9 Years

o 10 Years and Above

7. Reasons for Joining in this organization

o Opportunity for Growth

o Good Remuneration

o Job Security

o Job Suited for Specialization

8. In your view how much your potential is used by the organisation

100% 90% 80% 70% Below 70%

9. Your active participation level in the assignment given to you

o Greater Extent

o Some Extent

o Not at all

10. Rank the factors to be considered for Total Employee Involvement

o Group Cohesiveness

o Recognition

o Role Clarity

o Job Rotation

o Job Enrichment

o Challenging Work

84

11. How much is your job important in this organisation.

o Greater Extent

o Considerable Extent

o Some Extent

o Not at all

12. How often problems in your family make you absent from the job

o Always Sometimes

o Never

13. . How often problems from your colleagues make you absent from the

job

o Always

o Sometimes

o Never

14. Are you satisfied with your superior’s approach

o Always

o Sometimes

o Never

15. Is the organisation receptive of new ideas?

o Always Receptive

o Often Receptive

o Neither

o Never

16. Which of the following affect your Performance level

o Pay Perks

o Work Burden

o Peer Relationship

o Work Environment

85

17. To what extent the higher level management is aware of the work

difficulties

o Greater Extent

o Considerable Extent

o Some Extent

o Not at all

18. Which of the following work design aspects gives you more stress

o Heavy Work Load

o Infrequent Rest Breaks

o Long Work Hours

o Routine Tasks

o Under Utilization of Skills

19. Which of aspects gives you more stress when management is lagging

behind

o Worker Participation

o Proper Communication

o family –Friendly Policies

20. Due to which of the following work roles you get more stress

o Conflicts

o Uncertain Job Expectation

o Too Many Responsibilities

21. On Career concern aspects which of the following gives you more

stress

o Job Insecurity

o Lack of Opportunity for Growth

o Rapid Change of Work Nature

86

22. To what extent you get disturbed by the work place un comfort

o Great Extent

o Some Extent

o No Extent

23. To what extent you feel that the job stress influence the Health

conditions

o Great Extent

o Some Extent

o No Extent

24. On your view to what extent job stress hinders the organizational

productivity

o Great Extent

o Some Extent

o No Extent

25. Rate the changes to be carried out in the organization for preventing the job stress.

Ensuring Work Load

Job Design

Role Clarity

Proper Communication

Providing Opportunity for Growth

26. On your view which of the Following factors are considered to be

important for

Reducing Job stress

87

Importa

nt

Neithe

r

Not-

Important

Recognition

Appreciation

Remuneration

Supportive

Colleagues

Work Environment

Promotion

Involving in Decision

Making

Team Sprit

88