The contradictions of CRM - A critical lens on call centres

INFORMATION

Information and Organization 16 (2006) 56–81

www.elsevier.com/locate/infoandorg

ANDORGANIZATION

The contradictions of CRM – A criticallens on call centres

Helen J. Richardson a, Debra Howcroft b,*

a Information Systems Institute, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UKb Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

Received 28 May 2004; received in revised form 15 May 2005; accepted 17 October 2005

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the contradictions of CRM systems and their use in call centres and indoing so contribute to the literature on critical information systems research. By invoking a criticalperspective our analysis shows significant contradictions between system objectives and outcomes inpractice. With reference to the work of Pierre Bourdieu, a sociologist and critical social theorist, wehighlight the powerful theoretical lens that his work can provide for information systems researchers.Using an empirical study, which draws upon Bourdieu�s key concepts of field, habitus, logic of prac-tice and symbolic violence, we illustrate how these processes of contradiction operate at the locallevel in the context of the field.� 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: CRM systems; Call centres; Contradictions; Empirical critical research; Bourdieu; Field; Habitus;Logic of practice; Symbolic violence

1. Introduction

Since the advent of information and communication technologies (ICTs), storiesabound relating to the transformation of work arising as a result of the application anduse of such technologies. A recent example of this so-called transformation is the settingof call centre work, specialized offices that have been established by organizations with the

1471-7727/$ - see front matter � 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.infoandorg.2005.10.001

* Corresponding author.E-mail addresses: [email protected] (H.J. Richardson), [email protected] (D.

Howcroft).

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H.J. Richardson, D. Howcroft / Information and Organization 16 (2006) 56–81 57

intention of delivering a range of services to customers over the telephone. Employees oragents1 spend their time in near constant contact with customers, making or receiving callsand processing the information. These call centres utilize a range of ICTs which are seen tomaximize efficiency and productivity (Belt, Richardson, & Webster, 2000). Call centres areoften portrayed as knowledge intensive working environments employing skilled, semi-professional workers recruited for their strong interpersonal skills (Frenkel, Tam, Korcyn-ski, & Shire, 1998). Yet despite these positive images, call centres are often fraught withcontradictions. The objective of this paper is to explore these contradictions and oppositionaltendencies in our analysis of CRM in call centres, by invoking a critical perspective to helpunderstand the context of the field and the response of the social agents within the field.

In order to aid our critical analysis, we will use the conceptual tools provided by PierreBourdieu. The critical social theory of Bourdieu provides intellectual foundations useful inthe critique of information systems and organizational research where individuals areoften marginalized (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000), as is often the case in call centre employ-ment. Bourdieu shows appreciation of the dialectical relationship between the individualand the world they inhabit. He discusses the unity and regularity of systems and their prac-tical coherence on the one hand, yet also describes their �fuzziness� and irregularities on theother. Both of these elements are equally necessary and inscribed into what he terms thelogic of practice (Bourdieu, 1990). This is an important aspect to consider when looking atCRM system use – often embedded in notions of transformation, in terms of organizationsin a global knowledge economy, of new ways of working, and of virtuality central to com-munication amongst �stakeholders�.

The paper shall proceed by firstly outlining the research objectives. We shall thenintroduce the environmental context and the nature of call centre work. Following this,Bourdieu�s key concepts of field, habitus, logic of practice and symbolic violence and theirroles in the �circuit of reproduction� (Bourdieu, 1990) will be discussed. These concepts arethen applied to the empirical material arising from the field study. Finally, conclusions aredrawn that stress the important contribution that the �theoretical scaffolding� (Walsham,2001) of Bourdieu and – more generally – empirically based critical research has madeto the study of organizational practice in the context of information systems research.

2. Research objectives

The objective of this research is to explore the tensions and contradictions that existwithin call centre work. We also aim to add to the small, but steadily increasing literatureon critical IS research by specifically drawing on the conceptual tools provided by PierreBourdieu to provide insights into the empirical study discussed below. The process of con-ducting critical research means disrupting ongoing social reality in order to question whatis often ignored or taken for granted and gain a critical and richer insight into issuesraised. It has been noted elsewhere (particularly in Critical Management Studies) thatmuch of the research into organizational life has tended to conform or reproduce domi-nating institutions and interests (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000). Indeed, one of the greatestcriticisms levelled at critical research is the lack of extended empirical studies (Alvesson& Deetz, 2000; Alvesson & Willmott, 1996; Boudreau, 1997). More recently, a numberof empirically grounded critical IS research studies are beginning to emerge (Alvarez,

1 Customer services agent is probably the most commonly used term in the UK (Belt et al., 2000, p. 9).

58 H.J. Richardson, D. Howcroft / Information and Organization 16 (2006) 56–81

2002; Klecun-Dabrowska, 2002; Kvasny, 2002) and this move is to be welcomed. In orderto add to this small, increasing body of work, one of the objectives of this paper is to movethe spotlight onto the individuals� working on the call centre �front line�. It aims to tell thestories often left untold in studies of information systems and organizational change. Callcentre organizations are seen as �social and historical creations� and the critical researchapproach aims to �recognize the influence of history, culture and social positions on beliefsand actions� (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000).

In order to assess how the research presented here contributes to the critical IS researcharena, we draw on the work of Alvesson and Deetz (2000) in offering some guidelines on theconduct of critical research. They suggest three overlapping tasks that the critical researchermay wish to consider, which are insight, critique, and transformative redefinition.

Insight refers to the process of seeing how various forms of knowledge, objects andevents are formed and sustained, highlighting hidden or less obvious aspects of social real-ity. The task here is to investigate at a local level and relate these empirical themes to widereconomic, social, historical and political forces. Insight is about the process of producingmeaning from the data while understanding the socio-economic context, which frameshow we make sense of the data. For critical studies, the metaphor of researcher as �mirror�is replaced by �lens� noting the role of the researcher as positioned and active (Alvesson &Skoldberg, 2000). Rather than seeing the world from the �native�s point of view� by viewingevents, actions, and values from the perspective of the people being studied, criticalresearchers aim to balance their interest in the level of meaning, with an awareness thatideological and structural forces may operate �behind the back� of the subjects being stud-ied (see for example, Lukes, 1974). Instead of focusing exclusively on individuals, situa-tions and meaning, the lens shifts to the systems of relations, which make suchmeanings possible. This enables researchers to deal with the conditions which give riseto the meaning and interpretations of social actors, an element that is often absent in muchinterpretivist research (Fay, 1975).

Critique challenges many of the taken-for granted assumptions, beliefs, ideologies anddiscourses, which permeate IS phenomena. Political, economic and social forces areinscribed in organizational arrangements (Alvesson & Willmott, 1996) and technologicalartefacts (Akrich, 1992; Winner, 1985). Critique builds upon insight, the difference beingthat the lens here shifts to general characterizations relating to wider social concerns andoften the larger global community. Critique explicitly relates to power constraints, repres-sion, ideology, social asymmetries, and technological determinism that give priority tocertain ways of viewing the world. Addressing this privileging of certain discourses andconstructions is therefore a crucial aspect of critical research, moving the spotlight tothe many voices that have been marginalized at the expense of the dominant view.

The third aspect – transformative definition – is the most difficult and refers to thedevelopment of critical, relevant knowledge and practical understandings that facilitatechange. Critical social theory suggests that people can change their world (Boudreau,1997) – there is nothing inevitable about what technology we have and how it is used. Eventhough critical researchers seek to avoid �telling people what to do�, transformativeredefinition aims to suggest an alternative and radically different view of the world, whichemphasizes change but in a more positive way.

To assess the quality of our research, we will later refer back to these guidelines andconsider them in the context of the field study. Before considering this, the next sectionwill review the literature, which considers this context: CRM systems in call centres.


3. CRM systems in call centres

In order to provide some historical and political context for the research setting, it isuseful to consider structural changes within society. We are told that one of the key struc-turing principles in society has shifted from production to consumption (du Gay, 1996) asWeber�s concept of bureaucracy is replaced with customer-oriented bureaucracy (Kor-czynski, 2001) whereby the �customer is king�. Identifying and responding to consumerneeds is recognized as a �global business imperative� (Sturdy, 2001) and there is a wealthof management discourse that identifies the customer as omnipresent (du Gay & Salaman,1992; Legge, 1995). This is coupled with the emergence of relationship marketing, whichhas relied heavily on the emancipatory rhetoric of offering more to the consumer, despitethe fact that it is being sold to organizations on the basis that it will increase market shareand profitability (Fitchett & McDonagh, 2001). Within this model, the consumer is viewedas a long-term relationship rather than a series of discrete singular purchases, and sogreater emphasis is placed on constructing a good relationship with customers. This trendtowards customer-oriented service work (Belt et al., 2000) is epitomized by the call centre,a sector which is increasing in size and number of employees. Call centres are aided bysoftware systems known as Customer Relationship Management systems, which utilizetechnology �at a distance� to manage the relationship with customers.

A call centre has been defined as a dedicated operation in which computer-utilizingemployees receive both inbound and outbound telephone calls, with those calls being pro-cessed by some form of predictive dialing systems or automated call distribution (ACD)(Taylor & Bain, 1999). The roots of their rapid growth can be located in the adoptionof vigorous selling techniques by organizations and the perception of dramatic cost sav-ings arising from centralization of �back office� customer service functions, coupled withthe pursuit of �competitive advantage�. CRM system use in call centres operate to handlethe �frontline� communication with customers, to control and to automate the gate-keepingroles, to capture and standardize sales knowledge and to oversee customer service. In addi-tion, while dealing with incoming queries, increasing numbers of operators are required tosell from a menu of products (e.g., a banking call centre may try to sell insurance productswhilst responding to a query about the balance of a customer�s account). As the role of callcentres has shifted from the simple handling of enquiries to customer relationship manage-ment, the importance attached to the role of the operator during their couple of minutes ofcustomer contact has grown (Taylor & Bain, 1999). This front line work is often viewed asstrategically important to the organization. CRM system use is aimed at streamlining andshortening the key business processes that define a global organization�s relationship to themarkets and customers – it is seen as a strategic business issue that requires technologicalsupport (Ciborra & Failla, 2000).

A number of IT tools are utilized in the process, including automated ACD systemsusing computer telephony integration, voice and speech recognition and response soft-ware, integrated volume response and use of the World Wide Web. ACD systems are seenas central to the call centre because they automatically process in-coming calls and �force-feed� them to call-centre employees, along an �unstoppable telephonic conveyor belt�(Fernie & Metcalf, 1998). The ACD system stacks incoming calls and distributes themto operators as they are �freed up� (thus removing the need for switchboard operators).Agents receive calls through a headset and enter details of the communication exchangeinto a PC. Whilst technological innovations, such as the development of web-enabled


multimedia contact centres, have produced change, nevertheless it is the integration oftelephone and computer technologies that fundamentally define call centres (Taylor,Hyman, Mulvey, & Bain, 2002) and it is this integration that structures the labour process(agents communicate with customers by telephone while simultaneously scanning andinterpreting information on the screen, and adding information via the keyboard).

CRM systems represent an attempt to codify intellectual capital (Light, 2001) with soft-ware providing an on-screen template of �scripts� enabling the monitoring of calls and callanalysis. The CRM software product is embedded or inscribed with assumptions, valuesand opinions about patterns of use, the nature of work, and organizational structures,and the user is configured to respond to the software in �sanctionably appropriate ways�(Grint & Woolgar, 1997, p. 93). These scripts are developed by technologists who oftenlack understanding of the situated work practices of their systems� user communities(Kvasny & Truex, 2000). These scripting mechanisms – metaphorically, if not physically– weld the worker and machine into a streamlined and controlled knowledge systemand are a distinctive and widespread feature of the call centre sector. Tightly definedscripts coupled with the recording of operators conversations, represent an unprecedentedlevel of attempted managerial control (Taylor, Hyman, Mulvey, & Bain, 2002). As com-mented: ‘‘It is difficult to conceive of another occupation where the entire working shiftrequires the articulation of the same vocal patterns in such a repetitive and uninterruptedsequence� (Taylor & Bain, 1999, p. 109). This combination of pressures makes the labourprocess in call centres so taxing. The constant pressure to complete one task appropriatelybefore immediately moving on to the next has been described as �an assembly line in thehead� (Taylor & Bain, 1999). This process encapsulates the Taylorisation of white-collarwork in call centres.

CRM system use in call centres often goes hand-in-hand with the adoption of team-working practices and the rhetoric of empowerment recommended by many managerialmethods. The main purpose of team-working is a combination of ideological, materialand cultural objectives: to stimulate a high sense of collective identity yet also provide a basisfor competition among the workforce (Taylor & Bain, 1999). This has led to what has beendescribed as �team Taylorism� (Baldry, Bain, & Taylor, 1998) with work intensificationcentred around a culture of �beating the statistics�. However, it is clear from this study –and others – that team-based management is often intended to control workers in anorganization rather than to empower them (Richardson & Richardson, 2002; Truex &Ngwenyama, 1998) as concertive control serves to strengthen the �iron cage� (Barker, 1993).

To summarize, when considering the literature on call centres, we find there are twostarkly contrasting images of call centre work, which we will refer to as the utopian (posi-tive) and the dystopian (negative) vision. The first image is the one that is typified in theseductive tales of the new service management as popularized in the business press. This isrepresented in the images of knowledge-intensive call centres staffed by enthusiastic andco-operative employees �smiling down the phone� in a relaxed and professional mannerto locally based customers. The employees offer empathy with customers in their attemptto deliver �excellent service�, a service that is supported by strategic use of technology. Inorder to employ people with a customer-focused attitude that deliver a quality service,management need to treat call centre agents well, based on the assumption that a �happyworker� will deliver optimum service. The environment is one of flexible working within aflattened organization, based upon committed team working and empowerment. Thisvision has been referred to as the �win:win:win fairytale� (Korczynski, 2001): customers


win because they receive a superior quality service, workers are �empowered� to act on theircustomer service values, and management see customers returning to the firm. In starkcontrast, the dystopian vision describes call centres as the �sweatshops of the 21st century�(Belt et al., 2000). Numerous academic accounts of call centre work have highlighted theroutinisation, repetitiveness and absence of employee control, often with ICTs being usedas a lever to industrialize the work process. Management are faced with serious staffingproblems including high labour turnover, sickness absence rates, with demotivated andstressed-out staff racing to meet ever-increasing production targets but with little chanceof promotion. As management struggle for control over the workforce, the intensive mon-itoring and tightened controls seems to merely intensify existing problems (Taylor & Bain,1999). In the extreme, managerial powers of electronic surveillance, akin to that of thePanopticon, is seen to render perfect the power of the supervisor with employees havingno control or influence over their working environment (Fernie & Metcalf, 1998).

So, what are we to make of these contending visions of call centre work? Many of theclaims made on behalf of the technology are fallacious. To assume that software can trans-form organizational practices in terms of empowerment of employees, team-working, andimproved customer service on the one hand, or monitoring and surveillance on the other,is indicative of technological determinism, and ignores the complexities of organizationallife. Such contradictions are always possible with the use of information systems in anorganizational context and with work practices more generally. The study of such con-tradictions, pivotal to understanding change, is enabled by an emphasis on the conflictualnature of organizations. Invoking a critical perspective is one means by which a deeperunderstanding of the change process can begin to be developed. Recognizing potentialcontradictions of course �enables understanding of points of conflict and instability in orga-

nizations and how these may interact to change and transform organizations� (Orlikowski,1992). Such contradictions are central to the logic of practice also and are best capturedusing the analytical lens of Bourdieu, which will be discussed next.

4. The contribution of Bourdieu

4.1. Background

In this section, we will discuss the key concepts of field, habitus, logic of practice andsymbolic violence in the critical social theory of Pierre Bourdieu in order to show howthese concepts are relevant to IS research. Bourdieu and his theoretical analysis wasselected for a number of reasons. Firstly, his work seems highly appropriate for a criticalproject. As noted elsewhere, �his relentless disclosure of power and privilege in its most variedand subtlest forms, and the respect accorded by his theoretical framework to the agents who

make up the social world which he so acutely dissects, give his work an implicit critical poten-

tial� (Thompson, 1991, p. 31). Secondly, Bourdieu was a �resister�, active in the May 1968uprising, involved in anti-racist struggles, and appearing on various anti-globalizationplatforms before his death in 2002. He persistently remained on the Left of the Frenchpolitical spectrum. Given that political issues derive from the very essence of criticalresearch (Howcroft & Trauth, 2004) as critical researchers we acknowledge our own epis-temological standpoint. Thirdly, many of his key intellectual concepts can be usefullyapplied in our field of study, since he specifically provides a framework for studying prac-tices. What critical research and Bourdieu�s analysis in particular shows us, is that there


are wider institutional and ideological issues to be discussed when studying the role oftechnology in organizations (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000; Bourdieu, 1990). By drawing uponthe work of Bourdieu this study attempts to give a wider political picture and to questionthe assumptions surrounding the adoption and use of information systems in organiza-tions. Finally, Bourdieu has had limited exposure in IS studies, aside from the work ofSchultz and Boland (2000) who applied Bourdieu�s key concepts to their study of �infor-mation gatekeepers� and also that of Kvasny and Truex (2000) who established a researchagenda using the work of Pierre Bourdieu. These studies provide excellent illustrations ofthe value of the �intellectual scaffolding� (Walsham, 2001) of Bourdieu and this paper aimsto add to these existing studies.

An important issue for critically oriented research and for scholars of Bourdieu is theidea of transformation and the struggle for a different world. In these terms social phe-nomena are historically created and conditioned. Social conditions constrain emancipa-tion and limits potential; they cannot be easily changed because they are related tostructures, which are historically constituted (Klecun, 2002). Perhaps looking at symbolicand cultural meanings can merely describe and reinforce the status quo and existing socialstructures. However, there is an �art of making a difference� and this is what the work ofBourdieu offers (Lee, 1993). It is not as simplistic as viewing the dominant and subordinatewith the dominant always gaining the upper hand. Bourdieu�s analysis also suggests strug-gle, dialectic, contradiction and resistance.

Bourdieu attempted to overcome the �absurd opposition between the individual andsociety� and �the central plank in Bourdieu�s sociological platform is his attempt to tran-scend the �compulsory� and �ritual� choice between subjectivism and objectivism� (Jenkins,2002, p. 66). However, neither did he want to fall into the trap of viewing conscious ordeliberate acts of people as providing sufficient explanation of what people do. Bourdieuurges that there is a �need to break with linear thinking which only recognizes the simple ordi-

nal structures of direct determination and endeavour to reconstruct the networks of interre-

lated relationships� (Bourdieu, 1984, p. 107).

4.2. Theoretical tools

We now turn our attention to outlining some of the key conceptual tools that will beapplied to our analysis of the empirical study. Firstly, Bourdieu uses the concept of fieldto theorize society as a space of relative social positions. Bourdieu tries to convey that thesocial space and individuals that occupy it are a result of historical struggles and that indi-viduals produce the social space they live in and are also produced by it. Therefore, theyboth incorporate and objectify social structures that they inhabit (Wolfreys, 2000). Therelationship between the individual and society, or structures and agencies, is expressedin an analogy: compare social activity to an individual sense of play – people are freeto act but they can only do so within the constraints of the game that they are playing.The game or social activity allows for improvisation and manipulation of rules and com-ing to terms with the game is called the logic of practice. The logic of practice is not simplyabout living within the confines of the rules, nor is it a wholly unconscious experience, noris it purely as a result of rational calculation. It is that people develop strategies of behav-iour, but these strategies are shaped by their objective situation (Wolfreys, 2000). How-ever, unlike in the metaphor of a game where a field is clearly seen for what it is – �anarbitrary social construct underlined by everything that maintains its autonomy – explicit


rules, delimited time and space and playing involves a quasi-contract� (Bourdieu, 1990);social fields on the other hand are the products of a long, slow process of absorptionand development of unconscious autonomy and are games �in themselves� rather than�for themselves� (Bourdieu, 1990). Multiple fields define the objectified social structuresthat identify a society. An actor does not consciously embark on the game – they are borninto it and actors need habitus to make it work.

Habitus is a system of generative schemes that are durable – inscribed in the social con-struction of the self and transposable – from one field to another. So Bourdieu can analyseagents as objectively co-ordinated without being the product of rules, on the one hand, orconscious rationality, on the other (Calhoun, LiPuma, & Postone, 1993). The �feel� for thesocial game becomes an instinctive part of the make-up of individuals via the habitus thatbecomes a way of behaving based on a sense of what might be achieved (Wolfreys, 2000).The concept of habitus – arising out of, shaped by and reflecting the fields in which it oper-ates, allows Bourdieu to �forsake the false problems of personal spontaneity and socialconstraint, freedom and necessity, choice and obligation� and side-steps the micro-macrodebate that �forces a polarized, dualistic social ontology� (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992).

Habitus has the potential for �acknowledging the hold of institutional norms upon act-ing individuals yet without denying them agency� (Lovell, 2002). For example, for Bour-dieu, social action is not entirely determined or arbitrary but �habitus is composed ofdurable transposable dispositions and competencies that shape perception and actions�(Adkins, 2002). The power of the habitus derives from the �thoughtlessness of habit andhabituation� (Jenkins, 2002, p. 76). Habitus is a virtue made of necessity (Bourdieu,1984) and a sense of one�s place and a sense of others place (Woodfield, 2000). We are borninto habitus – the feel for the social game.

In what Bourdieu describes as the dominant circular path – a causal loop of generationand reproduction – actors internalize the structure of the field as habitus. Habitus in turngenerates practice and practices serve to reproduce the structure of the field. Practices arethe recognisable patterned actions in which both individuals and groups engage. They arenot a mechanical reaction to rules, norms, and models but a strategic yet regulated impro-visation responding to a dialectical relationship between a specific situation in a field andhabitus (Bourdieu, 1973). Practices are generated by dynamically combining past experi-ence, present situation and implicit anticipation of the future consequences of these veryactions. Being determined partly by past conditions through habitus, they tend to repro-duce the regularities and objective structures of which they are both products. Through thecircuit of reproduction the objective relations of the field are produced and reproduced toboth reinforce and change the field�s objective structure, such as class distinctions andschemes of classification (Kvasny & Truex, 2000). Fig. 1 serves as an illustration of thesepoints:

The circuit of reproduction illustrated here (Fig. 1) is the reciprocal relationshipsthrough which practice creates and recreates the objectified social structures andconditions in which it occurs (Schultz & Boland, 2000). The field is a network of relationsamong the objective positions and so the field is a relation rather than structure. A field isthe social arena under investigation each with their own specific logics and generating abelief among participants about the capital that is at stake in the field. It is an arena ofstruggle in which individuals attempt to maximize their social standing, creating a compet-itive system of social relations functioning according to rules specified by dominant classes –for example, struggles over the accumulation, investment and conversion of power

Habitus

Field

Logic ofpractice

Symbolicviolence

generates

Mode of domination

shapesstructures

Circuit of reproduction

Fig. 1. Generation of practice.


resources (Kvasny & Truex, 2000). In praxis the crucial thing is to focus on the relationshipbetween the habitus and field. A field conditions the habitus and habitus constitutes the fieldas something that is meaningful and has sense and value.

Habitus is central – the mental or cognitive structures through which people deal withthe social world. Habitus guides practice and behaviour in everyday life. It is a cognitiveconstructs that �is generative� from personal experience and history. It is both an individualand shared concept created during the course of collective history (Kvasny & Truex, 2000).Habitus is produced by and produces the social world. It is a double-sided dialectic – inter-nalization of external structures and the externalization of things that are internal to theindividual (Ritzer, 2003). Habitus provides the principles by which people make choicesand choose the strategies with which they deal with the social world. People in these termshave practical sense rather than being dupes or free-willed in the logic of practice (Ritzer,2003).

In addition, there is the question of how power relations exist and are maintainedalongside the habitus. Domination is maintained in society by means other than directrepression. Society, as stated, is made up of different fields e.g., fields of education, politics,economics and so on. Within each field people compete for �capital�. This could, for exam-ple, be cultural capital or monetary capital – any capital that is at stake within that par-ticular field. Different forms of capital can be converted to other forms. Once thecredentials of this capital becomes generally acknowledged and legitimized then powerrelations no longer exist between individuals but become objective mechanisms and socialinstitutions that reproduce relations of domination without the need for direct interven-tion by the dominant group in society (Wolfreys, 2000). The term symbolic violence iscoined, being a legitimate call for deference to authority.

Schultz and Boland (2000) have noted three functions of symbolic violence in Bourdieu�sanalysis – knowledge integration, communication, and political domination. Formalcontrols, for example, drive behaviours and outcomes through bureaucratic measures. Thisrelates to the knowledge integration function of symbolic violence where written policies,


procedures and methodologies are employed to provide a universal ordering and under-standing in the social arena (Kvasny & Truex, 2000). Informal control on the other handinvolves norms or self-regulation within social classes, for example. This corresponds tocommunication because controls are embedded deep within codes and shared class mean-ings. They result from the collective habitus of actors within a social group. The politicalfunction enables indirect cultural mechanisms – rather than direct coercive social control– to provide order and social restraint. Symbolic violence is most powerful when it hidesthe interested nature of managerial actions and when acceptance of an information systemby the users serves to perpetuate their domination (Kvasny & Truex, 2000).

5. Research approach

Having provided an overview of the theoretical tools to be used in our analysis, we willnow move on to consider the field research. This study is informed by a critical researchtradition (for further information on this approach we refer the reader to the ISWorld dis-cussion on qualitative research in IS available at www.isworld.org) and in this respect, webase our study on the central premise that critical research aims for a balance betweenbeing informed by critical theoretical ideas and a political agenda, and an empirical sen-sitivity and interest in the discovery of repression. To try and achieve this, the study thatfollows aims to apply the intellectual framework of ideas offered by Bourdieu to an empir-ical setting of �front line� workers employed in a call centre environment.

5.1. Mobile field study

Rather than taking an organizational or case study model representing examples fromeach call centre type, this research instead aimed to follow the fortunes of call centre work-ers as a mobile field study. In this respect, four call centre workers were involved in thisstudy over a period of two years, between 1999 and 2001. Given the nature of call centrework and the research objectives it seemed appropriate to focus on call centre workersand their employment experiences rather than on one (or multiple) case/s. This enabled dee-per understanding of the issues concerned. A traditional stakeholder analysis, perhaps witha cross-section of the workforce spanning different levels, seemed inappropriate given thehigh turnover rates in call centre work, and the desire to focus specifically on �front line�employees. As the four employees changed workplaces (for a variety of reasons) on a num-ber of occasions during the study this enabled call centre work in nine different centres (andfive different companies) to be analysed (see Table 1). Given the nature of the call centreindustry in the UK, which has high levels of attrition – which is a property of the field –there is a need to focus on individuals, rather than organizations. Following individualworkers also enables us to study a variety of settings. In these terms the researcher was alsomobile, moving as a �shadow� with the changing fortunes of the employees, rather thanbeing fixed in a particular organization and taking �snap-shot� views.

In practice, the researcher and the agents all met up regularly, sometimes engaged ingroup discussions, sometimes in one-to-one interviews. There were three group interviewseach year, amounting to six in total. The group discussions were selected as a usefulmethod, because of the advantages of this approach for assembling data on experiences,beliefs, attitudes and group interaction (Morgan, 1997). The process was informal, withno strong structure or plan as it was intended that the participants in the study would also

http://www.isworld.org

Table 1Call centres by sector

Company sector Call centre specialism

Telecommunications (Company 1) Number enquiriesTelecommunications (Company 1) Billing enquiresTelecommunications (Company 2) General enquires and salesTelecommunications (Company 3) Product supportTelecommunications (Company 3) Installation enquiresUtilities B2B work allocationUtilities Fault reportingUtilities General customer servicesLeisure Ticket sales


guide the research. In terms of individual interviews, 22 were conducted over the period,some being of greater intensity with certain individuals. The interviews were largelyunstructured and focussed on a few key themes, providing call centre workers with thespace to raise their own issues relating to their work experiences. Discussions centredaround their plans and aspirations, the reasons why they had taken up call centre work,aspects of the job that they enjoyed and disliked, and scenarios based on a �day in the lifeof. . .�. These questions were inspired by the �thinking tools� (Jenkins, 2002) of Bourdieu –to understand the roots, family background, and identity of the individuals and how all ofthis might impact on their experiences in the �field of knowledge work� – life on the �frontline� of call centres. Consent was sought for the content and direction of the research, notjust at the outset, but also as an on-going concern. Participants supported the research andwanted their voices to be heard and stories told. Reflexive stories were written and thesewere all shown and discussed with the individuals concerned who would clarify or expand,as necessary. During this continuous process, the data analysis and our interpretationswere recognizable to the call centre workers involved and this form of �member checking�(Lincoln & Guba, 1985) provided the respondents with an opportunity to provide furthercomments and meaningful insights. As the research unfolded, it seems that these discus-sions had an effect on both the participants and the researcher. They commented that theyfelt �special� when seeing their stories on paper and were anxious that their �voices� cameacross. It is likely that this kind of participation in discussions will have had an impactupon how they saw themselves, both inside and outside of work, although it is difficultto articulate this precisely.

5.2. Context: call centre profiles

In the early stages of discussions with these four call centre workers, it seemed clear thatit would be interesting to study call centre work on the �front line� especially as the NorthWest region (particularly Manchester) was becoming an increasingly important area ofgrowth in call centre work. At the time of the study, the UK was one of the most maturecall centre markets in Europe (Datamonitor, 1998), as agent positions grew from around15,000 in 1995 to just over 400,000 in 2001 (DTI, 2004). The case material describes callcentres in the North West of England, which has the largest number of call centre jobsin the UK (TUC, 2001). In May 2004, the North West had around 590 contact centres,the vast majority of which (408) employed fewer than 100 agents. However, there werealso a significant number of very large centres, for example, 45 centres employed over


500 agents (DTI, 2004). Ironically these are often housed in the old mills and engineeringshops now stripped of lathes and other huge engineering machinery but replaced with rowupon row of desks equipped with computers and headsets. All around are boards moni-toring performance and ACM screens showing the number of waiting calls. In smaller cen-tres (in this study the smaller centre involved ticket sales) there are similarities and alsodifferences. The agents are subject to the same demands requiring them to finish their cur-rent call and answer the next, but instead are housed in cramped, tiny rooms, seeminglyoverflowing with desks, wires and coffee cups. This centres are noisy with the incessantphone talk and yet each agent is �within their own world� – a �knowledge construction�between phone, headset, caller and database.

The clustering of call centre labour pools in the North West can be linked to the unem-ployment in coal mining and shipbuilding industries in the 1980s, which created very sig-nificant pools of unemployment at lower than average labour costs. While ex-minersremain scarce as employees of call centres, the newly important female labour marketquickly became a fertile ground for recruitment in the former heavily industrialized areas(DTI, 2004). The backbone of the industry is young women in their mid-to-late 20s, whooften do not have higher education qualifications but have worked in the industry forsome years. Returning workers are another significant segment, usually made up ofwomen returning to employment once their children start school. Women make up themajority of employees in the industry, since there is a strong perception that �feminine�social skills play a central role in call centre work (Belt et al., 2000) given women�s abilityto �smile down the phone� (Marshall & Richardson, 1996). As with many other industries,the management positions, however, do not reflect the gender proportions of agents (Inter-national Call Centre Benchmarking Report 1999/2000). In some call centres in large cities,students and new graduates can make up a significant proportion of the workforce.

The composition of the North West call centre labour force is one which has a largeproportion of gay and lesbian workers, women and students, reflecting the City Centrelocations, low pay2 and reliance on a bulk of temporary transient staff. Here, there are gen-erally more women workers than men, more gay men than heterosexual men, more youngthan old. There was a critical mass of gay workers and this shaped the day-to-day workingpractices. The gay village3 is where many gays and lesbians who are looking for work willgo for informal advice. For example, one of the participants got her first call centre jobthrough the gay village when word got round that �BT are recruiting�. In this community,advice was given about how to present yourself in interviews, which agencies were better,which call centres to consider, and the best shifts to choose. A significant part of theidentity of Manchester is its large gay and lesbian community, a community that wantto be open about their sexuality but also need to work.

New, large employers who need a pool of call centre staff soon realize that their recruit-ment pool will include a critical mass of gay and lesbian workers and so issues surroundinghomophobia need to be dealt with. Being gay or lesbian in call centres often meant havinga network of friends who work and socialize together. One day a group of agents were dis-cussing where to go for their Christmas party. When a bar in the gay village was suggested

2 The salaries are well below the national average in most call centres (DTI, 2004).3 Area of Manchester City Centre with numerous gay bars and other shops and facilities associated with gay

and lesbian culture.


a new call centre worker made homophobic remarks. The heterosexual woman called hima �tosser�4 and she was concerned that his comments had offended her lesbian colleague.

5.3. Context: call centre worker profiles

This section provides the necessary detail of the participants in the study. Readers maybe concerned that a degree of unnecessary personal elements has been included. However,these profiles are essential to understand the contribution of culture and history – habitus –to the study of the social relations of information systems use. This is one of thestrengths of using the conceptual tools of analysis provided by Pierre Bourdieu. Takinga critical research approach means not restricting the study to a one-dimensional viewof �the organization� or �stakeholders�. Within mainstream studies, corporate executivesand management generally are often greatly over-represented which produces a systematicbias in terms of the social groups that are represented (Alvesson & Skoldberg, 2000). Froma critical perspective, the issue of who exactly is allowed to speak – what IndustrialRelations people refer to as �voice� – was seen as crucial to this project. Hence, call centreworkers are the focus of the study and their profiles are as follows.5

5.3.1. Angela

A white woman in her 50s, Angela was one of the first people in her local community tobe part of a mixed race marriage. She had moved from the South of England to the NorthWest and is now a single parent with a gay son (Errol) who is a popular character in thegay scene in Manchester. She originated from a close-knit working class family (the kindwhere men go to the pub and come home expecting dinner on the table) and her ownmother�s existence was based around responding to the needs of her husband. Angelawas seen as the �mother� of the office, especially for gay men because she knew from herown son�s experiences the types of difficulties they faced. In her maternal role in the office,she became responsible for providing treats for birthdays and was seen as a shoulder to cryon, especially for younger workmates. On one occasion, when Denise (profiled below) splitup with her girlfriend, Angela bought her a �Charlie Dimmock�6 calendar to try and cheerher up.

Angela had been working in call centres for nearly 10 years as a long-standing �phoneenquiries� worker. Working in what she described as a �job for life�, her primary motivationwas to work in order to help pay the bills and she had no great career aspirations. Most ofher work experience in call centres has been for a large telecommunications organizationin North Manchester, until they closed and transferred the services to the city centre.Redundancy followed as the organization transferred to a large, impersonal and central-ized service utilizing CRM systems to the full. Despite being an example of a highly valuedagent, with intensive knowledge of the area and customers, Angela was facing problemsadjusting to the new working conditions. She was finding teamwork and the supervisionintimidating, the work pressurized and impersonal and feared that she would be sackedfairly soon.

4 �British vulgar slang, a term of abuse for a masturbator, a detestable person� (Dictionary.com).5 Names have been changed for reasons of anonymity.6 UK television female �garden makeover� celebrity known for wearing low cut T-shirts and no bra.

http://Dictionary.com


5.3.2. Bill

A young, white gay man from a strongly working class area. He was often perceived asa �tough hard nut�. Bill was a dreamer keen to have a different life – he longed for travel, tobe an actor or a DJ, and possibly to go back to college. He led a chaotic life and wasalways �itching to move on�. Again, he was working primarily in order to raise some moneyin order to fulfil the other plans he had for his life. Bill works from call centre agencies andwas committed to learning �scams�7 in order to enjoy the proceeds, while ripping off hisemployers at the same time. He believed strongly in solidarity with other call centre agentsand is intolerant of bullying and intimidation from management. If he does not like thework or atmosphere, he walks down the road to the next call centre (he worked in sevenof the nine call centres in this study).

5.3.3. ColinFrom a traditional tough working class neighbourhood in North Manchester, Colin

was perceived as a confident individual and described himself as someone that �took noshit�. He was in his thirties, and a self-defined �Gay Bear�8 who had a rocky relationshipwith his partner but was very much at ease with his sexuality and life in general. He keptchinchillas at home. Middle-aged women working in the call centres adored him andenjoyed engaging in �saucy flirting�.

Colin was a supervisor working in the large city centre telecommunications firm and wastrying hard to build up his experience in order to become a manager. In contrast with theothers, Colin saw call centre work in terms of a potential career and hoped to eventuallymove into higher-level management (even though call centre agents are rarely promotedabove the level of supervisor). He was placed in a difficult role at work. On one level hehad the respect of staff and was supportive towards them, especially against the moreextreme acts of discipline and control. Denise described a particularly nasty incident at workand the support she received fromColin: �he drove me home when I freaked one day�. Yet hewas under constant pressure to carry out higher management instructions regarding team-work, productivity and sanctions. These tensions can be seen in one particular incidentwhen Colin�s line manager told him �you�re alright for a queer�. Colin responded �call mea fucking queer again and I�ll punch your lights out.� Management tried to discipline himfor his retort, but support from surrounding staff meant this failed to materialize.

5.3.4. Denise

A part-time worker and lesbian woman in her early 30s, Denise was the initial contactthat initiated the meetings and research with the others. She stood out as �unusual� in manyareas of life. As well as her part-time call centre job, she was also working �cash-in-hand�9

for an advice firm and studying for a part-time postgraduate diploma (in Business Informa-tion Technology). She was experiencing the head-on problems of juggling the dual demandsof studying and working and felt angry by what she described as the �management claptrap�

7 Word meaning tricks, ways to cheat, barely legal or illegal ways to defraud money.8 Gay Bears are hard to define – this is a sub-culture of gay men whose identity can perhaps be described as the

opposite of stereotyped images of gay men. Often-older men, bulky, hairy, often with facial hair, often at easewith their sexuality and masculinity.9 Phrase meaning working for money with no contract, tax or insurance paid usually on a casual basis and in an

informal, illegal arrangement.


on her course. It was seen as being �high on IT for competitive advantage and low on theconsequences for call centre staff�. When her supervisor found out she was doing an ITcourse he described her as �whizzy whizzy� on the PC and said �watch her she�s a cleverbugger�. Sometimes she would face aggressive questions from other agents because of heruniversity education, with comments like �do you know everything?�

She managed a very intense daily routine: working at the call centres, �cash in hand�employment at the advice firm, having a drink with friends in the gay village, going tothe library to study, and so on, day in, day out. In her academic life, many of her fellowstudents were managers earning much higher salaries, often as consultants. Denise led thestudy group at college and encouraged solidarity in learning by passing papers round elec-tronically and creating a study group. Denise was academically smarter than most of theother students and was happy to swap and share whatever she could. Denise was respectedby the managers-turned students on her course, but not by the call centre managers at work.

At the start of the research, she was working in a new telecommunications call centre inthe city centre, which had recently undergone centralization, but during the course of theresearch, she worked in three centres in total. Her motivation for working was in orderto make ends meet. Despite the scripts and regulated phraseology, Denise would refercustomers to appropriate agencies that could help them with problems such as debt. Onedistressed customer had very recently fallen downstairs but was dealing with an upsettingletter relating to her telephone line being cut off. As is necessary with customer serviceoccupations, in contradiction to increasing regulation of all aspects of the work thatCRM systems demand, workers also have an element of discretion and freedom. Workerscannot be completely manipulated to adhere to configured scripts. In this instance, Denisestopped the process that should have resulted in cutting the phone line of the customer andinstead rang a relative and ambulance. For this she gained a company �heroism� award.

6. Bourdieu and the logic of practice in call centres

In this section, examples from the case material are supplied. For simplicity, these arepresented under the headings of field, habitus, logic of practice and symbolic violence. Asnoted earlier and as illustrated in Fig. 1, in reality these aspects are strongly interlinkedrather than separate entities.

6.1. Field

Many fields spring to mind when considering the logic of practice in this case study.However, the field in focus here is that of CRM uses in UK call centres. It is a field fraughtwith contradictions, with the co-existence of customer-oriented service and rationalization.

In the workplaces we studied labour turnover was high. In one call centre, labour turn-over was expected to be 100% in the first year. Scripts and monitoring aspects of CRMsoftware were heavily utilized. Practices such as �hot-desking�10 were imposed as a wayof de-personalizing workstations and workspace. Denise worked at one �out of town� callcentre where there was less recruitment from the gay and lesbian community and she

10 This is the practice whereby workers are not allocated their own work station or work space but sit at thenearest available desk. Individualization of work space is not permitted.


commented that more homophobia was in evidence. Shifts were often very long andpeople had to work for days on end without a break. There was a lot of drug taking inexistence, which was used to help people stay awake and this impacted on their behaviour.For example, if one particular worker had a couple of litres of water on his desk, everyonewould know he was �on� something and would keep out of his way.

Workers were generally organized into teams and each team had a supervisor. Theseteam supervisors received very little enhanced pay but were expected to disseminate ordersfrom senior management. Various techniques were used to try to establish some form ofcontrol over the teams, to enhance productivity and to instill peer pressure on �the weakestlink� in the workplace. For example, during team meetings, supervisors would encouragean analysis of team performance with the identification of individuals who appeared to bethe weakest link in terms of their productivity. Teams were encouraged to exercise peerpressure on these less productive individuals in order to improve their own team perfor-mance. Whenever it was felt that behaviour modification was needed, management usedpunitive actions, such as imposing star charts11 on the �badly behaved�. Management alsointroduced a reward system for productive employees, which included incentives such asthe donation of food vouchers for improved sales figures.

6.2. Habitus

As indicated, Habitus is a range of dispositions and practices distinguishing groupsfrom each other in social space and provides a schema that shapes the behaviour and per-ceptions of particular group members. These are �common-sense� beliefs that certain thingsare of value and others not. As Woodfield (2000) suggests, we read off each other and deci-pher social practices and representations. Habitus provides a �sense of one�s place and asense of the other�s place�. Some of this is deeply entrenched in historical experience, sofactors such as the context of call centre work in the North West of England and alsoas a part of the global economy of the early 21st century are important considerations.Similarly, the casual nature of the work and the transient employment experience whichdraws agents from labour pools which are predominantly part-time women workers, stu-dents and the gay community, also features. Thus, �outside of work� influences �in work�practices as habitus structures the field and is structured by it. The habitus of the call cen-tre worker entailed coming to terms with this uncertain and casual employment. Bourdieuhas commented that a feature of contemporary work is the generalized and permanentconditions of insecurity (with the constant threat of unemployment), which shapes anew type of domination aimed at compelling workers to submission and acceptance ofexploitation (Bourdieu, 1999).

Kvasny and Truex (2000) use Bourdieu�s framework to understand how changes arisingfrom IT may actually reinforce power structures and perpetuate the social order ratherthan empower and in this way Bourdieu sees symbolic structures and material structuresas serving strategic purposes – to empower or be disempowering. As Kvasny and Truex(2000) points out:

11 Of

�The game is rigged, yet everyone inside the organization must play it out� (2000, p.279).

ten used to encourage certain types of behaviour in small children.


So how do call centre agents and their supervisors and managers achieve a sense ofplace and others place and what are the specifics of this �new type of domination�? Oneway we can discover this in the labour process as experienced in call centre teams.Team meetings led by supervisors were often degrading experiences. Supervisors wouldthrow sweets at individuals �as a reward� – Denise described this as feeling like a beinga performing seal or pigeon. Degrading reward regimes were common as individualworkers would have chocolate or bottles of beer put on their desks. After work if theywent for a drink together, each one would buy a single drink and then top-up glassesusing their concealed �rewards� of beer. This impacted on their attitudes to the work –it felt like their �real life� was on hold and this was not who they really were. Likemany call centre workers, these agents also had a job on the side: Angela was makingand maintaining hanging flower baskets for factories; Denise worked �cash in hand�doing accountancy work for an advice firm; and Bill got occasional DJ gigs or casualacting work.

The control and monitoring aspects of the CRM system meant that no aspect of the callcentre workers� day was unaccounted for. They were profiled, listened in to, their openingremarks were analysed, the kinds of phrases they used when dealing with customers werenoted, along with the wrap-up time for individual calls. The sales content of their conver-sations, achievement of call numbers and sales targets were scrutinized. Call times werestrictly monitored and this was coupled with the added pressure of quick �closure�. Work-ers were expected to develop and maintain good customer relations yet do so in the mostefficient manner possible. The desire to instil efficient task completion and an empatheticcustomer relationship meant that the level of scrutiny was such that workers� off-line fre-quency, their attitudes towards customers, and even their intimate toilet habits were con-sidered and discussed at teamwork supervision sessions. This is the reality of new ways ofworking expressed in teamwork sessions. As Bill said one day: ‘‘You can�t be early, can�tbe late, can�t go for a shit’’.

The nature of call centre work can be very stressful and alienating. As calls stream inthere is often another call waiting. Consequently, many workers suffer �burn-out� andstress as their working day is paced by the ACD systems. One of the symptoms experi-enced by call centre workers is the need to cry, yet such is the completeness of monitoringand control mechanisms within the CRM system that statistics would be recorded of thistype of behaviour. Denise laughed when she remembered: ‘‘There was even a code for run-ning to the restroom to cry’’.

Many faced frequent and sustained verbal abuse from irate customers, yet call centrestaff were expected to control their responses. This has been described as an aspect of�emotional labour� (Belt et al., 2000) where employees have to publicly display an emotion,which they may not genuinely be experiencing. As Denise said: ‘‘I hated being happy,happy all the time – the voice with a smile’’.

The dual logics of �pleasure and pain� (Korczynski, 2001) were evident amongst the callcentre workers. The lack of control, the close monitoring by management, the need tomeet targets, and conditions of low pay existed alongside a strong sense of satisfactionfrom helping customers. Numerous opportunities for rich communication with the cus-tomers presented itself, especially when dealing with complex issues. During these times,scripts were frequently bypassed and ignored, despite the demands of rationality and effi-ciency. Often, advice regarding problems with debt was given to customers that went farbeyond the confines of the script.


The experience of the call centre worker is also a story of solidarity, community andcollegiality. When one employee was burgled a collection took place amongst staff in orderto raise funds to help replace stolen items. Cakes were often baked (by Angela) for birth-days of employees. A sophisticated system of non-verbal communication existed amongcall-centre workers, particularly when a customer became abusive on the phone. Some-times their colleagues would listen in to such calls and provide comfort and support afterthe ordeal. If someone was struggling financially then his or her food vouchers (which werewon as bonuses) were exchanged for money. On one occasion, Bill won £400 worth ofvouchers in a national sales competition (although he admitted that this had been achievedby adding items to customer bills and waiting for complaints later). By exchanging thesefor cash he was able to buy a plane ticket for a trip to Jamaica.

The study reveals that despite managerial attempts to control and intimidate, solidarityamongst employees helped them through the process in many cases. Often in teamworksessions, orders were side-stepped or ridiculed and often had to be dropped. The manage-ment imposition of hot-desking, for example, failed miserably. Unwritten rules were keptalmost unconsciously about who sat where and call centre staff persisted in individualizingtheir workstations with personal artefacts and pictures. To relieve the boredom the call cen-tre workers would choose a theme of the day, e.g., favourite film, cheese, etc. This was usedas a way to �get at� one particularly hated supervisor – any cheese he suggested they wouldridicule – �Roquefort? What sort of fucking cheese is that? Cheddar – no you can�t havethat, it�s taken, and so on�. One day Denise chose the theme of favourite lesbian and gayicon and this helped to legitimate homosexuality if adored celebrities were recognized aslesbian or gay and this helped to overcome homophobia at this particular call centre.

During the time of the study there was a major official strike against bullying in one ofthe call centre organizations which precipitated the Trades Union Congress and call centreorganizations to consider �good practice� (TUC, 2001). Arising from this were recommen-dations for unionized workplaces; for allowing flexibility to enable a greater fit with familylives; zero tolerance of harassment and bullying; and greater levels of training and skilldevelopment. So, whilst resistance in the call centres studied may not have been overt, nev-ertheless this wider industrial relations context meant that tensions simmered beneath thesurface.

Habitus plays a significant role in one group gaining and maintaining power overanother – these are often symbolic struggles for power as much as about material gain.An illustration of these struggles can be seen in the relationship between call centre work-ers and their supervisors. These supervisors are financially rewarded fractionally morethan other workers but are expected to engage in unquestioning dissemination of seem-ingly bizarre orders �from above�. Struggles over symbolic power occur especially whenthere is no recognized or objective agreement that one group is superior to another(Woodfield, 2000). Likewise, habitus is also a useful analytical tool to understand the nat-ure of call centre management and CRM system use. Call centres use �old-style� manage-ment practice like �divide and rule� and team-based oppression rather than empowerment.Despite using technically advanced ICT�s that are often described in corporate brochuresas having the ability to transform the business and bring in new ways of working, never-theless, cultural habitus is often too strongly entrenched to allow the supposed �work prac-tice revolution� to materialize. Woodfield (2000) describes this as �high-tech illusion� wherevalue is placed on the �uncodified� aspects of the developing labour process at the expenseof those that can be codified and easily recognized. This is one way to explain the lack of


value placed on the multi- and highly skilled call centre agent work whereby this �sense ofplace� relates not merely to the low levels of remuneration associated with the work butalso appreciates the construction of the social position – habitus – of all concerned. Angelacommented that if you meet up again with those you have worked with previously in callcentres, it is often common to greet them as if you had been in prison together as only fel-low call centre workers would know what the experience was like. As Denise said: �Callcentres – good mates – good laugh�.

6.3. Logic of practice

The importance of the logic of practice as a tool of analysis is based on how lessons canbe learned from the past, and the present and future anticipation of outcomes. Specifically,in this case study, the logic of practice is the manifestation of the contradictions in theintentions and outcomes of CRM system use in practice.

The logic of practice from CRM system �gurus� is the story of knowledge work wherebyknowledge can be managed and codified for strategic benefit and so the systems providecompetitive advantage. The workplace context of �hot-desking� eliminates individualiza-tion, while team work empowers and controls, and the standardizing of responses throughscripts enables customer service occupations to enter the ranks of unskilled work, thusappearing to reduce the cost of a skilled workforce while making a high labour turnoveracceptable. The reality is less simplistic than may initially appear. On the surface the intro-duction of technology to automate service work with a view to deskilling the workforceand thus reducing the cost of labour, is far more complex than it may initially appear(cf. issues of the offshoring of service work to low-cost locations such as India and EasternEurope), where studies reveal that underneath the economic savings lie a host of culturalissues (Taylor & Bain, 2005). In contrast, this study has revealed the ways in which CRMsystems in call centres are exploitative and work against communication richness; theyincrease bureaucracy and control rather than embracing empowerment. This is not toassume that the nature of call centre work is necessarily exploitative or that CRM technol-ogy per se enables enhanced management control. The type of work can range from thatwhich is short, repetitive, and heavily transactional to that which is more �relational� andrequires certain skills on the part of the agents. To assume that all call centre work is of acertain type would be in itself deterministic, but this is not to deny that the dominant expe-rience is of routinized, repetitive and tightly controlled work, as confirmed elsewhere(Huws, 2003; Taylor & Bain, 1999).

Customer relationship management needs co-operative skills, but of course this develop-ment can backfire with a challenge to employers� control over the means of production.Although calls were monitored and performance streamlined through the scripts andCRM systems, Angela described how the call time was much quicker in using the �old tech-nology� and old ways of working in her previous telephone enquiry line centre. Here, she hadrich knowledge of the area and could give detailed advice – she also knewmany of the callersin person. Despite this �in-depth�way of dealing with calls, she still achieved a higher numberof calls dealt with per hour than when shemoved into a large city centre telecommunicationscall centre where she never came to terms with the harsh CRM-system led regimes.

Knowledge is about experience and history is important for defining the knowledgeheld by individuals or organizations and also for understanding the impacts that newinformation systems and change will have – lessons that can be learnt from history. Here,


is where the habitus comes into play �the habitus, a product of history provides individualand collective practices – more history – in accordance with schemes generated by history�(Bourdieu, 1990). Those who make knowledge a passive recording forget that �all knowl-edge is an act of construction and agents far from reacting mechanically to mechanicalstimulations, respond to the invitations or threats of a world whose meaning they havehelped to produce� (Bourdieu, 1990). In these terms, Bourdieu offers tools of analysis thatgo beyond the dichotomous debate that depicts IT/IS as either constraining or liberating.It enables a richer understanding and identification of the many organizational and otherissues that have intended or unintended consequences.

6.4. Symbolic violence

For Bourdieu, social dispositions are not neutral and they are always hierarchical andfundamentally conflictual (Woodfield, 2000). The mode of domination illustrated hereinvolves the practice of teamwork to exert peer pressure as well as senior managementpressure (via the team supervisor) on the perceived �weakest link�. Uncertainty and stressleads to a general expectation amongst employees that the period of employment will beshort-lived. Accordingly, this habitus results in �putting up with� the job, responding tosupervisory requests or ultimately �walking down the road� to the next call centre ratherthan resistance. However, more crude or blatant acts of management oppression spill overinto small disputes or occasionally result in strikes.

Taking the framework of understanding of symbolic violence in organizations outlinedearlier by Schultz and Boland (2000) this research study shows how the knowledge inte-gration aspects involve the use of scripts, rules, and codes that even result in codifyingresponses to stress. This also operates with the way that team working is used to self-reg-ulate. CRM systems require that exact phraseology be imposed on employees for mon-itoring and analysis purposes. Angela explained that calls were dissected into four parts:(1) a welcome and introduction; (2) offering products and services; (3) recap call; and (4)positive close. Angela faced difficulties with management for failing to use the exactwords ‘‘and to recap’’. Supervisors strongly recommended that she put a label on hermonitor with the words ‘‘and to recap’’ and she was asked to tick a �star chart� whenshe used the words in accordance with the script. Her calls were monitored closelyand listened to by management. Saturdays were colloquially called the �sacking day�because it was less noticeable and therefore easier for management to dismiss someoneon a Saturday. One Saturday, Angela was sacked for using words similar to, but not pre-cisely, the phrase ‘‘and to recap’’. Communication aspects reveal themselves in the con-tradictions between the solidarity and community generated by the call centre workers�arising from the collective habitus within the social group, but it also refers to the fragileand uncertain nature of the work. In terms of political domination, management prac-tices were not well concealed. This can be linked to a crude application of the monitoringaspects of the CRM software and also arising from a sense that endless numbers ofreplacement workers were available, making the future uncertain. Political dominationis also seen in the indirect cultural domination of team working and peer group pressureto perform in a certain way. However, for management facing issues such as customercomplaints against scripting and automated services, along with the realization that100% labour turnover per year is neither feasible nor profitable, this aspect of domina-tion is under increasing pressure.


7. Discussion

In this section, we will assess how the research presented here contributes to the criticalIS research arena. In an attempt to show how we have aimed to achieve this balance in thepaper, we draw on the guidelines of Alvesson and Deetz (2000) suggested earlier. We willdiscuss the study in relation to the three elements referred to as insight, critique, and trans-formative redefinition.

7.1. Insight

Insight requires that local investigations be related to wider themes concerning eco-nomic, social, historical and political forces. In this study, rather than provide a traditionalstakeholder account with a managerial emphasis, the insight we have gained arises fromviewing the issue of call centres and CRM in the context of the workplace and from theperspective of the workers. We have elected to focus on �frontline� workers and follow theirjourneys through a number of call centre contexts, thus reflecting their fluid and ever-changing employment experiences. As Huws (2003, p. 15) notes: �We must reinsert humanbeings, in all their rounded, messy, vulnerable materiality – and the complexity of theirantagonistic social relations – at the very centre of our analysis�.

The field of �knowledge work� manifested by CRM use in call centres is a fieldfraught with contradictions and tensions between the rhetoric of valuing knowledgeworkers in the �global economy� versus the treatment of front line call centre workersas value-less and disposable. This study shows how experiences can be seen to shapethe habitus of the agents involved, how individual habitus shaped and was shapedby this work, and also the individual and collective experience of call centre habitus.These are arenas of struggle and contradiction, which operates within the contestedownership of time, space and use of technology. Through the tools of analysis of PierreBourdieu it is possible to develop a critical theory of practice to challenge thedominant cultural ideologies. Collective solidarity rather than compartmentalizationis the key.

In their framework for field analysis, for example, Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) sug-gest analysing the position of the field vis-a-vis the field of power by mapping out theobjective structure of the relation between positions occupied by agents or institutionsand analysing the habitus of agents. For Bourdieu, fields of power are fields of politicsand in this study fields of power include the notion of �knowledge workers� versus the�sweatshops of the 21st century�. This takes place within the old industrial mills in theNorth West of England and is set in the early 21st century in the broader context of aso-called globalize knowledge economy. Objective structures and the positioning of agentsin particular vis-a-vis fields of power enable an understanding of the casualization of theworkforce and the �acceptance� of poor working conditions with an expectation of highlabour turnover. The importance of noting these struggles is to highlight the contradic-tions and the potential for change to take place.

7.2. Critique

Critique builds upon insight, the difference being that the lens here shifts to generalcharacterizations relating to wider social concerns and often the larger global community.


Our study has questioned the utopian and dystopian discourse that surrounds call centrework, by highlighting the contradictions and illustrating how they are played out in prac-tice. We rejected the all-encompassing visions that herald call centres as providing anopportunity for high levels of labour control over �knowledge workers�. Likewise, we rejectstories of complete routinization and standardization. This is in contrast to much of theexisting research (aside from some notable exceptions) that tends to treat all call centresin the same way (Kinnie, Hutchinson, & Purcell, 2000). To assume that the workplaceis a model of complete managerial control and that electronic surveillance representsthe operationalisation of the Panopticon metaphor, is to deny the potential, the presenceand the importance of resistance.

Despite attempts by management to control the workforce, we saw evidence of resis-tance on an individual level, whereby workers refuse to comply with some of thedemands of managerial practices (for example, while on the surface workers may beseen to conform to management expectations, when answering the phone they choose

their communicative manner – this can be pleasant or contemptuous). Resistance andsolidarity of various kinds changed workplace practices, with the introduction of �stressrooms� and �chill places�, counselling and the granting of �permission� to put the phonedown on hostile callers. Similarly, we see resistance at the group level as union organi-zation within UK call centres becomes more widespread (Bain & Taylor, 2000). In termsof critique, we also note that the ideological basis of team-based working does not nec-essarily result in a competitive workforce. On the contrary, the study here reports howcall centre workers could see clearly through the facade of teamwork, whilst at the sametime expressing a strong sense of solidarity with their colleagues. With regard to thetechnology, while CRM system use in call centres aims to formalize, standardize andrationalize responses with the use of scripts, nevertheless there is also resistance fromnon-compliant users who actively or otherwise fail to act out the �script�. Kvasny(2004) suggests that these instances of resistance are rarely seen as the response of thewisdom of everyday people, rather the more common response is to produce discoursesthat discount their views as non-market values gain increasing prominence. Justice, careand kindness, for example are all non-market values that provide sanctuary from thebrutal realities of everyday life in global capitalism and these are evident in the solidar-ity among the workforce. This is in keeping with Bourdieu (1998) who would urge us toradically question that which individualizes everything and ignores collectivity and therole of collective action.

7.3. Transformative redefinition

The third task refers to the development of knowledge and practical understandingsthat facilitate change. Part of this transformation could be supported by careful consider-ation of who one chooses to be involved with within the organization, rather than merelyespousing utopian ideals. The motivation for this research is far more activist than tradi-tional positivist or interpretive research. Although ambitious, our intention is to highlightand challenge power relations that reproduce inequality. This study has enabled us to beinvolved with the daily lives and struggles of call centre workers. The process of insightand critique and �telling a different story� has enabled reflection on transformative re-def-inition. A poignant illustration perhaps of how theory is linked to practice is given byEagleton (1996, p. 5):


‘‘One of the most moving narratives of modern history is the story of how men andwomen languishing under various forms of oppression came to acquire, often atgreat personal cost, the sort of technical knowledge necessary for them to understandtheir own condition more deeply, and so to acquire some of the theoretical armouryessential to change it’’.

Bourdieu had always conceded the possibility that it is the �disjunction between the hab-itus and field that may lead to a critical consciousness and attendant possibilities ofchange� (McNay, 2002). Bourdieu�s work is important in reminding us that pessimism isnot the same as determinism; that resistance may take many forms and that in any case�for many groups of people change is difficult to affect no matter how much they resist.This is what it means to be dominated� (Lawler, 2002).

During the study we witnessed a number of small, incremental changes that occurredvia collective action, solidarity and support (for example, circumvention of managementrules that were conveyed during team meetings, the ridicule of supervisors when mediatingorders �from above�). To witness the spectrum from solidarity and mutual support throughto the strikes against bullying and casual work that occurred whilst the study was in pro-gress (Lamb, 1999) certainly influenced us as researchers. Without wanting to make greatclaims about the intervention, we hope that the build-up of collective consciousness thatwe witnessed was a step towards transformative redefinition. Who can say if this wouldhave occurred independently? We like to think that it would.

8. Summary and conclusion

To summarize, this paper makes a contribution to IS research in a number of ways.Firstly, it uses a mobile field study to illustrate the contradictions in the use of CRM sys-tems in call centres, focussing on the construction of the field at the local level, and con-sidering how this is shaped by and also shapes the response of the social agents. Byspecifically drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, we have been provided with concep-tual tools of analysis to help us understand the complex historical and cultural factorsinvolved in the social relations of information systems use. This comes through analysisof the competing fields, understanding of the role of habitus, noting contradictions appar-ent through the application of symbolic violence as a mode of domination, and how therelationships between structures and agencies involved manifest themselves in the logicof practice. In these terms a clear motivation for this research has been to highlight thecontradictions between CRM rhetoric and the reality for call centre workers on the �front-line�. It aims to let their stories be heard. By using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu,we have highlighted the contradictions and tensions that exist in call centre work and howthese are played out by the agents in their habitus. Call centres, as a form of organizationand of organizing, provide us with an interesting illustration of the problematic rhetoric ofthe transformatory potential of ICTs and enable us to unpack how this is played outin situ. In this respect, this study also contributes to a broader literature, which questionsthe totalizing accounts of grand, epochal change, regardless of context (du Gay, 2003).Secondly, this research contributes to the development of a critical IS research literature.Critical IS research has often been criticized for being too theoretical and having a distinctlack of field experience. This small empirical study hopes to make a contribution toaddressing this limitation and an aim to add to the gradually increasing body of critical


IS literature. It also hopes to illustrate how a critical lens can be applied in practice, andthe contribution it provides in exposing contradictory practices and structures. In thisrespect, critical IS research overcomes the limitations of positivist research, with its rejec-tion of the unitary model of organizations and the technologically determinist view ofinformation technology; it also overcomes some of the weaknesses of the interpretivistapproach by calling upon greater contextual awareness that may help explain why certaininterpretations (rather than others) dominate and are seen to represent organizationalreality.

Our research has a number of implications for research and practice. Firstly, for infor-mation systems researchers, this critical study illuminates the tensions and contradictionsthat exist in everyday organizational life, as told by workers experiencing this �at the frontline�. We would like to encourage researchers to consider telling such stories and makingtheir expertise available to these organizational participants, rather than accept the man-agerialist agendas that tend to dominate mainstream IS research. With relation to manag-ers, it is important that they become aware of the ramifications of their working practices,even if they themselves have no ill intentions. A broader view of structures beyond theircontrol coupled with a more realistic assessment of the difficulties of using systems suchas CRM may make them more attuned to understanding the practices of call centre work-ers, especially when systems do not deliver as intended. Finally, for policy makers facedwith the growing call centre industry and the threats posed by the offshoring of servicework, we recommend that they become attendant to the difficulties entailed in the shifttowards standardized, low skill work (often seen as being facilitated by technology) andthe consequences of this. We would also suggest that they become more familiar withthe specificity of the region/locality and the diversity and strengths that this brings to tran-sitory, low-skilled work.

There are some limitations to this study. Further development of transformative redef-inition and broader social change is something that as researchers we can only strive for inthe furtherance of our work. Increasingly, media attention is focussing on call centre work,which is being outsourced to developing countries. The dynamics of this social realitywould provide a further dimension to this research and open up new avenues for exploringthe topic further. One obvious drawback is that the empirical aspects concern a smallstudy in a particular area of the North West of the UK. CRM use across the organizationsconcerned could have provided some additional insights. However, Sorensen and Williams(2002) argue that even small studies or individual case analysis can provide rich insightsfor intervention; Bourdieu (1998) would agree, explaining the value of his encounters withmany everyday people caught in the contradictions of the social world and experiencedthrough their own �personal dramas�. We hope that the telling of these �personal dramas�can contribute to a disrupting of social realities in a critical research approach that com-bines interpretive understanding with a commitment to radical social change.

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The contradictions of CRM - A critical lens on call centres

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