Although effective International Human Resource Management during an international assignment constitutes a significant factor in ensuring success of an expatriate assignment, there has not been much research that studies the expatriation practices associated with the global delivery model that has come to be identified with global outsourcing. The purpose of this paper is to understand the expatriation practices of Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs) in the Indian IT sector, by examining the experiences of Indian IT workers sent to work on international client projects in a western country. We have used qualitative semi-structured interviews with 47 Indian IT expatriates from Indian IT MNCs working at client sites in Australia. We find that there is inadequate attention paid to expatriation both prior to emigration and while workers are overseas and employed at client sites. Such human resource shortcomings may be inherent in the global delivery model that is an important feature of Indian IT business. The implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.

Although there have been many studies of low skilled call centre operators, research on professional workers in call centres is less common and cross-national research on such operations even rarer. This article compares the labour process experiences of tele-nurses – registered nurses in call centre settings – across three countries: the UK, Australia and Sweden. Using cross-national, comparative ethnographies, through a system, society and dominance (SSD) approach, the article explores the common problems tele-nurses face as well as distinctive societal differences in the ways in which this branch of e-health care is being established. The outcomes reveal both societal diversity and mounting pressures towards a globalizing conformity between the three countries with regard to the working practices of tele-nursing. The findings have important implications for whether or not a professional project can be developed around tele-health care.

Various streams of literature surrounding the role of front-line managers (FLM) suggest that there has been substantial change in the role over recent decades. This article makes a contribution to understanding the FLM experience through using a framework of job enlargement to assist in explaining the nuanced changes to the position of FLMs in three Australian cases. The article finds that the role of FLMs remains a critical part of organisations and production; however, continuity is as consistent as change. There remains an immediate ‘people management’ role, while facing work intensification, job enlargement and potentially, a reduced quality of performance. Importantly though, the change is diffuse and context specific in ways that we seek to understand.

Review(s) of: The precariat: The new dangerous class, by Guy Standing, Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2011, pp 198.

The British Journal of SociologyVolume 64, Issue 2 p. 368-370 Book review Doellgast, Virginia Disintegrating Democracy at Work: Labor Unions and the Future of Good Jobs in the Service Economy ILR Press 2012 248 pp. £40.50 (hardback) £15.50 (paperback) Bob Russell, Bob Russell Griffith UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Bob Russell, Bob Russell Griffith UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 28 May 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12022_3Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume64, Issue2June 2013Pages 368-370 RelatedInformation

Although the professional call centre has been theorized, little empirical work has been carried out on this form of service delivery. The existing literature fails to distinguish adequately between professional call centres and professionals who work in call centres. In this study of telehealth it is shown that a centre which exhibits the features of a professional call centre does not overcome problems associated with this type of labour process. Ambiguities over the use of skill in a system that requires the deployment of computer algorithms gives rise to conflicts over monitoring, performance evaluation and the use of time. Conflict over the appropriation of technique may be exacerbated in professional call centres although this has not been reported upon in the call centre or telehealth literature.

This paper analyses the social and economic impact on providers and their clients associated with the adoption of digital mammography in Breastscreen Queensland's mobile services to rural and remote parts of Queensland Australia. Using both quantitative secondary data from Queensland Health and qualitative workforce interviews the paper focuses on outcomes that are already becoming apparent with the transition to digital mammography. Benefits include reduced rates of technical recalls for clients and enhanced job satisfaction on the part of the radiographers who staff the service. Significantly the declines in technical recall rates are greater than that which has hitherto been reported in the literature. The paper provides comparative estimates of the costs associated with technical recall rates in pre and post digital environments.

Working Life: Renewing Labour Process Analysis, Edited by Paul Thompson and Chris Smith, Houndmills, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 350 pp., ISBN 978-0-230-22223-6. Un article de la revue Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations (Symposium sur les relations d’emploi et les nouveaux acteurs dans les économies émergentes) diffusée par la plateforme Érudit.

We examine the employee perception of work organisation in four large Indian call centres to investigate causes of employee dissatisfaction and turnover. We find that profound mismatch between the offshored labour market and the labour process pose fundamental challenges that may not be susceptible to easy HR fixes.

The literature on call centers often highlights the centrality of HR in stemming employee attrition but is mainly grounded in the realities of in-house call centers in the western economies. In this empirical study of four large Indian call centers we examine specific aspects of HR practice for their effect on retention in the very different context of Indian labor markets. The relationship between HR practices and the realities of the call-centre labor processes operating within a buoyant labor market that offers plentiful job alternatives are explored. The findings suggest that the contribution of HR to employee retention is a necessary but not sufficient condition for retention in the context of Indian call centers.

Interrogating the New Economy: Restructuring Work in the 21st Century, Edited by Norene J. Pupo and Mark P. Thomas, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010, 292 pp., ISBN 978-1-4426-0055-3.. Un article de la revue Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations (Volume 65, numéro 3, été 2010, p. 357-536) diffusée par la plateforme Érudit.

The 'globalisation' of business services facilitated by Information and Consultation Technologies has accelerated at breathtaking pace. The relocation of interactive service work and an expanding range of back-office processes from the so-called developed countries of the global north to the developing countries of the global south increasingly constitutes a core element in corporate strategies. The widespread usage of the term global service delivery reflects the transformative role played by TNCs and the intervention of states in extending the reach of capital accumulation and in re-configuring service supply chains to multiple geographies. In this rapidly unfolding global landscape where, amongst others, the Philippines, South Africa, Latin American and Eastern Europe states are emerging destinations, India remains pre-eminent, accounting for 46 per cent of global business process outsourcing (BPO) (Nasscom-McKinsey 2005). According to an influential survey, India 'still offers an unbeatable mix of low costs, deep technical and language skills, mature vendors and supportive government policies' (Walker and Gott 2007: 29).