Premium
‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’: re‐contextualising the origins, development and impact of the call centre
Author(s) -
Ellis Vaughan,
Taylor Phil
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
new technology, work and employment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.889
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-005X
pISSN - 0268-1072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-005x.2006.00167.x
Subject(s) - work (physics) , shareholder , shareholder value , politics , value (mathematics) , call centre , sociology , public relations , control (management) , management , political science , political economy , economy , engineering , economics , law , corporate governance , mechanical engineering , machine learning , computer science
This paper locates the emergence of call centres within the broader political economy. We demonstrate how British Gas responded to privatisation, restrictive regulation and the need to deliver shareholder value by radically changing work organisation. Using documentary evidence and oral testimonies, we show how the call centre was pivotal to tightening control over the labour process, to intensifying work and transforming the experience of work.