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Refashioning Organizational Boundaries: Outsourcing Customer Service Work

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  • Janet Walsh
  • Stephen Deery

Abstract

abstract In recent years there has been a discernible trend towards the outsourcing and subcontracting of work. However, there has been very little empirical research on employees' attitudes to work in outsourced firms. This study is conducted in the area of call centre services where there has been a substantial growth in the provision of external market suppliers. It examines employees' perceptions of their work and employment arrangements in both an in‐house producer and an external service provider and identifies and compares the factors that shape their organizational commitment and intentions to quit. The research found that the character of the internal labour market and the nature of the work regime were more important explanations of organizational commitment and intentions to quit in the external market supplier than in the in‐house producer. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the quality of customer service provided under subcontracting arrangements.

Suggested Citation

  • Janet Walsh & Stephen Deery, 2006. "Refashioning Organizational Boundaries: Outsourcing Customer Service Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 557-582, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:43:y:2006:i:3:p:557-582
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00601.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marsden, David, 1999. "A Theory of Employment Systems: Micro-Foundations of Societal Diversity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294221.
    2. Colling, T., 1995. "From Hierarchy to Contract? Subcontracting Employment in the Service Economy," Papers 52, Warwick - School of Industrial & Business.
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    Cited by:

    1. Damian Grimshaw & Jo Cartwright & Arjan Keizer & Jill Rubery, 2019. "Market Exposure and the Labour Process: The Contradictory Dynamics in Managing Subcontracted Services Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(1), pages 76-95, February.
    2. Chris F Wright, 2013. "The response of unions to the rise of precarious work in Britain," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 24(3), pages 279-296, September.
    3. Virginia Doellgast & Ursula Holtgrewe & Stephen Deery, 2009. "The Effects of National Institutions and Collective Bargaining Arrangements on Job Quality in Front-Line Service Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 62(4), pages 489-509, July.
    4. Leonhard Dobusch & Dennis Schoeneborn, 2015. "Fluidity, Identity, and Organizationality: The Communicative Constitution of Anonymous," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(8), pages 1005-1035, December.
    5. Howe-Walsh, Liza & Turnbull, Sarah & Budhwar, Pawan, 2019. "An investigation into on-sourcing of advertising creativity in an emerging economy: The case of the United Arab Emirates," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 356-364.

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