Remote People Management - Resolving Organizational Issues at Call Centers : Case Study of the Bank of Nova Scotia

Abstract: Transformation of management coincided with rise of IT and re-orientation towards the demand driven economy. IT facilitated the development of remote communication and data accessibility, while re-profiling the management methods, in meanwhile, customer focus has led to organization of customer-oriented establishments such as call centers. However, aside from benefits, including accessibility, convenience, and long term cost reductions, implementation of innovations in information technologies has yielded issues. Complete assimilation of technology proved to be difficult due to factors emerging from technological, organizational and environmental contexts. Namely, factors that are most applicable in the call center context are technology readiness and managerial obstacles. Another issue that had risen as a consequence of wide spread use of IT in the call center context is employee turnover. Although not directly linked to turnover per se, IT assisted in transformation of management methods, which, uncompensated, exert pressure onto employees, while often remaining unseen. Since pressure in addition to contributing factors is linked to stress, one suggests that stress is the leading cause of turnover at call centers. Accordingly, pressure to perform, along with applied control methods will be examined in this thesis. Thesis proceeds to investigate background information on these issues, followed by review of the relevant academic work, concluding with the case study in the banking sector aiming to look at specific issues in order to find practical solutions. Finally, a summary will indicate the proposed direction for issue resolution.