User talk:Ice Torby

‘Paradise Call Center’ is an Australian company which is located in downtown Suva City. It employs around has 200 females workers in the age group of 18 – 25 years. The main criteria of recruitment of these workers are good verbal skill in English. The girls are given a week’s training. The girls actual work is sitting behind a desk with telephone with on-screen phone numbers and randomly calling customers in Australia to sell products via telephone.

The working conditions are as follows:

• The girls start work at 12noon and finishes at 10pm. • The girls are lined up in cramped in small space cubicles (similar to assembly lines) with headphone and they job is to talk to customers. • They must finish a call within 2 minutes (120 seconds) or they get warning from supervisors. • Work is boring and routine. • Their calls are recorded and monitored by the supervisors. • Sometimes customers on the other side of the telephone line verbally abuse the workers. • Worker’s each visit to the lavatory is recorded and monitored. • The pay is based on the number of successful sales they make in a week.

Generally the relationship between the workers and supervisors are not good and there has been constant problems regarding the ‘close supervision’. Some workers tried to resist but they got sacked by the boss. Attempts by few workers to form trade union in the workplace failed and instigators fired. ‘Hire and Fire’ rule exists. The company is marked by high absenteeism and staff turnover. The maximum periods some workers have stayed in the company is 2 years and they have moved on to find other jobs. Workers are frustrated but have no choice but to do their jobs because they need the money. This work environment is labeled by some people as ‘white collar assembly line production’ in a modern era.

Questions:

1. Which industrial relation theory do you think best describes what is happening at the “Paradise Call Center”. Explain your answer. [ 7 marks]

2. Why do you think there is a high ‘absenteeism’ and ‘staff turnover’ rate at the ‘Paradise Call Center?’ [5 marks ]

3. What type of labour management strategies do you think is used by the ‘Paradise Call Center’ management? Explain with relevant examples from the case study. [5 marks]

4. Critically discuss why Paradise Call Center is labeled as “White collar assembly line production in the modern era”. Use ERP 2007 and examples from case study and support your answers. [8 marks]

Kind Regards, Ice Torby