'Cheating the System', Getting the Work Done: Challenging Management and Technology in a Call Centre

Abstract

This paper studies the process of technological change in a large call centre. It examines the rationales for introducing a new software system and the effects of these changes on the types of skill that workers are called upon to exercise in their jobs. We argue that technological change is an iterative rather than a linear process, while unintended consequences may be as significant as managerial plans and prerogative. This has implications for problematising technological change rather than assuming it as a given.