Cultural Mimicry and Hybridity: On the Work of Identity in International Call Centers in India

Das, Diya; Dharwadkar, Ravi

doi:10.4337/9781848447226.00016

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Of course, this power-laden process of corporate-cultural globalization does not go unchallenged and this is indeed reflected -at the macro-level -in the emergence of MNEs outside the West, first in Japan in the 1980s-1990s and presently in rising powers such as China and India. How such agency manifests itself at the more micro-level is, however, still unclear given the dearth of research on the question, but a few insights can be gleaned from the studies mentioned above, especially those informed by postcolonial theory (Boussebaa, 2015b(Boussebaa, , 2017Das and Dharwadkar, 2009;Frenkel, 2008). One key insight is that Westernization typically results in "hybridity" (Bhabha, 1994) rather than homogeneity, thereby undermining or resisting efforts to make the "other" like "us".…”

Section: Contextualising Cultural Globalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

From cultural differences to cultural globalization: towards a new research agenda in cross-cultural management studies

Boussebaa

2020

cpoib

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Purpose This paper responds to calls for a new raison d’être in the field cross-cultural management (CCM) and culture-sensitive studies of international business (IB) more broadly. It argues that one way of addressing the crisis of confidence in the field is to develop a line of inquiry focussed on corporate-driven cultural globalization. This paper also proposes a theoretical approach informed by international political economy (IPE) and postcolonial theory and outlines a research agenda for future work on cultural globalization. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a desk-based analysis that draws on relevant research in the wider social sciences to insert cultural globalization into the CCM/IB field’s intellectual project. Findings The paper finds the field of CCM and culture-sensitive IB studies more broadly to be almost exclusively focussed on studying the impact of cultural differences. Surprisingly, little attention has been devoted to the phenomenon of corporate-driven cultural globalization. Research limitations/implications The paper redirects the field and presents a research agenda, calling for studies on the role of four related actors in cultural globalization: MNEs, global professional service firms, business schools and CCM/IB researchers themselves. Practical implications CCM/IB scholars may be able to reorient themselves towards the phenomenon of cultural globalization and, in so doing, also seize an opportunity to contribute to important debates about it in the wider social sciences. Originality/value The paper suggests possibilities for renewal by redirecting CCM/IB towards the study of cultural globalization and by encouraging the field to develop a postcolonial sensibility in future research on the phenomenon.

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Section: Contextualising Cultural Globalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

From cultural differences to cultural globalization: towards a new research agenda in cross-cultural management studies

Boussebaa

2020

cpoib

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“…Under such conditions, training in a particular form of English accent and grammar signifies 'linguistic imperialism' (Phillipson 1992;Morgan and Ramanathan 2009), a form of cultural hierarchisation aligning with neo-colonial dynamics in MNC operations identified in various studies (e.g. Cowie 2007;Das and Dharwadkar 2009;Boussebaa, Sinha, and Gabriel 2014).…”

Section: Global Teamworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neo-colonial dynamics in global professional service firms: a periphery perspective

Sayed

Agndal

2019

Culture and Organization

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This article analyses neo-colonial dynamics at peripheral units of a Western global professional service firm. Drawing on postcolonial theory, an empirical study at global news agency Reuters' subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bangalore shows how socio-ideological and technocratic control mechanisms allow subsidiary workers to elevate their status, while still cementing their role as dominated in the global hierarchy and silencing any resistance. Thus, on the one hand, it might appear that the global service firm provides periphery units the opportunity to become equals of core units, representing a 'nurturing' role achieved by instilling aspirational values and shaping imaginations. On the other hand, coercive and universalising routines such as performance assessments highlight the ambivalent nature of global firm initiatives to incorporate the periphery on an equal footing with core units, demonstrating the countervailing nature of contemporary power relations.

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“…A key feature of the identity work described in these studies is a blurring between mimicry and emulation, where the former characterizes modes of imitation without aspiration (Ferguson, 2002). For instance, studies of Indian call centers (Das & Dharwadkar, 2009;Mirchandani, 2012;Nadeem, 2009;Pal & Buzzanell, 2008) describe the identity work of imitating and acquiring foreign accents, using European aliases when calling American and European clients. The work here to inhabit a habitus is in part also aspirational, to master a set of social dispositions to call as one's own.…”

Section: Contemporary Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could a Subaltern Manage? Identity Work and Habitus in a Colonial Workplace

Srinivas

2013

Organization Studies

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How did historically marginalized groups learn to become professional managers? This paper studies the identity work of a manager in a colonial work setting, focusing specifically on the aspirational quality of professional identity, and on the forms of subordination enmeshed in organizational work, through a close reading of an autobiography. Beyond Punjab describes the career of Prakash Tandon in the multinational Lever Brothers India. He eventually became its first Indian Chief Executive and a respected public figure. Studies of such colonial work settings can seem indebted to existing research within postcolonial studies in management. But I argue that the dominant attention of postcolonial studies in management has not been on identity work and practices, but the historical enduring force of representations. Therefore this paper offers a complementary engagement, developing Bourdieu's concept of the habitus for a fuller understanding of how managerial identity was constituted in colonial work settings. Implications for contemporary organizations and professional identity in postcolonial societies such as India are discussed.

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Cultural Mimicry and Hybridity: On the Work of Identity in International Call Centers in India

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

From cultural differences to cultural globalization: towards a new research agenda in cross-cultural management studies

From cultural differences to cultural globalization: towards a new research agenda in cross-cultural management studies

Neo-colonial dynamics in global professional service firms: a periphery perspective

Could a Subaltern Manage? Identity Work and Habitus in a Colonial Workplace

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