South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management

Numerous researches in call centres indicate the negative psychological impact in the form of burnout experiences of the customer service representatives. The present study argues that burnout experiences do not always have a negative impact on the employee’s self-worth. The relationship is, instead, moderated by the impact of job-worth, which acts as a potential individual resource. The results of the present study conducted on 312 call centre representatives partially confirm our hypotheses. Results indicate that representatives who have high job-worth maintain their self-worth, even when emotionally exhausted. The results also show that employees possessing high job-worth, even with low personal accomplishments on their jobs, maintain their self-worth. We discuss the findings in the Indian call centre context from the perspective of self and identity literature and provide broader implications for practice and research.

The global business environment is new, complex and not well understood by many of the managers having to “learn by doing.” This “on-the-run” learning experience is particularly difficult for female global managers in the South Asian region who may not have the input or support of others as to how to prepare for relocating overseas. The lack of assistance is further exacerbated by the growing importance of large emerging markets. Given limited history with these key emerging markets, some means of accelerating learning and transferring knowledge to the next generation of (global) managers is a necessity. This article examines one means of addressing the need to learn from others more experienced in global business through mentoring. Social comparison theory is used as the theoretical lens by which to examine the mentoring process for global female managers, a type of managerial talent particularly void of organizational structural support. A means for developing a mentoring programme for global female managers is also developed.

While decades of research on workplace bullying has resulted in a sound understanding of its consequences, the effects of workplace bullying on positive employee outcomes and the underlying mechanisms in bullying–outcomes relationships are not well understood. The present study examines the relationship between workplace bullying and work engagement and whether it is mediated by psychological contract violation (PCV). Data were gathered from a sample of 835 full-time managerial employees working in different Indian organizations across manufacturing and service sectors. Results suggest that workplace bullying is significantly related to work engagement and this relationship is partially mediated by PCV. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Research on the effects of psychological empowerment and organizational support for development (OSD) on turnover reveals mixed findings. Based on attraction–selection–attrition theory, we developed a model that examines individual-level power distance as a moderator of the relationships between psychological empowerment and turnover and OSD and turnover. Using a sample of 240 employees of a US software development company in India, we found that psychological empowerment was associated with higher turnover for high power distance employees and lower turnover for low power distance employees. Additionally, OSD was associated with higher turnover for high power distance individuals.

This article elucidates the relationship between HR systems and ethical climate at workplace with primary focus on the procedure adopted for development of ethical climate, using case study of an Indian power distribution company (Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited [TPDDL]). The study categorizes TPDDL’s endeavours undertaken into two categories, explicit and implicit initiatives. Explicit ways of promoting ethics include ethics trainings, seminars on ethics, rewards and punishment policy, and mechanism of reporting ethical concerns/issues (ethics portal, whistle blower policy, IVRS, etc.). Implicit ways of creating ethical climate include HR practices, namely selective selection, training for developing interpersonal and technical skills, fair performance appraisal system and various engagement initiatives. The support and guidance of the senior management and line managers ensured successful execution of both initiatives. Results from the study suggest, over the period of time, the untiring efforts of various actors that saw the development of an ethical climate.