Drawing upon case studies of three organisations operating six call centres in Australia, this thesis explores the manifestations and interplay of employee resistance and accommodation in response to five facets of employer control: electronic monitoring; repetitious work; emotional control; the built environment; and workplace flexibility. Accommodation refers to the ways workers protect themselves from and adapt to the pressures that make up their day-to-day experiences of work. Accommodation, unlike resistance, which implies opposition to control, may superficially resemble consent to control. I argue that resistance and accommodation are not polar opposites; rather they are both reflections of the conflict and tensions that lie at the heart of the employment relationship. At the study sites, employees utilised resistance and accommodation both separately and concurrently. An explanation of these seemingly contradictory responses and of the links among accommodation individual resistance and collective resistance lies in the concept of ???self???. In this thesis, ???self??? refers to workers??? perceptions of fairness, dignity and autonomy. I examine how these notions frame worker discontent and promote employee solidarity. ???Everyday resistance???, a concept first developed by Scott (1985) in relation to peasant struggles, is employed to highlight the existence of subterranean struggles in workplaces that otherwise appear to be harmonious. At the study sites, everyday resistance was a multi-faceted, widely employed strategy whose strength lay primarily in its immediate impact. There was, however, no necessary sequential development from accommodation, through everyday resistance to overt, formal forms of conflict. What was evident was that multiple responses to employer control could co-exist and inhibit or promote one another. But it was through organised collective resistance that more formalised gains were made and widely held grievances addressed. I suggest that, although everyday resistance may lay the groundwork for more formal struggles, one should not conclude that traditional collective resistance is ???genuine??? resistance and everyday resistance is simply a second-best prelude to it. Although conflict is always present, its intensity differs. If we are to understand the complexity of worker responses to managerial control, we need to expand the theoretical frameworks within which we analyse and interpret conflict.

This thesis is dealing with the issues of stress and stress factors found at the 112 emergency call operators. Citizens call the emergency number 112 in case of notification of an extraordinary situation. However, in some cases the emergency call is being misused. The call is then marked as spiteful. The ECC runs in a 24-hour shift operation and the operators change after a 12-hour shift. Each new operator is accepted in the service based on his knowledge, physical, health and above all psychological examination. He is obliged to attend the entrance training and courses in lenght of overall nine weeks. There he gets to know the issues of FRS CR, operational management and he has to pass a language course as well. It is very psychologically demanding for every operator to receive emergency calls. The operator needs to be able to listen, empathize and react adequatly. He deals with calls concerning accidents, injuries, foreigners and spiteful calls. An operator should recognize its gravity and devote to its resolution. However, he has his own personal life along with its joys and problems. It is vital that he is able to separate issues of his work and those of personal nature. This and many other indicators may cause stress reactions to the operator. Many psychologists have attempted to define stress. Each has, however, a different opinion and it is complicated to reach a an accurate definition. One thing is for sure - and that is stress shows itself in different ways and everyone is affected by it differently. In case of an emergency call operator, the stress factors are mainly time to execute the call, character of the notification, as well as the working group, personal life and emotional challenge. Multiple questions have been formulated for this thesis. Both current and former emergency call operators in Ceske Budejovice have been asked these question, which were then processed. The questions were divided into five fields concerning the interviewees' characteristics, collective and family, prevention a one last field was designated for the former operators. The interviews were anonymous, recorded and summarized. Two objectives were defined for this thesis: an analysis of the stressful situations of the emergency call operators and also of the impulses causing the formation of the stress factors, aw well as drafting a solution to stressful situations, possibility of the psycho-training, motivation and relaxation. The answer to the research question 'Which stress factors restrict the operators while performing service and how do they come into being' was determined from the carried-out interviews. There are situations which can make the operators insecure, such as a suicidal call, or when the call is unintelligible, or in case the incident cannot be correctly and quickly localized. Another problem can be the spiteful calls, in which case the telephone just rings and the caller hangs up right away. Another answer has also been extracted from the respondents: 'Which possibilities to handle stress do the operators have, which way to get rid of stress is satisfactory for them'. In the area of FRS of the South Bohemian Region there is a sports ground for every member to use. They would gladly welcome an opportunity to visit the firefighters's intervention in person. They are interested in psychology education, working with a suicidal call and periodic language courses. There are some proposals and ways to prevent stress of the 112 emergency call operators stated in the conclusion of the thesis. The system of training, possibilities to exchange workplaces, periodic language courses and interviews with the regional psychologist of the FRS of the South Bohemian Region. There are relaxation methods introduced, which would enable the operators to reduce stress and thus prevent illnesses, psychic exhaustion and eventually even a burnout. The results of this thesis can be used for all 112 EECs in the Czech republic.

Made available in DSpace on 2009-11-18T19:01:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre_Oliveira.pdf: 6992425 bytes, checksum: 9b93b9986c23a742d3c23be866aa20a6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Year after year the call center industry comes presenting high growth, either in Brazil or the world, using increasing contingent of people and receiving large amount of financial resources. Supporting all this industry, exists a theoretical reference that privileges the search of the improvement of diverse operational performance indicators. This study, empirically examines the relationship between caller satisfaction and diverse operational performance indicators currently used for call center management in Brazil. For in such a way, a group of telecommunications segment call centers will be used searching to determine which indicators are really more significantly correlated with the customer satisfaction. Of this form, it is aimed at to add new evidences and explanations to existing literature, in way that companies of call center industry can give a more adequate service to their customer, opposite to solely focus its efforts in the improvement of a great set of performance pointers that, effectively, can not become related with the customer satisfaction. / Ano após ano, a indústria de call center vem apresentando elevado crescimento, seja no Brasil ou no mundo, empregando crescente contingente de pessoas e recebendo expressivas somas de recursos financeiros. Suportando toda esta indústria, existe um referencial teórico que privilegia a busca da melhoria de diversos indicadores de desempenho operacional. Essa dissertação tem por objetivo examinar, empiricamente, a relação dos diversos indicadores de desempenho operacional utilizados atualmente na gestão de call centers, no Brasil, com a satisfação do cliente . Para tanto, será utilizado um conjunto de call centers de uma empresa do segmento de telecomunicações, buscando determinar quais são realmente os indicadores mais significativamente correlacionados com a satisfação do cliente. Dessa forma, visa-se acrescentar novas evidências e explicações à literatura existente, de modo a que as empresas da indústria de call center possam prestar um serviço mais adequado ao cliente, ao invés de unicamente focalizar seus esforços na melhoria de um grande conjunto de indicadores de desempenho que, efetivamente, podem não se relacionar com a satisfação do cliente.

The purpose of the research was to determine whether personality and measures of ability would significantly predict job performance of call centre operators in a South African communications company. The Customer Contact Styles Questionnaire (CCSQ7.2), the Basic Checking (CP7.1) ability test and the Audio Checking (CP8.1) ability test were completed by operators as the predictors. Supervisors completed the Customer Contact Competency Inventory (CCCI) for 140 operators as a measure of job performance. Performance statistics were obtained for the sample as additional criterion data. Correlations and multiple regression analysis revealed statistically significant small to moderate correlations between the criteria and the predictors. The research was conducted from a concurrent validity perspective. Further research from a predictive validity perspective is suggested in order to substantiate the findings and to improve the generalisability thereof. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation presents information on (1) the advertisement and aggressive calls of Crossodactylus schmidti and on (2) the species diet and its relationship with prey availability. The study was conducted with populations from the Parque Estadual do Turvo, located in the northwestern region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The park has an area of 17,491.4 ha and constitutes the largest preserved remnant of Mesophytic Semideciduous Forest in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The advertisement and aggressive calls of C. schmidti were described based on vocalizations of seven individuals recorded between October 2009 and February 2010. Compared to the advertisement calls described for other species of the genus, the advertisement call of C. schmidti differs in the temporal structure by having fewer notes per call and longer intervals between notes, and in the spectral structure by having lower values of dominant frequency. The aggressive call of C. schmidti is a variation of the advertisement call, which is similar to this in the note duration and dominant frequency values, but is a longer call, having fewer notes with longer intervals between them. The advertisement and aggressive calls of C. schmidti may be emitted separately, or the aggressive call may be followed by the advertisement call. The diet of C. schmidti was evaluated from September 2009 to March 2010, based on 93 stomach contents obtained by the technique of regurgitation (n= 80) and analysis of stomach contents of collected specimens (n= 13). In this study we determined the diet niche breadth, evaluated the relationship of diet composition with prey availability in the environment, and we also looked for ontogenetic and sexual changes and composition differences in the diet. Nineteen categories of prey were consumed, and ants, beetles and flies presented the highest importance values. Despite the varied diet, the diet niche breadth was low, with few prey categories predominantly consumed. Ants, flies and spiders were consumed in similar proportion to that estimated in the environment. There was no relationship between mouth width and length and/or volume of prey consumed, but the differences in diet composition between males and females, and between adults and juveniles, were significant. Considering the varied diet, the relationship between the most important items of diet with their availability in the environment, and the narrow niche breadth found, C. schmidti seems to be an opportunistic forager with feeding habits similar to other species of the genus. The similarities in the importance of items such as ants, beetles, flies and insect larvae in diet of C. schmidti and other species of the genus suggest a strong phylogenetic influence. / A presente dissertação apresenta informações sobre (1) o canto de anúncio e o canto agressivo de Crossodactylus schmidti, e sobre (2) a dieta da espécie e sua relação com a disponibilidade de presas. O estudo foi conduzido com populações do Parque Estadual do Turvo, localizado na região noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. O parque possui uma área de 17.491,4 ha e constitui o maior remanescente preservado de Floresta Estacional Semidecídua do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os cantos de anúncio e agressivo de C. schmidti foram descritos a partir de vocalizações de sete indivíduos gravadas entre outubro de 2009 e fevereiro de 2010. Comparado aos cantos de anúncio descritos para outras espécies do gênero, o de C. schmidti difere na estrutura temporal por apresentar menor número de notas por canto e maior intervalo entre as notas, e, na estrutura espectral, difere por apresentar menores valores de frequência dominante. O canto agressivo de C. schmidti é uma variação do canto de anúncio, sendo semelhante a este na duração das notas e nos valores de freqüência dominante, mas é um canto mais longo, possuindo menor número de notas e maior intervalo entre elas. O canto de anúncio e o canto agressivo de C. schmidti podem ser emitidos isoladamente ou pode ser emitido o canto agressivo seguido do canto de anúncio. A dieta de C. schmidti foi avaliada de setembro de 2009 a março de 2010, a partir de 93 conteúdos estomacais obtidos através da técnica de regurgitação (n= 80) e da análise dos conteúdos estomacais de espécimes coletados (n= 13). Nesse trabalho, determinamos a amplitude do nicho alimentar da espécie, avaliamos a relação da dieta com a disponibilidade de presas no ambiente e testamos as diferenças ontogenéticas e sexuais na composição da dieta. Dezenove categorias de presas foram consumidas, sendo formigas, besouros e dípteros as que apresentaram os maiores valores de importância. Apesar da dieta variada, a amplitude alimentar foi baixa, com poucas categorias de presas consumidas predominantemente. Formigas, dípteros e aranhas foram consumidas em proporção semelhante à estimada no ambiente. Não houve relação entre a largura da boca e o comprimento médio e/ou volume das presas consumidas, mas as diferenças na composição da dieta entre machos e fêmeas e entre adultos e juvenis foram significativas. Considerando a dieta variada, a relação entre os itens mais importantes da dieta com sua disponibilidade e a estreita amplitude do nicho alimentar, C. schmidti parece ser um forrageador oportunista de hábito alimentar similar aos de outras espécies do gênero. As semelhanças na importância de itens como formigas, besouros, dípteros e larvas de insetos na dieta C. schmidti e na de outras espécies do gênero sugere uma forte influência filogenética.

This Bachelor’s thesis examines the use of ancient bronze statues in the 2017 film Call me by your name by director Luca Guadagnino. Various scenes which feature ancient statues are examined individually using semiotic analysis. The scenes are examined individually, first described on a denotative level, then analyzed on a connotative level. The theoretical stand point is based on the studies of art works in film. Key theoretical concepts used are ”in between-ness” which is a state in which change in narrative is made possible through looking at art, and ”parallels”, a means of which to make art represent the characters in the film. The thesis finds the sculptures in Call me by your name to play a part in affecting the narrative of the film, mainly in regard to the love story between the two lead characters, two men named Elio and Oliver. The acts of looking, examining, and touching the statues in this film help the narrative turn in favor of the lead characters romantic relationship. The thesis argues that the nude bronze sculptures of men from ancient Greece are used in this film as signifiers of desire, timelessness and homoerotic lust.

There are analyzed key departments of bank in my thesis, which come in contact with clients and which partake of formation of their relation to the Citibank. This thesis targets the contact center CitiPhone, which serves personal entities of the bank. The theoretical cognizances from the first part of my thesis are applied to the conditions of this contact center in the practical part of it. The topic of my thesis is, on the example of contact center CitiPhone, to show activities, which contact center perform, to point out its critical parts and assess its current position. The assessment of activities of contact center CitiPhone is substantiated by graphs and results from period under consideration, which is first half of the year 2008.

The topic of the final thesis is a marketing analysis of the situation on the natural gas market in the Czech Republic, retail trade segment, including the development since its liberalization by the present time and future perspectives. Based on a market analysis an optimized model of company’s marketing strategy is developed, as opposed to its current marketing strategy. The optimized model focuses primarily on effectivization of acquisition channels of direct sale and aims at widening the customer portfolio, i.e. taking up a bigger market share and better utilization of the company’s dispositions.

Dieser Forschungsbericht untersucht anhand von sechs Fallstudien die konkrete Prozessunterstützung in Call Centern durch in operative Anwendungssysteme eingebettete Analytik. Dies umfasst zum einen retrospektive Analysen für interne und externe Stakeholder in Form von Reporten als auch Echtzeit-Auswertungen durch grafisch-orientierte Monitor-Darstellungen. Hierbei stehen unter anderem die eingesetzten Anwendungssysteme, das Nutzungsverhalten durch die verschiedenen Call Center-Mitarbeitergruppen und die kennzahlenbasierten Auswertungsinhalte im Vordergrund.:1 Einleitung 2 Fallstudie - B.B.K. Vertriebs- und Kunden-Services GmbH 3 Fallstudie - DIMA Systems AG 4 Fallstudie - Regiocom Sales Service Halle GmbH 5 Fallstudie - TMA Telesmart GmbH 6 Fallstudie - Simon & Focken GmbH 7 Fallstudie - Regiocom GmbH 8 Zusammenfassung der Fallstudien-Ergebnisse

Les traces réelles de réseaux cellulaires représentent une mine d’information utile pour améliorer les performances des réseaux. Des traces comme les CDRs (Call detail records) contiennent des informations horodatées sur toutes les interactions des utilisateurs avec le réseau sont exploitées dans cette thèse. Nous avons proposé des nouvelles approches dans l’étude et l’analyse des problématiques des réseaux de télécommunications, qui sont basé sur les traces réelles et des algorithmes d’apprentissage automatique. En effet, un outil global d’analyse de données, pour la classification automatique des stations de base, la prédiction de la charge de réseau et la gestion de la bande passante est proposé ainsi qu’un outil pour la détection automatique des anomalies de réseau. Ces outils ont été validés par des applications directes, et en utilisant différentes topologies de réseaux comme les réseaux WMN et les réseaux basés sur les drone-cells. Nous avons montré ainsi, qu’en utilisant des outils d’analyse de données avancés, il est possible d’optimiser dynamiquement les réseaux mobiles et améliorer la gestion de la bande passante. / Real datasets of mobile network traces contain valuable information about the network resources usage. These traces may be used to enhance and optimize the network performances. A real dataset of CDR (Call Detail Records) traces, that include spatio-temporal information about mobile users’ activities, are analyzed and exploited in this thesis. Given their large size and the fact that these are real-world datasets, information extracted from these datasets have intensively been used in our work to develop new algorithms that aim to revolutionize the infrastructure management mechanisms and optimize the usage of resource. We propose, in this thesis, a framework for network profiles classification, load prediction and dynamic network planning based on machine learning tools. We also propose a framework for network anomaly detection. These frameworks are validated using different network topologies such as wireless mesh networks (WMN) and drone-cell based networks. We show that using advanced data mining techniques, our frameworks are able to help network operators to manage and optimize dynamically their networks