The king of calls / a film by Jens Pedersen.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Pedersen, Jens., Director.

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Globalization--India--Case studies.

Globalization.

Telemarketing--India.

Telemarketing.

Genre:

Nonfiction films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (29 min.).

Other Title:

The king of calls : telemarketers in India

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2009.

Language Note:

In English.

Original language in English.

Summary:

At a call center in the Indian city of Hyderabad, work starts at 8 P.M. India time. It's morning in the U.S., when America is beginning to work. A business directory, "The American Yellow Pages," similar to the original "Yellow Pages," has outsourced their telemarketing to India. Kabith is the Indian executive-in-charge, trying to build his career as a call center tycoon. He has hired 75 new sales agents to sell listings for several hundred dollars. The problem is that listings in the competitive directory are free. Equipped with new American names and rudimentary English, they begin to pursue customers. Confusion reigns supreme, no sales are made. As the agents frantically dial, fearing the loss of their precious jobs, Kabith grows increasingly desperate. New agents are hired, scolded, and fired. One young woman is promoted to deputy manager thanks to her relentless efforts to train the newcomers to speak with an American accent, to get their initial pitch on target, and to avoid hang-ups. She likes working in the call center "... because moneywise it's a very good industry" and she wants to be independent from her parents. Two million young Indians work in the call center industry. How can American workers compete with them when they cost five times more than Indian workers? This is the frontier of globalization.

Notes:

Title from resource description page (viewed Mar. 26, 2013).

Association for Asian Studies, 2009

OCLC:

780140342