Sam Dzever, Bhumika Gupta. Business Process Outsourcing industry in India : additional benefits of a CSR approach. Asian Business and Management, 2012, 11 (3), pp.273 – 289. ⟨10.1057/abm.2012.11⟩.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a relatively recent phenomenon in India, emergent in the early 1990s, but today it is one of India’s fastest-growing industries, attracting many international and local companies and entrepreneurs. It is no exaggeration to say that the BPO industry has made significant contributions toward alleviating Indian unemployment. However, the industry has also witnessed significant problems during its rapid growth. Paramount among these is the issue of psychological contract and its impact on employees’ motivation. Preliminary studies have indicated a significant amount of worker exploitation in India’s BPO industry. A number of studies have looked at the problem, but few to our knowledge have incorporated a corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective, pointing out benefits that could accrue to companies (and indeed society at large) adopting this approach. The objective of the present research is to address that gap, to enhance knowledge of these issues in the Indian environment and to show how a CSR approach to the analysis of the problem of psychological contract and its impact on employee motivation can offer benefits to employers in India.