The Analysis of The Article "Case Study of Cross Cultural Communication Issues for Filipino Call Centre Staff & Their Australian Customers" by Alison Owens

The article “Case Study of Cross Cultural Communication Issues for Filipino Call Centre Staff and Their Australian Customers” was written by Alison Owens (2008), an Australian Senior Research Associate. Its main purpose is to observe current challenges of cross cultural business communication over the telephone, given international technological development. Through an analysis of phone conversations between Australian customers and Filipino call centre personnel of a multi-national company, the author puts emphasis on intercultural consumer service quality (Owens, 2008).

Management and operational employees were involved in a series of interviews in a few months, and the data were obtained by a conversational analysis of phone talks so that to recognize the main sociolinguistic and sociocultural offshoring issues for such companies. The findings demonstrate that there were a variety of intercultural communication problems for Filipino personnel and Australian customers, including different accents, humor, naming systems, or specific facts. However, clients showed a very tolerant attitude toward linguistic and cultural dissimilarities present in phone dialogs. It is noted that Australian clients did not express dissatisfaction with the accent, and the number of complaints about Filipino operators did not exceed the number of complaints about local operators. Owens (2008) comes to the conclusion that there is not a shred of evidence that sociolinguistic and sociocultural problems destructively affected customer satisfaction or transaction outcome. Thus, benefits are apparent when offshoring activities are carefully managed. Considering the article’s strengths, first, the objective of the research was clearly stated and then achieved by using accurate evidence and appropriate research method to measure the reaction of customers.

Next, key words are well defined, and section headings give a good insight into key points. Understanding study limitations, Owens (2008) also suggests to further explore communicative success of other non-Australian call centre workers and the opinions of Australian clients who get these offshored calls. Finally, raising the issue of cross cultural business communication complexity, the article is still relevant today. To illustrate, Gube (2013) addresses intercultural communication challenges of Filipino call centre workers with their foreign customers the same way and comes to similar conclusions. Moreover, the Philippines has already surpassed “India as the call-center capital of the world” (Lee, 2015), and it is a growing trend, so that is why it is essential to study Filipino call centers and linked outsourcing businesses where more than 1 million people are employed (Lee, 2015). Therefore, Owens justifies the particular relevance of intercultural communication problems and gives persuasive evidence on advantages of such offshoring activities.

On the other hand, the article has a few weaknesses that should be mentioned. First, the selected research method is not so effective to cover a certain issue in depth, and the small sample size implies that this group may not be a decent representation of Australian clients’ attitude to Filipino call centre staff. Second, the author could have used tables and illustrations to complement the text and present information visually. Besides, call centre workers could have been questioned of their perceptions of Australian customers as well (Gube, 2013), and it is important to qualitatively explore the behavioral norms of Filipino call centre personnel for interactional patterns (Friginal & Cullom, 2014). Lastly, there is a need for further research into the development of training and educational support in the industry (Lockwood, Forey, & Price, 2008). Hence, it will help identify hidden difficulties of cross cultural communication and discus the topic in more detail.

Sociocultural issues described in the article are of particular interest to readers. The conflict between cultural representations of Filipinos and Australians about objects and phenomena of reality appears to be one of the key reasons that hinder their phone communication. Given that, two tasks become urgent: to understand cultural differences and forms of their manifestation and to identify similar traits between cultures and try to use them to achieve success. In international business, the seller (Filipino call centre staff) must adapt to the culture and traditions of the buyer (Australian customers), so CRM managers should develop a tactic of doing business over the phone. For example, it concerns the ability to provide quick and timely answers as Western civilizations value their time too much and do not like to wait.

According to Berg, Gilson, and Phalin (2016), poor preparation for a telephone conversation and the failure to clearly and competently express thoughts lead to significant losses of customers. The success of telephone conversations also largely depends on emotional color where excessive emotion can play a bad joke, becoming a source of tension between the two parties. Furthermore, competence, tact, knowledge of phone conversation methods, and the desire to solve the problem quickly and effectively or to assist with its solution should be a basis of cross cultural business communication (Winkler, Dibbern, & Heinzl, 2008). As sociocultural issues can be very tangible obstacles to successful phone conversation, it is important to study these differences precisely.

In conclusion, Owens highlights the current issues of cross cultural business communication that are determined by complexity and dynamism of technological development. The study material is presented clearly with a full justification of received scientific results, and it includes specific points of interest, such as sociocultural differences that may influence customers’ attitude and assessment even more than sociolinguistic issues. Nevertheless, the article lacks methodological background and visual information to cover the issue in depth and definitely requires further exploration in this direction.