Repositioning knowledge and skills in a local authority: rationalizing service encounters, enchanting service users

Abstract

This paper draws on the analytical framework offered by the concept of ‘productive systems’ which shifts attention away from examining sites of work as self-standing units to one which places them in a configuration of relationships. The concept is used in this paper to track how the introduction of a call centre can reposition knowledge and skills from one part of the system to another. The empirical evidence for the paper draws
from a case study of a call centre which was set up as the primary access point to services provided by a local authority in the Midlands. The paper argues that the productive system perspective highlights the ways in which this call centre facilitated the rationalization of organizational procedures
and practices in its back offices, while simultaneously promoting a degree of personalized service.

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