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This process of Americanization includes training for a period of three to six months, learning the American accent, slang, lingo, sports, history, geography, films and politics. Some companies provide speech therapy so that they can sound like an American. The employees are told to watch endless episodes of Friends, Seinfeld, Oprah show, Ally McBeal, OC and what not, so that they can imitate an up-to-standard American accent.

They are told to lie about their location and say that they are calling from American cities to put customers at ease. Some companies are adorned with American flags to give the place an American feeling. While other companies even, go to an extent of compelling its workers to wear the American clothing to make them feel more American and excel in jobs. In a nutshell, call centers are changing the identity and way of living of its employees.

This process of Americanization has resulted in number of issues and problems for the call center employees. One of the growing issues is the conflicts between the way of living the employees are exposed to in the call centers and their cultural values and, sometimes their sanity. Many are finding it difficult to find a common ground between the two culture and identities - Indian and American. At the individual level, this creates a problem what Psychiatrists call as "identity crisis in which two or more distinct personality identities influence or direct behavior at different times. This is sometimes called "Multiple Personality Disorder"¹¹. The same person is divided between Samuktya and Sam, Krishna Prasad and Chris, Hari and Harry, etc. The remaking of Hari into Harry for the convenience of the American customers involves severe personality costs, as the person's name is vital to his or her individuality or identity, self-esteem and dignity.

In some cases, call center employees show bipolar disorder, where they go to work each day in high as Harry and when they are at home as Hari, they are restless, depressed and bad-tempered. Some firms to overcome these issues have started providing psychiatric medical support to the employees.

On the social side, perhaps the most significant impact of call centers and Americanization has been on the families of the employees. First, it is creating an entirely new segment of Indian youth who are being slowly alienated from the Indian culture and values. Also, it offers an opportunity for the employees to live a perpetual nocturnal life. They have little time to spare for their family members and relatives. They no longer get involved in the family get-togethers or marriages or for the matter festivals.

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* Contributed by: -
M. S. Balaji & Diganta C.,
Research Scholars,
ICFAI Insititute for Management Teachers, Hyderabad.