Abstract:
Call centres are increasingly being utilised in public sector programmes to facilitate and
manage communication between numerous stakeholders. Yet, the impact of call centres on
projects has not been investigated. This paper reports on a survey with 92 respondents that
assessed the impact of a call centre for a repair and maintenance programme. An
empirically verified model is presented to illustrate the relationship between call centre
communication and project performance. A balance of frequent informal and formal
communication is shown to reduce mistrust and conflict of interest resulting from each party
trying to maximise his respective economic position in the principal-agency relationship. The
data provides evidence that a call centre improves the communication, collaboration and
trust in project principal-agency relationships which, in turn, is perceived to contribute to
project performance.
