service rendered, an unbiased Service Level Agreement (SLA) should still be prioritized to clearly define the necessary deliverables for each business process.
Security has always been an issue related with outsourcing.
The company may not have the capacity to control each and every transaction done by the thirdparty company, therefore resulting to some legal security and compliance issues. There are even staff members from the thirdparty company who were penalized because of getting the most out of being exposed to confidential company and customer information. This is indeed one of the areas of outsourcing that needs to be addressed as well.
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Business Process Outsourcing
Learning the Basic Concept of BPO s
Getting into the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) trend also means acquiring a thirdparty company in which the transmission of company services with its associated operational activities and responsibilities will take place. This is yet another business strategy with certain expectations to meet such as providing services with at least a guaranteed equal service level so as to avoid client-customer conflicts. BPO indeed provides definite solutions to companies while promising more efficient organizational designs as a result of productivity growth, cost reduction and innovative competencies.
Currently, BPO is divided into two categories: (a) back-office outsourcing and (b) front-office outsourcing. If back-office outsourcing deals with internal business functions such as payroll and human resources, front-office outsourcing, on the other hand, includes customer-related functions such as tech support through phone, chat or email. These categories are further subdivided into three, namely
(a) inshore outsourcing
(b) nearshore outsourcing and
(c) offshore outsourcing, depending on the BPO location.
Inshore outsourcing means that the BPO company contracted is within a company s own country. If the contracted BPO is located on a company s neighboring country, then this is called nearshore outsourcing. Once the BPO company contracted is located outside the company s own country, it is then an offshore outsourcing.
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There are also certain risks involved to acquiring BPO services.
This is because it is more like transferring all business elements including process management, software and people to a
thirdparty company on behalf of the outsourcer. Risks should be carefully managed to successfully achieve desired benefits. Otherwise, this will only lead to failing of company expectations, therefore business growth and development will be at stake.
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The Truth Behind Call Center Outsourcing
The customer is always right this is a common statement instilled to a lot of employees who get to interact customers or clients each and every working day. This is because it is through only excellent customer service that people get more value for their money. This is also the reason why many companies are investing on training so that their employees will be given a chance to improve their customer service abilities and get to meet or even exceed customer expectations. A very good ingredient that adds more color to every customer interaction is having exceptional communication skills. In the call center industry, this is one of the main areas that are being focused on.
Though large companies have the capacity to establish their own call centers, some resort to outsourcing their call center needs.
This is what makes call center outsourcing a critical part of any business operation. However, it is a must to assess first if going to the call center outsourcing direction is indeed what the business needs. Some of these reasons would most likely due to low costs.
Given that a call center specializes in phone support and is acquired by most companies simply mean that good management is in place. Therefore it is just a good business strategy to acquire their services, without the need to spend time in hiring qualified individuals, and purchasing extra resources. In short, the business saves more money rather than starting from scratch.
Indeed, it would be a smart move to conduct researches first and analyze what the specific needs of the business are before making that most important decision. Call center outsourcing
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companies have their own specialization and choosing the best bet will yield more desirable results in the future.
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Outsourcing in China Good or Bad
Move
One of the questions being asked in the four corners of the outsourcing world is this Will China rule the future of outsourcing?
The answer is yet to be determined as there are still a lot of Asian players that are indeed doing well in as far as growth and progress in terms of acquiring outsourcing jobs is concerned. Two of the countries that provide competition to China include India and the Philippines. Without a doubt, these countries have already established their competence and credibility in the world of outsourcing.
Now, what makes China a potential candidate? First and
foremost, it has a large labor supply pool like what India has. In addition, companies who have setup Asian headquarters can avail of China s bilingual population. Most people can speak both Japanese and Chinese, particularly in key cities such as Shanghai. Aside from this, people in China are known to be hardworking and very much dedicated in any line of work. They produce quality work just like any other nationality, provided that proper training is given.
How about China s disadvantage? One is that most Chinese people do not have good English language capabilities. Second is lack of project management expertise, which is very much critical in today business world.
Salary-wise, this is not much of an issue. Research shows that though programmer costs in China is about 10 to 15% lower compared to India, supervisory staff, project managers and other staff positions is about 25% higher. This simply mean one thing, outsourcing in China is indeed very feasible. But then again, India and the Philippines will still be included in the picture.
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Companies that Outsource: The Reasons
Behind Outsourcing
Outsourcing has changed the way global business is conducted.
Before, outsourcing is just a means to cut operational costs.
But now, companies need to have more reasons than cutting costs to meet the additional demands of the companies. . Companies that outsource have various reasons why they do continue outsourcing.
Cutting Operational Costs The main reason that companies outsource is to reduce the operational cost. According to studies, this is the primary force behind the initiative to outsource.
A company that generates quality services or products at a high cost is not welcome news at all. Therefore, good quality at lower cost comes together and the answer is to move part of its operations overseas where cheaper labor is available. Higher Retention Rates Companies that outsourced have higher customer retention rates. If a company gives much importance to combining
