SEO Marketing Research

Educational attainment is one of the primary drivers of the global outsourcing trend. For years it has been common knowledge that foreign K–12 education is superior to that offered in the United States.
High school graduates In European and Asian countries notoriously outperformed their U.S. counterparts on basic knowledge tests, especially those covering universal topics such [...]

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From an economic perspective, outsourcing service jobs to offshore labor markets makes obvious sense.
Of the approximately $1.45 to $147 of value derived from every dollar spent offshore, U.S. firms receive $1.12 to $1.14, while foreign firms receive only $0.33 of the value.
Moreover, if income taxes paid by H1-B visa holders, and software and service imports [...]

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We have been through this situation before. Outsourcing jobs to low-cost, usually foreign, labor markets is a familiar strategy in manufacturing.
When the U.S. automobile industry turned to outsourcing to reduce the costs of producing an automobile, a great hue and dry went up to reverse the trend.
Nevertheless, on further analysis, it became clear to economists [...]

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The election year of 2004 is shaping up to be one of many issues, with jobs and their apparent flight to offshore labor markets one of the central ones.
Both major political parties have staked out positions on the issue in a manner that is in line with their overall economic platforms.
Democrats stand in favor of [...]

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Force majeure risks are the most difficult to quantify and specify. What is the likelihood of a war? A hurricane? An earthquake? No one really knows.
Yet these risks can be estimated with some measure of objectivity, and an appropriate mitigation strategy can be developed and enacted.
Geopolitical realities around the world today have brought the threat [...]

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Outsourcing, and most notably offshoring, has leapt into the consciousness of Americans, producing both entrepreneurial zeal and protectionist backlash.
Dire predictions of the demise of U.S. global competitiveness are balanced by enthusiastic invocations of Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” theory and the proven ability of the U.S. economy to recover from whatever shocks might come its way.
The Wall [...]

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Experience has amply demonstrated that the early stages of most business revolutions are periods of great innovation, great progress, and great pain.
The total quality management (TQM) movement in the United States, for instance, was characterized by long-overdue advances in manufacturing processes.
Ford Motor Company adopted the “Quality is Job 1” mantra in the early l980s after [...]

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Whether the rationale is cost savings or business transformation, an outsourcing project is undertaken to create value for the business process outsourcing (BPO) buyer.
With the myriad uncertainties inherent in any complex BPO deal, extracting anticipated value can be a challenge.
This risk can be mitigated through several techniques, most of which center on managing the projected [...]

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The risks associated with the BPO vendor’s organization are perhaps the most difficult to accept because they are not easy to control. This risk is also enhanced when the vendor is offshore.
The risks associated with the vendor organization can range from business practices to authenticity of certification and reference claims.
Vendor business practices can vary greatly [...]

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Legal risks associated with offshore outsourcing are legion, and their threat is made worse by the relative lack of legal precedent.
For instance, there currently are no clear legal rules governing the extent to which remedies can be extracted from a business process outsourcing (BPO) vendor in the case of a security breach on other gross [...]

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Most businesses have a significant amount of sensitive information, including trade secrets, business plans, and proprietary business knowledge.
Safeguarding critical business information is a concern, even in the United States. Threats to information security, such as theft by company insiders, former employees, and computer hackers, abound.
Offshore outsourcing presents different and in some cases more potent threats [...]

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Project risks are defined as the potential that the business process outsourcing (BPO) initiative may not provide the cost savings, strategic advantages, on productivity improvements anticipated.
The reasons for this potential risk are too numerous to list. Unexpected incompatibilities between software infrastructures could prove intractable and lead to delays, cost overruns, and lost business.
The cultures of [...]

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Most of the problems employees will experience during a BPO project will not be related to the hardware or software infrastructure associated with BPO.
They will more likely be related to failures in understanding new workflows, work procedures, and work responsibilities.
From the apocryphal user who cannot find the “Any” key (“Press any key to continue”) to [...]

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Change management is a human resource issue, involving a well-understood pattern of overcoming resistance, instituting changes, and reestablishing standard operating procedures.
Some change management consultants have expressed this as unfreezing-moving–refreezing the organization.
In this section we are not addressing the risks associated with change management; rather, we focus on the technical risks involved with the thorny issues [...]

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LDV started out as a division of British Leyland. When the U.K. manufacturing giant closed its doors, many industry observers believed that LDV, which builds commercial vehicles, would soon follow suit.
But LDV was saved by a management buyout and today employs more than 1,000 people at its Birmingham factory.
LDV has extensive expertise in the automotive [...]

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We have already discussed the data and information infrastructure that is important part of any BPO relationship.
Competitive businesses are data driven, and in many cases a large part of their overall value is derived from industry and market data they have collected, stoned, and analyzed.
A company’s knowledge infrastructure is even more important because knowledge refers [...]

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Software compatibility is often a difficult issue within an organization. Compatibility issues are amplified iii a BPO relationship when attempting to bring buyer and vendor applications into alignment.
Database issues will confront nearly every BPO relationship, as data sharing is the backbone of most BPO projects.
This book is not intended to be a treatise on how [...]

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The first issue to consider with respect to the hardware infrastructure underlying the BPO project is whose systems to use.
Because providing high levels of service in the specific business process is the vendor’s core competence, their hardware capabilities usually outstrip those of the buyer.
Despite this common circumstance, the decision to use the vendor’s hardware system [...]

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Although a mature and seamless relationship would most likely enhance the benefits of outsourcing, failure in the BPO relationship can lead to negative and potentially irreparable consequences.
The business literature is rife with stories about BPO relationships gone had, and there will be many more in the coming years.
As the BPO revolution picks up steam, no [...]

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SLA specifications and metrics measure the provider’s performance during the operating phase of the business process outsourcing (BPO) Life Cycle.
They must be clearly defined and effectively designed into the contract because this is what allows the buyer a comfort level in turning over control of its business processes to the vendor.
The metrics associated with SLAs [...]

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It is necessary that BPO agreements be designed to provide for adequate flexibility in order to withstand both the dynamics of the business environment and the pressures that are inherent in such a contractual agreement.
Typically, BPO contract agreements are crafted on certain key assumptions pertaining to technologies, business conditions, personnel, and other relevant issues. But [...]

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Four fundamental characteristics will give shape to any BPO relationship regardless of industry or BPO type:
The depth of the relationship
The scope of the relationship
The choice of assets to use
The choice of business culture to adopt and exploit
The depth of the BPO relationship depends on the criticality of the outsourced business process.
The closer the outsourced process [...]

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Managing the business process outsourcing (BPO) relationship successfully is a challenge for buyers and vendors alike.
Notwithstanding the potential benefits of outsourcing the complex nature of an outsourcing agreement lends itself to a variety of challenging relationship management issues.
Although relationship management is a key component of any successful outsourcing project, it is the most often neglected [...]

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The project management plan can be changed and altered over the life of the BPO project. At the same time, changes to the plan should only be done in a systematic and carefully considered manner.
The PMT should include members from both the buyer and vendor organizations. These individuals must learn to adapt to and trust [...]

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The final consideration in managing the business process outsourcing (BPO) transition is to ensure business continuity throughout the process.
It is to be expected that performance indicators for the outsourced process are likely to be down or flat during the early stages of the transition.
It might also occur that processes tightly linked to the outsourced process [...]

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Beyond the organizational units immediately affected by the business process outsourcing (BPO) project are employees who are friends, relatives, and acquaintances of those affected BPO project managers must not overlook the ripple effects that are created by outsourcing and the threat that others might fed from witnessing the introduction of BPO into neighboring work units.
In [...]

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Managing job loss and changeover is assuredly among the most difficult challenges that managers face, no matter what the cause of the upheaval.
It is no secret that most rank-and-file employees in the organization who are likely to be displaced by a business process outsourcing (BPO) initiative are living paycheck to paycheck.
The looming prospect of job [...]

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Effective communication with employees is vital to the business process outsourcing (BPO) transition process. A lack of communication from managers to employees does not mean a lack of communication within the organization.
Organizational space abhors a communication vacuum. If the space is not filled with deliberate, optimistic, and directive messages from leadership, it will be filled [...]

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Effective change management in organizations has been studied and examined in great detail.
No stone has been left unturned because scholars and organizational consultants recognize that this is a particularly needful (and lucrative) area in which to practice.
Unfortunately for managers who have to sift through all of the articles, reports, books, and consultant schemes, it is [...]

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Standard definitions of leadership distinguish it from management by associating the former with something like vision and the latter with something like operations.
This crude distinction does not always hold, of course, because managers are often cabled on to articulate a vision and leaders must occasionally roll up their sleeves and take action.
Still, if we regard [...]

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We have stated that the BPO contract negotiations should be conducted in a positive-sum spirit, with an eye toward building a trusting, synergistic relationship. At the same time, it would be naive to assume that trust is a sufficient governing mechanism.
In fact, drafting precise contract terms, including avenues for remedy in case performance falls short [...]

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Developing an effective BPO contract has several basic rules of thumb. First, everyone involved in the contracting process should keep in mind the nature of the BPO relationship.
The alignment of the long-term strategic interests of both the BPO buyer and vendor should be reflected in the terms of the contract.
Second, it is important to be [...]

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The formal contract between BPO buyer and vendor has been signed and sealed. The BPO contract is a detailed document that includes service level agreements that specify the level of expected performance on defined organizational processes.
These form the basis for developing metrics and for the system of rewards, penalties, and remedies that govern the buyer-vendor [...]

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Because of the complex and evolving nature of the outsourcing process, negotiation of BPO agreements requires a different mindset than that required in traditional commercial contract negotiation.
Outsourcing is by definition a collaborative effort, rather than a zero-sum game. Zero-sum negotiating means that each party is motivated to extract as much value as possible from the [...]

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Finding the right BPO vendor is a critical step in an organization’s outsourcing initiative and one at the most difficult to manage.
The promise of BPO is always tempered by the perceived risks associated with handing responsibility for an internal business process-no matter how noncore or mundane it may be-to another firm.
More than one manager has [...]

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Step 1. Appoint a vendor selection team (VST)
There is far more to choosing an outsourcing vendor than there is to choosing a new supplier. Unlike the buyer-supplier relationship, the business process outsourcing (BPO) buyer-vendor relationship involves a customized service, detailed agreement on service levels, and a strategically oriented long-term contract.
Given our contention that a robust [...]

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The strategic costs associated with BPO are centered on the potential loss of organizational learning that results from moving a process under the control of an external service provider.
Competitive advantage in most industries today is a moving target, and firms must seek it whenever they can.
In some cases, competitive advantage arises in unexpected quarters, as [...]

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Finding the right BPO vendor is a critical step in an organization’s outsourcing initiative and one at the most difficult to manage.
The promise of BPO is always tempered by the perceived risks associated with handing responsibility for an internal business process-no matter how noncore or mundane it may be-to another firm.
More than one manager has [...]

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The financial costs associated with BPO are ongoing, as long as the project is active. Each project phase has predictable costs that can be forecasted, budgeted, monitored, and mitigated.
In addition to these phase-specific direct project costs, each BPO initiative has a variety of less obvious yet insidious hidden costs.
Project managers will do well to include [...]

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No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, hut the world as it will be . . .
BPO is not right ton every company, nor is it right for every process in a given company, but its promise makes it imperative that managers seek [...]

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Total Cost Management (TCM) is a term used to refer to the process of identifying, forecasting, and developing mitigating tactics for costs associated with a project.
Individuals familiar with the initiation and implementation of information technology (IT) projects will recognize that this concept is similar to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) approach used for software [...]

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The value of using teams in the winkle has been elaborated at length by a number of scholars, consultants, and executive-authors.
All we can add to that discussion in the context of outsourcing is to reiterate the socio-technical nature of most outsourcing projects.
That basic characteristic of outsourcing highlights the need for interdisciplinary skills to manage an [...]

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This article concludes by examining an offshore outsourcing initiative that did not work as planned.
The leader at the initiative was discouraged by the outcome of the particular project, but he is not discouraged by the prospect of using an offshore strategy in the future.
Quite the contrary, he believes that the lessons learned as a result [...]

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With years of outsourcing experience to bolster managerial courage to undertake even holder projects, many are now using what is called business transformation outsourcing (BTO) to dramatically affect their firm’s competitive strategies.
In fact, 12 percent at chief technology officers in charge of IT outsourcing report undertaking BTO projects.
As research has shown, firms in volatile industries [...]

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Another interesting twist on the outsourcing revolution is the conversion of a business competence into a revenue-generating business service, a process we call reverse outsourcing.
This is not new, of course. Companies have developed new revenue lines out at business competencies developed from within for generations.
What is new is that businesses are able to generate outsourcing [...]

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Many managers reading this article are employed by companies that have never undertaken a BPO initiative or whose culture is generally opposed to BPO.
Closely held family companies, for instance, may believe that it is contrary to their culture and values to consider outsourcing work to an external party.
In such cases, additional effort may be needed [...]

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There are a variety of pricing approaches to BPO. By far the most common approach is the fixed-price contract where a vendor manages a buyer’s process and gets paid a fee based on meeting preestablished performance benchmarks.
Fixed-price contracts, however, can be imposing ton small-to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or for firms that are struggling to meet [...]

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Companies often outsource business processes that have no clear match with potential vendor.
This scenario happens most often when the buyer is considering outsourcing a complex process, the boundaries of which are ambiguous or touch on the buyer’s core competence.
In such cases, the vendors who respond to the firm’s request for proposals (RFP) may not have [...]

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Don’t be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small steps.
The BPO revolution is evolving as we write, but many firms have already pioneered dramatic new ways of utilizing outsourcing to reduce costs, improve competitive position, and introduce new organizational strategies.
The pioneers in outsourcing were [...]

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Business process outsourcing (BPO) has managers around the world asking what it can do for them and what it might do to them.
They are excited about the potential for BPO to help them manage costs and improve their balance sheets.
Under constant pressure from analysts to control headcount, outsourcing back-office activities to contract laborers in remote [...]

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Since the days of Adam Smith, capitalist economists have touted the benefits of specialization as a key to productive exchange among economic agents.
The famous example of the pin factory used by Smith has stood the test of time. His eloquent analysis of division of labor in the production of pins and the vastly greater output [...]

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