BPO Industry is Going to Hinterlands
We found this relevant article on business process outsourcing in India. It is interesting because it pertains to the assessment of the environment of global business. In chapter one of our class text the case study provides that poor infrastructure, higher costs of transporting workers, and fewer tax incentives were straining BPO margins. This article suggests that higher costs are driving bpo's into rural areas of India where they can more cheaply operate as well as utilize less traditional practices such as employing women.
What are some of your thoughts on the article in relation to the environment of doing business in India? What are some threats and opportunities of Bpo's moving into rural areas? Will this growing trend contribute to the globalization of human capital particularly in a country with a burgeoning middle class?
- Posted for Alex Stallings and Andrew Smith
3 comments:
Will you repost the link to the article? When I click on it, I get an error message.
Human capacity is one of the current and future things that are rapidly being not only outsourced but also offshored. I think for some US companies they should consider keeping these business process jobs in the borders of our own country. With employment only rises, a market that provides millions of Americans with jobs would immensely contribute to the economy as a whole. I know this will never happen because the cost of building centers and paying Americans the salaries they expect would just be too costly for businesses. This being said, moving into rural areas would give companies a cost advantage compared to locating in urban Indian cities. This would also help employ rural inhabitants. As far as women in the workforce are concerned, even though now 'women in the office' are unheard of in India I think this trend will soon begin to change. All around the world cultures with restrictions towards women are starting to become more lax and if BPO starts to take off like a freight train then maybe women in India will start to infiltrate this area. Although, these are all just thoughts. No one can really predict the future of other cultures and the people involved.
Going off on a tangent here: First off i'm not a big fan of outsourced call centers to begin with. I experienced first hand this summer how difficult it is to conduct business through centers in India. Price competitive or not you might as well have an automated system in place to handle business.
I was required as part of my job to call an Indian call center to release batches of orders on a daily basis, which could turn into chaotic experience if you strayed from the "beat-n path" my manager explained. The rules of engagement were simple: no small talk and no questions. I was not a believer until I found out first hand how attempting to carry a conversation with a call center rep would send a simple transaction spiraling down in a fiery blaze. I ended up getting bounced around to a few different reps because I couldn't speak Indian and their English was about par with my Indian. Finally, they just dropped my call.
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