The development of service provider's BPO-IT framework

Purpose The decision to operate BPO-IT organisational model by a business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider has far reaching benefits. The purpose of this paper is to develop a service provider’s BPO-IT framework that provides in-house IT function (software) required to process client services. Design/methodology/approach The multi-case study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed method research approach. In the first instance, seven BPO service provider organisations were investigated in the qualitative phase and 156 in the quantitative phase, respectively. Findings The adoption of the developed framework indicates that it could reduce failures in BPO relationships through reduced turnaround time in processing client services, improved quality of service, reduced cost, improved client and provider’s competitiveness, and confidentiality of client operations. Outsourcing clients could lay the foundation for a successful relationship by adopting a selection process that could choose the right provider. Originality/value The paper reveals BPO-IT organisation’s operation towards in-house provision of software required to process client services. A research exploring BPO service providers from a top outsourcing destination like India could provide offshore outsourcing clients the information to move towards onshore outsourcing. </jats:sec

The financial crisis in South Asia: From jobless growth to jobless slump?

This chapter explores the impact of the global financial crisis on South Asia in terms of qualitative and quantitative aspects of employment. South Asia hosts a quarter of the world’s population and a fifth of the global workforce – as well as 40 percent of the global poor (World Bank 2010). This paper therefore contributes to an assessment of the current crisis on the livelihoods of inhabitants of one of the poorest regions in the world. It also provides more general insights about how volatilities in globally increasingly integrated markets translate into opportunities for decent work – or the lack thereof

What’s my Role? Role Perception Issues within a Business Process Outsourcing Software Company.

Business process outsourcing of IT solutions is a common and well embedded practice in many businesses. There has been much research into the aspects of the relationships between businesses and their BPO IT partners that make these relationships successful. Very little research has, however, been undertaken at the lower level of relationships between the specialist professional groups within the BPO IT firms, and how these relationships are affected by the roles each group plays. This paper explores these ideas using qualitative research methods within a current BPO IT firm to expose the key issues. Analysis of these themes is provided, and a model of roles and relationships for the professional groups that operate within such firms is proposed that combines the key attributes of the roles, the key relationships involved and the role each group plays within those relationships. Finally, recommendations are made as to the improvement of current practices to align behaviours with the proposed model

Organizational Learning and Capabilities for Onshore and Offshore Business Process Outsourcing

This paper identifies and analyzes firm-level characteristics that facilitate onshore and offshore business process outsourcing (BPO). We use organizational learning and capabilities to develop a conceptual model. We test the conceptual model with archival data on a broad cross section of U. S. firms. Our empirical findings indicate that firms with experience in onshore information technology (IT) outsourcing and capabilities related to IT coordination applications and process codification are more likely to engage in BPO, and firms with experience in internationalization are more likely to engage in offshore BPO. We also find that IT coordination applications have a greater impact on onshore BPO than on offshore BPO, and the effect of process codification is partly mediated through IT outsourcing