Outsourcing Back Office Services in Small Nonprofits: Pitfalls and Possibilities

Presents findings on small nonprofits' administrative, finance, and other office support needs; reasons and conditions for outsourcing as well as barriers; methods for evaluating options; and guiding principles. Examines three business models

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

Web Based Organizing and the Management of Human Resources

The paper focuses on the consequences of web-based business-to-business transactions in medium and large old economy companies in particular and discusses the implications for HRM and HR professionals. Medium and large old economy companies can be involved in transactions within the new economy in different ways. First of all the paper gives an overview of the striking characteristics that distinguish web-based transactions from more traditional transactions. The paper continues with an overview of the different ways in which old economy companies are attempting to integrate elements of web-based organizing into their current business and the implications of it for human resources management. Three different ways of integration are distinguished:-Seeing the Net as an extension of normal market channels for buying and selling.-Using the Net to expand and improve current co-makership relationships amongst key suppliers (section 4).-Totally re-thinking business models before deciding on e-commerce strategy and practice, which implies desegregation and organizational revolution. Each of these areas will be highlighted and possible implications for human resources management and HR managers considered.human resource management;business to business transactions;human resource managers;web-based organizing

The Global Employer: A Global Flexible Workforce - Temporary and Other Contingent Workers

[Excerpt] Baker & McKenzie\u27s Global Employment Practice Group is pleased to present its 53rd issue of the Global Employer entitled A Global Flexible Workforce: Temporary and Other Contingent Workers. In times of fast-moving market conditions, straitened economics, changing workforce demographics and an increasingly global and mobile labour market, many multinationals are relying heavily on global contingent labour to provide greater flexibility, bridge gaps and manage costs. However, the challenge of using temporary and other contingent workers-temporary agency workers, independent contractors, freelancers, project workers, fixed-term employees, outsourced workers etc. - cannot be underestimated. As the trend towards more flexible labour increases, so do concerns about the social effects of a disenfranchised workforce. It is no surprise then, that global scrutiny and regulation of contingent worker arrangements is on the rise. China recently introduced new labour dispatch rules significantly limiting the ability of companies to hire staff through staffing agencies. The new law, due to take effect on July 1, 2013, could affect up to 60 million workers in China. Europe has seen the Temporary Agency Workers Directive increase the cost of using a temporary workforce, and in the US, new federal and state laws, agency enforcement initiatives and class action lawsuits are increasing the risks associated with many contingent worker arrangements. To address some of the key legal compliance issues faced by multinationals, leading Baker & McKenzie attorneys from 12 jurisdictions across Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America have contributed to this country-by-country guide. What emerges is that a collaborative global approach to managing the legal compliance and other risks associated with temporary and other contingent workers is essential if multinationals wish to take full and proper advantage of the opportunities that a flexible workforce can bring

Governance of Offshore IT Outsourcing at Shell Global Functions IT-BAM Development and Application of a Governance Framework to Improve Outsourcing Relationships

The lack of effective IT governance is widely recognized as a key inhibitor to successful global IT outsourcing relationships. In this study we present the development and application of a governance framework to improve outsourcing relationships. The approach used to developing an IT governance framework includes a meta model and a customization process to fit the framework to the target organization. The IT governance framework consists of four different elements (1) organisational structures, (2) joint processes between in- and outsourcer, (3) responsibilities that link roles to processes and (4) a diverse set of control indicators to measure the success of the relationship. The IT governance framework is put in practice in Shell GFIT BAM, a part of Shell that concluded to have a lack of management control over at least one of their outsourcing relationships. In a workshop the governance framework was used to perform a gap analysis between the current and desired governance. Several gaps were identified in the way roles and responsibilities are assigned and joint processes are set-up. Moreover, this workshop also showed the usefulness and usability of the IT governance framework in structuring, providing input and managing stakeholders in the discussions around IT governance

IT Project Management from a Systems Thinking Perspective: A Position Paper

We proposes a Systems Thinking approach to the study of IT project management and show how this approach helps project managers in controlling their projects. To illustrate our proposal, we present an example model of the dynamics of IT out-sourcing projects. The example model explains these dynamics in terms of feedback loops consisting of causal relations re-ported in the literature. The model provides insight in how coordination, trust, information exchange and possibilities for op-portunistic behaviour influence each other and together influence delivery quality, which in turn influences trust. The integra-tion of these insights provided by applying the Systems Thinking perspective helps project managers to reason about how their choices influence project outcome. The Systems Thinking perspective can serve as an additional tool in the academic study of IT project management. Applying the Systems Thinking perspective also calls for additional research in which this perspective is itself the object of study

A framework and tool to manage Cloud Computing service quality

Cloud Computing has generated considerable interest in both companies specialized in Information and Communication Technology and business context in general. The Sourcing Capability Maturity Model for service (e-SCM) is a capability model for offshore outsourcing services between clients and providers that offers appropriate strategies to enhance Cloud Computing implementation. It intends to achieve the required quality of service and develop an effective working relationship between clients and providers. Moreover, quality evaluation framework is a framework to control the quality of any product and/or process. It offers a tool support that can generate software artifacts to manage any type of product and service efficiently and effectively. Thus, the aim of this paper was to make this framework and tool support available to manage Cloud Computing service quality between clients and providers by means of e-SCM.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RJunta de Andalucía TIC-578

The impact of business process outsourcing on firm performance and the influence of governance : a long term study in the German banking industry

Does BPO pay off at the firm-level? Although there are several studies which analyze the potential benefits of BPO, there is a virtual absence of research papers on BPO outcomes. Based on an analysis of 137 Business process outsourcing (BPO) ventures at 254 German banks in a period between 1994 and 2005, we found that the outsourcer's financial performance in terms of profitability and cost efficiency was increased significantly compared to industry peers without BPO. The increase stems not from workforce reductions but rather from increased employee productivity. Further, we show how BPO governance ensures BPO success: individually negotiated outsourcing contracts help to improve cost efficiency and profitability measures. Relational governance based on trust has only positive effects on profitability. Keywords: Business Process Outsourcing, firm performance, firm characteristics, banking, German banks, governance JEL Classifications: G21, L14, L21, L2

Hierarchies, relational contracts and new forms of outsourcing.

We observe that economic restructuring is significantly changing organizational governance. On the one hand, we witness an increase in mergers & acquisitions, which substitutes markets for hierarchies and, on the other hand, we see an increase in outsourcing and subcontracting activities, appearing to replace hierarchies by markets. However, there is evidence that an increasing part of outsourcing activities mix hierarchies with market forms of governance. The key argument of this paper is that firms have established governance structures based on markets, hierarchies and self-enforcing relational contracts so that they are able to keep a substantial amount of control despite of sourcing out labour. Furthermore, we argue that such hierarchical forms of outsourcing produce dependency. Using empirical evidence of the Austrian insurance industry, it is demonstrated that dependency is created, firstly, by the contractual restriction of alternative uses of resources, secondly, by support measures that bind the upstream party closely to the downstream party, thirdly, by relationship-specific investments made by the upstream party, and fourthly, by authority elements.