BPO Services Research Articles

Gram India: Scaling Up a Social Enterprise

This case focuses on Amrita Sharma, a social entrepreneur and the challenges her team faces in managing the social enterprise Gram India. Gram India is the marketing division of Parnana Parnani Education Society, which offers free education and employment opportunities to rural Indian women. Established as a Limited Liability Partnership on 18 December 2015, Gram India specializes in embroidery and offers products, such as handicrafts, suit covers, incense sticks and rural BPO services. The corporate office is in Jaipur, Rajasthan and the production centre is in Newai, Rajasthan. Gram India strives to balance two main objectives as a social enterprise: creating social value by employing rural women and achieving financial sustainability through sufficient revenue generation. However, several challenges impede their path to self-sustainability. These challenges include over-dependence on a single customer, the physical distance between the office and production centre, labour issues, funding uncertainties, distribution channel choices, staff management and inventory handling. After four successful years, Amrita and her team are contemplating strategies to ensure Gram India’s long-term sustainability. They need to devise effective plans to overcome these obstacles and secure the future of their enterprise.

DocuXperts.SaaS | dBPO network: A decentralised automation platform

This paper analyses the potential of decentralised BPO (dBPO) to revolutionise the business process outsourcing industry. The author argues that dBPO can address the shortcomings of traditional BPO models, such as high costs, low quality and lack of innovation. The paper begins by outlining the problems with traditional BPO models. These models are often centralised, which can make them inefficient and inflexible. They can also be expensive, as businesses have to pay for the overhead of managing a large workforce. Additionally, traditional BPO models often lack innovation, as businesses are reluctant to invest in new technologies. The paper then discusses how dBPO can address these shortcomings. dBPO is a decentralised network of businesses and individuals who can provide BPO services. This means that businesses can access a wider range of providers and services, which can lead to lower costs and higher quality. Additionally, dBPO is more flexible than traditional BPO models, as businesses can easily add or remove providers as needed. The paper then presents a case study of DocuXperts.SaaS, a dBPO platform that is being developed by TheoremLabs.io. DocuXperts.SaaS is designed to provide a variety of BPO services, such as document processing, data entry and customer support. The platform is built on top of Human Protocol, a decentralised protocol for crowdsourcing work. The paper concludes by discussing the potential of dBPO to revolutionise the BPO industry. The author argues that dBPO can make BPO more efficient, affordable and innovative. Additionally, dBPO can help to create a more distributed and equitable economy.

A modified Boneh-Lynn-Shacham signing dynamic auditing in cloud computing

Cloud Computing is an alternative to conventional IT Outsourcing. As a result, cloud computing migration between organizations is rapidly growing. The adoption of this technology brings many positive aspects but prescribes various risks and concerns. An organization that officially provides its cloud computing services to external providers and implies that its IT functions and process are outsourced to third-party providers of BPO services. For privacy-making public audit processes in dynamic cloud data storage, a modified Boneh-Lynn-Shachame Dynamic Auditing (MBLSDA) algorithm is suggested in this paper. The proposed algorithm executes an audit process for multiple users based on a batch audit simultaneously and effectively to enable Third Party Auditing (TPA). This paper integrates the homomorphic authenticator in an algorithm of dynamic signing audit by random marking in terms of the privacy conserving public auditing process. When the user of cloud service, store or update the data, it encrypts using Rijndal algorithm, and Boneh-Lynn-Shacham signature generation is used for key generation. Finally, a hybrid of these a proposed Modified Boneh-Lynn-Shacham Signing Dynamic audit the data to provide the security.

PRODUCT-MARKET PROFILE OF THE MAIN COMPETITORS IN THE OUTSOURCING SECTOR IN BULGARIA AS A KEY STRATEGIC INSTRUMENT

The main goal of the current publication is to represent a product-market profile as an essential strategic instrument in the companies from the outsourcing sector in Bulgaria. In this article, we use the product-market profile to identify competitors' profiles and to define the intensity of competition in the outsourcing sector in Bulgaria. There is a specific methodological framework that helps to complete this goal. It consists of three main steps. Firstly, thirty-five competitors fell within the sample of research. Secondly - based on the preliminary study, different categories` and subcategories BPO and ITO services were defined. After that, we determine the competitors' portfolios and the depth of BPO and ITO services they provide in Bulgaria. Thirdly - we identify aggregate service profiles for the outsourcing sector as a whole, which helps determine the intensity of competition for each service category. The intensity is a result of the number of companies offering one or another outsourcing service.

Social recognition and employee engagement: The effect of social media in organizations

In the contemporary dynamic business context (characterized by stiff competition, high uncertainty, growth of global as well as virtual organizations, etc.), setting up systems for recognizing and engaging employees which need constant endeavor from present-day organizations. Hence, organizations are actively exploring and adopting novel initiatives through strategies platforms for their employer engaging effort, moving the organization image to the “company of employee’s choice” and connecting their strategic talent acquisition supply chain into that eco-system. Qualitative data analysis through 65 semi-structured interviews with employees working with various Software and Research & Development sectors, Human Resources and Talent Management professionals working for information technologies companies, IT-enabled (Business Process Outsourcing) BPO, and KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) Services, as well as talent acquisition organizations, confirm the utilization of social media for social recognition & employee engagement in their organizations. The study contributes to the fields of talent management and social networks and has several key messages for practitioners regarding the expediency and effectiveness of social networks in organizations.

STRATEGIC GROUPING IN ITO SERVICES AS A MEAN OF IDENTIFYING THE MAIN COMPETITORS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES

This publication aims to present the strategic groups of competitors in the outsourcing sector in Bulgaria. In the core of strategic grouping presented here is the identification of the product-market profile of a sample of 35 main competitors. It is a part of the research of the HR capacity sustainability of Bulgaria as one of the leading destinations for providing outsourcing services. The methodology for the identification of the strategic groups consists of three main steps. The first step purpose is to identify the population of the main competitors. The vital part of this step is the definition of BPO and ITO services, which are of interest to the research. The second step refers to identifying individual companies, supplying one or another BPO/ITO service. For a more detailed assessment, it is also essential to define the depth of BPO/ITO services provided by every competitor. This profiling helps to determine the intensity of competition for each service category. The third step goal is to identify strategic groups of competitors that employ human resources with similar technical and language skills. This grouping helps companies to define appropriate human resources policies to make them more competitive in attracting and retaining the desired human resources.

Cloud Computing Auditing

Cloud Computing is a new form of IT system and infrastructure outsourcing as an alternative to traditional IT Outsourcing (ITO). Hence, migration to cloud computing is rapidly growing among organizations. Adopting this technology brings numerous positive aspects, although imposing different risks and concerns to organization. An organization which officially deputes its cloud computing services to outside (offshore or inshore) providers and implies that it outsources its functions and process of its IT to external BPO services providers. Therefore, customers of cloud must evaluate and manage the IT infrastructure construction and the organization’s IT control environment of BPO vendors [25]. Since cloud is an internet-based technology, cloud auditing would be very critical and challengeable in such an environment. This paper focuses on practices related to auditing processes, methods, techniques, standards and frameworks in cloud computing environments.

Institutional Approach in The Assessment of Competitiveness of The Offshoring Service Locations in Poland

Changes in the global economy observed in the last decade are, to a significant extent, the result of the globalization of markets and the liberalization of international service-oriented turnover. The progressive globalization changes the conditions for the operation for the business entities of an international character. These companies, adapting to new market conditions, are seeking solutions which would allow them to maintain their competitiveness. One of the tools that companies use to improve their competitiveness is offshoring (BPO). This is a process related to the transfer of the implementation of production and service processes to the territory of another country. Location choice in the BPO decisions has become an important strand of the international business literature with a number of scholars examining the influence of host country variables such as property rights, intellectual property protection, public trust in politicians, government factors and others. Poland is the Central and Eastern European leader in the sector of modern business services. This country has many business service centers with foreign capital, which employ thousands of employees. Additionally, employment in this sector is systematically growing by 20% each year. Poland's attractiveness on the map of offshoring investment projects results mainly from a very well qualified and cheap workforce. Offshoring Centers located here offer both BPO and KPO services.

ICTs & Retail Industry Solutions-How IT Companies are Changing the Global Supply Chain process. A Case Study of Landmark Group

The Rules of Retail have changed. These New Rules bring new opportunities for the retail industry - opportunities that might themselves become game changers. More and more, innovative retailers are resorting to using brilliant strategies, advanced technologies, best practices, and operational excellence - grow revenue by delivering satisfying buying experiences wherever their customers are and whenever they want to buy.Today, many retailers are partnering with software companies to receive innovative business solutions, and comprehensive portfolio of offerings, which help the retailers use these rules toguide them and build deeper and stronger customer relationships, reduce cost and increase efficiency.ICTs help them achieve this through their integrated IT, BPO, and Infrastructure services and proprietary Retail Industry Solutions.

Business process outsourcing and dynamic innovation

Purpose – This paper aims to answer the question: how do clients and BPO service providers work together to foster dynamic innovation? Dynamic innovation is a process by which clients incent providers to deliver many innovations each year that improve the client's performance in terms of operational efficiency, process effectiveness and/or strategic impact. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on research conducted in 2011 and 2012 and includes 202 survey responses and 48 in-depth interviews in 24 client organizations. Findings – The most effective innovation incentives are mandatory productivity targets, innovation days, and gain-sharing at the project level. Threat of competition and special governance arrangements for innovation also positively influence innovation. The least successful incentives for innovations were found to be innovation funds, gainsharing at the relationship level, what has been called “pain-sharing”, and benchmarking. Research limitations/implications – The 24 BPO relationships do not represent a random sample, but rather a convenience sample. The authors aimed to understand emerging best practices from high-performing BPO relationships, thus the paired interview samples are purposefully biased towards higher-performing relationships. Practical implications – Delivering innovations requires a process the authors call AIFI – acculturating, inspiring, funding, and injecting. The research finds that leadership pairs are key drivers of the dynamic innovation process. Leadership pairs jumpstart the dynamic innovation process by starting with innovation incentives. Even so, just having one right leader makes a positive difference. The positive difference is stronger if that leader is on the client side rather than the provider side. With no right leaders, the practices that the authors describe are less efficacious but still have positive impacts on the levels of innovation experienced. Originality/value – In the ITO and BPO literatures, researchers have under-examined the more strategic drivers of outsourcing, including innovation. This research examines the process and practices that deliver dynamic innovation in client organizations.

New Bangalores? The role of Central and Eastern Europe in business and IT services offshoring

The paper discusses how the second global shift in business services provision and corporate restructuring open up new offshoring opportunities into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It explores three issues: First, it builds upon the theoretical framework of the ‘new paradigm of globalization, which considers offshoring as one of the most important globalizing forces of recent time. This results in a shift in global trade, namely from ‘trade in goods’ to ‘trade in tasks’ determined by the changing trends in the division of labour. Second, the paper gives an overview of services relocation into CEE in comparison with its Asian counterparts. As the EU expanded eastwards, the opportunities for European corporations to offshore their business services to these ‘nearshore’ locations increased. Building on the region’s nearshoring advantages such as geographical-cultural proximity and on their multilingual graduate sup ply, CEE is likely to utilise more value added quality-driven BPO and KPO services. Third, the paper examines the implications of offshoring for the home markets in CEE assessing its impact on their locations. It reveals the role of offshoring activities in the metropolitan transformation and discusses the factors that make the capital cities an increasingly attractive option for companies to relocate their services. Despite CEE has taken advantage on the trend supported by the global service delivery models reducing dependency on any single location, its further growth may be influenced by the worsening macro-conditions, and future prospect of the region depends largely on government incentives and on the success of exploiting talent pools offered by its provincial cities.

Key policy issues, laws, regulations, constraints and opportunities for BPO services in Thailand

Key policy issues, laws, regulations, constraints and opportunities for BPO services in Thailand

Rural Outsourcing: Delivering ITO and BPO Services from Remote Domestic Locations

IT and business process outsourcing providers are building delivery centers in remote domestic locations for several reasons, including to access a more stable, lower-cost workforce and to fulfill social missions such as employing underprivileged or minority populations.

Differential effects of competency due to BPO and KPO industry differences in ITES sector in Sri Lanka

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify competency requirements that discriminate between Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and IT‐enabled business process outsourcing (ITES‐BPO) industries.Design/methodology/approachThere are 25 firms operating in Sri Lanka that fall into the category of ITES‐BPO/KPO. HR managers of the 25 firms and a random sample of 117 employees from those 25 firms responded to the survey. In addition to descriptive statistics, independent sample t‐test and logistic regression were used in the data analysis.FindingsThere are differences in competency requirements for KPO and BPO services. Further, demographic variables, namely, age, the level of education, and total years of industry experience shape competency requirements.Originality/valueDespite greater volume of theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for people management in BPO/KPO services, specific literature investigating and comparing competency requirements, recruitment, selection and training of ITES‐BPO and KPO employees is scarce. Therefore, a research addressing those in a South Asian country that is considered as active and promising destination for ITES‐BPO/KPO services could provide practitioners with key information that could enable them to make informed managerial decisions.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) & Biotechnology - India's New Technology for Development: How Effective are Central and State Governments (W.B. & Karnataka) Policies and Incentives in Fostering Economic Growth, Promotion of IT- Enabled Services (ITEs) & Challenges to IT & Biotech Industry in Promotion of Rural Development?

India is promoted as the global hub of IT and ITES enabled services. The Economic Times has dubbed Bangalore as the BPO capital of world, but the question remains as to whether the Indian corporations would match the standards of western world. Government both central and federal have started to promote these sunrise sectors along with other areas like biotechnology etc. in various manners by giving tax benefits, providing cheaper loans, upgrading infrastructure etc. It would be however wrong to say that this IT boom is centralized to Bangalore only other states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal are also actively promoting their respective capital cities Hyderabad and Calcutta. This paper looks into the policy initiative taken by Indian central government and state governments of Karnataka, the leader of BPO services and West Bengal, a late but enthusiastic entrant to the IT race.

The call center market in South Africa

Is there a better place for a call center than the “Cape of Good Hope”? In this article we are showing what the South African market has to offer for call centers and BPO service providers.

Legal Process Outsourcing: Trends and Perspectives

Legal Process Outsourcing is an area of high value added BPO service involving legal work. LPO is connected with the works of Intellectual Property Rights, like patent search, patent application drafting, trademark and copyright registration, legal research, document review and analysis, contracting and administration, paralegal service, legal transcription etc. The clients of LPO are the in-house legal departments of MNC's etc, outsource from off-shore areas where it is costly to perform. Career prospects are magnificent in the Legal Process Outsourcing industry.

ELFNI (Electronic Libraries for Northern Ireland project): an overview

The Electronic Libraries for Northern Ireland project (ELFNI) was established to procure on behalf of the five Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards (NIELBs) robust systems that would support and enable the delivery of electronic information services to the Northern Ireland (NI) community and to enable the NIELBs to deliver cost effective, efficient and modern public library and information services. Following a period of discussion and negotiation a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) contract was signed in early 2002 between Amey BPO Services and the five Education and Library boards for the ELFNI project. Amey BPO will lead a consortium which will be responsible for delivering a range of services to all public libraries in Northern Ireland for the next ten years, which includes the installation of the People’s Network, a single library management system, a libraries’ portal, video‐conferencing facilities and corporate e‐mail for all staff. This paper provides a background to the development of this project, details of the technological solution, information on the monitoring procedures, a description of the expected benefits from the ELFNI system and concludes with an assessment of PFI funding for public libraries.