Outsourcing Sector Research Articles

The Service Outsourcing Sector As Driver of Development: The Expectations of Ghana's Ict for Accelerated Development Programme

AbstractThe service outsourcing sector is often regarded as a driver for economic growth of developing countries. The success story of India in acquiring foreign investments and building local firm capacity has led that many developing countries seek to develop an ICT‐driven development agenda. Ghana actively pursues such an agenda with its ICT4AD programme that aims at developing a knowledge economy. This paper concentrates on the Ghanaian efforts to attract foreign outsourcing firms and develop local firm capacity. While the ambitions are pointed towards servicing Western markets, it is rather the domestic and regional market that attracts foreign investors to invest in the Ghanaian outsourcing sector. Second, the paper identifies the symbolic significance of the sector. The service outsourcing sector is often used as a representation of a modernising Ghana and, despite its small size, provides a good illustration of the current optimism on Africa's development potential.

Understanding the Impact of Organizational Justice on Organizational Commitment and Projected Job Stay among Employees of the Business Process Outsourcing Sector in India

This study examines the role of organizational justice in enhancing the organizational commitment and projected tenure of frontline employees of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. The results based on data from a self-report questionnaire survey carried out among 347 entry-level associates from various BPO organizations in Bangalore suggest that perceptions of higher levels of organizational justice can make substantial positive impact on the organizational commitment and projected tenure of employees. The findings also highlight the significant role played by each of the three dimensions of justice. Practical implications of the study are discussed along with the limitations and suggestions for future research.

Reintegration Failure and Outsourcing Upside: Organisation of Public Transport in Norway

After two decades of public sector outsourcing, debates for reintegration of services back into the public sector have emerged. However, so far outsourcing remains prevalent and reintegration is sparsely utilised. An in-depth analysis of the reorganisation of public transport in a Norwegian county, Sør-Trøndelag, provides three key reasons as to why there is an ‘outsourcing upside’. Firstly, existing structures limit available alternatives for legislators, thereby making reintegration of public services back into public hands difficult. Secondly, under certain conditions competitive tendering may enhance political steering and thus make outsourcing politically desirable. Thirdly, the establishment of a quasi-autonomous agency allows the opportunity for economies of scale through cooperation with other counties and cities, thereby improving co-ordination in the public transport system.

‘Development’, profiles and prospects: labour in Kenya's outsourced call centres

As part of the government's Vision 2030 initiative, Kenya's business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has been identified as a key source of development and employment creation. With those in the sector hoping to challenge more established outsourcing destinations in the global industry, Kenya's potential has been based on a particular geographic, cultural and human resource profiling, emphasizing its suitability for voice-based call centre services. In light of BPOs’ association with ‘development’, this article draws upon the people-centred concept of ‘wellbeing’ to explore the implications of the expansion of the sector and the onus on internationally oriented call centre labour. Underlining the need to foreground existing workers’ experiences, the article argues that the picture for those employed in the sector has been mixed with respect to the material, relational and subjective gains from the work. While agents recruited describe beneficial and recognized work experience, the work has yet to represent a stable, long-term professional prospect, with the sector beset by an inconsistent financial record.

Effect of organisational culture on high attrition in Indian business process outsourcing sector

The present study investigated the effect of organisational culture on high attrition of employees in business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in India. The study has been conducted in three strata comprised of 15 BPO units in and around Chandigarh. An attempt has been made to establish a relationship between openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, proaction, autonomy, collaboration and experimenting (OCTAPACE) dimensions of organisational culture and turnover intentions of employees. Regression analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses. Results revealed that turnover intentions are particularly sensitive to six dimensions of organisational culture viz. proaction, confrontation, experimentation, trust, authenticity and collaboration. But the results failed to support the relationship of openness and autonomy dimensions of organisational culture with turnover intentions. This study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of organisational culture on the turnover intentions among employees in the BPO sector.

Health issues amongst call center employees, an emerging occupational group in India.

Call center sector in India is a relatively new industry and one of the fastest growing sectors driving employment and growth in modern India today. While employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector has meant that young adults are reaching their career milestones and financial goals much earlier than before, surveys and anecdotal evidence show that workers in the BPO sector experience high levels of stress and its related disorders, primarily due to its contemporary work settings. Safeguarding the health of youngsters employed in this new, growing economy becomes an occupational health challenge to public health specialists.

Human resource opportunities in knowledge process outsourcing companies in India: expectations from and returns for prospective contenders

The credence of the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) sector’s wondrous presence and success in India is owed to its superbly gifted workforce in wide-ranging domains and disciplines. Notwithstanding multitude of wealth in various media sources about the skills, qualities and other essential attributes desired and the corresponding opportunities prevalent in the KPO sector, literature lacks empirical evidence on the actual scenario about what really KPOs look for in its creme de la creme. This paper, an initiative in this direction explores the array of expectations by KPOs from potential hires and their offer in return by seeking human resource (HR) department’s perspective in the context of KPOs in India. Predominantly, descriptive data analysis is used to draw conclusions. The analysis adds to scant presence of KPOs in academic literature and holds significance for providing useful information on the kind of opportunities being thrown up for human resources in this eclectic sector.

Political preferences and public sector outsourcing

Given the intensive and ideologically charged debate over the use of private contractors for publicly funded services, it is somewhat surprising that many social scientists have preferred to explain government outsourcing by the pursuit of economic efficiency. Starting out from different theories, we investigate political explanations of government outsourcing using a Swedish data set in which outsourcing varies between municipalities and over time, as well as between services. Our identification strategy focuses on two services with similar contracting problems and local market conditions: preschools and primary schools. We study a period in which Swedish municipalities had full discretion in the provision of preschools, while their influence on the private provision of primary education was limited by a national voucher system. The comparison of preschools with primary schools in a difference-in-differences model suggests that the political color of the ruling majority influences outsourcing, which is consistent with the Citizen Candidate model of representative democracy.

Psychological vulnerability, burnout, and coping among employees of a business process outsourcing organization

Background:The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is a contemporary work setting in India, with a large and relatively young workforce. There is concern that the demands of the work environment may contribute to stress levels and psychological vulnerability among employees as well as to high attrition levels.Materials and Methods:As part of a larger study, questionnaires were used to assess psychological distress, burnout, and coping strategies in a sample of 1,209 employees of a BPO organization.Results:The analysis indicated that 38% of the sample had significant psychological distress on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28; Goldberg and Hillier, 1979). The vulnerable groups were women, permanent employees, data processors, and those employed for 6 months or longer. The reported levels of burnout were low and the employees reported a fairly large repertoire of coping behaviors.Conclusions:The study has implications for individual and systemic efforts at employee stress management and workplace prevention approaches. The results point to the emerging and growing role of mental health professionals in the corporate sector.

The adoption and success of private sector outsourcing in Australia

This paper examines the extent to which outsourcing practices are adopted by Australian private sector organisations and compares the level of outsourcing between private and public sector organisations. In addition the paper assesses the influence of management control systems on outsourcing success by examining the relationship between the exchange of information and the tightness of control with outsourcing success. Results reveal that while outsourcing in the private sector is as prevalent as in the public sector, outsourcing practices in the former are not as successful. The results also support previous findings in respect to the importance of management control systems in enhancing the success of outsourcing practices, with the level of information and the tightness of control found to be associated with the level of outsourcing success. The findings contribute to the outsourcing literature and provide an important insight into how organisations can enhance the success of their outsourcing activities.

Linking turnover reasons to family profiles for IT/BPO employees in India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop turnover reasons and assess their importance for various family role configurations. Specifically, the authors were interested in whether high levels of family financial obligation related to family‐related turnover reasons and whether low levels of family financial obligation related to job‐related turnover reasons.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used both qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and test the turnover reasons; this involved conducting interviews and pilot testing the turnover items, which were evaluated with factor analysis. The main study was analyzed using MANOVA.FindingsThe authors developed six turnover reasons that help explain why individuals were leaving their jobs. It was also found that employees with relatively low financial obligation were more likely to leave the organization because of lack of managerial support, job content and high levels of work‐related stress.Research limitations/implicationsThe measures in this study were cross‐sectional, participants were employees in the information technology/business process outsourcing (IT/BPO) sector, and the study included a single‐country. Future studies can focus on multiple industries and countries and use objective variables in determining key relationships.Practical implicationsThe study's results show the major reasons for turnover, both at an individual and organizational level, which include managerial support, job content and work‐related stress; each was particularly significant for those married without children in a dual‐earner situation.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by examining, for the first time, the relationships between family demographic profiles and turnover reasons for Indian IT/BPO workers.

Are We Getting the Right People for the Job? A Study of English Language Recruitment Assessment Practices in the Business Processing Outsourcing Sector: India and the Philippines

Although the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry in India and the Philippines is keen to employ good English language communicators, especially to work in call centers dealing with nativ...

Influence of shift work on cognitive performance in male business process outsourcing employees

Background:India is a front runner in IT industry. Business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is a major part of IT industry with around 4.5 million employees. These employees are subjected to high work stress, odd working hours, and frequent shift changes leading to increased physical and mental health problems.Aim:To study the cognitive functions in male BPO employees exposed to regular shifts.Settings and Design:Young BPO employees from various BPO companies of Bangalore were tested for cognitive functions.Materials and Methods:Fifty male BPO employees exposed to regular shifts were assessed for various cognitive functions including tests for speed, attention, learning and memory, and executive function. They were compared with 50 non-BPO employees not working in shifts. Statistical analysis - Data was analysed by t-test and Mann-Whitney test using SPSS V.13.0.Results:BPO employees performed poorly compared to their controls in tests for mental speed, learning and memory, and response inhibition. No changes were seen between groups in tests for attention and working memory.Conclusion:Cognitive functions are impaired in BPO employees exposed to regular shift changes.

Region uczący się – uwarunkowania i determinanty rozwoju na przykładzie województwa małopolskiego

The aim of the article is to carry out an analysis of the Małopolska voivodeship in the light of two theoretical concepts, which both emphasize the significance of the regional determinants of the economic development in the knowledge-based economy. These concepts refer to a learning region and entrepreneurial capital. The research question formulated is whether and to what extent the Małopolska voivodeship can be characterized as a learning region focused on enhancement of the entrepreneurial capital. However, due to concentration of the regional infrastructure, institutions and companies within Krakow Metropolitan Area, the question is whether in the researched voivodeship, it is the capital of the region – Kraków that actually should be defined as a learning city.The first part of this article presents the theoretical concepts of the learning region and entrepreneurship capital. The following part contains an analysis of the Małopolska voivodeship by means of a selected set of indicators (i.e. academic potential, development of outsourcing sector and institutions promoting innovative business). The last part provides an analysis on the entrepreneurship capital of Małopolska region based on recent statistic data.

Political Preferences and Public Sector Outsourcing

Political Preferences and Public Sector Outsourcing

Modelling IT Outsourcing Process

Slovenian government has adopted the utilization of outsourcing as one of the main instruments to tackle national/municipal budget deficit and stimulate cost effectiveness of the public sector. While lacking experience as well as formal regulations and expertise in the field of outsourcing, public sector started straying to the growing and increasingly less justified outsourcing of public services, leading to a completely opposite effect than expected and desired. Being aware of the complex and almost unparalleled role of information technology (IT) in the modern organization, IT sourcing issues could define the main trajectory of public sector action in the future as well as articulate its development strategy and long-term goals of e-government in general. This paper focuses on in-depth analysis of the critical success factors of public sector outsourcing, while employing the international studies and primarily the results of the research from 2010, concerning outsourcing of IT-projects in Slovenian municipalities. This paper provides additional analysis of the material, procedural and other relevant aspects within the process of IT outsourcing, an overview of its potential implications and eventually presents a contextual framework and a set of applicable guidelines for quality management of IT outsourcing process and effective implementation of e-government projects in the public sector.

Call Center Employees: Is Work Life Stress a Challenge

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the global scenario. The sector is showing a remarkable growth in the Indian context also. It is performing a number of activities relating to customer interaction and service. Some of them are involved in pure back office work and some others are directly dealing with the customers. Call center is a voice based part of BPO organization. The BPO sector is developing the young generation not only by providing employment opportunities but also by building confidence in them. Indian BPO companies are paying great attention in inducting and training the employees. But most of the employees are youngsters and they are facing a lot of problems. They are working on continuous night shifts, which affect their biological balance. Apart from this, excessive work loads, unreachable targets and pressurizing customers are creating stress among the employees. This ultimately results in physical, psychological and behavioural deviations among them, which not only affects the employees and the organization, but, the country on the whole. This paper aims to identify the problems in the sector and the nature of the stress created by such problems. First hand information regarding the problems, the sources of stress and the experience on stress situations is collected from a project leader who has five years of experience. A questionnaire is circulated to measure the stress level of employees. It also identifies the various stressors prevailing among the employees. The impact of job satisfaction, feed back, working conditions, work family balance and workload in creating stress among the employees are analyzed. Some strategies for coping up with stress are also suggested. Keywords: Stress; Call center; Stressors; Coping strategies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/suslj.v9i1.3731 Sabaramuwa University Journal, Volume 9 Number 1; December 2010, pp 1-9

Voluntary sector outsourcing

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a reflection on the other contributions to this special issue of IJPSM on the “employment implications of the outsourcing of public services to voluntary, not‐for‐profit organisations” in the light of more widely available discourses and evidence.Design/methodological approachThe paper, in line with the purpose, draws on relevant secondary sources, including those forming part of this special issue.FindingsThe provided analysis centrally concludes that, against the backcloth of growing competitive pressures and public expenditure cuts, there is a real threat of a general downward trend in the employment conditions of voluntary sector staff engaged in the delivery of outsourced public services that has the potential to adversely affect service quality.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for much more extensive research on how market‐based outsourcing is impacting on the work experiences of voluntary sector staff outside the area of social care and the implications that it has for the quality of service provision.Practical implicationsThe analysis draws attention to the need to consider further regulatory action to protect the terms and conditions of voluntary sector staff engaged in the delivery of outsourced public services.Originality/valueThe paper serves to highlight that, rather than improving the value for money of social care services, outsourcing has the potential to do the opposite by adversely impacting on the employment conditions of staff and hence the quality of services provided.

Foreign Direct Investments in Business Services: Transforming the Visegrád Four Region into a Knowledge-based Economy?

Foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the service sector are widely attributed an important role in bringing more skill-intensive activities into the Visegrád Four (V4). This region—comprising Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia—relied heavily on FDIs in manufacturing, which was often found to generate activities with limited skill content. This contribution deconstructs the chaotic concept of “business services” by analysing the actual nature of service sector activities outsourced and offshored to the V4. Using the knowledge-based economy (KBE) as a benchmark, the paper assesses the potential of service sector outsourcing in contributing to regional competitiveness by increasing the innovative capacity. It also discusses the role of state policies towards service sector FDI (SFDI). The analysis combines data obtained from case studies undertaken in service sector outsourcing projects in V4 countries. Moreover, it draws on interviews with senior employees of investment promotion agencies and publicly available data and statistics on activities within the service sector in the region. It argues that the recent inward investments in business services in the V4 mainly utilize existing local human-capital resources, and their contribution to the development of the KBE is limited to employment creation and demand for skilled labour.

Outsourcing Public Services: Ownership, Competition, Quality and Contracting

We survey the literature on the effects of public sector outsourcing. Guided by theory, we systematically arrange services according to the type and magnitude of their contractibility problems. Taken as a whole, the empirical literature indicates that public sector outsourcing generally reduces costs without hurting quality. This is clearly the case for “perfectly contractible services” like garbage collection, but outsourcing often seems to work reasonably well also for some services with more difficult contracting problems, e.g. fire protection and prisons. Outsourcing seems to be more problematic for credence goods, with residential youth care as the prime example. In contrast to previous reviews, we conclude that ownership and competition appear to be about equally important for the consequences of public sector outsourcing.