Project Integration and Communication Management
Project integration management refers to the process of tying everything in place. Integration management deals with: Developing the Project Charter and Project Scope statement (Initiating Process Group), Develop Project Management Plan (Planning process group), Direct and Manage project execution (Executing Process group). Hence this is process that integrates all the disparate processes and provides a […]
Why Growth is Stalling around the World?
Why is Growth Stagnant? We read in the print and online media about why governments worldwide are unable to revive growth especially since the Great Recession of 2008. We also read how policymakers are trying their best to jumpstart growth but are being unable to do so. Moreover, we see stock markets going up while […]
The 1.5 Sigma Shift Story
One of the greatest criticisms that have been mounted against the six sigma methodology is the fact that there is a possibility that the entire system is built on fudged numbers. Statisticians have claimed that the name six sigma is misleading. Here are the reasons why: 3.4 Defects Per Million or 2 Defects Per Billion […]
What is Business Process Outsourcing? – Meaning and Important Concepts
In recent years, the term Business Process Outsourcing or BPO has gained prominence and the trend of outsourcing back office operations to centers in India and Philippines along with other countries in Asia has taken center stage. Often, we come across projections that show a greater growth in BPO with more western firms outsourcing to […]
International Businesses and Resistance to their Activities
Global Capital, Local Resistance The previous articles in this module discussed how international businesses expand into overseas markets both for selling their products as well as to extract the resources in mineral rich countries. We discussed how the international expansion of these businesses has to equitable and follow the rules of justice. What happens when […]
Gone are the days when outsourcing meant a steady stream of jobs being shipped to India. Now the trend is for Indian companies to create jobs in the West. This phenomenon which is gathering pace in recent times is known as reverse outsourcing or the trend of Indian IT and BPO companies opening offices in the US and Europe to employ locals there.
This reverse outsourcing is estimated to have created nearly 300,000 jobs in the US. This is good news for Indian IT and BPO companies because they are battling the negative perceptions about outsourcing which is seen as a phenomenon that takes away jobs instead of creating them. Especially when one considers the fact that in a presidential election year, the anti-outsourcing rhetoric reaches a fever pitch, so this trend is welcome for the positive news it generates about Indian companies.
Moreover, other aspects like rising wages in India in the IT and BPO sector and the wild fluctuations in the foreign exchange market make Indian companies to contend with expenses that are mounting by the day.
The point here is that though the earnings of the Indian IT and BPO companies are in Dollars, they need to pay their wages in Rupees and hence, they have to absorb the costs of rising wages. So, it makes sense for the Indian companies to open offices and subsidiaries in low wage states like Ohio in the US and in the Czech Republic in Europe where they can benefit from lower costs and at the same time create jobs for locals. This double whammy benefit has indeed raised the image of Indian companies and has given the CEO’s of Western companies something to cheer about especially when they have to appear before committees and commissions made up of politicians to defend outsourcing.
The other aspect here has to do with Western companies preferring to do business with companies near shore or the emerging trend of near shoring. What this means is that many Western companies want to have their back office operations outsourced to locations that are nearer to their headquarters and hence, Indian companies are increasingly opening offices in places like Mexico and Ireland to cater to European clients and US. Though Indian companies have always had a significant proportion of their employees’ onsite, the trend of hiring locals instead of sending Indian employees onsite is picking up.
Finally, the fact that Indian companies have to contend with competition from Philippines and Vietnam has made them realize that they need to offer something more than the usual to grab market share and hence, the latest innovation is reverse outsourcing.
In conclusion, while it is too early to state whether this trend is sustainable in the longer term and whether it can ramp up considerably, the gains from this trend is that it has given an entirely new dimension to the practice of outsourcing and has the potential to be a game changer.
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Effect of Domestic Politics on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
February 12, 2025
The Drivers of the BPO Phenomenon: Globalization, Economics and Geopolitics
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