National competitiveness in BPO industry: a framework

Abstract

Business Process Outsourcing [BPO] is here to stay and it is changing the global trading and development landscape as never before. As BPO is becoming more widespread, Customers, Governments and Politicians, and Entrepreneurs are keenly watching and trying to influence the emerging scenario. National Competitiveness related literature and theory has still not evolved a detailed framework specific to the BPO Industry. In this project, the existing literature and theory is reviewed and gaps therein is identified. Based on the author's own understanding [sharpened with the input of the guides] of the emerging scenario, a framework is evolved, which addresses the requirement for a framework or model for assessing the national competitiveness with respect to the BPO industry. The framework evolved, needless to add, is just the first stage of the entire evolution process and the next steps for making the framework an internationally acceptable one is also suggested. One of the unique features of the proposed framework is that it considers two vital aspects of the BPO Industry related developments across the world viz. the flight of jobs from diverse service organizations in the home country due to cost considerations, and the flocking of jobs to the BPO industry in clusters in the host country. Such flight and flock in business process related jobs happens in a wave in highly mature and hyper competitive industries in the home country. Thus two new indices viz. Hot Seat Index, which is a cost of a" business process seat" in various countries [when fully developed this could be like the "Big Mac Index"], and Herd Index, which describes the tendency to influence the location decision in business process outsourcing thus leading frequently to cluster formation. The author wishes to acknowledge gratefully the guidance and contributions of the faculty which has brought clarity in the mind of the author and categorically states that the shortcomings in the project are solely due to the inadequacies of the author.