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Recession Brings Back BPO to Software Companies
Offshore business will remain here in our country, in spite of the struggles against the negative public opinion about offshoring. According to market analysts, Philippines is now the 2nd most important location of BPO, next to India. In the next 5 years, 10% of all contact centre agents serving UK will be based out of South Africa.
Workers in call centers differ across the cities because of language skills. Call center placements must prioritize the city level rather than the country level. Those who lived in Cairo can communicate in Arabic and in English, while those who lived in Santiago can communicate in Spanish and in English. KPMG initiated that the size of the arbitrage also varies. There is a larger cost advantage in the cities of developing countries like Vietnam, Chile or Romania and the pool of workers also varies. Poland has a great number of research and development establishments. In Campinas, Brazil the universities are the well-known hubs for innovation that produce more patents. The talent pool inherent service orientation as their tourism industry booms, offshoring is not suitable for every market and customer based firms.
Higher growth rates this year is anticipated by the local business process outsourcing (BPO) and software sectors seeing that U.S. companies deploy cost-cutting measures by outsourcing their IT requirements to countries such as the Philippines. Officials from the public and private sectors believed that the tough economic environment is a proof of blessing in disguise for local Philippine BPO providers and software companies because the industry of Philippine electronics manufacturing is really prevailing from the global financial crisis. In an interview, the president of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) Beng Coronel said that 2009 was a banner year for the sector, exceeding the group's growth objective of 30 percent. According to Coronel, the chief executive of software development house of PointWest Technologies, it's only the manufacturing firm that has been hit in the IT sector because their co-companies are not laying off people, in fact, they were even hiring. The market is still very dynamic, stated by Ms. Coronel, but she refuses to tell the development forecast for 2009. When the economic policies of newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama take effect, the industry is expected to alleviate in the second quarter. The BPO industry is optimistic on Obama's plan to spend billions of dollars to put up a fully integrated health IT system for hospitals in USA and doctors' offices. The newly-formed National ICT Conference of the Philippines (NICP) explained that call centers and non-voice BPO players have developed in various parts of the country. These became the regional hubs that are now organized so they can bid for U.S. outsourcing contracts. The contracts have increased over the last few months. According to George Sorio, the NICP chair and part of Cyber City Teleservices management team, while the worldwide call center industry has reduced because of the financial predicament, the share of Philippine BPO providers in the market has grown bigger which allowed local players to open more spots and hire employees.
A secured funding worth 60 million pesos (US$1.3 million) will be poured into talent development to nurture the BPO industry and to struggle against the financial chaos, according to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT). Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua II, the CICT Chair said that the agency is also directed in using the e-government fund worth 1 billion pesos (US$212 million). The amount was issued by President Gloria Arroyo under a directive to accelerate IT infrastructure spending this year. However, Roxas-Chua said that there were no big-ticket IT projects lined up in the current administration. Roxas-Chua and Coronel and Sorio became business partners when they signed the CICT and Microsoft contract for the latter's BizSpark program for local SMEs. The aim of the project was to encourage the local software economy by providing Microsoft development devices and production licenses to small entrepreneurs at a least cost.
About the Author
Ervin Kleitz Gonzales is a well known Call Center Management Expert and Customer Service Marketing Expert. Visit his web site http://www.mobileexpresscontactsolutions.com to today to learn more about the teleseminars and training products they offer!
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Leadership Development Across Different Cultures
Leadership Development Across Cultures
Everyday, more and more leaders around the world are working with people from countries other than their native country. Federal Express, UPS, Dell, GE, Delta Airlines, HP, IBM, American Express, Motorola, GM, Ford, Microsoft, Google are just a few companies in the United States who work with employees, suppliers, and customers in China, India, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Romania, Russia and other places. Often companies will send managers from the United States to manage their offices in foreign countries.
Many of these Americans leaders feel frustrated with their foreign employees. They grumble:
• It’s so difficult to understand their English!
• They don’t understand what I am trying to tell them?
• If they disagree, why don’t they speak up?
• They never look me in the eye when I talk to them, how can I size them up?
• Why can’t they get on with the business first?
• I can never get a straight answer!
Moreover, more foreign companies are establishing their businesses in the United States. Sony, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi, Mercedes, Volkswagen are considered old timers. Similarly, these Chinese, Korean, British, French, Australian executives working in the United States feel the same frustration with American culture as their American counter parts do in the foreign countries. These leaders complain:
• Why aren’t Americans more humble?
• Why can’t they be less confrontational?
• They are always in a hurry.
• All they want is to talk business.
• They don’t respect our ways.
• Why is the American media so out of control?
Additionally, if there are cultural issues, workers in the United States can feel frustrated with a boss or coworker from the other country. They may feel confused about what they are expected to accomplish, because there is a misunderstanding in either verbal or non verbal communication.
If you want to be effective in achieving business results in this cross cultural environment, offer leadership development opportunities to your employees. Start with the following ideas among many to develop your people:
1. Learn about the cultures of people that you have to interact with. Don’t trust your perceptions or preconceived stereotypes.
• Get a book from a bookstore or your local library. (Geert Hofstede, a well known cross cultural expert, has published a great deal of information about different cultures.)
• Take a cultural class from a college or university.
• Write other countries’ government embassies or cultural associations for information.
• Attend cultural events. Observe how other people respond to each other. Do they shake hands or bow? Do they look at each other or divert their eyes. What is considered appropriate personal space when talking?
• Spend time with someone from another culture. Don’t judge. Listen and be open to differences. You’ll be surprised how much more you’ll understand their perspective and the enjoyment you’ll gain.
2. Give extra time and effort when communicating. This step will help to minimize misunderstanding.
• Speak clearly, distinctly, and calmly. Don’t raise your voice, the other person can probably hear just fine.
• Ask for a confirmation of the message you transmitted. Good communication skills are crucial.
• Ensure that your message is received as you intended and it is understood.
• Limit using colloquialisms or slang terms. These can be confusing to someone who hasn’t live here very long.
3. Don’t give-up. With a good understanding of the cultural values of those people you lead and work with, you will be able to adjust your behavior and approach in your interaction with other cultures.
• Personal leadership development is about taking small steps towards improvement. Continually make adjustments, and when it works, try more.
• Ask for help and don’t be afraid to apologize for mistakes. People generally are appreciative that you are trying to understand them.
• Be consistent. The more you work on your approach, the better chance you have of becoming highly successful in your interactions with other cultures.
When you begin to see positive results from your new leadership approach, old stereotypes and perceptions of those cultures will be replaced not only personally but organization wide. You will find it easier for yourself and others to understand and respect the different cultures. One advantage, of course, will be improved productivity, communication skills, and teamwork within the organization. However and maybe more importantly, tensions between cultures can be used effectively in active discussions to lead to new innovative processes and systems. And as you begin to value cultural differences, you will find that these differences actually add to the success of your organization in a global marketplace.
CMOE has been assisting global organization with Leadership Development initiatives for 30 years. We invite you to learn more about how CMOE can help with your leadership training and development needs. Contact us at 888-262-2499 or email [email protected]
About the Author
Marco Chan is a consultant for CMOE and a leading authority on leadership development in a global economy. Marco has implemented several global education programs for companies such as FedEx, Formosa, and Barclays Global Investors. To learn about how subject matter experts can assist your global leadership development needs, please contact CMOE at 888-262-2499 or email [email protected]
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