Kevan Penter

Offshore BPO at large captive operations in India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards development of a management framework for offshore business process outsourcing (BPO).Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilises longitudinal case studies to identify success factors in managing offshore BPO via the captive model (i.e. wholly‐owned subsidiary).Findings – Success in offshore BPO is based on a combination of cost savings, technical service quality and strategic issues, is specific to business context and will change over time. Choice of engagement model (e.g. captive operation or arms‐length contracting) is an important success factor. Advantages of captive centers arise from higher levels of relationship quality, trust and collaboration effectiveness.Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on two global companies in two industry sectors (airlines and telecommunications), and both have adopted one particular BPO model (i.e. captive operation).Originality/value – The paper contributes to scarce literature on o...

Seeking Opaque Indifference in Offshore BPO

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the delegation of one or more business processes to an external service provider (an offshore captive centre or a third party). The focus of most BPO research has been the cost reductions delivered by third party providers of BPO services in offshore locations in India, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. There has been little research on captive centres or the satisfaction of the end customer. This paper introduces the concept of “opaque indifference” which is OBPO delivered in a manner where the end customer is either unaware of or indifferent to the location of the service. It is important to the end customer in the OBPO environment and has a significant relationship with trust in the provider and the technology infrastructure. The overall research goal is to investigate the factors that support opaque indifference in OBPO.

Offshore BPO Decisions and Institutional Influence on Senior Managers

This paper sets out to explore the drivers and determinants of offshore BPO decisions related to the persistence and particularly the evolution of the captive model. This paper aims to make a contribution by applying institutional theory to individual firm decisions with respect to offshore BPO engagement model. This research utilises a longitudinal case study research method to analyse the institutional influences on senior managers in client companies and their offshore service providers. An institutional theory framework applicable to offshore BPO is extracted from the case studies in the financial services, telecommunications and airlines industries. Institutional theory is shown to have explanatory power for observed macro trends in offshore captive centre models. The implications for management are that successful offshore BPO requires effective action to win legitimacy for offshoring decisions from key stakeholder groups that can exert coercive or normative influences.

Opaque Indifference and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Moral License for Offshore BPO?

Offshore Business Process Outsourcing (OBPO) is the delegation of one or more business processes to an external service provider (usually a global in-house centre or a third party). The focus of OBPO research is often the cost benefits of global BPO services. As demands by stakeholders for organisational justification of OBPO decisions and activities increase, reducing resistance to OBPO, particularly where global in-house centres provide services to onshore end-users, requires managing attitudes to OBPO in the community. Improving an organisation’s Social License to Operate relies on the community of stakeholders tacitly approving an organisation’s activities, based on acceptance of organisation’s legitimacy and ethics. The concept of ‘opaque indifference’ (OI) and corporate social responsibility both play a role in improving end-user and stakeholder satisfaction and acceptance of OBPO.

Capturing CSR: Doing Good Offshore

Global monitoring, and other drivers of high level reporting standards, have brought increasing pressure to embed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the day-to-day operations of many multi-national companies. This move toward overt and targeted CSR responses and public reporting is prompting the strategic alignment of CSR with core business. Although driven in part by regulation, CSR initiatives and practice help demonstrate the moral authority of the corporate citizen. Practicing and publicly reporting CSR, presents an organization as ethical and worthy of trust, and in doing so, captures the good will, empathy and trust of stakeholders especially clients, customers and labor, in home countries. The development and maintenance of trust is integral to offshoring success. This research questions how the strategic practice of CSR by organizations, operating global in-house centers (GICs), contributes to relationship management in OBPO by positioning staff in GICs as stakeholders.

Capturing Stakeholder Engagement: CSR and Gender Equality in Global In-House Centres

Understanding the strategic relevance or significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the international offshore business process outsourcing (OBPO) context requires examination of the complexity of conflicting interests of competing stakeholders, philosophical and theoretical perspectives within the frameworks of different cultures, legal systems and attitudes. This research makes an original contribution to the study of CSR activities of organisations involved in OBPO. The findings could be useful for other researchers in the areas of CSR and compliance, for evaluating or comparing other programs, or used to assist businesses involved in OBPO to target their CSR strategies. This chapter investigates how CSR, particularly the contribution of CSR to gender equity in the workforce, as it is applied and implemented by organisations that engage in OBPO. It contributes to a stream of research that addresses critical success factors for OBPO relating to relationships and end-user customers.