To me, it’s always good business to do well by doing good. That’s the spirit in which Wipro established its rural BPO program in Manjakuddi, a village with a population of 2500. A large percentage of the 54 employees live in a house with a thatched roof. The village is six hours by car from Chennai.
The mover and shaker behind this project is Puneet Chandra, global head and vice president, Corporate Business Services, who was moved by the work of two institutions:
- The Azim Premji Foundation, whose goal is to educate the girl child in rural India
- Swami
Manish Dugar is the new head of Wipro BPO. Dugar takes over at a watershed moment. “The near future features a volatile and dynamic economy. Thanks to technology and scientific advances, geography is history. Now, what happens in one part of the world impacts the whole world,” he observes.
The senior vice president has had a front seat for the growth of offshoring. He was there when it was all about labor arbitrage. His goal: to lead Wipro BPO through the next phase: producing business-based outcomes. Wipro calls this Business Function Outsourcing (BFO). “We are no longer a commodity player,”… Read the rest
In tracking what’s been pulsating through the outsourcing world recently, two items rose to the top of my list of developments that buyers of outsourcing services should keep on their radar screens.
First is the launch of OPInvoice, Outsource Partners International’s new on-demand end-to-end solution for the Source-to-Pay cycle. This is important not only because of the solution’s capabilities to reduce costs and provide visibility into the process but also because it is OPI’s entry into the world of Platform BPO offerings.
It’s part of a significant trend in providing more predictable value in outsourced services. Look… Read the rest
Win-win approach. Collaborative relationship. These buzz words are tossed out frequently as a hallmark when executives describe their outsourcing relationships. But the terms are apt to be misused. I’ve had some interesting conversations about winning and collaborating in outsourcing relationships. One executive summarized an event in his company’s relationship this way:
“When we identified the root cause of the issue, we collaborated to determine the solution that would meet our needs and be a win-win.”
Despite the fact that a lot of companies use the buzz words and label this kind of situation as a win-win approach and as collaborating,… Read the rest
TalentFusion, a Leading Recruitment Process Outsourcing provider, has acquired Fulbright Executive Search, a premiere executive search firm. All Fulbright employees and clients will migrate over to the TalentFusion RPO platform.
Even if your business is not already a client of TalentFusion or Fulbright Executive Search, this is important news in the outsourcing world. Pamela Fulbright, founder of Fulbright Executive Search, explains why:
“The industry is migrating towards an RPO model for most recruitment business.”
Fulbright has been in business for over twenty years, delivering executive level retained search services to Fortune 1000 firms around the world, with a focus on the US… Read the rest
An article in a leading Indian magazine, Business Today, highlights strategies of Genpact and a few other firms on the leading edge of tweaking their work cultures to align with the needs of GenNow, the new-generation workforce. The article also quotes HR provider, Mercer India, on the driving needs of the GenNow workers:
… the new workforce is driven by four needs: To acquire recognition and prestige, to bond, to comprehend and seek knowledge, and to defend themselves. This generation likes to seek novelty, push frontiers and they seek to be trusted.
I believe wise buyers of outsourcing services — those that seek to… Read the rest
Everyone’s doing it. Touting the numbers. Researchers get paid to find the percentages and totals, and writers and analysts get paid to put a spin on them. But I think that research studies and advice about the outsourcing market often miss the boat.
For evidence, look no further than a report yesterday (written by CRM Management editors) about the findings in Op2i’s recent Outsourcing 2010 survey. Here’s their anemic conclusion from their data:
While interest in outsourcing has increased, focus has yet again shifted to cost reduction, with suppliers pressured to deliver more for less – the U turn
Shared services centers and outsourcing are both hot with today’s businesses looking to cut costs and increase efficiencies as much as possible. What are the differences between the two models? This is Part I of a three-part roundtable discussion on important perspectives on these popular business models. Part I roundtable participants are Krist Davood, Group CIO of Schiavello; Joseph Soalheira, Advisory Board Member of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) global community; and Peter Barta, CEO of Everest Group Asia Pacific. All three are among many industry experts presenting at the upcoming 13th Annual Australasian Shared Services… Read the rest
Shared services centers and outsourcing are both hot with today’s businesses looking to cut costs and increase efficiencies as much as possible. What are the differences between the two models? This is Part II of a three-part roundtable discussion on important perspectives on these popular business models. Part II roundtable participants are Krist Davood, Group CIO of Schiavello; Joseph Soalheira, Advisory Board Member of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) global community; Asheesh Mehra, Head of Sales, Infosys BPO Asia Pacific; and Peter Barta, CEO of Everest Group Asia Pacific. All four are among many industry experts presenting at… Read the rest
Shared services centers and outsourcing are both hot with today’s businesses looking to cut costs and increase efficiencies as much as possible. What are the differences between the two models? This is Part III of a three-part roundtable discussion on important perspectives on these popular business models. Part III roundtable participants are Krist Davood, Group CIO of Schiavello; Joseph Soalheira, Advisory Board Member of the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) global community; Asheesh Mehra, Head of Sales, Infosys BPO Asia Pacific; and Peter Barta, CEO of Everest Group Asia Pacific. All four are among many industry experts presenting at… Read the rest

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