South Africa's business process outsourcing services sector: Lessons for Western-based client firms

Abstract

Since 2008, South Africa has become one of the world's upcoming offshore destinations for business process outsourcing (BPO), a market estimated to be worth $US 182 billion globally by 2013. Western-based client firms evaluating South Africa as a BPO destination must consider the country's relative value against alternative locations. Client firms also have a number of engagement models from which to choose, inclucling outsourcing, erecting a captive centre, or acquiring an existing BPO business. The research finds that, for the UK, US, and Australian client companies in this study, South Africa's value proposition is not just based on costs as other locations are often cheaper. South Africa's value proposition is about overall economic value, high quality service and staff, strong cultural compatibility, and a favourable time zone. The findings reveal that South Africa complements the global portfolio for Western-based client firms that already have BPO centres in Inclia, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe. Moreover, whether client firms build or buy services from South Africa, the research identifies clistinctive risks that need to be mitigated by investing in and effectively governing the business processes performed offshore. Finally, from the case study research, this article identifies management lessons for leveraging South Africa's identifiable BPO service advantage.

Sourcing from Africa: A Systematic Review and a Research Agenda

“…Lacity et al . ), the authors go through a large number of theories, but actual application of them is very superficial or non‐existent in the analysis itself. Institutional theory and transaction cost theory (applied four times each) are the most used in our sample, along with the global value chain approach (used twice).…”

“…Lacity et al . () point out the advantages of South Africa as an outsourcing destination, including its encompassing economic value, high‐quality service and staff, strong cultural compatibility and the favorable time zone.…”

Future of Supply Chain – Application of Robotics – The Flip Side of It

“…The hitherto discussed definition and benefits of RPA do not give any hint about any consequences that the workers will face above and beyond the automation of their tasks are. Lacity and Willcocks [32] and Lacity, Willcocks and Craig [33] are frequently quoted in academic and professional literature regarding their contention that RPA will give knowledge workers some amount of freedom from their monotonous tasks and extremely controlled routine so that they can give more focus on more interesting tasks. This positive outlook on the outcome of RPA implementation, in addition to RPA's simplicity, where humans with zero programming knowledge can start RPA application after a few initial weeks of training, are in all likelihood, the key factors that are driving up the popularity of RPA.…”

Secured Service Delivery Model for Outsourced Services in a Business Process Outsourcing Relationship

“…Therefore, the success of an outsourcing relationship could be predicted by the choice of a service provider. Thus, it is essential that after the decision to outsource, clients should choose the right service provider [14], normally, based on the provider's capabilities [15]. Figure 1 details the outsourcing decision framework, which a client could adopt to manage the risks associated with outsourcing.…”

“…Organizations have been outsourcing various processes and providers have delivered services through direct links [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], but the advent of cloud computing (CC) provided another option for service delivery. Concisely, CC is a metaphor that expresses the Web as a platform where computing applications are hoisted and provided to authorized users as a service.…”