Innovation in BPO
The BPO sector has grown by spectacular levels, providing employment to more than 200,000 BPO professionals. It is projected to grow on the average 38 percent until 2010, contributing more than $12 billion in revenue.
Similar to the experience of India, much of the growth in the Philippine BPO sector has been driven by relatively lower labor costs. This has been the salient characteristic of the first phase of global BPO development which took place in the 90’s through the early 2000’s, where clients and providers alike placed emphasis on cost, efficiency and productivity. As clients in the US and Europe searched for ways to bring down cost further, they turned to providers in India, Philippines, and others to provide low labor costs to perform customer care, HR, and accounting BPO services.
As established BPO providers are besieged by new entrants from China, Latin America, and other relatively lower cost countries, new sources of service differentiation become crucial to maintain and get more clients. This is when the second phase of BPO development took place starting in the early 2000, which is characterized by the focus on quality.
Adoption of quality standards is the direction of local BPO players now through the implementation of quality standards and practices such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, ISO 9000, and Capability Maturity Model. To survive in the long run, it is a must for BPOs to adopt any or a combination of these quality programs.
But these advantages in cost and quality are fast eroding as BPO services become commoditized and the sector reaches maturity. In fact, the global business process outsourcing sector is likely to see only a modest growth of 2 percent in 2007, after a continuous averag ...