Business process and call center outsourcing were originally done to reduce overhead cost. It has sinced evolved into a practice that is aimed to increase productivity and quality. The overall delegation of tasks to offshore service providers has become a popular strategy that improves business growth and financial stability for a variety of reasons and sometimes contrasting and competing advantages.
Many companies choose to develop long-term relationships with an offshore provider to realize the full benefits of outsourcing, including enhanced competitiveness, regardless of the savings or even in the face of potentially increased costs.
Outsourcing to ensure competitiveness
There are many ways outsourcing can give competitive advantages to businesses. For instance, it can enable a company to better focus on its core competencies, and grant it access to workers with specialized skills and innovative technologies, among others.
A business can gain short-term competitive benefits. However, to make this sustainable, Outsourced Magazine recommends creating a close and long-term relationship with a provider.
Essentially, this means shifting the outsourcing plan from tactical to strategic.
According to Ivey Business Journal, outsourcing is tactical when it is done to solve a practical problem, such as when a company decides to engage in business process or call center outsourcing for operational efficiency and cost reduction.
On the other hand, outsourcing is strategic when it is aligned with the business’ long-term strategies. An example would be when Hero Honda Motors Limited outsourced a non-core task, namely IT maintenance, to focus on user requirement and service delivery.
By focusing and developing its core competencies, a business can provide unique values to its customers, stand its ground against current and future rivals, and continually improve by adopting market and technology innovations.
In conclusion, a business can gain long-term competitive benefits from outsourcing as long as it takes a strategic approach rather than focusing on short-term values.