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Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is of significance to India owing to its role in generating foreign exchange and providing employment to the educated youths of the nation. Recent global economic crisis has brought up several questions concerning future prospects of the industry. This paper based on an all- India level field survey highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the BPO sector - on the basis of which the future development strategies can be chalked out. By considering a number of indicators and in turn constructing a 'country attractiveness index' position of India vis-à-vis its competitors has been presented. The paper emphasizes the need to provide marketing assistance to the BPO companies in the SME segment and ensure speedy development of two and three-tier cities in the country.
INTRODUCTION
With the development of information and communication technology (IT), service delivery mechanism has changed radically. Consequently, services that can be handled using computers and telecom networks have come to play a significant role in the Indian economy. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is a result of this technological revolution. While there is a lot of discussion about this sector in media and elsewhere, this paper looks at the industry more methodically, from the perceptions of the managements of the BPOs, to examine india's future prospects in this segment by focusing on the strengths, weaknesses as well as competitors.
Business process outsourcing (BPO) generally refers to the operation of letting out the task of performing certain functions of an enterprise to another enterprise, often a third party and, in some cases, a subsidiary of its own. These functions are usually non-strategic and non-core in nature though they can be very critical for a business enterprise (see also Rajeev and Vani, 2007).
Outsourcing of some activities to a distant location has become possible due to the development of information technology (IT). Such cross-border IT-based services, usually termed IT enabled services, are functions that are provided from one location to another over telecommunication or data networks (through wireline or wireless devices) and are either externally contracted (third party outsourcing) or provided by a remote subsidiary of the same company (captive BPO). Many of the well-known multinational companies abroad such as GE Capitals, HP, Bechtel are benefited by...