|
INSTEAD
of worrying about the appreciation of the Philippine
peso vis-à-vis the US dollar, business-process
outsourcing (BPO) executives Tuesday pointed out that
marketing the country as a major global-outsourcing hub
must top their agenda in order to ensure a stronger
foothold in the industry.
In a
forum called “Peso Strength and US Economic Woes”
organized by the Business Processing Association of the
Philippines (Bpap) and Outsource2Philippines Inc.,
Convergys country general manager Marife Zamora said her
company was unfazed by the steady rise of the value of
the peso and instead was focused on building its core
competency for more business opportunities. As far as
the company is concerned,
Zamora
said the Philippine office of James Martin is the
biggest offshore unit outside the United States.
Despite
a looming recession in the US, Martin is optimistic,
according to Zamora, that outsourcing jobs will be sent
to the
Philippines
because it is cheaper while ensuring a high quality of
work.
“The
customer-service industry is not a nice-to-know but a
need-to-have requirement,” she said at the open forum.
Convergys Corp. provides integrated-billing,
employee-care and customer-care services provided
through outsourcing/licensing. Convergys Philippines has
a 13,000-strong work force.
James
Donovan, president and chief executive officer of
American Data Exchange Corp. (Adec), said the
Philippines has all the capabilities to move up the
value chain of outsourcing since it has a substantial
manpower pool proficient in information
technology-related jobs.
“The
Philippines needs to brand itself for the backroom
operations since this area tends to have low-key
recognition in some quarters,” he said.
Donovan
said BPO companies in the country should also not worry
about labor arbitrage but about delivering the
requirements for the global market.
The
Rowlett, Texas-based company provides customized
outsourcing solutions to clients worldwide in document
management and administration solutions; human-resource
solutions; analytic solutions; financial solutions;
health-care solutions; engineering and computer-aid
design solutions; e-learning solutions and help-desk
solutions.
For his
part, ePLDT president and chief executive officer Ray C.
Espinosa said companies exposed to currency fluctuations
must accept this as a reality of life in the industry
here and abroad.
Espinosa
said companies must play it smart in handling this
situation. One way, according to him, is to veer away
from commoditized pricing and move up the value chain by
delivering innovative products and services.
“Outsourcing companies must introduce new management
styles and technologies to obtain higher productivity.
In this way, they can obtain a substantial cushion when
this problem emerges,” he said.
Meanwhile, Headstrong Philippines country manager Nora
Terrado said the government must develop more
infrastructure and help reduce the cost of power in the
country to entice more investors to come to the country.
“The cost of power and building more infrastructure like
roads and bridges are important elements to develop
outsourcing in the country,” she said. |
