Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a way for companies to reduce staff and costs by hiring outside firms to handle administrative tasks such as human resources and customer care. BPO is often divided into two categories: back office outsourcing includes internal business functions such as billing or purchasing; front office outsourcing deals with customer-related services such as marketing or technical support. BPO, contracted outside a company’s country, is called offshore outsourcing. When contracted to a company’s neighbouring country, it is called nearshore outsourcing, and BPO within the company’s country it is onshore outsourcing. Internet and high-speed Internet connections make it possible for outsourcing anywhere in the world, a business trend that economists call globalization.

Globalisation in its literal sense is a social change, an increased connectivity among societies due to transculturation; the explosive evolution of transport and ICT to facilitate international, cultural and economic exchange. The term is applied in various contexts.In general, domestic companies interested in offshore outsourcing are not only trying to save money to be more price-competitive against each other, but also to compete with businesses in other countries. Critics of offshore outsourcing worry that, if too much IT-related work is farmed out to other countries, home-grown IT talent will “dry up”. They point out that once a company begins outsourcing overseas, they will find it difficult to reverse the trend.

A call centre is a physical place where customer and other telephone calls are handled by an organization, usually through computer automation. Typically, a call centre can handle a considerable volume of calls at the same time, to screen calls, forward them to someone qualified to handle them and to log calls. Call centres are used by mail-order catalogue organizations, telemarketing companies, computer product help desks, and any large organization using the telephone to sell or service products and services.

Many UK and US companies are outsourcing to India and the Philippines, given their comparatively cheap labour and operating costs. Mauritius too is emerging as a premium BPO destination. The Board of Investment is responsible for all investment promotions and follow-up of investment initiatives. Mauritius is being aggressively marketed on the strength of its political stability, strong economy, qualified workforce, dynamic private sector and excellent living environment. The government is offering attractive incentives and developed infrastructure to potential investors and Mauritius also enjoys preferential access to certain markets. Far from being a India’s competitor, Mauritius can in fact provide it with opportunities to use the island as a platform to enter African and French speaking markets. Overall, BPO is thriving in Mauritius but we still have to strive to increase our competitiveness and attractiveness as a BPO destination.

<B>Shaffick Hamuth</B>