The attractiveness of the Western Cape for offshore outsourcing contact centres

This study examines the attractiveness of the Western Cape for offshore outsourcing contact centres and suggests a series of normative business practices contact centres can adopt to achieve superior organistional efficiency and performance. A literature review defines the concept of a contact centre and discusses the various functions these operations perform. Contact centre technology is also reviewed as well as the personnel management and service quality components of these operations, such as first call resolution and the effectiveness of service encounters. The phenomenon of offshore outsourcing contact centres is discussed by reviewing its risks and benefits. Offshore outsourcing is primarily done to reduce costs, as well as for other factors, such as increased flexibility, efficiency and scalability. However, it is risky due to issues as cultural misalignment and managerial difficulities. A brief overview of the South African contact centre industry reveals that South Africa is home to approximately 525 contact centres including 105 operations situated in the Western Cape. It is estimated that 30% of these operations are outsourcers, of which over 55% service offshore markets.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Information Systems

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Derakhshani, Saba

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hart, Mike

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5640

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5640