Genpact was born in 1997 as the India-based business process operations for GE Capital. In 2005, with equity investments from General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners, it became an independent company and was rebranded Genpact. It is India's No. 1 BPO firm. Genpact manages business for companies around the world with a network of more than 30 operations centre’s in nine countries. Genpact offers services in finance and accounting, collections and customer service, insurance, supply chain and procurement, analytics, enterprise application and IT infrastructure. Headed by Pramod Bhasin, the company had staff strength of over 34,300 employees as on March 31, 2008. Its revenues for the year 2007 stood at $822.7 million.

2. WNS Global

WNS Global serves several industries, including travel, insurance, financial services, healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, distribution and retail. Warburg Pincus is the majority shareholder in WNS Global Services. The Nasdaq-listed company with more than 9,000 professionals was set up in 1996. Neeraj Bhargava is a co-founder of WNS (Holdings) Ltd and group chief executive officer. It posted quarterly revenue of $116.1 million for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008, up 4.9 per cent from the corresponding quarter last year. Its revenues stand at $459.9 million, up 30.5 per cent from fiscal 2007.

3.IBM Daksh

The five-year old IBM Daksh was created by four professionals -- Sanjiv Agarwal, Pawan Vaish, MJ Aravind and Venkat Tedanki -- who saw a great opportunity in the business process outsourcing space. With no business model to follow, it was a big challenge to set up the company. IBM Daksh is known for a good leadership, a focused vision and an undying passion. In April 2004, IBM Corporation acquired Daksh e-Services to serve as a global hub to manage business processes for clients from across the world. With 14 service delivery centres in India, IBM Daksh has more than 36 centers around the world. Today IBM Daksh employs more than 20,000 people. Pavan Vaish is the chief executive officer of IBM Daksh Business Process Services. A co-founder of Daksh eServices, he has been with the organization since January 2000.

4.Aditya Birla Minacs WorldWide

Aditya Birla Minacs is part of the $24 billion global conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group. Aditya Birla Minacs was formed when Minacs, Canada's leading BPO company, and TransWorks, the BPO arm of Aditya Birla Group, joined hands to become a leading global business process outsourcing player. Aditya Birla Minacs clocked revenues to the tune of $392 million (or about Rs 1,575 crore) till March 2008, a 17 per cent rise over the previous year's $335 million. With over 26 years of experience, Aditya Birla Minacs offers BPO solutions for Fortune 500 clients. Minacs has more than 12,000 employees at locations in North America, Europe and Asia. It serves clients in automotive, banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunications and technology verticals. Dev Bhattacharya is the managing director for Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide Ltd, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo.

5.TCS BPO

TCS BPO is one of the leader players in the outsourcing industry. It offers services in areas such as finance and accounting, banking, HR outsourcing, KPO, insurance, payroll, healthcare, telecom, media, travel and entertainment. TCS operates from more than 41 countries and has more than 155 offices across the globe. Its head office in India is located in Bangalore. It has branches in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow and many other places in India. While Tata Consultancy Services is India's top software company, TCS BPO established a stronghold in the BPO space. The TCS group posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,290.61 crore (Rs 12.90 billion) for the first quarter ended June 30, 2008, an increase of 7.3 per cent compared to the year-ago period.

6.Wipro BPO

Wipro BPO has carved a unique position in the outsourcing industry. In 2002, Wipro took a quantum jump in the BPO services by acquiring the then Spectramind. Wipro BPO Solutions complements the services offered by Wipro Technologies, making it one of the largest BPO service players. The company with over 19,000 people, operating out of 9 different locations (India and Eastern Europe) serves clients across the globe. Wipro BPO clientele spans across banking and capital markets, insurance, travel and hospitality, hi-tech manufacturing, telecom and healthcare sectors. T K Kurien heads Wipro's BPO operations. The IT services revenue for Wipro Technologies stood at Rs 4,405 crore (Rs. 44.05 billion), a YoY growth of 39 per cent.

7.Firstsource

Firstsource (formerly ICICI OneSource) is a leading global business process management company. Founded in 2001, the company is ranked third in Business Week’s 'Hot player' list of offshore outsourcing companies. The company has 17,000 employees in centres across India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina and the Philippines. Ananda Mukerji is the managing director and chief executive officer. Its revenues for the year ended March 31 2008 stood at Rs 12,988 million, up 53.3 percent compared to the previous year.

8.Infosys BPO

Infosys BPO Ltd, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of Infosys Technologies, was set up in April 2002. Today, it is ranked among the leading BPO companies in India by NASSCOM, Dataquest, the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, Red Herring, FAO Today and NelsonHall. Infosys BPO focuses on integrated end-to-end outsourcing through lesser costs. Infosys BPO operates in India, the Czech Republic, China, Philippines, Poland, Bangkok, Mexico and employs about 16,295 people. It closed FY2007-08 with revenues of $250.3 million.

9.HCL BPO

HCL BPO, a division of HCL Technologies Limited was established in 2001. With over 13,200 professionals operating out of India and Northern Ireland, HCL BPO runs fourteen delivery centres across India, UK and Malaysia. The company has reported revenues to the tune of $220.9 million. HCL BPO also offers multilingual support in eight European languages and eight Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections (APAC) languages. HCL BPO's focuses on sectors like telecom, retail, banking and financial services, insurance, hi-tech & manufacturing, and media, publishing and entertainment. Shiv Nadar is the founder, chairman and chief strategy officer of HCL Technologies.

10. EXL Service Holdings

EXL Service Holdings came into existence in April 1999 in Delaware, US. It was founded by a group of professionals including Vikram Talwar (now executive chairman) and Rohit Kapoor, who is now the CEO. Vikram was then the CEO and managing director of Ernst & Young, and Rohit managed international investments for clients at Deutsche Bank. In August 2001, Conseco acquired EXL and operated as its wholly owned subsidiary. Later, in November 2002, Oak Hill Capital Partners L.P. and FTVentures along with members of the senior management team bought EXL from Conseco making it a third party pure-play business process outsourcing service provider. The company has seen a fast-paced growth with 50 clients and staff strength of 8,200 employees. Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 were $50.9 million compared to $39.9 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2007, an increase of 27.8 per cent.

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P.S.- Next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled NEWS commentary.  Thanks for reading!

This new feature gives call center supervisors a means to monitor and manage agents to improve their performance.  The Agent ID is included in the email along with the date/time stamp of the survey results so the supervisor can go directly to the appropriate agent for coaching and access the call recording of the event if necessary for training purposes.

Our outsourcer clients like this feature because it helps them manage to their service level agreements (SLA) with their end customers. Outbound surveys are the "canary in the coal mine" for call centers. Surveys can detect where problems may lie and gives the call center the ability to quickly get a fix into action before it's too late.

Not only are domestic BPOs like Genpact, Sitel and Intelenet hiring people in India in droves for their Philippine operations, MNCs like Citibank and Accenture with operations in that country, too, are relying on Indian talent.

“While at the associate level, the Philippines has talent that is comparable or superior to their Indian counterparts, there is a complete void at middle and senior management level. It’s largely Indian executives who fill this void at Indian, local and captive BPO firms in the Philippines,” says Quatrro BPO Solutions managing director Raman Roy.

The Philippines has emerged as an attractive rival outsourcing destination to India, on the back of its large English-speaking population, a slew of fiscal incentives and lower property rates. Apart from the capital, Manila, other places — Cebu, for instance — have also come up as favourites for setting up call centres.

“I have lost five managers in the past one year to BPO companies in the Philippines. The local firms offer superior compensation packages to executives who have cut their teeth with Indian BPO firms,” says head of another BPO firm, wishing to remain unidentified.

Another BPO firm chief says his company, too, has faced talent crunch at senior and middle management positions in the Philippines. He pointed out the example of MNCs — Citibank is a case in point — that employ a number of Indian executives to manage their captive operations in the Philippines.

There is a significant movement of voice processes to emerging destinations like the Philippines and Eastern Europe, says Positive Moves Consulting managing partner Vibhav Dhawan.

“Large MNCs, with presence in India, are expatriating a significant number of Indians to meet their talent needs in the short and long term in these new markets,” he adds.

Genpact, India’s largest BPO firm, went to the Philippines in 2006 and since then, has built a sizeable presence there. Speaking of its strategy to meet talent needs, Genpact president & CEO Pramod Bhasin said: “We start by using a mix of expats from India and hiring locally. The long-term goal is to have grooming and training for the local talent to eventually manage the Philippines operations. That time is, however, another 1-2 years away.”

Adds Nasdaq-listed BPO firm ExlService Holdings CEO Rohit Kapoor: “It’s certainly a challenge to find mid- and senior-management talent in the Philippines. We are dealing with it by taking our senior managers from India while also hiring local talent. So, our country manager, migration and transition and process head are all Indians while the HR head, operations and facilities heads are natives.”

Manila was ranked second among outsourcing destinations in Asia-Pacific by research firm IDC early this year, behind Bangalore. The BPO industry in the Philippines currently employs over 3 lakh people.

Not only are domestic BPOs like Genpact, Sitel and Intelenet hiring people in India in droves for their Philippine operations, MNCs like Citibank and Accenture with operations in that country, too, are relying on Indian talent.

“While at the associate level, the Philippines has talent that is comparable or superior to their Indian counterparts, there is a complete void at middle and senior management level. It’s largely Indian executives who fill this void at Indian, local and captive BPO firms in the Philippines,” says Quatrro BPO Solutions managing director Raman Roy.

The Philippines has emerged as an attractive rival outsourcing destination to India, on the back of its large English-speaking population, a slew of fiscal incentives and lower property rates. Apart from the capital, Manila, other places — Cebu, for instance — have also come up as favourites for setting up call centres.

“I have lost five managers in the past one year to BPO companies in the Philippines. The local firms offer superior compensation packages to executives who have cut their teeth with Indian BPO firms,” says head of another BPO firm, wishing to remain unidentified.

Another BPO firm chief says his company, too, has faced talent crunch at senior and middle management positions in the Philippines. He pointed out the example of MNCs — Citibank is a case in point — that employ a number of Indian executives to manage their captive operations in the Philippines.

There is a significant movement of voice processes to emerging destinations like the Philippines and Eastern Europe, says Positive Moves Consulting managing partner Vibhav Dhawan.

“Large MNCs, with presence in India, are expatriating a significant number of Indians to meet their talent needs in the short and long term in these new markets,” he adds.

Genpact, India’s largest BPO firm, went to the Philippines in 2006 and since then, has built a sizeable presence there. Speaking of its strategy to meet talent needs, Genpact president & CEO Pramod Bhasin said: “We start by using a mix of expats from India and hiring locally. The long-term goal is to have grooming and training for the local talent to eventually manage the Philippines operations. That time is, however, another 1-2 years away.”

Adds Nasdaq-listed BPO firm ExlService Holdings CEO Rohit Kapoor: “It’s certainly a challenge to find mid- and senior-management talent in the Philippines. We are dealing with it by taking our senior managers from India while also hiring local talent. So, our country manager, migration and transition and process head are all Indians while the HR head, operations and facilities heads are natives.”

Manila was ranked second among outsourcing destinations in Asia-Pacific by research firm IDC early this year, behind Bangalore. The BPO industry in the Philippines currently employs over 3 lakh people.

We cannot blame them as there are stories where outsourcing projects have failed resulting in missed deadlines and poor quality of services. The traditional reaction is things would have been OK if I had maintained control myself. This reminds us of the same problem we often encounter when people face delegating tasks for the first time and many of the reasons for this and solutions as similar..

Good news is that from our experience during many outsourcing relationships, clients actually feel they have better control after outsourcing than before, hence the fear can be overcome. We have defined 5 ways in which companies can confidently outsource without ever worrying of losing control over their businesses.

1. Define your objectives clearly, and adjust over time.
RFP and SLA - Any successful project starts with clearly defining the needed requirements.  You should provide your future partners as much information as you can.  The Service Level Agreement will guide them in proposing solutions for your project therefore the clearer the SLAs are the better solutions you will receive.  Describe how you anticipate the project to run.  Start by identifying the targets and the timeline.  There will always be a transition period and a learning curve at the start of the project therefore the SLAs should be realistic.  These can then be adjusted overtime.  It is also important to align the SLAs to the business’ goals.  This will ensure that the success of the project will enable your company to move closer to its goals.

2. Choose the right partner, not the wrong vendor
Majority of the companies that are currently outsourcing know that the cheaper the solution does not mean it is better.  It is true that outsourcing has helped companies reduce their costs but in looking for the right partner, cost benefit should not be the only basis.  List three of the most important benefits you are expecting to achieve from outsourcing and start ranking the vendors based from those.  The common expectations include improvement in speed and quality of service, decrease of administration cost, access to skilled workers, redirection of focus to core business as well as reduction of risk.

3. Start Small, then expand
After you have chosen the partner that can provide what you need, you shouldn’t rush and throw everything to your partner.  It is wise to start small.  This way, the impact of errors is not as critical and can be addressed faster.  This will also give you a better understanding of how your partner handles situations.  Once the process is smoothened and you are already satisfied with the delivered results, start ramping up the project to your desired size.  It is also good to have a project schedule in doing this.

4. Be Involved in the Hiring Process
Interviewing the applicants and being the one who will choose the people for your project would give you more control over the project.  This enables you to find the best people who fit your requirements not just their technical skills but their attitude as well.  In addition, this is a good way of developing your relationship with your possible offshore staff.  They would look at you as their employer and not just a customer of their onshore employer.  Having this perception gives you a lot of advantage.

5. Have Regular Performance Review Meetings
To help you and your partner improve the process faster, have regular performance review meetings.  Discuss the results of the SLA.  Address the targets that were not achieved and at the same time find ways to improve those that were achieved.  Conducting root cause analysis would be extremely helpful to minimize the likelihood of recurrence.

Though some have failed in using outsourcing as a strategic tool, it doesn’t mean that you will too.  Remember, the worth of any tool can be increased a hundredfold if used wisely.

If you are looking to outsource and requiring a partner who is a domain expert and also has proven experience in outsourcing to make certain that you quickly and seamlessly realize the benefits of outsourcing, one of the companies that we believe can help you with your outsourcing requirements without losing control is Infinit Outsourcing Inc. (Infinit-O), a leading bpo company providing back office outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) solutions in the financial services and healthcare sectors.

Graduate / undergraduate or Diploma holders (Only Art's & Science)

Should posse's good communication skills & basic Knowledge of Computer.

Desired Profile:
Fresher willing to work in BPO Domestic
Graduate / undergraduate or Diploma holders (Only Art's & Science)
Should posse's good communication skills & basic Knowledge of Computer.
Preferred skill: MS- Excel.

Venue:
Tech Mahindra Limited
No:2, Harrington Road, 8th floor
Chetpet, Chennai 31

Landmark: Above Shopper's stop

Contact Person: G Srividhya

Time: 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM
Experience: 0-2 Years

Education:
UG - Any Graduate - Any Specialization
PG - Any PG Course - Any Specialization

Location: Chennai

Apply Via Monster India - The Indian Job Site

Not only are domestic BPOs like Genpact, Sitel and Intelenet hiring people in India in droves for their Philippine operations, MNCs like Citibank and Accenture with operations in that country, too, are relying on Indian talent.

"While at the associate level, the Philippines has talent that is comparable or superior to their Indian counterparts, there is a complete void at middle and senior management level. It's largely Indian executives who fill this void at Indian, local and captive BPO firms in the Philippines," says Quatrro BPO Solutions managing director Raman Roy.

The Philippines has emerged as an attractive rival outsourcing destination to India, on the back of its large English-speaking population, a slew of fiscal incentives and lower property rates. Apart from the capital, Manila, other places - Cebu, for instance - have also come up as favourites for setting up call centres.

"I have lost five managers in the past one year to BPO companies in the Philippines. The local firms offer superior compensation packages to executives who have cut their teeth with Indian BPO firms," says head of another BPO firm, wishing to remain unidentified.

Another BPO firm chief says his company, too, has faced talent crunch at senior and middle management positions in the Philippines. He pointed out the example of MNCs - Citibank is a case in point - that employ a number of Indian executives to manage their captive operations in the Philippines.

There is a significant movement of voice processes to emerging destinations like the Philippines and Eastern Europe, says Positive Moves Consulting managing partner Vibhav Dhawan.

"Large MNCs, with presence in India, are expatriating a significant number of Indians to meet their talent needs in the short and long term in these new markets," he adds.

Genpact, India's largest BPO firm, went to the Philippines in 2006 and since then, has built a sizeable presence there. Speaking of its strategy to meet talent needs, Genpact president & CEO Pramod Bhasin said: "We start by using a mix of expats from India and hiring locally. The long-term goal is to have grooming and training for the local talent to eventually manage the Philippines operations. That time is, however, another 1-2 years away."

Adds Nasdaq-listed BPO firm ExlService Holdings CEO Rohit Kapoor: "It's certainly a challenge to find mid- and senior-management talent in the Philippines. We are dealing with it by taking our senior managers from India while also hiring local talent. So, our country manager, migration and transition and process head are all Indians while the HR head, operations and facilities heads are natives."

Manila was ranked second among outsourcing destinations in Asia-Pacific by research firm IDC early this year, behind Bangalore. The BPO industry in the Philippines currently employs over 3 lakh people.

Courtesy :- EconomicTimes

Companies are looking outside India for outsourcing more frequently now than before. High attrition, inflation, lack of qualified manpower and accent issues have forced many people to look at other countries. The Philippines seems to be the biggest winner with rapid growth in the sector and an influx of Indian based BPO’s setting up in the country.

This trend is continuing and up and coming countries such as Vietnam as well as China will also show rapid patterns of growth.

MOVING UP THE VALUE CHAIN
Functions previously thought of as impossible to outsource and now being outsourced with impressive results. Moving from the call center and basic accounting to sophisticated stock market analysis and bio sciences, the world is realizing that offshoring is more than just cost savings with large pools of skilled people, often with MBA’s and PhD’s, in low cost countries.

KPO will be the fastest growing sector as more and more companies understand that outsourcing is more than just cost savings but more of long term competitive advantage through skilled resources across the world.

BRING ON THE SMB’s
The size of outsourcing contracts is reducing whilst the number of contracts is increasing as medium sized companies are now outsourcing. In the more price sensitive world of SMB’s, they are realizing that it is not just large multinationals who can successfully outsource, but there are providers who focus on assisting SMB’s outsource as well.

This trend will continue and accelerate more rapidly. With the tightening of the world economy, more successful case studies and word of mouth offshoring will have to be a key strategic tool for SMB’s in the next 3-5 years.

Recruitment trend has been changed drastically in accordance with the labor shortages and escalating recruitment challenges drive leaders to innovate new methodologies in the recruitment market. Now RPO providers expand the scope of value propositions by delivering robust recruiting solutions to various staffing companies as expectation beyond the cost savings benefits are anticipated over the period of time.

Subsequently, RPO leaders are giving more emphasize on some crucial business functions like for acquisition and retention activities within the organization. This trend helps new service providers to take initiative for offering true “end to end” solutions and making a way to maximize the value of HR functions and creating a huge difference in diminishing costs and improving business performance.

Now outsourcing sets the example of performance guarantees and performance pricing which is seems to be extremely proactive approach. Here companies are looking for those providers whose pricing model based on per hire fees means payment to be done after successfully recruitment. In spite all of that, recruiter transforms the staffing solution with more efficiently and effectively. Having world class standards with true BPO experience, RPO service providers are getting competitive edge over conventional recruiting firms. And demand driven supply chain methodologies by RPO leaders assist enterprises to set a plan and deploy the efficient workforce so that to formulate the organizational strategies according to their human resource is implemented effectively.

Now the trend of outsourcing conventional method of recruitment solutions has been changed after the regular re-inventing and reengineering the existing processes which is involved in the whole recruitment process outsourcing. With constant enhancement on the part of hiring and training a recruiter, implementing quality control mechanisms and introducing new technologies, here buyers can expect for more value added services from RPO players. Moreover corporate needs those RPO service providers who cannot only serve recruiting solutions but also runs parallel with their business as their strategic partners. In addition to this, companies need those RPO providers who understand their corporate culture and perform as a part of their organization. Hiring a recruiter can be the best ever options taken by recruiting firm and these offshore recruiters will be beneficial for those who needs strategic partners for their business.

By Rosenun Chesof

ก่อนอื่นเรามาทำความรู้จักกับ ธุรกิจ Outsourcing ว่าคืออะไร กล่าวอย่างง่าย ๆ ก็คือ การจ้างให้คนอื่นทำงานแทนเราที่ไม่ใช่งานหลักและความสามารถหลักของเราเอง โดยให้ทำการแทนในขอบเขตความรับผิดชอบและมีระดับการทำงานตามสัญญาที่ได้ตกลงกันไว้ Outsourcing ไม่ใช่สิ่งใหม่ซะทีเดียว เพราะในเมืองไทยก็มีมานานแล้ว เช่น การจ้างบริษัทรักษาความปลอดภัยมาดูแลความปลอดภัย การจ้างบริษัททำความสะอาด ซึ่งเป็นการจ้างในลักษณะ ให้มาทำหน้าที่อย่างใดอย่างหนึ่ง แต่ในปัจจุบันธุรกิจนี้พัฒนาไปถึงขั้นการจ้างคนอื่นให้ทำ “กระบวนการทำงาน” หรือที่เรียกว่า Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)    ปัจจุบันประเทศที่เป็นศูนย์กลางของธุรกิจ คือ อินเดีย จีน และอันดับสามคือ มาเลเซีย ส่วนไทยอยู่ในอันดับที่ 10 จัดเป็นกลุ่มประเทศใหม่ ที่เพิ่งเข้ามาจับธุรกิจนี้  การเป็นอันดับหนึ่งของอินเดีย เนื่องจากความพร้อมในหลายด้าน เช่น ความสามารถด้านการใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ การสนับสนุนจากภาครัฐ สาธารณูปโภค โดยเฉพาะด้านITศักยภาพของบุคลากร ค่าจ้างถูก เป็นต้น ทำให้บริษัทชั้นนำของโลก เช่น ไมโครซอฟท์ จ้างโปรแกรมเมอร์อินเดียในการสร้างและพัฒนาโปรแกรมต่าง ๆ โดยเฉพาะที่เมืองบังกาลอร์ ที่เป็นที่ตั้งของซิลิคอนวัลเลย์ของอินเดีย

ทำไมต้องจ้างให้ผู้อื่นไปทำแทน หรือ การ Outsourcing   

Outsourcing จะเกิดขึ้นเมื่อองค์กรธุรกิจ โดยเฉพาะธุรกิจขนาดกลางและขนาดย่อม (SMEs) ไม่พร้อมที่จะใช้ทรัพยากรภายในที่มีอยู่ ทำงานนั้นด้วยตัวเอง เช่น งานด้านการสร้างและบริหารระบบสารสนเทศ ที่ต้องใช้บุคลากรที่มีความเชี่ยวชาญ ฮาร์ดแวร์และซอฟแวร์ที่มีประสิทธิภาพ รวมทั้งสถานที่ทำงานและระบบการสื่อสารความเร็วสูง ซึ่งถ้าลงทุนทำเองทั้งหมดต้องใช้เวลาและงบประมาณสูง ดังนั้นทางเลือกหนึ่ง ก็คือ การจ้างองค์กรภายนอกที่มีความเชี่ยวชาญทำแทน เช่น การดูแลเครื่องแม่ข่าย (Server), การดูแลระบบเครือข่าย (Networking), ควบคุมระบบสื่อสาร, การสำรองและเรียกคืนข้อมูล, การใช้ซอฟท์แวร์ประยุกต์, ความปลอดภัยของข้อมูล เป็นต้น หรือที่รู้จักกันในชื่อ IDC (Internet Data Centre)  เพื่อสามารถแข่งขันกับธุรกิจขนาดใหญ่กว่าได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ

การจ้างให้คนอื่นทำนอกจากจะเป็นการลดต้นทุนดำเนินการแล้ว ยังสามารถกำหนดค่าใช้จ่ายที่แน่นอนได้ด้วย เช่น งานด้านบริหารทรัพยากรมนุษย์ ที่นิยมจ้างในลักษณะ HR Outsourcing ที่เริ่มตั้งแต่ งานบริหารงานบุคลากรและการฝึกอบรม การบริหารงานค่าจ้าง งานจัดสวัสดิการพนักงาน  งานบริหารภาษีเงินได้ต่างๆ  งานด้านที่ปรึกษา และ งานบริหารความเสี่ยงของแรงงาน แทนที่บริษัทจะเป็นผู้ทำเองทั้งหมด ก็จัดงบประมาณส่วนหนึ่งจ้างให้บริษัทที่เชี่ยวชาญด้านนี้โดยตรงทำแทน ซึ่งหากทำเองทั้งหมด ต้นทุนทางธุรกิจในส่วนนี้ก็ต้องรับเอง เพราะต้องจ้างพนักงาน จัดสวัสดิการ เป็นภาระที่ต้องรับตลอดไปจนกว่าจะมีการเลิกจ้าง

ประเภทของธุรกิจ Outsourcing มี 3 กลุ่มใหญ่ ๆ คือ งานด้านไอที งานด้านศูนย์กลางติดต่อ (contact centre) และ การจ้างทำกระบวนการทำงาน (Business Process Outsourcing: BPO) การเติบโตของธุรกิจนี้ ต้องอาศัยการมีระบบเทคโนโลยีสื่อสารและสารสนเทศที่มีประสิทธิภาพ รวดเร็ว ความพร้อมด้าน knowledge เป็นธุรกิจที่เติบโตไปพร้อม ๆ กับ ระบบเศรษฐกิจที่เรียกว่า Digital- Economy ยกตัวอย่าง เจเนรัลมอเตอร์ในอเมริกา คิดและออกแบบรถยนต์ที่สำนักงานในอเมริกา และส่งแปลนมายังฟิลิปปินส์ที่เป็นโรงงานประกอบ สั่งชิ้นส่วนจากเกาหลี จากนั้น สำนักงานในสิงค์โปร์ จะเป็นผู้ทำตลาด  หรือ อีกตัวอย่างหนึ่งในกรณีของ NOKIA สำนักงานในฟินแลนด์ เป็นผู้คิดออกแบบ รูปทรง วิจัยและพัฒนาเทคโนโลยีโทรศัพท์มือถือ  และ Outsourcingไปยังจีนเป็นผู้ผลิต ขณะที่ การบริการลูกค้าทุกประเภทที่เป็น Customer service (ยกเว้นการซ่อม) outsourcing ไปยังมาเลเซียเพื่อให้บริการแก่ลูกค้าในเอเชีย - แปซิฟิก โดยมีสำนักงานของ NOKIA เองในสิงค์โปร์เป็นควบคุมดูแล เท่ากับว่า บริษัทแม่ทำหน้าที่คิดและออกแบบเทคโนโลยี ขายความคิดเท่านั้น ส่วนงานด้านอื่น จ้างให้ผู้อื่นทำแทน เป็นการลดต้นทุนที่คุ้มค่า ไม่ต้องรับความเสี่ยงทางธุรกิจด้วยตัวเองทั้งหมด

Outsourcing ในมาเลเซีย

ธุรกิจ Outsourcing ของมาเลเซียอยู่ในอันดับสามของโลก  ปัจจัยที่ทำให้สามารถเติบโตอย่างรวดเร็ว เกิดจากความร่วมมือทั้งจากภาครัฐและเอกชน คือ สมาคมอุตสาหกรรมคอมพิวเตอร์และมัลติมีเดีย (PIKOM) Multimedia Development Corp. (MDeC) และ Malaysia Debt Ventures (MDV) โดยรัฐบาลสนับสนุนงบประมาณ ในการสร้างสาธารณูปโภคระบบสื่อสารสารสนเทศ โครงการ Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) สร้างเมือง Cyber Jaya การออกกฏหมายที่เอื้อต่อการลงทุน เพื่อดึงดูดนักลงทุนและรองรับการขยายตัวของธุรกิจนี้ในอนาคต  ทำให้บริษัทชั้นนำของโลกเลือกมาเลเซียเป็นศูนย์กลาง  

บริษัทชั้นนำดังกล่าว เช่น Motorola ที่งานด้านออกแบบ การวิจัยและพัฒนา การผลิต และส่งออก ทำที่มาเลเซีย, ธนาคาร สแตนดาร์ด ชาร์เตอร์, City Bank และ ธนาคาร HSBC มีศูนย์ไอทีและ contact centre ที่ Cyber Jaya และ  Kuala Lumpur นอกจากนี้ยังมีบริษัท Royal Dutch Shell Group, DHL, HP, Fujitsu, NOKIA, Microsoft, Intel, Ericson, BMW, IBM, EDS, DELL  ก็เช่นกัน มีศูนย์กลางด้าน Support IT การบริหารลูกค้าสัมพันธ์  ไปยังลูกค้าทั่วโลกที่มาเลเซีย  และคาดการณ์กันว่าในปีนี้ จะสร้างรายได้ถึง 350 ล้านเหรียญสหรัฐ

นอกจากปัจจจัยที่กล่าวมาข้างต้น จุดแข็งอีกประการหนึ่งคือ มาเลเซียเป็นสังคมพหุวัฒนธรรม หลากหลายเชื้อชาติ คือ มาเลย์ จีน อินเดีย ที่แต่ละเชื้อชาติยังคงรักษาอัตลักษณ์ของตนไว้ โดยเฉพาะด้านภาษา ที่ยังคงใช้ภาษาเดิมของตนอยู่ ภาษามาเลย์และภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาราชการ ภาษาเป็นจุดแข็งสำคัญ ที่ทำให้มาเลเซียสามารถก้าวสู่อันดับสามของโลกได้ เนื่องจากมาเลเซียมีประชากรใน 3 กลุ่มเชื้อชาติดังกล่าวที่สามารถใช้ภาษาจีน (แมนดาริน กวางตุ้ง ฮกเกี้ยน) อินเดีย (ตามิล ปัญจาบี อุรดู) ขณะเดียวกันยังใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ในการสื่อสารระหว่างกันอีกด้วย ซึ่งคล้ายกับอินเดีย ขณะที่จีน จะมีจุดเด่นที่ค่าแรงถูกแต่ความสามารถด้านภาษาอังกฤษจะด้อยกว่าอินเดียและมาเลเซีย จีนจึงเป็น Outsource รับผลิต ถือเป็นโรงงานโลกก็ว่าได้ ที่สินค้าส่วนใหญ่ตอนนี้ผลิตจากจีน

ในจุดแข็งที่มาเลเซียมีอยู่ ก็ใช่ว่าจะไม่มีจุดอ่อนซะทีเดียว กล่าวคือ มาเลเซีย มีประชากรประมาณ 24 ล้านคน  ประชากรในวัยทำงานมี 9.9 ล้านคน  และมีบุคลากรด้าน Outsourcing เพียง 40,000 คนเท่านั้น (ในจำนวนนี้มีชาวต่างชาติรวมอยู่ด้วย) ขณะที่อินเดียมีถึง 1.5 ล้านคน ดังนั้นบริษัทที่ดำเนินการในมาเลเซีย จำเป็นต้องนำเข้าบุคลากรและผู้เชี่ยวชาญจากต่างประเทศเข้ามาทำงาน เมื่อต้องจ้างคนต่างชาติเข้ามาทำงาน ก็ต้องมีค่าใช้จ่ายในการทำวีซ่าทำงาน ค่าเช่าบ้าน เท่ากับว่าต้องมีต้นทุนมากขึ้น แม้ว่าในงานบริการลูกค้าในลักษณะ Call centre, Customer Service นั้น ต้องใช้คนที่พูดภาษาของประเทศที่ให้บริการ เช่น ถ้าลูกค้าคนไทย ก็ต้องใช้คนพูดไทยได้มาทำหน้าที่ แต่งานด้านไอที เช่น Programmer, Software Engineer, Computer Engineer และงานที่ต้องใช้ผู้เชี่ยวชาญเฉพาะด้าน ยังไม่พอต้องจ้างคนต่างชาติมาทำงาน ปัญหาที่เกิดขึ้นตามมาและอาจกลายเป็นปัญหาใหญ่ได้ หากไม่มีการบริหารจัดการที่ดีพอ เช่น ปัญหาการปรับตัวกับการทำงานในสังคมต่างวัฒนธรรม และมีเงื่อนไขที่จำกัดของชาวต่างชาติในการใช้สาธารณูปโภค เช่น การขอเปิดใช้บริการโทรศัพท์บ้านและการสื่อสารอื่น ๆ ที่ต้องเสียค่าธรรมเนียมแรกเข้าสูงกว่าคนมาเลเซีย ถึง 10 เท่า  การเสียโอกาสในการทำงานของชาวมาเลเซียเอง (แต่มาเลเซียแก้เกมโดยการออกวีซ่าทำงานให้คนต่างชาติไม่เกิน 10 ปีเท่านั้น จากนั้นต้องออกจากมาเลเซีย ไปยังประเทศอื่น 6-12 เดือน ถึงจะกลับมาทำงานต่อได้ ซึ่งคงไม่มีนายจ้างคนใหนรอได้ จำเป็นต้องรับคนมาทำงานแทน) 

จากจุดแข็งและจุดอ่อนที่กล่าวมาข้างต้น ถ้าดูจากตารางการจัดอันดับแล้ว จะเห็นว่า สาธารณรัฐเชค กำลังไล่ตามมาเลเซียมาอย่างติด ๆ ตามด้วยสิงค์โปร์และฟิลิปปินส์ ส่วนไทย คงต้องให้การเมืองมีเสถียรภาพ และรัฐบาลมีนโยบายที่ชัดเจนในการสนับสนุนธุรกิจนี้ ก็เป็นไปได้ที่จะเป็น Outsourcing ชั้นนำได้ โดยเฉพาะงานด้านบริหารลูกค้าสัมพันธ์ ด้วยลักษณะของคนไทยที่ยิ้มง่าย มีมนุษยสัมพันธ์ แต่เวลานี้ มาเลเซียเพื่อนบ้านติดกันที่ธุรกิจนี้กำลังเติบโต ผลที่ได้แม้อาจไม่มากนักต่อคนไทย ก็คือ โอกาสการทำงาน โดยเฉพาะงานที่ต้องใช้ภาษาไทย ซึ่งผลดีจะมีต่อน้อง ๆ ลูกหลาน ของเราที่เรียนจบในมาเลเซียหรือในประเทศ มีโอกาสได้ทำงานในบริษัทเหล่านี้มากขึ้น ด้วยเงินเดือนขั้นต้นระดับปริญญาตรีจบใหม่ ประมาณ 25,000 บาท มองอีกแง่หนึ่งคือ การเกิดภาวะสมองไหล แต่ถ้าเรามีความพร้อมกว่านี้ ก็สามารถดึงคนเหล่านี้กลับมาทำงานในประเทศได้ และเป็นการดีเสียอีกที่จะได้บุคลากรที่มีประสบการณ์และมีความพร้อมด้านภาษา

แหล่งอ้างอิง

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2005/11/india_as_number_1.html

http://www.sourcingmag.com/content/c060510a.asp

http://www.livemint.com/2008/06/19214941/Malaysia-hungers-for-a-piece-o.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_mukherjee&sid=apPwhch1xa6I

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Philippines To Be Number One Outsourcing Site

Posted by: cory

In 2000, only four Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies were operating on Philippines shores; and there were only about 2,500-plus call center agents manning the lines. Within seven years, that population has grown exponentially with more than 120 BPO companies requiring more than 200,000 agents at any given time.

The Philippines is gradually becoming one of the most sought after BPO site in the global market. It has surpassed all market expectations, and outsourcing companies are reaping the benefits; while at the same time, help strengthen the Filipino economy with the influx of dollar-based businesses. There are many factors that contribute to this countrys popularity among foreign investors, but for the purpose of discussion, this article will concentrate on only two: English fluency and the steady progress of infrastructure development.

English Fluency

Today, the Philippines ranks third in the global market when it comes to providing outsourcing services, with India and China still retaining the top two spots. India, however, subscribes to the British-style of the English language complete with a very pronounced accent, and native sensibilities. China, on the other hand, despite the fact that it is producing more technical school graduates and scientists yearly, (which is highly desirable in the BPO industry) still has to contend with its fluency with regards to spoken and written English. English fluency is one of the primary reasons why many US BPO companies are looking into the Philippines as an alternative source of skilled manpower.

The Philippines is the 3rd largest English speaking nation in the world (after USA and UK), and has, for a certain time been under American governance. This makes it easier for Filipino outsourcing agents to come to grips with American sensibilities and mode of speech. It also helps that the country is seemingly US centric: following the same accepted accounting principles, the same engineering standards, the same medical standards, and sometimes, even the same laws. For clarification purposes, India, the world leader as outsourcing service providers is more UK centric, and thus poses a lot of problems with regards to US-based companies promoting American sensibilities.

Another factor that contributes greatly to English fluency in the Philippines is that the workforce is comprised mostly of college graduates from reputable schools, and has undergone extensive and / or longer periods of training.

Steady Progress of Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure development is very important in the business world. Development means reliable telecommunication and transportation infrastructure, which translates to lower operational costs for the BPO companies.

The National Capital Region or more popularly known as Manila is the commercial, educational and financial hub of the nation. Here, investors are finding suitable niches that that affords their clients the excellent service their companies bank on, with relatively lower operational costs as compared to the same kind of service in the US and even in India. Here too, is the site for the most numerous qualified college graduates actively seeking positions in the different outsourcing companies. (Not that this has posed any problems prior because according to many market trend research, the demand for qualified agents still outweigh greatly the manpower supply.)

Some BPO companies are even reaching out to other parts of the Philippines like Cebu, Davao and Pampangga: three provinces that have lower costs of living, lower business office rentals, lower housing rates, but with steadfast infrastructure development that can now compete globally when it comes to telecommunications and transportation advancement. All this basically means that the BPO companies can bring down their rates even further to entice more US-based businesses to outsource jobs in the Philippines.

www.logicallinc.com

By Lisa Girion
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2008 | Los Angeles Times

When Blue Shield of California learned that Ana Maria Simoes needed emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder, the company OKd the operation but also turned the case over to its investigative unit, according to corporate records disclosed Wednesday.

A Blue Shield investigator scrutinized Ana Maria's medical records and compared them to the application she filled out for coverage, the investigator's notes show. Ultimately, the investigator scribbled "unable to prove" in her notes, and then opened an investigation into Ana Maria's husband, Augustine.

This time, the investigator concluded the Chino dairy farmer had failed to disclose that he had high cholesterol, and the omission was used to justify canceling the couple's coverage.

The cancellation was highlighted by Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo as an example of the allegedly abusive practices at the heart of a lawsuit he filed Wednesday on behalf of the residents of Los Angeles against Blue Shield. The suit contends that Blue Shield has illegally canceled the coverage of more than 850 policyholders including people like the Simoeses since 2002.

Blue Shield spokesman Tom Epstein defended the cancellation of the Simoes' coverage and called the suit "a cheap political stunt" that was "totally without merit."

In the past, Blue Shield has said that it cancels policies rarely and that the practice is a legal and necessary tool to combat fraud. The Blue Shield suit is similar to those that Delgadillo filed earlier this year against insurers Anthem Blue Cross and Health Net. Like Blue Shield, those companies have denied wrongdoing and say they rescind coverage only when necessary.

The latest suit accuses Blue Shield, a nonprofit company based in San Francisco, of using complex and confusing applications for coverage to trick individuals into making mistakes that can later be used against them. The suit seeks fines and penalties of more than $1 billion.

"For decades, health insurers have gamed the system and reaped billions," Delgadillo said. "The time has come to . . . set things right."

The suit also accuses Blue Shield of falsely advertising its coverage, alleging that the company often reneges when its members need substantial medical care.

Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Assn., and Dr. Robert Bitonte, president-elect of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., praised Delgadillo's efforts to stop the practice known as rescission.

"Having health insurance does not mean you will receive healthcare when you need it," Frankenstein said. "Insurance companies may promise you the moon and a thousand doctors, but if you really need your medical care you can bet they will be looking for a way to deny treatment or cancel your policy."

Blue Shield's Epstein said Delgadillo "asserts that we have committed unfair practices regarding the payment of claims for 400,000 individual policyholders without a shred of evidence that our actions were improper. He fails to mention that, since 2002, we have paid nearly $4 billion in claims for those policyholders. He claims that we used intentionally misleading applications, but our applications were reviewed and approved by two state regulators."

The company also criticized Delgadillo's consultations with policyholder "lawyers who have a financial interest in rescission cases," Epstein said, saying that "he never spoke to anyone in our company nor asked for any documents in our files."

Blue Shield has "always been careful in our underwriting of health coverage policies and in our investigations of the rare contracts that are rescinded," Epstein said. "This is why we have rescinded a fraction of 1% of individual and family policies."

Blue Shield believes that it is the responsibility of applicants to tell the truth, Epstein said.

"If there were no consequences for applicants who misrepresent significant medical conditions, insurance rates would skyrocket for the vast majority of Californians who complete their applications accurately," he said.

The Simoeses say the cancellation saddled them with $60,000 in unpaid medical bills. They say they were harassed by collection agents, and Ana Maria's credit was ruined.

"I hope that nobody else has to go through this, and I hope there will be somebody out there who can stop the insurance companies," Ana Maria said in an interview after standing next to Delgadillo at a news conference. "It is so upsetting to me and my family."

The Simoeses said they were as honest as they knew how to be on the application. English is a second language for the Portuguese immigrants, and they went to an insurance agent to buy their coverage. They said the agent filled out the application.

They said they gave the agent their physicians' names and telephone numbers as he was filling out the application. They signed the application, giving Blue Shield permission to review their medical records before issuing coverage and, they said, that is what the agent told them would happen.

Delgadillo contends that, to save money, Blue Shield routinely fails to pull records and verify information on applications.

Augustine Simoes said he was not aware he had an elevated cholesterol level. He said his doctor prescribed Lipitor, a cholesterol controller, and explained only that men his age often needed it.

"The records of everything were at the doctor's office," he said. "I don't know why they are accusing me of lying. I didn't make anything up."

Blue Shield's Epstein said the insurer acted properly throughout. "When all the evidence is in, it will be clear that both Simoeses misrepresented significant facts on their applications," he said.

William Shernoff, a lawyer for the Simoeses and other policyholders, is cooperating with Delgadillo's office on the litigation. He criticized regulators at the Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care for "simply not doing their job."

But Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, defended that agency's actions.

"We have protected consumers and restored coverage quickly to more than 1,200 consumers to date," Ehnes said.

Noting Anthem Blue Cross' and Blue Shield's failure to reissue coverage on rescinded policies, she said, her agency was "going back through each of their approximately 2,170 rescission cases to pursue individual fines in each case."

"The terrible practice of rescissions has caused irreparable harm . . . by making some individuals responsible for large medical bills and hindering their ability to get and keep health coverage," she said.

lisa.girion@latimes.com

By Lisa Girion
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2008 | Los Angeles Times

When Blue Shield of California learned that Ana Maria Simoes needed emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder, the company OKd the operation but also turned the case over to its investigative unit, according to corporate records disclosed Wednesday.

A Blue Shield investigator scrutinized Ana Maria's medical records and compared them to the application she filled out for coverage, the investigator's notes show. Ultimately, the investigator scribbled "unable to prove" in her notes, and then opened an investigation into Ana Maria's husband, Augustine.

This time, the investigator concluded the Chino dairy farmer had failed to disclose that he had high cholesterol, and the omission was used to justify canceling the couple's coverage.

The cancellation was highlighted by Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo as an example of the allegedly abusive practices at the heart of a lawsuit he filed Wednesday on behalf of the residents of Los Angeles against Blue Shield. The suit contends that Blue Shield has illegally canceled the coverage of more than 850 policyholders including people like the Simoeses since 2002.

Blue Shield spokesman Tom Epstein defended the cancellation of the Simoes' coverage and called the suit "a cheap political stunt" that was "totally without merit."

In the past, Blue Shield has said that it cancels policies rarely and that the practice is a legal and necessary tool to combat fraud. The Blue Shield suit is similar to those that Delgadillo filed earlier this year against insurers Anthem Blue Cross and Health Net. Like Blue Shield, those companies have denied wrongdoing and say they rescind coverage only when necessary.

The latest suit accuses Blue Shield, a nonprofit company based in San Francisco, of using complex and confusing applications for coverage to trick individuals into making mistakes that can later be used against them. The suit seeks fines and penalties of more than $1 billion.

"For decades, health insurers have gamed the system and reaped billions," Delgadillo said. "The time has come to . . . set things right."

The suit also accuses Blue Shield of falsely advertising its coverage, alleging that the company often reneges when its members need substantial medical care.

Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Assn., and Dr. Robert Bitonte, president-elect of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn., praised Delgadillo's efforts to stop the practice known as rescission.

"Having health insurance does not mean you will receive healthcare when you need it," Frankenstein said. "Insurance companies may promise you the moon and a thousand doctors, but if you really need your medical care you can bet they will be looking for a way to deny treatment or cancel your policy."

Blue Shield's Epstein said Delgadillo "asserts that we have committed unfair practices regarding the payment of claims for 400,000 individual policyholders without a shred of evidence that our actions were improper. He fails to mention that, since 2002, we have paid nearly $4 billion in claims for those policyholders. He claims that we used intentionally misleading applications, but our applications were reviewed and approved by two state regulators."

The company also criticized Delgadillo's consultations with policyholder "lawyers who have a financial interest in rescission cases," Epstein said, saying that "he never spoke to anyone in our company nor asked for any documents in our files."

Blue Shield has "always been careful in our underwriting of health coverage policies and in our investigations of the rare contracts that are rescinded," Epstein said. "This is why we have rescinded a fraction of 1% of individual and family policies."

Blue Shield believes that it is the responsibility of applicants to tell the truth, Epstein said.

"If there were no consequences for applicants who misrepresent significant medical conditions, insurance rates would skyrocket for the vast majority of Californians who complete their applications accurately," he said.

The Simoeses say the cancellation saddled them with $60,000 in unpaid medical bills. They say they were harassed by collection agents, and Ana Maria's credit was ruined.

"I hope that nobody else has to go through this, and I hope there will be somebody out there who can stop the insurance companies," Ana Maria said in an interview after standing next to Delgadillo at a news conference. "It is so upsetting to me and my family."

The Simoeses said they were as honest as they knew how to be on the application. English is a second language for the Portuguese immigrants, and they went to an insurance agent to buy their coverage. They said the agent filled out the application.

They said they gave the agent their physicians' names and telephone numbers as he was filling out the application. They signed the application, giving Blue Shield permission to review their medical records before issuing coverage and, they said, that is what the agent told them would happen.

Delgadillo contends that, to save money, Blue Shield routinely fails to pull records and verify information on applications.

Augustine Simoes said he was not aware he had an elevated cholesterol level. He said his doctor prescribed Lipitor, a cholesterol controller, and explained only that men his age often needed it.

"The records of everything were at the doctor's office," he said. "I don't know why they are accusing me of lying. I didn't make anything up."

Blue Shield's Epstein said the insurer acted properly throughout. "When all the evidence is in, it will be clear that both Simoeses misrepresented significant facts on their applications," he said.

William Shernoff, a lawyer for the Simoeses and other policyholders, is cooperating with Delgadillo's office on the litigation. He criticized regulators at the Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care for "simply not doing their job."

But Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, defended that agency's actions.

"We have protected consumers and restored coverage quickly to more than 1,200 consumers to date," Ehnes said.

Noting Anthem Blue Cross' and Blue Shield's failure to reissue coverage on rescinded policies, she said, her agency was "going back through each of their approximately 2,170 rescission cases to pursue individual fines in each case."

"The terrible practice of rescissions has caused irreparable harm . . . by making some individuals responsible for large medical bills and hindering their ability to get and keep health coverage," she said.

lisa.girion@latimes.com

So we’ve got this patient here who was injured in this spaceship accident. You know, just a routine, uh, orbital mishap. But how do we account for that? Oh, right, it’s ICD-9 code E845 — “Accident involving spacecraft.”

Apropos of nothing in particular, this billing code popped up on a couple of medical blogs last week (KevinMD and Dr. Secretwave101). Intrigued, we did a little reporting.

This extended definition notes that the code includes “launching pad accident,” but excludes “effects of weightlessness in spacecraft,” which has its own code (E928.0).

ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes are the basic international health codes that exist for just about everything (as this spaceship thing suggests). They’re used both for billing purposes and for tracking trends in public health.

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, one of the key agencies that deals with the codes in this country, told us that E845 was in the current version of U.S. ICD-9 code when it was first published in 1979. The code was created by the World Health Organization as part of ICD-9, the spokesman said. Other places in the world use ICD-10, we’ve stuck with ICD-9-CM.

A little creative Googling turned up a citation of the same code all the way back in 1966.

Just because a code exists, it doesn’t mean anybody’s ever used it. “Whether someone was injured [by a spacecraft] or not was immaterial because somebody thought, ‘What If?’ ” Sheri Poe Bernard, a VP at the American Academy of Professional Coders told us.

It didn’t take much to get Poe talking about all the strange things that have their own codes. Bite of a non-venomous arthropod. Dog bite. Rat bite. Scorpion sting. “A centipede has its own code — E905.4,” she said. “Accident caused by paintball gun, E922.5 Accident by fireworks, explosion, E923.0″

If you can think of a way to be killed or injured, there’s a code for it. “Terrorism has all kinds of codes associated, involving marine weapons, aircraft, explosions, conflagration,” she said. “Terrorism involving nuclear weapons, E979.5; biological weapons E979.6; chemical weapons E979.7.”

Uh, thanks Sheri. If you need us, we’ll be huddling under our desk, fearing for our lives. What’s the ICD code for that?

So we’ve got this patient here who was injured in this spaceship accident. You know, just a routine, uh, orbital mishap. But how do we account for that? Oh, right, it’s ICD-9 code E845 — “Accident involving spacecraft.”

Apropos of nothing in particular, this billing code popped up on a couple of medical blogs last week (KevinMD and Dr. Secretwave101). Intrigued, we did a little reporting.

This extended definition notes that the code includes “launching pad accident,” but excludes “effects of weightlessness in spacecraft,” which has its own code (E928.0).

ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes are the basic international health codes that exist for just about everything (as this spaceship thing suggests). They’re used both for billing purposes and for tracking trends in public health.

A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, one of the key agencies that deals with the codes in this country, told us that E845 was in the current version of U.S. ICD-9 code when it was first published in 1979. The code was created by the World Health Organization as part of ICD-9, the spokesman said. Other places in the world use ICD-10, we’ve stuck with ICD-9-CM.

A little creative Googling turned up a citation of the same code all the way back in 1966.

Just because a code exists, it doesn’t mean anybody’s ever used it. “Whether someone was injured [by a spacecraft] or not was immaterial because somebody thought, ‘What If?’ ” Sheri Poe Bernard, a VP at the American Academy of Professional Coders told us.

It didn’t take much to get Poe talking about all the strange things that have their own codes. Bite of a non-venomous arthropod. Dog bite. Rat bite. Scorpion sting. “A centipede has its own code — E905.4,” she said. “Accident caused by paintball gun, E922.5 Accident by fireworks, explosion, E923.0″

If you can think of a way to be killed or injured, there’s a code for it. “Terrorism has all kinds of codes associated, involving marine weapons, aircraft, explosions, conflagration,” she said. “Terrorism involving nuclear weapons, E979.5; biological weapons E979.6; chemical weapons E979.7.”

Uh, thanks Sheri. If you need us, we’ll be huddling under our desk, fearing for our lives. What’s the ICD code for that?

These professionals can work within the arena of financial research, which in itself is comprised of different internal activities. For example, an analyst could be linked to the overseas, client-facing side of an investment banking division and be required to provide support for merger and acquisition activities. Or he may do equity research for a brokerage firm or provide information to hedge funds. So functions like company valuations, credit analysis, financial and statistical modeling and tracking stock prices can easily be managed by these professionals.

In addition to CFAs and MBAs, mathematicians, statisticians and business graduates with some experience can also be employed at very low costs. These basic qualifications are enough to get in, but they form just the raw material. The equivalent skill set between the US and India is hard to define and this is why financial companies and outsourcing firms want people who have passion and the potential to be trained. Outsourcing firms believe in providing the necessary training as not every educated professional is well versed in what he or she might have studied during school. To train the young recruits, outsourcing firms organize compulsory training schedules that include sessions on valuation and U.S. GAAP rules, building familiarity with the functioning of ibanks and Wall Street, and cross-cultural training.

For filling up senior positions at their outsourcing hubs, outsourcing firms prefer to recruit people having two to three years of experience with banks, financial services firms, finance-related BPOs or with the corporate finance departments of companies. Although average salaries payable to these professionals is rising at an average rate of 15 to 20 percent per year, the benefits still outweigh the costs many times over and this is why financial companies are still bullish on India. Salaries payable to these professionals vary depending on their qualifications and often an additional payment component is also included in the form of bonuses.

However, increased pay packages are not the only thing that outsourcing firms are offering to their employees. The quality of work is also important since an analyst in India does the same company profile, DCF analysis and capital structuring analysis as an investment banker analyst in the U.S. In terms of advancement within the organization, professionals can look forward to additional job responsibilities, higher pay, better exposure and, in more senior positions, client-facing roles. At the senior level, people have to take responsibility and they should have the right attitude and be committed towards getting things done. Such people are being given preference by both outsourcing firms and financial companies. When the right people are on board, it helps financial companies achieve desired goals and objectives.

I am estastic at the way that my forum is different than other great real estate forums, such as: www.agentsonline.net  Many of my forum members mention how positive, open-minded and non-judgemental my forum is, and I couldn't agree more! I intentionally tried to make it a place where any real estate professional could come, ask questions, read about other BPO and REO Agent's experiences and learn more than they thought possible or more than they had anticipated.

Come check me out online at my website: www.nicoleocean.com

Warmly,

Nicole Ocean

Realtor/BPO Specialist & Trainer

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360-933-1187

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• FY07-08 performance reflects sustained growth of 28% (currency adjusted)
• FY08-09 outlook strong with software and services revenue to grow by 21-24% (currency adjusted); Software and Services Exports forecast to reach USD 50 billion
• Industry rankings released for FY07-08
      o Genpact, WNS Global Services and IBM-Daksh lead the NASSCOM Top 15
         BPO rankings 
      o Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and
         Wipro Technologies Ltd. are Top 3 players in the NASSCOM Top 20 IT
         software and services exporters rankings and NASSCOM’s Top 20 IT-BPO
         employers

According to the annual NASSCOM survey, the Indian IT-BPO industry (including domestic market) recorded an overall growth of 28% (currency adjusted), clocking revenues of USD 52 billion in FY07-08 up from USD 39.6 billion in FY06-07. The software and services exports segment grew by 29% (in USD) to register revenues of USD 40.4 billion in FY07-08, up from USD 31.4 billion in FY06-07. The domestic segment grew by 26% (in INR) to register revenues of USD 11.6 billion in FY07-08.

Within the export segment, IT services exports have grown by 28% (in USD)  to clock revenues of USD 23.1 billion; while BPO exports are up by 30% (in USD) registering revenues of USD 10.9 billion. Engineering services and products exports clocked revenues of USD 6.4 billion, growing at 29% (in USD) in FY 07 -08.   

The survey also projects that the overall software and services revenues will grow by ~ 21-24% (currency adjusted) to touch ~ USD 50 billion in FY08-09.

“The Indian IT-BPO industry’s resilience is reflected in its FY07-08 performance, with a 28.2% overall growth rate and next year’s projected growth between 21-24 percent. Given that we are well on our way to achieve the target of USD 60 billion in e