IV. Business Passage Reading.
Passage from India
While the cost savings have boosted profits and increased the value of shares on stock exchanges, the trend is also becoming correspondingly controversial as unemployment levels in developed economies have risen.
The issue has become highly politicalised in nations such as the US, which is experiencing 5.6 per cent unemployment, one of the highest rates since the Second World War. Although the level cannot be entirely blamed on outsourcing, Mr Bush and his main rival for the presidency, the Democratic Party’s John Kerry, have made it a top election issue. An aide to Mr Bush argued last week that offshoring was good for the economy, while Mr Kerry said it was costing a rising number of jobs.
A bill introduced in Congress last month would prevent federal agencies from awarding contracts to companies employing overseas workers, similar legislation is being considered by at least 10 American states.
Whether it is good or bad is just as debatetable for a company. Marcia Robinson, the author of Offshore Outsourcing: Business Models, ROI and Best Practices, said it wasn’t a viable option for all firms. “There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ perspective,” said Dr Robinson, the president of Georgia-based research and consulting company E-Business strategies. “Companies need to look at the benefits and risks that are involved and then make a decision about what’s best for them.”
Repeatable processes, such as e-mailing, was one area that could readily be moved offshore, but call-centre functions that involved a lot of analysis of technical problems should not be handled remotely, she said.
Cost was a major factor in such a decision, she said. But culture and linguistics were also important, according to the chief executive officer of the Mania-based call centre specialist Ambergris Solutions, Tim Lavin. Since it opened 3 years ago, it has grown from a handful of employees to almost 2000, making it the fastest-growing call centre in the Philippines. Three of its five clients are on Fortune magazine’s list of top 500 companies.
As his client base was American, a determining factor in choosing to set up in the Philippines was the Filipinos’ affinity to the US.
“The culture is so Americanised that it makes a transition for phone agents to talk to Americans extremely easy,” he said. “That you can pull people off the street who understand the colloquialisms and pop culture of the US is something that China and Vietnam and India are never going to be able to accomplish, at least not in this generation.”
The Philippine government has been quick to realise the country’s potential to attract outsourcing, espeicallly with more than four million of its 80 million population unemployed. Companies such as Mr Lavin’s are given support through benefits, including international promotion.
The local call centre industry is mushrooming as a result, with 25,000 Filipinos now employed in the sector. While earning wages less than one-tenth of their American counterparts and working night shifts to cater for US time zones, their employment conditions and benefits are generally much better than in other industries in the Philippines.
Labour undersecretary Manuel Insom said last week the sector was reducing unemployment levels and giving workers important skills.
“Information and communications technology is one of the fastest growing sectors in the Philippines, ” he said during a visit to southern Davao City. “The government is happy about this development. It is also a source for which Filipinos can get trained and can go to employment in other industries, in and out of the country.”
aide noun [countable]
someone whose job is to help someone who has an important job, especially a politician
a presidential aide
award verb [transitive]
1 to officially give someone something such as a prize or money to reward them for something they have done
2 to officially decide that someone should receive a payment or a formal agreement
award somebody something
The government awarded a German company the contract.
award something to somebody
￡45,000 was awarded to a typist with an injured hand.
viable adjective
1 a viable idea, plan, or method can work successfully可行的
viable alternative/proposition/option etc
The committee came forward with one viable solution.
economically/commercially/financially viable
Will a hotel here be financially viable?
2 technical able to continue to live or to develop into a living thing
viable seeds
ￚviably adverb
ￚviability noun [uncountable]
the long-term economic viability of the company
handful noun
1 [countable] an amount that you can hold in your hand
handful of
The boy picked up a handful of stones and started throwing them at us.
2 a handful of something
a very small number of people or things
There were only a handful of people there.
affinity noun
plural affinities
1 [singular] a strong feeling that you like and understand someone or something
affinity with/for/between
his remarkable affinity with animals
2 [uncountable and countable] a close relationship between two things because of qualities or features that they share
affinity with/between
the affinity between Christian and Chinese concepts of the spirit
mushroom verb [intransitive] to grow and develop very quickly
New housing developments mushroomed on the edge of town.
undersecretary noun [countable] 副国务卿，次长，次官，副部长
1 a very important official in a US government department who is one position in rank below the secretary
2 a minister in a British government department, who is one position in rank below the minister who is in charge of that department
3 a government official who is in charge of the daily work of a British government department
V. Homework
Your company has decided to conduct an investigation into the possibility of increasing the number of ways in which technology is used throughout the organization. You have been asked to write a proposal concerning the use of technology in your department for the Managing Director.
Write your proposal, including the following:
A brief outlineu of the current uses of technology in your department
A description of whatu technological improvements could be made
An explanation of the benefitsu these changes might bring
Recommendations for the kind of training thatu would be necessary
Write 200-250 words.
