WEEK 5Human Resource Transitioning (graded)As your textbook indicated, business process outsourcing has become an emerging trend in most small- and large-size corporations. This has been particularly true during the last year and a half, as many companies have turned to outsourcing in order to reduce overhead costs during these recessionary times. Identify some companies with which you have been personally associated, or companies that you have read about which have gone through the outsourcing process for some of their business operations. How did affected employees react to the outsource process?Globalization and Procurement (graded)For most industries, globalization is arguably one of the more common business trends of the last decade. As your text indicates, there are several considerations that must be evaluated from a contracting standpoint relative to multi-nation operations and contracting agreements. Let’s take the various contracting considerations presented in your text (and outlined in this week’s slides), and discuss how they can affect U.S.-based firms seeking a BPO or subcontracting agreement with a foreign company on a region-by-region basis, including: Canada, Europe, Asia, South/Central America, Canada, and Mexico. Based on your understanding and/or experiences in these other regions of the world, what do you think are contracting considerations that should be considered and addressed in the BPO contract?WEEK 6Contract Dispute Resolution (graded)Conflict resolution and conflict management are common day-to-day activities in most projects and office environments. As a group, let’s identify the Top 5 sources of conflict in a BPO agreement for project management services. Let’s identify one source at a time, and discuss whether or not each of you feels that it ranks in the Top 5 sources of conflict. As I read your exchanges, I will make a determination as to whether or not enough evidence has been provided to justify its inclusion into our Top 5 list.This section lists options that can be used to view responses.Benchmarking (graded)There are several ways to benchmark. The two most common benchmarking tools are performance benchmarking and best-practice benchmarking. Consider a nationwide bank that has contracted with a seller to assess its current staffing and facility locations. The goal of the contract is for the seller to produce a strategic plan that creates cost efficiencies for the bank by recommending (and implementing) areas to consolidate among staff and facilities. (One recommendation may be to close down a bank branch that is located within three miles of another bank branch.) This is a long-term contract stretched out over five years. If you were the project manager in the bank, to what benchmarks would you compare your seller? Are they performance benchmarks or best-practice benchmarks?
