BMAN 70122 Research Methods Assignment Sample
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Proposal development on Social sustainability in Service sectors
Abstract
Globalization has entirely changed the way service industry work these days. As a result of globalization service economy of one nation seems sustainable while it may harm the economies of other nations due to a high level of outsourcing (Khan, R. 2016).
Service economy in the developed nations has provided individuals residing in different corners of the world with a number of options in terms of services and opportunities. The current scenario of service industries has resulted in eradicating the gender differences and has also helped individuals to attain higher degree of mobility (Glasson, J., & Wood, G. 2009).
Social sustainability is a critical problem that is exposed to a number of factors. Needless to say that service economy has positively contributed to social sustainability but at the same time it has also proposed a number of threats to social sustainability ultimately resulting in sustainable economic growth (AYOADE, A.A. 1988) Outsourcing has been practiced in the developing nations since a number of years.
Studies reveals that organizations that are outsourcing services are aimed towards lowering down the cost of production and achieve economic growth. For example, the famous company called Nokia is outsourcing its mobile production to 30 % to 40 %. The recent trends in the service industry in the context of outsourcing indicates that it is centralized mainly in the field of Information Technology.
Background and Introduction
This piece of research aims to highlight the current trends in regarding outsourcing in service industries. In this research the researcher will conduct an in depth research to highlight the future directions, emerging trends and relevant key issues in the field of outsourcing.
In order to meet the requirements of the growing population today’s businesses are exploiting the human capital endlessly and so it is important to assess the significance of such business who are operating with cross cultural teams and conducting its activities in International dynamic environment (Glasson, J., & Wood, G. 2009).
Outsourcing is an old phenomenon that took place years ago but the recent upgradation in technology has changed the way in which outsourcing is done these days. The primary aim behind conducting such activity is to cut down the overall operating cost. For instance, in the past few years the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector has encountered tremendous growth all around the world (Barnett, R. C., & Hyde, J. S. 2001).
This is because there have been tremendous advancements in technology and information communication & intense competition resulting from globalization. Outsourcing has benefitted the developed nations in a number of ways. For instance, a BPO has 5 main segments namely- software development, animation, medical transcription, call centers & shared services (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008). In such a situation a company may outsource these services to cut down the operating cost and churn out huge revenues. To avail the benefits these industries just have to-
- Utilizing advanced telecoms infrastructure
- Developing cultural affinity with the markets of developing nations
That is why today a number of developed nations has emerged as a big BPO leaders at global level. But sometimes social instability becomes the major weakness of these industries. It is essential for these industries to develop policies that are beneficial for the employees working from other countries (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008).
This is because such companies end up framing strict rules and policies and long working hours that hinders individual physical and mental growth. Also efforts must be taken on part of these industries to secure the data that has been shared between the two nations (Glasson, J., & Wood, G. 2009).
Research Questions
This piece of research aims to answer the following questions-
- Does the exploitation of human capital lead to better outcomes?
- How the changes in the current policies, rules and regulations in outsourcing results in social sustainability?
- Does outsourcing results in increasing in the GDP of developed nations?
- Does outsourcing possess threat to the drainage of human resources of developing nations?
Hypotheses
- There is a direct relationship between longer workdays and inefficient allocation of human resources.
- There is a direct relationship between longer working hours and difficulty in balancing private life.
Research Aims and Objectives
Looking at the current scenario it may be said that outsourcing has become an inevitable part of the service industry especially when it comes to Information Technology. A number of multinational companies switching towards outsourcing to optimally use the scarce in house resources (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008). In this piece of study, the author has adopted a secondary research approach with the aim to fill the gap that exists between the traditional approaches and the current scenario of service industries.
For instance, the researcher has picked up the traditional trends in the field of outsourcing in the past 10 years and highlighted the success of these trends in terms of what makes them win or lose in comparison with the prevailing and future outsourcing trends.
It has been seen that the outsourcing companies are forcing the employees to work for longer hours ignoring the laws of the country in which they outsource (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008). The result of over allocation time and effort lead to a loss of leisure. The main objective of this research is to highlight facts on how overwork has restricted employees in attaining work life balance. Also efforts will be made to throw some light on how the policies at workplace creates restlessness by limiting crowding out, failed marriages, infertility in women.
Literature review
Mehta et al. (2006) in his research has defined outsourcing firms as an external service provider that offer its operational ownership outside its boundaries to conduct its activities. For instance, an organization looking for a BPO strategy can hire an outsider at a comparatively cheaper cost to outsource its back-office functionalities.
Though outsourcing offers a number of benefits to both the developing and developed nations (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008). This is because the developed nations get endless opportunities to hire employees from developing nations at cheaper rates that ultimately results in churning out huge profits. Also outsourcing helps in improving the standards of living of its citizens by improving the country’s GDP.
On the other hand, outsourcing helps the developing nations with employment opportunities that further helps in increasing the standard of living (Glasson, J., & Wood, G. 2009). Outsourcing also helps in retaining the overqualified citizens in the home country as they are able to get white collar jobs in their home country itself. Outsourcing opens doors of learning for the developing nations as these nations are far behind the developed ones.
As per the studies conducted by Narayanan (2009) there are basically 4 strategic reason behind outsourcing. These are as under-
- Improved cash flow
- Scalable staffing
- Improved payment control and
- Improved overall performance of the organization
Technological advancements have created an environment of cut throat competition amongst businesses all around the world. Due to this organization situated in different parts of the world faces difficulties to stand out from the crowd to get noticed by people.
A part from this they also face tough times in offering services at lower cost to capture the market of their competitors (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008). The main objective of outsourcing is not only to lower down the cost of production but at the same time it also aims to beat the competitors edge by offering free flow of goods and services on time.
Today’s technology driven customers are smart enough to expect high quality at low prices. The competition is so tough that your customers have endless varieties to choose from at the same price that you offer them.
Despite there are a number of benefits attached with outsourcing yet it is criticized on a number of grounds in the field of literature. This is due to the fact there has been a lot of exploitation of human resources under the name of outsourcing. The employees are forced to sign contracts that are hard to be followed in terms of number of working hours and so forth (Dempsey, N., Bramley, G., Power, S., & Brown, C. 2011).
Another major concern associated with outsourcing is the linguistic and cultural issue, client satisfaction and quality of service. The developed nations do not give heed to the working conditions of the employees where they are planning to outsource its activities that results in breaking the motivational levels of employees and customer dissatisfaction (Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. 2008).
Outsourcing possess threats to developing nations as it attracts its citizens to migrate and work beyond its boundaries. As a result, the highly competent individuals are not ready to render their services in their home country rather they prefer shifting to a foreign land where they can earn more comparatively.
In some situations, it results into inland migration which means people migrate to urban areas from rural areas to get better work opportunities (Boyer, R. H., Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. 2016). Every country has its own norms, regulations and culture. Individuals find its easy and comfortable to work in their country of origin as they are familiar with various laws and regulations (ADAMOLEKUN, L., N. KULEMEKA AND M. LALEYE 1997).
When a person shifts from one country to another he/ she require extra time & effort to adapt in the foreigner land. There are a number of reasons why organizations decide to switch to outsource. Some of them are mentioned below-
- To match the market speed
- To improve competitiveness
- To focus on its core competencies
- To access intellectual capital
- To access scarce resources & skills
- To escape form long- term investment
- To have more partnerships, shared risks & disciplined processes in their transformation to E-business
Research Methodology
This piece of research has been conducted by collecting primary data sources. To find the results a set of close ended questionnaire will be prepared by the researcher. This questionnaire is accompanied with personal interview to confirm the validity of the responses. This questionnaire will have a total of 40 questions on the basis of sociological forces that directly affects the performance of employees at workplace.
The organizations chosen for this study are all multinational companies dealing especially in the call center, software development and medical transcription having its headquarters in developed nations like India, china and Philippines. A total of 30 organizations are taken into consideration to conduct this research. 10 organizations deal in call center, 10 deals in software development and the remaining 10 deals in medical transcription.
Various categories are chosen to conduct this research because every organization is different and respond differently to the external changes on the basis of type of activities it is performing.
The employees, managers & supervisors working at the highest management level will be made to fill the questionnaire. The questionnaire will be circulated among them to record their answers. They will also be required to fill the online forms sent on their email ids by the researchers to get accurate answers and none of them is left unanswered. The organizations chosen will be situated in different parts of the country (India).
Those interviewees who are located in remote areas will be interviewed over a phone call. The responses of each and every individual will then be recorded to conduct further research on the same. Primary focus will be laid on understanding the responses of individuals towards a particular change outside their working zone. The findings help the organizations to make aware on adopting ways on how to tackle different types of sociological forces to attain business goals.
Research Approach and Strategy
A number of methodological problems may arise while analyzing the outcomes of these studies. This is because every developing nation has its own concerns and a study conducted over one nation cannot represent the issues of other nation as well. At the same time the consistency and quality of data varies across different nations.
Hence it is quite difficult for the researcher to represent straightforward components of change in terms of government policies affecting the outcomes of various kinds of multinational organizations. However, common issues in terms of eliminating wasteful practices & boosting productivity levels should be top priorities and stands common for all the nations.
Data collection
This piece of research will adopt both qualitative as well as quantitate method of study. Both the primary as well as secondary data will be taken into consideration by the researcher. This is because the aim of the author is to fill the gap that exists between the traditional approaches and the current scenario of service industries. To conduct this research, the researcher will fetch data and information from the already published sources such as journals, books, newspapers, research papers etc.
Research importance
Till data only a few number of studies has been conducted that could explain the environmental, economic and social of sustainability. However, with the growth of industrialization and globalization this issue has gained a lot of attention all around the world. Developing nations is experiencing tremendous pressure towards being socially sustainable to meet the growing challenges ahead (Dempsey, N., Bramley, G., Power, S., & Brown, C. 2011).
In the current scenario multinational companies all around the world are exploiting the human capital to a greater extent like never before. This has raised a number of eyebrows and has alarmed governments to a larger extent. Its high time the government must execute its powers for the welfare of its citizens.
A number of studies have been conducted for the same that reveals that as per the human psychology creativity & abundant ideas takes place only when there is sufficient time. Innovation is not something that takes place in an environment where individuals are working hard for longer hours. But innovation arise in an environment that has relaxed work style & sufficient time to sit and think instead of singularly devoted to work.
Looking at the current scenario it is highly recommended that the multinational companies must lower down its working hours & must clearly draw the boundaries of duties and responsibilities at workplace (Boyer, R. H., Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. 2016). This is essential because it will help in creating systems in which employees gets sufficient time to fully focus on their core competencies.
Research limitations
To conduct this piece of study the researcher has faced a number of obstacles in terms of time and resources. Every year the economies all around the world are changing constantly at a faster pace. This results in number of changes in terms of social sustainability. This research fails to examine the biasness done on the opposite sex working in various multinational organizations.
The developing nations such as India needs to work hard on the upliftment of women. Hence the research in area in terms of the role of women in developing economies is a topic of further research. For instance, as per the cultural background in India it is believed that a woman who is the nurturer of the family must be granted maternity leaves and healthy working environment at workplace. But such factors are not covered under this research.
Project planning
Advancements in technology have paved ways for cut throat competition amongst various organizations. As a result, businesses situated in different parts of the world faces difficulties to noticed by their potential and existing. Not only this, organizations situated in different corners of the world also face tough times in offering services at lower cost to capture the market of their competitors (Dempsey, N., Bramley, G., Power, S., & Brown, C. 2011).
Outsourcing not only to lower down the cost of production but at the same time it also aims to beat the competitors edge by offering free flow of goods and services on time. Today’s technology driven customers expect high quality at cheaper rates. The competition is so tough that your customers have endless varieties to choose from at the same price that you offer them.
The bliss of technology has enabled the organizations to spread wings worldwide faster like never before. A number of organizations are outsourcing towards cost effective advantages to reach international markets by utilizing the talent of individuals residing outside its boundaries (Lopez-Cermeño 2015). Demand of employees who are ready to work outsource is at global competition. However, the fact cannot be denied that the success of any kind of outsourcing takes place when there are cordial terms between the vendor and the client (Boyer, R. H., Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. 2016).
That is why it is recommended that terms of contract must be mutually understood and acceptable by both the parties. The area of conflict must be identified beforehand to avoid conflicts once the work is initiated. The contract must be properly documented in such a way that there is a win-win situation on part of both the employer as well as the employee.
Though there are a number of success stories of outsourcing but at the same time there are shocking reports on the failure of number of contracts in the past few years. As per the research conducted by Mehta and Mehta (2010) on the same, it was revealed that approximately 78 % of the relationship between the Client and the Vendor fails leaving client to pay the huge amount of losses. It is also noticed that long working hours adversely affects an individual’s well-being and health.
Long duration at workplace results in causing both mental as well as physical stress on a significant scale (Boyer, R. H., Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. 2016). Hence the organizations must adopt top- down approach to lesser down the working hours of its employees. Employees who work for longer hours fails to create balance between his private and professional life. It is often seen that MNC’s end up framing strict rules and policies and long working hours that hinders individual physical and mental growth (Lopez-Cermeño 2015).
Also no heed is given to the working conditions of the employees where these organizations are planning to outsource its activities that results in breaking the motivational levels of employees and ultimately customer dissatisfaction.
References
ADAMOLEKUN, L., N. KULEMEKA AND M. LALEYE ìPolitical transition, economic liberalization and civil service reform in Malawiî, Public Administration and Development, Vol. 17, 1997, pp. 209ñ222.
Boyer, R. H., Peterson, N. D., Arora, P., & Caldwell, K. (2016). Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward. Sustainability, 8(9), 878.
Bernardi, F., & Garrido, L. (2008). Is there a new service proletariat? Post-industrial employment growth and social inequality in Spain. European Sociological Review, 24(3), 299.
AYOADE, A.A. ìStates without citizens: An emerging problemî, in D. Rothchild and N. Chazan (eds.), The Precarious Balance: State and Society in Africa, Westview Press, Boulder, 1988.
Barnett, R. C., & Hyde, J. S. (2001). Women, men, work, and family: An expansionist theory. American psychologist, 56(10), 781.
Dempsey, N., Bramley, G., Power, S., & Brown, C. (2011). The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability. Sustainable development, 19(5), 289-300.
Glasson, J., & Wood, G. (2009). Urban regeneration and impact assessment for social sustainability. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 27(4), 283-290
Lopez-Cermeño (2015), A. Service labour market: The engine of growth and inequality. Gatta, M., Boushey, H., & Appelbaum, E. (2009). High-touch and here-to-stay: Future skills demands in US low wage service occupations. Sociology, 43(5), 968-989.
Hermelin, B. (2007). The urbanization and suburbanization of the service economy: producer services and specialization in Stockholm. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 89(s1), 59-74.
Khan, R. (2016). How Frugal Innovation Promotes Social Sustainability. Sustainability, 8(10), 1034
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