Business Process Outsourcing Location Index A Cushman & Wakefield Publication 2013
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Background Methodology and Considerations The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has undergone significant change and development over the past few years. There has been the emergence of new locations becoming BPO hubs and also the expansion of the sector to now include Information Technology based outsourcing (ITES-BPO) and also Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). The traditional destinations for the BPO industry are fully established and developed and the pioneer operators are now moving into new markets. In addition, and largely due to rising costs in a number of countries that are traditionally associated as s such as India and the Philippines, it is important to consider different countries and analyse the current and changing dynamics of labour, IT, political and economic risks. Cost reduction business drivers have resulted in corporates looking towards new markets where they can achieve significant cost savings or moving back to the homeland and nearby countries which are becoming more competitive with the established BPO markets. Furthermore, a number of companies are actively Back Shoring their operations citing dissatisfaction with certain aspects such as inefficient supply chain and legal issues and have therefore started to bring operations back to Western or Eastern Europe or the North America. Therefore, in the constantly changing global environment the BPO has arisen in an attempt to highlight the complexity and the number of factors that BPO operators need to consider if they are contemplating expanding or relocating their existing operations. There are clearly variables to consider when moving or relocating. There are risks and opportunities involved and these will vary not only from country to country, but also city by city. The primary purpose of this is to provide an illustration of what are the most significant parameters BPO operators need to consider when assessing the most suitable location to expand or relocate to. C&W have compiled this to highlight what the initial stage of the analysis may look like and some of the criteria required to be considered at this first, high level stage. The parameters are not limited to those included, therefore, the results contained within this do not provide the definitive answer to all BPO companies and their key locations where they should be located, but rather serve as a guide of how the analysis could be undertaken using the chosen parameters. In the BPO sector there are many different types of companies operating in a variety of environments with a host of differing requirements. This is not designed as a one size fits all for all types of BPO operators. Instead it can be used as a guide to capture the whole complexity of issues to consider when making a location selection decision. The current output is focused on a more cost driven BPO function, however with the change of weightings and importance assigned to different categories, the outcome may differ to account for a particular company s needs. In this example the key company requirements would be in relation to the cost of doing business, in particular labour and property costs, whereas foreign language skills and risks associated with political and economic stability are of relatively lower importance. In this version of the the following BPO functions have been considered: Customer Contact Centres, Sales, Marketing and Support, Shared Services Centre and Technical Support Centres. This looks at the initial stage of location analysis and the key macroeconomic factors to consider. The has used previously published data using a variety of reliable secondary sources and a range of data indicators. These individual data indicators have been scored, weighted and ranked using a strict methodology, which varies from indicator to indicator and are based on the requirements of this specific form of BPO operations. However, the most important criteria in site selection and location analysis are applied during the more detailed later stages of the analysis. Country level data is replaced by regional or city level data that will not only reveal which region is most applicable but will also highlight flags for the future that may arise and any subsequent scenario planning. For example, situations may change quickly such as the impacts from a natural disaster or a rapid change of government or more slowly such as the current economic uncertainty within the majority of Europe. With the final level of analysis being undertaken on a site by site basis, the most suitable location can be determined. The definition of requirements needs to be the key: How important is the availability of labour, what are key costs to consider, if political and economic stability is not as important, what are the key risks for the business? In order to decide the most suitable location, the most crucial information will be collected by engaging with the company involved with them at each stage of the project, thus ensuring the correct issues are addressed and uncovered. The Global Business Consulting Team at Cushman & Wakefield have a substantial record assisting corporate occupiers develop and implement successful strategies across the globe. For more details on this and their contact details, please refer to page 14. 4 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 5
What the comprises Category weightings Considered Scenario: Labour Cost Sensitive BPO function Mechanised, easily replicable, cost driven business processes need for unskilled cheap labour, no English language proficiency required ready to pioneer and go to new locations where operations can be set up without delays for training, etc Political risks are of lower importance Talent / Labour Force 20% Labour Force Percentage of Population with Tertiary Education English Language Proficiency Corporate Tax Rates 70% Business Environment 20% GDP per capita 10% Conditions GDP forecast 20% Time to First Supply 20% Building Procedures Building Time 60% IT Infrastructure Connectivity 100% Economic Risk Economic Stability 100% Risk 20% Corporate Risk Political Stability Corruption Perceptions Index 50% 50% In order to determine the countries to include in the, analysis by using the FDI Markets (www.fdimarkets.com) database was undertaken. From these results, it was possible to determine the top 31 countries that had been the largest recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the BPO sector over the previous five years up to Q2 2012 and where the creation of the greatest number of BPO related jobs was observed. The BPO operations that were considered consisted of: Customer Contact Centres, Sales, Marketing and Support, Shared Services Centre and Technical Support Centres. From this list of countries the next stage was to determine the parameters to assess each country against. The key parameters for any BPO operators to consider were grouped in relation to three principal criteria: Costs, Risks and Conditions. The next stage was to break these criteria down further, therefore, within the key criteria of Costs, Risks and Conditions there are 17 individual datasets that make up the total. Costs 50% Total 100% Energy Risk Cost of Labour Building Costs Inflation Property Costs 15% 15% Energy Security 100% 6 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 7
Index map The Countries Cushman & Wakefield have selected thirty one country for the BPO Location Index, representing established and emerging s, which have been the largest recipients of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the BPO sector from 2007 up to 2Q 2012 and where creation of the greatest number of BPO related jobs was observed (Source: FDI Markets database www.fdimarkets.com) 6 18 29 14 30 19 3 2 27 15 21 9 13 31 24 10 8 28 12 5 23 11 4 16 17 7 25 1 8 26 22 1 Chile 2 Romania 3 Poland 4 UAE 5 Colombia 6 Canada 7 Peru 8 Costa Rica 9 Egypt 10 El Salvador 11 Guatemala 12 Philippines 13 Mexico 14 Germany 15 China 16 Panama 17 Brazil 18 United Kingdom 19 United States 20 Uruguay 21 Spain 22 South Africa 23 Honduras 24 Nicaragua 25 Australia 26 Argentina 27 Lebanon 28 India 29 Ireland 30 France 31 Jamaica 20 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 9
BPO Index Findings and Overview The provides an objective tool for any company to reflect its risk profile and selection criteria and determine the optimum location for its BPO activity. Different companies will have different profiles and criteria and so this will result in different outcomes. We have used an example profile to demonstrate the outcomes of the. In this example, the country that has finished at the top of the BPO Index is the South American country of Chile, followed by Romania and Poland from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in second and third place respectively. Chile scores well in relation to its placing in both the Risk and Cost categories, appearing in the top five places in each. It is a growing destination for BPO operations with an increasing number of primarily North American based companies opening facilities in Chile. Romania and Poland are placed second and third in the overall. Both countries have been significant recipients from a number of sectors in terms of outsourcing over the last few years following in the example of manufacturing facilities that located to these countries 10 years ago. This trend has continued with the BPO industry becoming increasingly prevalent within both nations, with a large number of multinationals from a wide variety of sectors having facilities operating from within CEE. The outsourcing trend to CEE countries is increasing at approximately 15% per annum (www.itsourcing-europe. com) and is anticipated to continue. A key driver for moving BPO operations is cost, and this is reflected in both Poland and Romania being placed first and second in the cost category and thus well placed in the overall. Region Country Overall Conditions Risk Cost AMERICAS Chile 1 9 4 3 EMEA Romania 2 6 22 2 EMEA Poland 3 15 13 1 EMEA UAE 4 10 7 7 AMERICAS Colombia 5 18 10 4 AMERICAS Canada 6 3 1 22 AMERICAS Peru 7 13 14 11 AMERICAS Costa Rica 8 16 18 10 EMEA Egypt 9 30 19 5 AMERICAS El Salvador 10 24 20 6 AMERICAS Guatemala 11 22 23 8 APAC Philippines 12 22 24 9 AMERICAS Mexico 13 29 11 13 EMEA Germany 14 2 3 25 APAC China 15 17 12 17 AMERICAS Panama 16 12 26 14 AMERICAS Brazil 17 26 16 16 EMEA United Kingdom 18 1 9 28 AMERICAS United States 19 8 5 27 AMERICAS Uruguay 20 11 17 20 EMEA Spain 21 4 15 26 EMEA South Africa 22 28 8 19 AMERICAS Honduras 23 25 27 15 AMERICAS Nicaragua 24 27 30 12 APAC Australia 25 5 2 29 AMERICAS Argentina 26 14 21 24 EMEA Lebanon 27 19 28 18 APAC India 28 23 25 23 EMEA Ireland 29 2 13 30 EMEA France 30 7 6 30 AMERICAS Jamaica 31 20 29 21 As highlighted within the methodology the countries were defined by using the top 31 countries in relation to foreign direct investment and the number of BPO jobs created over the last five years as specified by the following categories: Customer Contact Centres, Sales, Marketing and Support, Shared Services Centre and Technical Support Centres. Once the type of BPO operation to be analysed was determined, the weightings applied to this version of the model. Costs have been assessed as the most important key factor followed by Conditions and then Risks as the least important of the three key factors. However, the flexibility and sophistication of the model is such that it allows weightings and categories to be amended or changed depending on the parameters analysed. Pioneers Destinations: Where is Next? As inflation and business costs continue to rise in a number of established markets across the globe, companies will increasingly have to look at and assess different markets and locations in order to achieve the cost savings and business realignment required. Therefore, more pioneering companies and operators will look beyond the traditional locations for BPO operations. These locations have a potential to emerge over the next year or so as BPO destinations and may include the following: Costa Rica, UAE, Colombia, Peru and El Salvador. 10 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 11
INDEX FINDINGS BY CATEGORY The key criteria categories are highlighted below, showing the three top and bottom countries in each ranking by Risk, Cost and Conditions. WHERE IS THE RISK? Cost Environment Qualitative factors 1 2 3 28 29 30 1 2 3 28 29 30 1 2 3 28 29 30 CANADA AUSTRALIA GERMANY HONDURAS LEBANON NICARAGUA POLAND ROMANIA CHILE AUSTRALIA IRELAND FRANCE UK IRELAND GERMANY SOUTH AFRICA MEXICO EGYPT The Risk consists of key high level factors that companies would consider when assessing the risk factors associated with their operations, therefore political, economic and energy security risks are all analysed in addition to corruption perceptions. The risk sees Canada score well in each sub-category and it is also seen as the country with the lowest risk in other considerations such as Economic and Political stability. Australia also scores well in each sub-category and is seen as the least corrupt country within the analysed locations. Chile is placed at the top of the overall and is also well placed in relation to risk. With a solid performance in all risk sub-categories has resulted in Chile finishing fourth in the risk category. Furthermore, both Germany and the USA are seen as low risk locations and this is reflected by both countries scoring well in relation to risk and being placed 3rd and 5th respectively. Due to weighting of the model, the Cost category is considered as the most important for the type of BPO operator it is aligned to. The top three countries in the cost are also well placed in the overall. Therefore, both Poland and Romania score well in terms of the labour and building costs sub-categories. The current inflation (CPI) level within Romania sees Poland move ahead in terms of the cost category. In third position is Chile and it is well placed due a positive performance in having a low current level of inflation (CPI) and being relatively inexpensive in terms of labour and building costs. The country Conditions sees countries from within Europe dominate the top five positions, with only Canada from the Americas in fourth position, located outside of Europe. The UK, Ireland and Germany account for the top three positions, closely matching in terms of suitable conditions for BPO operations, in this instance. All of the top three countries have scored particularly well in the connectivity sub-category (measured by international internet bandwidth per user) and have seen steady performance in all other sub-categories such as Corporate Tax rate and Tertiary Education levels. Spain possesses a low level of bureaucracy in terms of the ease building construction and as a result of this and a steady performance in most other parameters finished 5th in the conditions CONCLUSION The BPO industry is developing quickly largely due to the increased costs in the established BPO markets that force corporate occupiers to search for new locations in order to reduce cost base and optimise business operations. However, government incentives, fiscal and structural changes in the economies globally create new opportunities for the companies which have not been explored before. The costs are highlighted within this version of the model as the major factor to consider and are likely to remain at the top of the list of key considerations for companies contemplating the next step in their BPO operations. Chile finished top in the overall due a good performance in the risk rating but it was largely due to the better performance seen in the cost category that was the principal reason for Chile being placed first. The traditional s, such as India and the Philippines, have not appeared at the top of this version of the scoring due to high inflation level, soaring costs and increased business and political risks. These countries would still remain key BPO hubs due to their size, scale and developed infrastructure, however there seem to appear a number of other countries and new locations within established BPO countries like India that can become BPO hubs in the near future. Although, and as highlighted within the methodology, this is not a one size fits all model. Despite Chile finishing top of this, there are clearly many factors to consider in relation to BPO operations. Some companies require more highly specialised requirements, such as highly skilled labour or locations with low political and economic risk. Therefore, when understanding the suitability of a location, the business drivers are of paramount importance to ensure a suitable outcome. 12 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 13
ABOUT C&W S BUSINESS CONSULTING group We are a respected management consulting group operating within one of the leading global real estate services firms. We optimize our clients real estate portfolios and help organizations build a business case for improving performance by reducing costs, increasing revenues and mitigating operational and financial risk. This unique combination of capabilities supports the delivery of quantifiable and executable results for our clients and differentiates our firm from others in the industry. Our Global Business Consulting group is focused on the following five main practice areas: Office Platform Solutions Practice World Market Access Practice Global Supply Chain Solutions Practice Retail Practice Business Incentives Practice For further details contact Elizaveta Shaforostova Global Business Consulting EMEA Cushman & Wakefield LLP 43/45 Portman Square, London W1A 3BG +44 20 7152 5183 elizaveta.shaforostova@eur.cushwake.com Global contacts For Americas Woody Hydrick Managing Director +1 404 853 5382 woody.hydrick@cushwake.com For APAC Aashish Agarwal National Head Strategic Consulting +91 22 6771 4202 aashish.agarwal@ap.cushwake.com DISCLAIMER The BPO Location Index has been produced by Cushman & Wakefield LLP. The BPO Location Index uses information obtained from public sources which Cushman & Wakefield LLP believe to be reliable, but we have not verified such information and cannot guarantee that it is accurate and complete. No warranty or representation, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information contained herein and Cushman & Wakefield LLP shall not be liable to any reader of this report or any third party in any way whatsoever. All expressions of opinion are subject to change. Our prior written consent is required before this report can be reproduced in whole or in part. 01/2013 Cushman & Wakefield. All rights reserved. 14 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 15
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