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Advantages and Risks associated with outsourcing HR functions in organizations and managing them.

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Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 5 1.1 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................... 8 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 9 2.1. Human Resource Management Challenges ................................................ 9 2.2 Rational for Outsourcing Human Resources ............................................. 11 2.3 Effect of Organizational Characteristics and Environment ....................... 14 2.4 Elements of human resource Outsourcing ................................................. 15 2.4 Benefits Derived from HR Outsourcing .................................................... 17 2.5 Risks in Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) ......................................... 19 2.6 Perspectives for HR Outsourcing .............................................................. 22 3. Research Methodology .................................................................................. 27 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 27 3.2. Research design ........................................................................................ 28 3.3. Research Philosophy ................................................................................. 28 3.4. Research Approach ................................................................................... 30 3.4.1. Deductive approach ............................................................................ 30 3.4.2. Inductive research approach ............................................................... 30 3.5. Research strategy ...................................................................................... 31 3.6. Time Horizon ............................................................................................ 32 3.7. Sample Location and Target population ................................................... 32 3.8. Sampling ................................................................................................... 32 3.9. Sample size ............................................................................................... 33 3.10. Data Collection ....................................................................................... 34 3.11. Validity and Reliability........................................................................... 39 3.12. Ethical approaches .................................................................................. 40 ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

3.13. Informed consent .................................................................................... 41 3.14. Interview textual analysis ....................................................................... 41 3.15. Summary ................................................................................................. 42 4. Results and Analysis ....................................................................................... 42 4.0. Introduction ............................................................................................... 42 4.1. Participants Profile .................................................................................... 43 4.2. Implementation of HR Policies and Practices .......................................... 44 4.3. Motives of Outsourcing Decisions: .......................................................... 46 4.4. Strategic viewpoint of Outsourcing .......................................................... 48 4.5. Driving factors of HR Outsourcing .......................................................... 49 4.6. Benefits of HR outsourcing functions ...................................................... 50 4.7. Challenges and issues in outsourcing ....................................................... 51 4.8. Outsourcing and its impact on HR team ................................................... 52 4.9 India as your HR outsourcing destination ................................................. 55 4.10 Outsourcing Vendors interview transcript:.............................................. 57 4.11 Summary: ................................................................................................. 68 5. Discussion & Conclusion ................................................................................ 69 5.0 Core motives and benefits of HR outsourcing........................................... 70 5.0.1 Low cost operation .............................................................................. 70 5.0. 2 Competitive advantage ....................................................................... 70 5.0.3 Increased flexibility ............................................................................. 71 5.0.4 Increased quality .................................................................................. 71 5.1 Challenges and issues involved in HR outsourcing .................................. 72 5.1.1 Vendor selection .................................................................................. 72 5.1.2 Selecting outsourcing functions........................................................... 73 5.1.3. Inconsistent quality and performance ................................................. 73 5.1.4 Privacy and confidentiality of organizational data .............................. 73 5.2 Challenges and issues faced by vendors .................................................... 74 ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

5.2.1 Delayed response time and miscommunication .................................. 74 5.2.2 Stringent work practices and assessment procedures .......................... 74 5.3 Effective outsourcing practices.................................................................. 75 5.3.1. Effective practices of outsourcing organizations ............................... 75 5.3.2. Effective practices of vendors ............................................................ 75 6.Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 76 6.1. Limitations and future studies .................................................................. 78 6.2 Recommendations ...................................................................................... 79 6.3. Making an outsourcing decision ............................................................ 79 6.4 Managing relationships and contract ...................................................... 79 6.5. Major risk in HR outsourcing ................................................................ 80 6.6 Establishing a governance structure ....................................................... 80 6.7. Selecting a service provider ................................................................... 81 6.8 Strategies to avoid the risks in HRO ...................................................... 82 6.9 Future Research Opportunities ............................................................... 82 References: ....................................................................................................... 83 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 96 INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OUTSOURCING ORGANIZATION ............................................................................................................................. 96 INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OUTSOURCING VENDORS ..... 127

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Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION The effect of globalization brought drastic changes in the business sector in many developed countries across the globe. Organizations are currently facing tremendous competition from domestic and international markets. Hence, control of production costs and management of human resources has become extremely crucial to sustain in a competitive and dynamic environment (Armstrong, 2011). With changing business strategies, human resources in leading organizations have started playing a crucial role in the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x;s success through value creation through strategic human resource management (Becker et al., 1997; Wright and Snell, 1999; Roehling et al., 2005; Armstrong, 2011). Human resource management has begun transforming from being service-provider to strategic business partner, helping senior management to deliver results in spite of competitive challenges aligned with values, goals and objectives (Ulrich, 1997; Becker and Huselid, 1999; Bentley, 2008; Swift, 2012). Therefore, it has become necessary for almost all organizations to allocate their resources and time towards human resource management and development programs, especially in regard to staffing, performance management and training and development (Roehling et al., 2005). Unfortunately, it is not always possible for organizations to dedicate resources towards core business requirements due to being pre-occupied with transactional and operational activities. Hence Outsourcing of non-core activities such as human resources has become an optimal choice and to gain competitive advantage by focusing on core competencies (Vanson, 2001; Weidenbaum, 2005). ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Outsourcing can be defined as the mechanism with the help of which technological services are bought from external specialists on the basis of a contract in order to substitute internal resources (Gelbstein, 2003). In other words, Belcourt (2006) mentions that when an organization contracts with another organization or third-party provider in order to offer services or products of a major function or activity in the case of HR, its „various elements of HR functions‟, it can be termed as outsourcing (Turnbull, 2002; Cooke et al, 2005). The current business world is promoting HR outsourcing as one of the most powerful trends in re-shaping management (Belcourt, 2006). However, past organizations shifted from in-house activities (Klass et al, 1999) to outsourcing certain functions, such as hiring firms to operate their cleaning or restaurant functions (Armstrong, 2011). The difference is the scale and scope; firms are outsourcing everything from information technology management of entire functions such as human resources (Lee, 2001; Quélin and Duhamel, 2003). The main idea of outsourcing has always been the same “if you are not good at it, outsource it- look for the vendors that specialized in it” (Armstrong, 2011, p-8). HRO (human resource outsourcing) can be described as acquiring of in-progress Human Resource services by the company from an external or third party seller that the company otherwise looks after by itself (Esen, 2004; CIPD, 2009). The Human resource services can vary based on the sector size and type of the Outsourcing company example, technical staff such as IT professionals for software companies, Business managers, accounts for banking sectors, call center and marketing executives or even skilled Technicians and labor for manufacturing sectors (CIPD, 2009). Outsourcing of human resource (HRO) can help organizations to redeem the top level management from their day-to© 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

day administrative responsibilities to concentrate on core business activities and shifting the former responsibilities to third party vendors (Esen, 2004). HRO is always a best and considerable option, especially for organizations that does not want to be worried by unimportant, non- core activities such as payroll, benefits, staffing, and training or performance assessments (Roehling et al., 2005), as it can reduce expenditure, raise economics of scale as well as competence from the most up-to-date technology (Adler, 2003; CIPD, 2009). Apart from these, organizations also get a chance to utilize time on focusing their interests on strategic performance that helps in the company‟s success and competitive benefits (Esen, 2004; CIPD, 2009). By indulging in human resource outsourcing the organizations not only are advantageous because of a firm‟s business approach, but they can also ensure the flexible accessibility of specialized services where they required at a reasonable price. Nevertheless, HRO requires attentive groundwork and monitoring to be fully advantageous (Esen, 2004; CIPD, 2009; Padhy, 2013). In other words, human resource outsourcing is „the transfer of the management or administration of a process or function from in house staff to an outside service provider” (Sally, 2005) On the contrary, outsourcing of human resource functions without proper groundwork give rise to other risks such as impacting employee morale and risk of transferring expertise and insider knowledge to vendors. In some cases, organizations fail to get expected results or become prone to many other risks in terms of finance, over-budget or lack of quality (CIPD, 2009; Ricciuti, 2013). In addition, in spite of effective outsourcing, external factors such as political, economical, scientific, technological, legal, environmental factors (PESTLE) as well as organizational factors highly influences the country‟s labor force and its HR practices (Klass et al., 2001; Lilly et al. 2005). © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

The research examines the benefits and risks with HRO and the management strategies adopted to minimize the risks is projected.

1.1 Aims and Objectives The aim of the research is to achieve to investigate the advantages and risks that are associated in human resource outsourcing and different techniques that are used to manage the risks. The aim of the research is attained with the help of the following objectives: 1. To identify the advantages associated with human resource outsourcing (HRO). 2. To identify the risks associated with human resource outsourcing(HRO). 3. To identify human resource functions that can be outsourced and that cannot be outsourced. 4. To understand how risk management practices will help in avoiding and resolving these risks.

Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Human Resource Management Challenges

The past decade has experienced major shifts from personnel management to strategic human resource management (Price, 2007). Concepts of integrating industrial relations (Guest, 1991), aligning business strategies and de-layering HRM responsibilities to line managers (Brewster et al, 1997) have led managing of human resources to be used as a competitive advantage (Budhwar and Sparrow, 1997). In contrast to the traditional grasp of the administrative role of human resource management, HRM has been reinterpreted more as an „internal consultant‟ that plays an advisory role in managing people to achieve organizational competitiveness and advocate organizational change (Kenton and Moody, 2003; Wright, 2008). Organizations usually face many kinds of challenges in terms of finance, marketing, legal or production. Yet a major risk faced by any organization is the human resource management, risk, especially in higher level management where organizations get pre-occupied with operational activities thereby neglecting crucial human resources development and risk management strategies (Armstrong, 2011). The rise of competition in the business world and the constant change of technologies in industries are driving organizations in being concerned about the contribution of human resources to their organizational performance (Armstrong, 2011; Tanfous, 2013). According to the CIPD (The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) survey report (2009) conducted with 315 HUMAN RESOURCE practitioners, © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

the majority of the members felt that in order to survive and compete in the long run, human resources are required to transform to a strategic partner and has to play an influential role over traditional performance. Ulrich (1998) in “The future calls for change” highlighted various arguments in relation to the human resource‟s role in future. He considered the contradictory views of different people where one believes that those who are involved in human resource should become influential strategic consultants while others believe that the entire human resource department should be outsourced. In order to help human resource become a strategic partner, there is need to transfer the transactional and administrative functions to the line manager who is usually reluctant to carry additional burden besides business responsibilities (Ulrich, 1998). In contrast, Boninelli and Meyer (2004) used the following table to illustrate the present and the future role of human resources. Table 2.1: The Current and Future Role of HUMAN RESOURCE (Source: Bonninelli & Meyer, 2004)

CURRENT Performance enhancement 25% Strategy 5% Transactions 30% Administration costs 40%

FUTURE Performance enhancement 40% The Strategy required 30% Transactions 15% Administration costs 15%

Armstrong (2011) strongly argues that human resource should free themselves from administrative and transactional activities and needs to focus on improving their capacity to deliver value-added services. Similarly, Ulrich (1998) mentions that human resources hold keys to success for organizations in overcoming major challenges such as globalization in coming years. Globalization entails new markets, new products, new mind-sets, new competencies and new ways of © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

thinking about business and therefore in future there is a dire necessity for human resource to create models and processes for attaining global agility, effectiveness and competitiveness (John, 2013; Tshirado, 2013). Almost all the researchers and HR professionals are calling for human resource to perform an active and strategic role in order to help organizations to achieve its competitive position (Greer et al., 1997; Ulrich, 1997; Klass et al., 1999; Klass et al., 2001, Sally, 2001, Weidenbaum, 2005; Belcourt, 2006; Wright, 2008; John, 2013). However the higher level management in organizations must make sure that the transactional functions should be delivered in a cost effective and efficient manner but at the same time in the order to achieve this, transferring the complete responsibility to the line managers might not be a good idea or a right alternative as the line managers should also have to concentrate on the core business just like the human resource (Klass et al., 1999). This intern gives rise to a question whether Human Resource outsourcing (HRO) really helps the human resource in transforming to a strategic partner in a cost effective and efficient manner and organizations to achieve the results they have expected. 2.2 Rational for Outsourcing Human Resources Human

resource

outsourcing

highly

dependent

organizational

characteristics which include human resource generalists activities (e.g., performance appraisal), transactional activities (e.g., payroll), human capital activities (e.g., training), and recruiting and selection. It is reliant on idiosyncratic human resource practices, strategic human resource involvement, positive human resource outcomes, promotional opportunities, demand uncertainty, and pay level with variation among the different types of human resource activities being outsourced (Klass et al., 2001). Almost all the ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

organizations are outsourcing certain functions to third-party companies for various reasons at both strategic and operational levels (Klass, 2003; Cooke et al., 2005; CIPD, 2009). According to the CIPD survey (1998) the majority respondents report that the main drivers for outsourcing human resource are: 1) access to skills and knowledge; 2) quality, 3) cost reduction and 4) governance structure (Cooke et al., 2005; Hindle, 2005, Sparrow and Braun, 2007). In other words, according to resource-based approach, human resource outsourcing can be an instrument that creates time for human resource to become a strategic partner and therefore is viewed as an opportunity. While a second view considers human resource outsourcing a Human Resourceeat which initiates from a cost-cutting instrument gradually reducing human resource staff (Delmotte and Sels, 2008). Among these factors, cost reduction ranked in the first place and a major reason (61%) and innovation in the third place (CIPD, 1998). According to “International Data Corporation” report the primary reason for BPO companies to outsource is to minimize costs which have become the main motto in their contract agreements (Alders, 2001; Belcourt, 2006; Yang et al.,2007). Belcourt (2006) in his report about BP (British Petroleum) outsourcing clearly mentions that the first reason for BP to outsource its human resource is to reduce costs while the second is to provide quality support for its employees and the third is to focus on its core strategies and off-load the time consuming administrative work. BP by outsourcing its human resource functions and relocating its 56,000 US and UK employees achieved a result of 40% reduction in human resource staff, $15 million of its operating costs and $30 million of funding in capital costs for technology. Furthermore, Cohan and Young (2006) also state that by outsourcing human resource, organizations are able to control costs due to cost savings and efficiencies associated with BPO‟s. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

In contrast, Thompkins (2005) disagree that the primary reason to outsource is cost control and strongly argues that the goal for outsourcing is to make sure that the higher level management can focus on value-added services and core business processes. In the same way 45% of the sample people in the CIPD survey (1998) considered the relief of human resource staff pressure as a key HRO driver and 48% of those who engaged in HRO consider access to new technology as an important driver. According to Metty (2006) the most important benefit an organization can gain out of human resource outsourcing is to have access to the early adoption of new technology. Sally (2001) suggests that outsourcing helps organizations to focus their development

initiatives

developing

employee,

according

the

organizational core competency which can in turn help it to achieve its competitive position. Meanwhile, Patel and Aren (2005) believe that flexibility is another important driver for outsourcing, but flexibility may not be a key benefit as many organizations feel it is really difficult and often costly to get out of BPO agreements when required (Kruse and Berry, 2004).

Fig 2.1 CIPD 2010 report used the following table to represent outsourcing drivers and their achievements (%) Achieving greatly

Achieving partially

Improvedquality

Accessed new technology

Relived internal HR team pressure

Reduced cost

Not Achieving

2.3 Effect of Organizational Characteristics and Environment Human resource outsourcing has become a recent widespread phenomenon receiving huge interest from both professionals and scholars with debate of its strategic significance from the traditional perspective of transaction costs, economic theory (TCE) and a more strategic perspective of resource-based view (RBV) (Espino-Rodríguez and Padrón-Robaina, 2006). Human resource outsourcing decision is reliant on organizational aspects such as human resource practices, strategic HUMAN RESOURCE involvement, positive human resource outcomes, promotional opportunities, demand uncertainty, firm size, cost pressures and pay level, variation has also been observed on the extent of impact due to types of human resource activities being outsourced (Klass et al., 1999; Klass et al., 2001). Furthermore, on a macro-level, in the HUMAN RESOURCE

provider

market,

competition

amongst

suppliers

and

environmental uncertainty (primary, competitive, supplier) also affects the extent of human resource outsourcing leading to impact on human resource performance (Lilly et al., 2005). 2.4 Elements of human resource Outsourcing While making outsourcing decisions, organizations need to weigh what can be outsourced and what cannot be outsourced (Cook, 1999; Greer et al., 1999). However, many managers approach outsourcing as a solution without first defining the problem (McCauley, 2000). ―The human resource functions may be either partially outsourced or completely outsourced. The difference is the organization retains some control over the outsourced functions and may share access to information with the vendor In the latter, the organization relies upon the vendor to carry out the entire function—thus, the HUMAN RESOURCE department’s role with regard to the outsourced function is minimal and may be limited only to managing the relationship with the vendor‖ (Evren, 2004, p-14) According to Thompkins (2005), the most important step organizations have to perform is to first critically analyze what functions or processes can be outsourced and what should be performed internally. In order to understand which elements of human resources to outsource the “Department of trade and industries (DTI)” has developed the five paths formula. The DTI project identified and produced a balanced environment in which employees thrive and seek success for themselves and their organizations. The 5 paths include: © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com



Shared goals – understanding the business we are in.



Shared culture – agreed values which bind us together.



Shared learning - continuously improving ourselves.



Shared effort – one business driven by flexible teams.



Shared information – effective communication throughout the company.

Any organization before outsourcing any of their functions can use the five paths as it is extremely crucial to understand the organization‟s current position, future goals, future requirements and organization strengths (Sally, 2001). In order to assist organizations to identify their core processes, the core competency matrix have been developed (Tomkins, 2005). The core competency matrix helps organizations to analyze and distinguish between core functions and non-core functions, by in order to identify functions that need to be outsourced over those that need to be performed internally (Greer et al., 1999; Beatty et al., 2003; Tomkins, 2005). Table 2.2: Core competency matrix (Source: Tomkins, 2005)

Primary Focus Core Things that differentiate your Process organization in the marketplace. The reasons customers come to you. Non-Core Things that if not done well can Process have a negative impact on your customer relationship.

Secondary Focus Things that need to be done well but are not visible to the customer. Things that need to be done. but do not have any significant impact on the success of the business.

Apart from the core competency matrix, another alternative is the process driven approach, where each process is allocated into two values (Kruse and Berry, 2004). The first value relates to the overall cost of the process and the © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

second value describes the significance of the process by relating to customer satisfaction. A ratio is calculated out of it by dividing the cost value by the significance value with the process with the highest ratio value being considered for outsourcing (Sally, 2001; Kruse and Berry, 2004). Organizations also must consider that outsourcing is only beneficial if they outsource the right processes to the right level or else the idea of outsourcing could lead to greater risks such as over budgets or sometimes entire business failure (Greer et al., 1999; Sally, 2001; Beatty et al., 2003). 2.4 Benefits Derived from HR Outsourcing The main benefits that companies are expecting from outsourcing HR are cost saving, quality improvement and accessing to skills and knowledge and among these three benefits cost saving comes first and foremost (CIPD, 2009; Esen, 2004). Studies conducted over two years on outsourcing arrangements show that HR outsourcing resulted in cost saving ranging from 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20% with an average of 15 % (Adler, 2003; Henneman, 2005; Oshima et al., 2005). According to Belcourt (2006) organizations can reduce costs, mainly by outsourcing

HR functions

such

as payroll, benefits, compensations,

administration and employee assistance program. Human resource management department (2004) quoted that out of 41% of HR professionals indicated that cost factor is the main motivation behind HR outsourcing to achieve cost savings (Esen, 2004). Patel and Aran (2005) suggest that flexibility is another benefit why organizations are expecting to outsource, but Kruse and Berry (2004) contradicted that flexibility is not necessarily a benefit of BPO, as several organizations were constrained by complications from getting out of BPO agreements. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

In addition, Belcourt (2006) points out that apart from cost and flexibility, strategic focus and skills improvement are additional benefits that organizations enjoy out of outsourcing HR. When organizations outsource non-core activities, managers hope to focus on value-added roles (Belcourt, 2006). Burn (1998) also quotes that CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) members gained competitive advantage by focusing on planning, need analysis, and coaching after program completion by outsourcing HR functions. Another benefit of outsourcing is quality improvement (Belcourt, 2006). Laura (1998) suggests that quality improvement through outsourcing either produce better quality through improved technological skills or at the least result in similar quality at lower costs of production. It has also been emphasized that outsourcing HR gives managers an advantage to choose the best vendors with outstanding track records and get more flexibility in hiring and rewarding their employees (Cookie, 2004). In other words, when required, organizations can choose the top quality talents from various parts of the world and have them work from their local bases without having to move them into their locations, thereby maintaining required quality and reduce cost (Armstrong, 2011). Fig 2.2 HRM survey report used the following chart to represent the benefits of outsourcing HR functions (Source: Esen, 2004)

2.5 Risks in Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) While some studies proved HR outsourcing as a positive element, there are many cases in which HR outsourcing is proved to be risky as outsourcing because „everybody is doing it‟ result in unexpected costs and complications (Weidenbaum, 2005; Cooke, 2006). In spite of the advantages that organizations could gain out of outsourcing, there are certain risks involved. It is important to remember that the wider research on outsourcing has yet to demonstrate more financial or service improvements to employers (Greer et al., 1999). Albertson (2000) empirical study indicates that about half of the respondents found that it is more expensive to manage the outsourced activities than originally expected and the service levels were not as good as expected. This may result from vendor‟s curiosity to standardize the service by forgetting the customer‟s requirements (Adler, 2003, p 55). Vendors though understand the function fail to take clients‟ comforts into consideration when bringing their services (Greer et al., 1999, p 91). © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Fortunately, these kinds of errors can often be dealt with in two ways, one of which is by dealing with the business model that has been accepted by most HRO vendors (Hesketh, 2006). In order to attain economics of size and range, suppliers or vendors try to standardize and codify their services to large extent by using human resources information systems and setting up collective service centers that incorporates provision among different HR and client actions (Alder, 2003; Cooke et al., 2005). Consequently, there is a crucial need for suppliers to enlarge their size in the form of merger and acquisition (Ordanini and Silvestri, 2008). Another way is the reverse of the first and tends to be risky for HRO vendors in presenting more tailored services. According to the process, HRO vendors need to have knowledge about the production process of the client‟s firm and they need to make a substantial asset specific investment to run those processes (Klass et al., 2001). As HRO vendors have to make investments, there is risk when customers might refuse to renew contracts or utilize the threat of nonrenewal for bargaining (Klass et al., 2001). The vendors will provide services as specified in the contract and if required by the client organization, adjust according to the changes made in contract which provides flexibility of adding new features, enhancements or reduction of services thereby reducing risk of service (Belcourt, 2006). Apart from this, another vital risk is where HRO organizations may gain expertise in their field and may enter the market and become competitors to the client‟s organization(Belcourt, 2006; Sparrow and Braun, 2007). Effect on employee morale is another serious risk that organizations face by outsourcing HR (Hall, 2000; Elmuti and Kathawala, 2000; Belcourt, 2006). According to Armstrong (2011) organizations give employees a sense of © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

identification and secure feeling. Disruption makes the employees feel resentful and may even lead to retaliation thereby negating the impact of HR outsourcing by eliminating HR staff themselves (Hall, 2000; Belcourt, 2006; Delmotte and Sels, 2008; Armstrong, 2011). One third of HR professionals oppose the idea of outsourcing because they risk losing their jobs or have to work for other vendors (Greer et al., 1999; Badcock, 2004; Belcourt, 2006). Outsourcing can even lead to disintegration of organizational culture where instead of empowering and valuing employees, the idea of outsourcing alienates and de-skills them (Adler, 2003; Belcourt, 2006; Kremic et al., 2006). Once when outsourcing arrangements are stated, the HR managers expect the senior and talented employees to leave the organization, leading employees to suffer anxiety resulting in the ultimate loss of production (Belcourt, 2006). HRO may not always result in extremely stranded or substandard services either (Klass et al., 2001). Less regular HR functions may even give chance for HRO to create more inconvenience to clients as service turns out to be more and more twisted and codified for the capability and business strategies of provider (Klass et al., 2001). Human resource outsourcing can also lead to „product type service with low touch‟ as the decisions of placements are centralized in the BPO industry and are mostly carried out by fulfilling instructions with the use of software (Kosnik et al., 2006). Long term outsourcing can even lead to the loss of client‟s capability to manage HR effectively. Human resource outsourcing report show that 25% of its respondents reported that customer service decreased, leading to a minimization of personal relationship (Esen, 2004; Lily et al., 2005). Further arguments in literature on HRO raise questions about the positive assessments made on © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

vendor managed human resource outsourcing, but at the same time also highlight that outsourcing helps in changing the administrative actives of labor deputation and reducing costs of production (Klass et al., 1999; Esen, 2004; Belcourt, 2006; Kremic et al., 2006; CIPD, 2009). 2.6 Perspectives for HR Outsourcing In order to grasp the many views of the extent of the impact of HR outsourcing; the following table shows a dissection of the methods and findings for a comparative analysis of the existing literature.

Table 2.3 dissection of the methods and findings for a comparative analysis of the existing literature

AUTHOR/

METHODS

FINDINGS

LIMITATIONS

YEAR/ LOCATIO N Klass et al., 1999



Empirical study  300 HR executives  Outsourcing levels, organizational characteristics, perceived impact of outsourcing.



Transaction Cost Economics perspective, organizational-level factors have been found to restrain the relationship between the degree of reliance on HR outsourcing and perceived benefits produced by outsourcing. 

Positive impact for some transaction cost hypotheses regarding the impact of organizational characteristics.  Relationship between the degree of outsourcing and perceived benefits is reliant on idiosyncratic HR practices, uncertainty, firm size, and cost pressures.  Pay level, overall outsourcing emphasis, or strategic involvement by HR effect are found to be insignificant.

The study is conducted just by involving HR executives. Opinion of newer and more up to date hr professionals is not taken into consideration. but major HR decision makers are usually HR date hr professionals is not taken into consideration. but major HR decision makers are usually HR

Greer et al., 1999



Esen, 2004 based on U.S.



Belcourt, 2006

Qualitative research interviews  Senior HR executives and professionals  25 organizations.

Quantitative empirical study  U.S. based  298 HR Professionals.

Case-based qualitative Study



HR outsourcing used for both operational and strategic reasons.  Guidelines for selecting vendors, managing outsourcing transition, managing vendor relations, and monitoring vendor performance are provided.  HR outsourcing, views of HR professionals towards the concept,  Professional impact with high emphasis on partial outsourcing HR.  Organizational rationale for HRO, types of HR functions outsourced, and decisions for not outsourcing. 

Rationale for outsourcing HR (financial savings, increased ability to focus on strategic issues, access to technology and specialized expertise, and ability to demand measurable and improved service levels)  Risks of decreasing employee morale and transfer of expertise and insider knowledge to vendors.

This is a quantitative research based on interviews therefore it does have statistical data to validate its findings as usually is the case with qualitative research.

The study is limited to US based organizations belonging to strategic human resource management which means these organizations are prone to make strategic decisions rather than traditional cost economic based ones. Based on a single case.

CIPD, 2009



Empirical study  315 HR practitioners  29% (91 organizations) are outsourcing aspects of HR activity.



Half the respondents agreeing that HRO has allowed them to play a more a strategic role to a limited extent,  36% failed to see HRO as a „strategic enabler‟ for HR function

The report is limited to the nature and extent of HR outsourcing in organizations within UK.

Based on the above comparative analysis, it is observable that literature is mostly based on: 

Developed countries and from the perspective of organizations outsourcing

HR functions. 

In addition, most of the empirical studies are qualitative, and based on case

studies and interviews of HR professionals who are responsible for strategic HR decision making. 

While HRO seems to be a developing concept, with high emphasis on its

formation, adoption and setting up of its guidelines and weighing its pros and cons, recent findings show still lacking regard for the benefits of HRO (CIPD, 2009). 

The risks of HRO are still an impending concern.



HRO is still a based on transactional cost economics perspective rather than a

resource-based view initiative, although there is still much debate. 

The risk, benefits and legal implications of HRO from the perspective of the

outsourcing forms are lacking in the literature. Findings from the literature review will allow scope for analysis of the casebased qualitative study for this research. The both the professional and © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

academic review of literature forms a groundwork on which the cases based in a developed and developing country will present in order to provide a comparative analytical review of human resource outsourcing, implications and its future scope in the context to its environment.

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1. Introduction

The research methodology is the process or procedure used to collect information and assess the information collected so as to arrive at a solution for proposed research problems. This is as good as a blueprint and facilitates authentication of information collected.

The methodology adopted for the

research outlines as a reference to make sure that the information collected and authenticated have been done with an ultimate aim to achieve the study purposes (Sekaran, 2003). In this section, the methodology adopted in this study has been discussed. This chapter is being followed by a brief summary of research strategy, sampling process, data collection method, research strategy methods, and tests for the purposes of reliability and validity of the study on the lines of Onion framework initiated by Saunders et al. (2009). The method adopted for this study includes qualitative research to categorize challenges faced by both HR outsourcing organizations (India) and HR outsourcing vendors (UK).

3.2. Research design The design for this research has been done purely for research purpose. This study adopted the Onion model of Saunders et al. (2003). The "Onion" research model consists of five different layers which are depicted in the figure 1 below: Figure 3.1: Onion Model of this dissertation Research Philosophy

Research Approach

Interpretivism

Inductive approach Qualitative Strategy

Research Strategy

Time Horizon

Cross Section

Data Collection

Primary and secondary data Collection

InstrumentSemi-structured interview guide used

Source: Adopted from Saunders et al. (2009)

3.3. Research Philosophy For utilizing primary data, the phrase “Research philosophy” is used to suggest the method adopted to cull and scrutinize various data. There are three essential research philosophies governing this research: Positivism: Positivists believe that the reality is stable to be able to understand by objective viewpoint. They think that the best way of understanding the phenomena is to segregate them and repeating the study. This approach © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

manipulates reality by modifying an independent variable in order to evaluate the association between such variables of the real world. Interpretivism: An opposition of positivism is intepretivism and depend on subjective interpretations. According to this approach, it is very complex to obtain solution for research using single model when it comes to social world. However, the natural surroundings can be best examined by Interpretivism philosophy. It is their firm belief that through the subjective interpretation and realistic intervention, the phenomena can be understood. Though there is every possibility of multiple interpretations of reality, each and every interpretation can be considered during the study. The value of this research philosophy can be worthwhile if the actual reality is considered during the research background (Saunders et al, 2003). Realism: The term realism can also be known as Neopost-positivism, postpositivism and critical realism (Manicas & Secord, 1982; Huberman & Miles 1985; Hunt, 1991; Guba & Lincoln 1994; Denzin & Lincoln, 1994).. Realism is a mixture of both positivism and interpretivism as this philosophy has independent thoughts or beliefs and it can be applied to real world scenarios (Saunders et al, 2003). The Realists offer significance of ideas or observations or viewpoints or knowledge of humans (Saunders et al., 2009). However, a triangulation move of cognitive process is used in a social phenomenon in realism. From Perry et al. (1997) perception, realism is “a perception for realists is a window on to reality from which a picture of reality can be triangulated with other perceptions.” The reality domains can be categorized in three ways, the real, actual, and empirical domains. These three domains are used by realists to analyze the world with.

Since this study main is intended to understand the HR outsourcing issues in India and offers solutions for the issues faced by them, interpretivism is considered in this research philosophy. Interpretivism looked at the phenomenon from „why‟ and „how‟ in this case, challenges of HR outsourcing was explored from these phenomenon to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (Denzim and Lincoln, 1998).

3.4. Research Approach There are two types of research approach such as: (1) deductive approach and (2) inductive approach. 3.4.1. Deductive approach In this approach, various theories have been tested to determine the solution for the research in question, while the study background offers different theories for analysis from the earlier literature sources. This is tracked by arranging of research theories that will act as a guideline for hypotheses. The arranged research theories are then put to test for authentication of the theories to reach the conclusion (Marcoulides, 1998). 3.4.2. Inductive research approach This approach is in contrast with previous approach. Normally, this will commence with the assessment of data thus leading to development of hypotheses. On the basis of developed hypotheses, theories can be formulated. Therefore, the inductive research approach build hypothesis and concepts from the empirical data (Marcoulides, 1998) already established.

As a result, deductive approach is termed as a top down approach, whereas Inductive approach is known as bottom up analysis. As far as this study is concerned, inductive approach is adopted as it expands theories not only limited to the improvement of HR outsourcing performance, but also provides solutions to the current issues faced by them. In addition, due to the fact that there is not much previous study relating Indian HR outsourcing, the present study used the theories and empirical studies conducted in Western scenario and looked at the problem from Indian scenario. Since challenges in Indian HR outsourcing are different from the Western context, present study adopted an inductive approach and investigated the challenges faced by both vendors and HR outsourcing organizations. 3.5. Research strategy Selecting an appropriate research tactic from the study objectives assume significance in adopting the research methodology. Research strategy can be of three types such as qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Qualitative approach: This approach is used to cull non-numerical data from interview or data analysis method (data categorization). For instance, non-verbal data such as images or videos are the best examples of this strategy (Saunders et al., 2003). Quantitative Approach: Numerical data are collected using this approach through questionnaire or data examination process (creating graphs or tabulating statistics). The qualitative approach, “an empirical inquiry” was chosen to identify risks and challenges encountered by vendors and suppliers in outsourcing Human resources. This approach is deemed to be appropriate since the © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

phenomenon under study is complex and social in nature and does not lead to quantification (Liebschar, 1998) and it analyses the perceptions of both vendors (India) and HR outsourcing organizations (UK). Since there are only limited numbers of organizations who are actively involved in HR outsourcing, qualitative would be an ideal choice as it enable understand the research phenomenon in-depth by collecting a large amount of information and in many cases a surplus of information. Moreover, the purpose of qualitative research is not quantity of data collection rather making valuable data that answers research question. 3.6. Time Horizon This study adopted cross-sectional research approach due to time constraints. This facilitates to provide a picture of various factors that support as well as restrain the HR outsourcing.

3.7. Sample Location and Target population The study was conducted in both India and UK. The outsourcing vendors from India were selected as target population. The sample includes both administrators and employees of Indian outsourcing firms. Using the contacts obtained from Indian respondents, UK outsourcers were selected as target population. As the study intended to identify the challenges confronted by the outsourcing industries, it does not consider the effect of regional distribution or size of enterprises, although this may an effect. 3.8. Sampling In general, sampling is used to select the subset of individual from target population to analyse the traits of whole population. A number of sampling techniques are available to collect data. The techniques are convenience ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

sampling, random sampling, systemic sampling and judgment sampling. In qualitative research, random sampling was not recommended as the intention was not to gather information in the „real world‟ and may also lead to data skewed to a particular sub-group and introduces sampling error. Hence, in this study samples are chosen based on the convenience and to obtain rich information. In this study a non-probability sampling, a purposive sampling approach was selected since each participant and all aspects of study environment are specifically designed to collect information to improve the content validity ((Maxwell, 2009). 3.9. Sample size This study centered around two groups of samples consisting of administrators and employees of Indian outsourcing vendors (n=10) and UK outsourcers (n=10). Details of outsourcers and vendors were obtained from International

association

outsourcing

professionals

(https://www.iaop.org/COPDirectory/Directory.aspx). In the starting of the study, 32 outsourcing vendors from India were approached for the study. Out of this, only 10 respondents participated in this study, and the remaining members refused to participate in this study due to several reasons. The major reasons for non-participation in the survey are: lack of awareness, privacy and confidentially issues, busy schedule and lack of enough time. On the other hand, all UK vendors approached for the study participated eagerly in the survey. This is mainly due to the fact that UK vendors are approached based on contacts obtained from Indian outsourcing vendors (n=10).

3.10. Data Collection Usually, two types of data collection methods are employed such as (1) Primary data Collection; and (2) Secondary data Collection. The quality of the research shows significant improvement through the use of the primary data collection method since it helps to reduce the error rate by cutting down the researcher‟s influence views about the findings of the study. Moreover, the choice of this method was chosen, because the number of interviewees was small and in-depth and there is a need to understand and interpret the overall situation of the outsourcing process.

Research Tool: Semi-Interviews: The perception of respondents could well be understood through qualitative interviews both on a realistic and on a connotation point (McNamara, 1999). This study includes semi-structured interviews to gather data relating to particular issues and the method ease the work of the interviewer as it decides themes in advance and smoothes the interview process. However, structured interview does not allow in-depth and free investigation and hence, the present study chosen semi-structured interview as purpose is to gather as much as information using a probing method. Based on the themes, additional questions can be formulated. However, this is not possible in the structured interview. Therefore, participants were asked standardized open-ended questions. Each and every interviewee was asked the same set of open-ended questions, making use of a standard template called as a questionnaire or interview schedule. The interviewer will ask questions from the written questions list. However, the success of such interviews lies with the interviewer skills since the interviewer is aware of the directions of the respondents‟ views in a particular track. Semi-structured interview questions are © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

designed based on the detailed literature review undertaken. The following are the interview questions undertaken for the study.

Table 3.1: Questionnaire design and justification QUESTIONS JUSTIFICATION A HR OUTSOURCING ORGANIZATIONS A1 How would you describe the execution of To identify the importance given to the HR policies and practices in your HR policies in the outsourcing organization? organizations. A2

What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions?

From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative?

Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Would you describe your HR outsourcing

function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? A6

What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions?

How did HR outsourcing affect your HR

To identify the outsourcers view of the motivators of HRO in organizations and their reasons behind outsourcing HRO services To highlight the concept of outsourcing and to identify the companies strategic view in choosing HR outsourcing. To identify the drivers in HRO decision making and the motivators of weighing the outsourcing options. To identify and highlight the Benefits that the outsourcing companies are expecting out of HRO and to know what extent they were successful in achieving them. To identify the challenges that outsourcing organizations face when outsourcing their Human resources. To identify the benefits (internal)

team in terms of function? Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization?

A10 Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination?

B B1

HR VENDOR ORGANIZATIONS Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them?

enjoyed by the HR team after HRO To identify the Risks that outsourcing organizations face after they outsource their work to the vendor companies. To identify the risk management strategies that are used by the HR outsourcing companies to minimize risks. To identify the aspects that outsourcing companies consider when they choose to outsource their work to vendor companies in specific countries.

As HR specialist, what are the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies?

To identify their justification on why they provide better HR services. To highlight the reasons behind HRO from the service provider’s viewpoint To identify the type of risk management strategies that vendor companies follow in order to maintain trust with the outsourcing comapany To identify the type of HR functions they expect either to be outsourced or lacking to be outsourced

Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly?

To identify the HRO services that are most popular in India

Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced?

What initiative do you think helped to build the ‘trust’ relationship with your clients?

To identify the general issues and risks faced by the vendor organization while providing HR services to the outsourcers. To identify the initiatives taken by HRO vendors to help build trust and confidence in providing HRO services to organizations (legal etc). Also identify the challenges and risks involved in

HRO To identify and highlight the common challenges that Vendor companies face from their HR department when providing HR services to developed countries.

What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries?

What are risks in accepting HRO from To identify the risks that have to be taken by the vendor companies in order developed countries? to provide HR outsourcing to Devoloped countries.

Secondary data collection: Several methods can be used to cull secondary data. For instance, newspapers, journals, books, and websites offer as source for secondary data. Nonetheless, secondary data can be collected from academic databases, as it ensures the reliability of collected information.

Conducting of the study: In this study, in order to have a detailed insight regarding HR outsourcing issues in India a semi-structured interview was conducted among both vendors (India) and HR outsourcing organizations (UK). The interview process lasted for 50 days as the participants are from two different countries. The major challenge in this interview process is that a few participants were hesitant to disclose their business secrets and are afraid of privacy issues. The researcher overcome this issue by clearly stating clearly the objective of the study and obtaining informed consent. Moreover, prior to interview, the researcher mailed the interview questions so as to make respondents feel comfortable an minimize potential for distress. The research participants include Marketing Head, HR country Head, Regional HR Manager, Procurement specialist, Assistant Manager and ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Associate HR Manager, since these people are closely related to outsourcing process. Moreover, the manager of service provider was also included in the interview to have a detailed understanding regarding the issues involved in top to bottom of the outsourcing project team. Prior to the interview, all the respondents were informed regarding the purpose of the study and were assured of confidentiality and privacy. Based on the intervieweeâ&#x20AC;&#x;s availability, interview was made through phone calls, Skype or Gchat with prior appointment and each interview lasted for approximately one hour. However, some of the interviews were made face to face, especially with the senior level managers to ensure that the interviewees took this research seriously. Prior appointments were obtained to meet the interviwee at job location during the interval, and care has been taken not to interrupt the establishment's business practices. A few vendors were met in their home or other locations convenient to the participants. Further, during the interview, they were asked to interpret if they required more clarity or left something unclear. Additional questions in terms of probing were made if they required clarification. Figure 3.2: Schematic representation of the data collection process employed in this study Data collection

Primary data collection

Literature Review (secondary data collection)

Convenience sampling sssasamsampl Outsourcers: UK firms (n=10)Group A

Development of Interview guide

Outsourcing vendors: Indian firms (n=10)Group B

Semi-structured interview

Source: Author (2013)

3.11. Validity and Reliability Reliability ensures consistency while validity depends on the soundness of the data collected based on design and methods (authenticity). The data collection process ensures reliability and validity of the research and in qualitative research is based on the subjectivity of the research. Although reliability and validity is difficult to achieve in qualitative research, the credibility is enhanced by the views of comparability, transferability and consolidation. The comparability refers to matching of research results with the literature review and reality, while the transferability means how well the results could be transferred in another context and finally comparability is done by describing the research methods and research subject as exactly as possible. In this case, we ensure all the three, while formulating interview guide, description of the whole research process and compared the results with actual settings and based on the literature review. The honesty of the respondents dictates the reliability ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

of the research (Tracy, 2010). Therefore, administrators and employees from outsourcing firms were selected due to their relevance for this study. Also, the design of the study to measure data determines the validity (Marshall & Rossman, 2011; Tracy, 2010). Additionally, the pilot study only ensures trustworthiness of the questionnaire. Further, the guidelines to complete the questionnaire will aid to ensure the validity of the study (Gary, 2009), In addition, justification for each question in the questionnaire has been provided in the table 1, and this reflects the content validity of the study. Content validity indicates that the questionnaire measures appropriately what is intended to measure.

3.12. Ethical approaches Ethics are important as it ensures how the study needs to be conducted rather than the way things are (Burton, 2000). The researcher has considered all possible ethical issues at every stage of the studies (Burton, 2000). For example, the researcher obtained informed consent from all participants prior to the conduct of the study. Moreover, the researcher assured the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x; confidentiality by employing a coding system to

hide the identity of the

respondents. Further, any personal information such as email id, mobile number, address, etc were not collected by researcher. Moreover, the researcher assured the participants that they have all rights to withdraw from the interview at any time.

3.13. Informed consent Consent from the participants is vital to the study and the researcher has explained the participants the main objectives and motivation to make sure the reliability of the research. Therefore, consent process was done in this study. 3.14. Interview textual analysis All interviews were recorded and transcribed for further analysis and process commenced during the interview phase and continues throughout the transcription. Data was analyzed by content analysis (thematic analysis). Notes took during the interview process were transcribed and coded based on the themes of literature review. Firstly, analysis began with a quantification of categorization to achieve basic understanding of the data and followed by thematization to inspect the research question. Special focus was given to themes that provided rich insights. Since the results were analysis in English, translation was not required. Sample Analysis was shown below.

Sample Analysis â&#x20AC;&#x153;Interviewees were questioned about various HR policies and practices implemented in the organization. The Majority of the Interviewees reported that systematic procedures were followed for all HR related practices. HR strategies were made clear by providing the employees with handbooks and internet portals, enabling them to post their suggestions and feedback with regard to all work related activities.

“….We follow methodological procedures (INT_01_A)… practiced effectively ….(INT_02_A).. established clear HR policies…. provided with a handbook of HR policies (INT_03_A).. an online tool… post their grievances (INT_04_A)… follows well framed HR policies (INT_05_A)… polices updated periodically and intimated to our employees (INT_06_A)… representative of the employees to obtain their viewpoint (INT_07_A)… are indispensable for any organization (INT_08_A) … well-developed HR policies… conduct meeting to get suggestions (INT_10_A)…”” 3.15. Summary The present study adopted qualitative, interpretive and inductive approach. Data collection was done among both outsourcing vendors and customers from both UK and India. Semi-structured interview guide was developed and interview obtained was transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze textual data. The study had inherent limitations such as cross sectional study design, qualitative approach, sampled only a few managers, but despite that focus is to obtain rich information in order to answer the research question posed. However, researchers attempted to reduce these errors as much as possible.

Chapter 4 Qualitative Analysis 4.0. Introduction This chapter explains the outsourcing organization‟s and vendor‟s experiences of Human resource outsourcing, particularly to identify the motives, benefits and challenges involved in the process from “outsourcers” and “vendors” perspective. The researcher includes narrative descriptions to demonstrate the individual perspectives of each participant. Further, coding © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

process was used to determine each outsourcers outsourcing experience with vendors and examine whether outsourcers have sufficient policies, resources and knowledge to address the issues involved. Finally, researcher introduces the thematic analysis that categorized participant‟s unique experience into the conceptual schemes based on the research questions set. 1. What are the benefits and risks involved in HR outsourcing? 2. What are the challenges and issues faced by HR outsources and Vendors during the process? 3. What are the effective practices adopted by outsourcing organizations and vendors to minimize the issues? Data Analysis All interviews were recorded and transcribed for further analysis and process commenced during the interview phase and continues throughout the transcription. Data was analyzed by content analysis (thematic analysis). Notes took during the interview process were transcribed and coded based on the themes from literature review. Firstly, analysis began with a quantification of categorization to achieve basic understanding of the data and followed by thematization to inspect the research question. Special focus was given to themes that provided rich insights. Since the results were analysis in English, translation was not required. 4.1. Outsourcing companies Participants Profile. In total 10 interviews were conducted, 10 interviewee‟s are from UK Outsourcing organization in which the following participants have participated. Designation

Total number of participants

HR country Head

Regional HR Manager

Procurement specialist

Associate HR Manager

Senior HR Manager

HR Manager

HR Regional Head

The majority of the participants were in the age group of 30–55 years. Out of the 10 participants, 9 participants were male and only one participant was female. In addition, the majority of the participants are from mid-size firms with a number of employees in the range of 5,000 and 10000. However, a few participants are from large size firms with a number of employees in the range of 55,000–63,000. The following coding system was applied to differentiate vendors from clients by. (INT_ 01_A), where the letter “A” at the end represents the Group A that is “Outsourcing Organization” while (INT_01_B), Letter “B” at the end indicates Group B that is “Outsourcing Vendors”.

4.2. Implementation of HR Policies and Practices

Interviewees were questioned about various HR policies and practices implemented in their organizations. The majority of the Interviewees reported that they give utmost importance to HR policies and in order to implement them, systematic procedures were followed in their organizations for all HR related practices. HR strategies were made clear in the organizations by providing the employees with handbooks and with the help of internet portals by which employees can post their suggestions and feedback with regard to all work related activities.The HR policies will be reviewed periodically and updated to all employees. “….We follow methodological procedures‖- (INT_01_A).., “practiced HR policies effectively by reviewing them‖ - (INT_02_A), “established clear HR policies by

providing employees with a handbook of HR policies‖-

(INT_03_A).. ―we use an online tool…employees post their grievances‖(INT_04A)…‖ follows well framed HR policies and ‖- (INT_05_A)… “polices updated periodically and intimated to our employees “- (INT_06_A)… “representative of the employees to obtain their viewpoint‖- (INT_07_A)… “are indispensable for any organization so we follow them strictly‖ (INT_08_A) … “practices well-developed HR policies… conduct meeting to get suggestions‖- (INT_10_A)…” “See appendix 2 for Table 4.1”.

Figure 4.1: HR Policies and Procedures 4

4 3

Respondents

3 2 2

Effective Handtool

Online/Portal website

Periodic updation of the policies Conducting meetings

0 Effective

Handtool

Online/Portal Periodic website updation of the policies

Conducting meetings

HR Policies and Procedures

4.3. Motives of Outsourcing Decisions. The specific question was asked to interviewee‟s about various motives of outsourcing decision, especially how globalization influenced the outsourcing decision. From the interviewee answers, it is revealed that due to „Globalization‟ many firms are increasingly opting for HR outsourcing. The major driving factors for HR outsourcing are low cost, The majority 6 out of 10 interviewees felt that cost control is the main motive for human resource outsourcing. and others felt, availability of trained personnel, reducing work load and to focus on core business are the motives of HR outsourcing. ―Globalization and restructuring have increased the pressures… Multiple operative offices have increased‖- (INT_01_A)… ―the legal regulations in various countries ‖- (INT_02_A)… “cost efficient and the company could focus more on its core business‖- (INT_03_A)… “taking advantage of IT advances‖- (INT_04_A)… “outsourcing for administrative purposes… all © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

welfare related aspects‖- (INT_05_A)… “reducing business volatility‖(INT_07_A)… ―outsourcing is panacea for all problems‖-(INT_08_A)… ―it is a profitable idea‖… - (INT_10_A).” ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.2‖

Motives of HR outsourcing

Fig 4.2 Motives of HR outsourcing reduce time

skilled employees

competitive advantage

low cost

legal requirements

reduce work load

1 0

Respondents

The figure 2 reveal that 6 of them responds to low cost followed by 3 of them competitive advantage, 2 of them reduce time, 2 skilled employees, 2 legal requirements and 1 reduce work load.

4.4. Strategic viewpoint of Outsourcing When Interviewers were questioned about strategic viewpoint of outsourcing, interviewees describe that outsourcing enables in raising the organization‟s overall productivity, quality and flexibility. Outsourcing HR functions facilitates the management to focus on the core business and business goals to enlarge product range, productivity, marketing and promotion. Hence outsourcing has become a strategic imperative for a firm helping in managing the time and scope for planning and implementing their organizational goals.Majority of the respondents felt that they were able to focus more on their core activities as they don‟t have to deal with their routine HR activities any more. ―A strategic imperative to our company… increases flexibility, productivity and quality‖…- (INT_01_A)… “data exposure can be minimized‖ -(INT_02_A)… “HR outsourcing is strategically aligned with the company’s primary goals‖… (INT_03_A)…”has increased the efficiency in recruitment‖- (INT_04_A)… “possible approach to execute and (INT_05_A)…

―time

consuming

restructure internal processes‖activities

can

executed‖-

(INT_06_A)…”data processing, healthcare procedures can be facilitated by outsourcing‖- (INT_07_A)… “offers soft-cost savings to the organizations‖(INT_08_A)… ―adds value to the company “-(INT_10_A)… ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.3‖.

Strategic view point of outsourcing decisions

Fig 4.3 Strategic viewpoint of outsourcing

Focus on core activities

Added Advantage

Quality

Productivity

Organization flexibility

2 0

Respondents

4.5. Driving factors and frequently outsourced HR functions Interviewees were asked about various driving factors of HR outsourcing. The major reason for HR outsourcing is to dedicate time for strategic planning. The most commonly outsourced HR outsourcing function are administrative tasks, finance related functions and mass recruitments. ―Well informed on the fares and discounts related to transportation allownaces (INT_1_A)… periodic feedback of employees are well- processed and secured(INT_2_A)… outsource recruitment process…(INT_2_A)… handle all health covering schemes (INT_5_A)… temporary staffing… pay roll and other associated procedures…

handled

(INT_7_A)…

outsourcing our

administrative tasks (INT_8_A)… finance related functions(INT_9_A)… specific business functions… achieving superior customer service and productivity (INT_9_A)…” ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.4‖

Driving factors of HR outsourcing

Fig 4.4 Driving factors and frequently outsourced HR functions Superior customer service and productivity

Finance related functions

handling administrative tasks

Payroll and other associated procedures

Handle all watch related schemes

Outsourcing recruitment process

Well maintained periodic feedback of…

Well-informed with fares and discounts…

1 0

Respondents

The above figure 4.4 reveals that equal 1 responded to each driving factor of HR outsourcing.

4.6. Benefits of HR outsourcing functions Interviewees were asked about various benefits that they gain out of

outsourcing. The major benefits for HR outsourcing highlighted by the interviewees are it reduces cost, helps to minimize risk by compiling with labor laws and employment regulations, reduces time, reduces redundancy of work and ensure professional documentation. Decreasing

redundancy

work

(INT_1_A)…

Reduces

high

cost

basis(INT_2_A)… efficient recruitment functioning (INT_3_A)… eased in-house HR functions… focus on core HR functions like talent acquisition(INT_4_A Updated with all regulations and beneficial schemes, management

practices(INT_7_A)…

minimize

risk

(INT_5_A)… best in

employment

regulations(INT_8_A)… no need to invest in the infrastructure. (INT_10_A)… ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.5‖

Fig 4.5 Benefits and HR outsourcing functions

Respondents

3 2 2 1

0 Decreased work redundancy

Cuts down high cost basis

Efficient functioning

Eased in house HR Updated with all functions regulations & beneficial schemes

Benefits and HR Outsourcing functions

The figure 4.5 shows the number of interviewees mentioned the above benefits in their interviews.

4.7. Challenges and issues in outsourcing HR. Interviewees were asked about various challenges and issues of outsourcing. Selection of the appropriate vendor was the primary challenge faced by various organizations since it is necessary to have a successful association with them. Another major challenge is to identify the risk factors and processing costs and to develop a cost efficient model that will suit to both concerned parties. Selection of appropriate vendor (INT_1_A), (INT_3_A), , (INT_4_A), … getting a consorted opinion on the vendors for outsourcing (INT_2_A)… challenging to establish the right alliance... in order to accomplish the company’s mission, visions

and

goals(INT_4_A)…

response

time…

communication

for

clarifications… are compromised with certain vendors INT_7_A)… challenges in identifying the key metrics(INT_7_A)…challenges in identifying the risk factors for the company (INT_9_A)… challenges in service costs(INT_10_A)… ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.6.‖ © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Fig 4.6 challenges and issues in HR outsourcing 4

Respondents

0 Selection of appropriate vendor

Challenges in Difficulty in identifying the understanding keymetrics the factors related to use satisfaction

Challenges related to service cost

Identifying the Delayed company's risk response time factors and and poor assigning to the communication outsourcing for clarification partner

Challenges and Issues in Outsourcing

The figure 4.6 reveal the number of respondents mentioning the above challenges in outsourcing.

4.8. Outsourcing and its impact on In-house HR team Interviewees were asked about the impact of outsourcing on an In-house HR team. Almost all interviewees have reported that though HR outsourcing has enabled to reduce the workload, it has considerably created a negative impact amongst the in-house employees which has affected their performance. Apart from that communicating with the vendor company is another problem addressed by the interviewees

as the timings in the vendor‟s country is

different. ―Recruitment task should not be outsourced‖- INT_ (2)_A; “have to constantly interact with HRO vendors… this is an additional task, timings in the vendors © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

locations is another problem‖- INT_(4)_A… “Decrease in the HR staff size in organizations‖-

INT_(5)_A…

“often

employees

are

recruited

with

inappropriate skill and are difficult to get them trained‖- INT_(6)_A… “record of grievances and feedback were overlooked “-INT_(7)_A…”negative impact on in-house team “-INT_(9)_A… INT_(10)_A… Still few reported that they were able to focus more on strategic planning and they did not find a lot of negative impacts on in- house HR team. ―…enabled to focus more on strategic planning and core functionalities INT_(1)_A… more comfortable to contact an outsourcing partner rather than the in-house team INT_(8)_A…” ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.7‖

Interviewees were also asked about various challenges and issues of outsourcing. Most interviewees stated that there are several challenges and issues confronted by the management with regard to HR outsourcing. Their inconsistent performance level, poor service quality, lack of expertise and competency related to skill requirements and miscommunication are some of the prime aspects that correspond to the issues related to outsourcing. Service

quality

not

satisfactory

(INT_1_A)…fluctuating

(INT_4_A)…

insufficient knowledge about skill requirements (INT_3_A)… gap in transferring the skill and knowledge (INT_5_A)… challenges in conveying information (INT_6_A)… challenges to obtain a consolidated opinion (INT_7_A)… need to rework on the same task (INT_9_A)… ―Refer to Appendix 2 for table 4.8‖

However, there are few who report that they face issues and challenges in outsourcing only to some extent, stating that: vendor’s credibility is questioned at times… requires further verification on conformation (INT_2_A)… sometimes vendors fail to offer best practices (INT_9_A)…

4.7 Issues that are related to HR outsourcing 3

No. of Respondents

0 Reworking on same task Insufficient knowledge Challenges in coveying Challenges in obtaining Reworking on same task about skill requirements information, affecting consolidated opinion firm's productivity

The above fig 4.7 shows the total number of respondents mentioned the above issues in their interviews.

“See Appendix 2 for the table 4.8” When Interviewees were asked about various risks of outsourcing almost all the interviewees have stated several issues risk factors that are involved in HR outsourcing such as loss of flexibility, losing control over HR policies of the © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

organization, elaborate legal procedures, disclosure of the company‟s confidential affairs and many more… ―Relationship between the employees and organization minimized‖ (INT_1_A)… ―influence on the in-house employment (INT_1_A)… loss of control over HR policies (INT_4_A)… cross cultural differences between our organization and the vendor (INT_6_A)…company’s confidential issues might get affected (INT_3_A), (INT_8_A)… losses track of the functions (INT_5_A)…

affecting

house

employee

satisfaction

(INT_9_A)…

considerations is in the quality of service (INT_10_A)… ―See Appendix 2 for Table 4.10‖.

Risks in HR Outsourcing

4.9 Risks in HR outsourcing Service quality might get affected

Affects in house employee satisfaction

Loss of control over HR policies

Lack of clear understanding between the management and vendors

Company's confidentiality is affected

2 0

Respondents

The above figure 4.8 shows the total number of respondents mentioning the following risks in their interviews

4.9 India as preferable HR outsourcing destination

Interviewees were asked about reasons for choosing India as outsourcing destination. Several interviewees have described that that the availability of highly skilled and competent professionals, prompt and reliable execution of the work, low operational cost, low labor charges, rendering quality-oriented work has been the prime reasons and aspects for choosing India as the a major outsourcing destination. Low operational cost and availability of skilled professionals (INT_1_A), (INT_10_A)… increased establishment of manufacturing units… customer support centres (INT_2_A)… Indian IT people are highly professional… safe to make investments (INT_3_A)… can get quality work and employees willingness for overtime works if needed‖- (INT_4_A) … fast turnaround time (INT_9_A) … ―See Appendix 2 for table 4.10‖. Fig 4.9 Interviewee’s reasons to choosing India as a their HR Outsourcing Destination. 7 6

Respondents

6 5 4 3

2 2 1 1 0 Low operational cost Availibility of skilled professionals

Safe to make investments

Can avail quality work

Choosing India as a majot outsourcing destination

The above figure 4.9 shows the total number of respondents responded to reasons of choosing india as outsourcing destination.

4.10 Outsourcing Vendors interview transcript: Participants Profile: In total 10 interviews were conducted in which Senior HR manager (n=1), Regional HR Manager (n=2), Assistant Manager (n=1), Procurement Specialist (n=1), Marketing Head (n=1), Associate HR Manager (n=1) Senior HR Manager (n=3), HR Manager (n=2), HR Regional Head (n=1) were included as participants. Figure 1 below presents the participants profile. Majority of the participants are in the age group of 30–55 years. All the participants are male and majority of the participants are from mid-size firms with number of employees in the range of 5,000 and 10000. However, a few participants are from huge size firm with number of employees in the range of 20,000–65,000. Trend of HR outsourcing: In order to understand the demand of HR outsourcing, the respondents have been asked regarding the scope of business. Majority of the participants indicated that the presence in their market is an evidence for the success which reveals that there is a huge demand for HR outsourcing in India. At the same time, few participants indicated the motive behind HR outsourcing. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

―Organizations…intend to advance and speedup the recruitment process…to reduce cost involved (INT_03_B)….to negotiate with employees regarding CTC…( INT_04_B)… processing healthcare facilities is difficult…hence outsourcing… (INT _06_B)….focus on core business activities. (INT _09_B)… to attain a competitive edge (INT_10_B)‖. In addition, a few vendors indicated their effective practices of outsourcing. ―…we learn and improve each time with the requirements to match expectations

(INT_05_B)…collect

information

Government

regulations…prepared with the essentials…. (INT_07_B)…offering assistance to organization from initial stage by understanding requirements and minimizing time to comprehend those requirements (INT_08_B). ” The vendors indicated that they update their process regularly and are compliant with the rules and regulations of Government. Moreover, they indicated that offer customized services based on outsourcing organization‟s requirement and assist them by reducing their work load and thereby enable organization to focus on their core activities. All these clearly indicate the trend as well as motives for outsourcing. However, one of the participants revealed the challenges involved in the HR outsourcing process. “The methodology for process improvement is challenging….to meet their expectations (INT_B_05) (Challenges)” The interviewee indicated that updating the process based on demand is a challenging task. When asked about the challenges involved in the outsourcing, most of the respondents indicated that miscommunications and confidentiality issues are the major issues faced by outsourcing vendors. The other issues are

meeting customer demands, maintaining response time, privacy and confidentiality issues, quality issues and legal issues. ―response time or miscommunications (INT_B_01; INT_B_04; INT_B_05), confidentiality issues (INT_B_02;INT_B_03; INT_B_04), quality issues (INT_B_02); iteration rate, legal issues (INT_B_07), limited control and flexibility (INT_B_09; INT_B_10)‖. 4.10 Interviewee’s response to Effective HR Practices

5 4

Respondents

3 2

2 1 1

0 Earned a competitive Speeds up recruitment edge in the market process

Cost reducation

Focus more on core business aspects

Effective HR practices

The above figure 4.10 shows the number of respondents mentioning the above Effective HR practices inn their interviews

Issues faced by organizationswhile outsourcing

4.10 Issues faced by the organizations when outsourcing. Outsourcers limit their flexibility

Apprehension on governmental policies

Iteration rate

Confidentiality Issues

Misommunication

2 0

2 Respondents

―See Appendix 2 for Table 4.11‖

HR functions play a significant role in the organizational strategies since human resources are assets considered as the most precious assets for any business. The day-to-day functionalities, organizational strategies and objectives are determined by the Human Resources. Soft skills training… knowledge updated skill set for the employees (INT_1_B), (INT_5_B), (INT_7_B)……… recruitment and training(INT_2_B)… primary driving factor… building a strong human capital(INT_3_B)… leadership development programs (INT_4_B), (INT_6_B)… Innovative workforce management(INT_8_B)… staffing, training and development, employee engagement(INT_9_B), (INT_10_B)…

Role of HR in influencing organizational strategies

Fig 4.11 Role of HR in influencing Organizational strategies

Innovative workforce management

Leaderdship Development programs

Efficient Recruitment functionalities

Training in Knowledge Updated Skills

Soft Skills Training

Respondents

The above fig 4.11 shows the total respondents responded to above organizational stratagies

―See Appendix 2 for the table 4.12‖.

Interviewees were asked about commonly outsourced HR activities. Majority of the interviewees have answered that bulk recruitment functions, payroll procedures, welfare related schemes, food and transportation schemes and temporary staffing solutions are the prime HR functions that are exclusively relied upon the outsourcing vendors. Contractual agreements… compensation programs… legal regulations… food and transport contracts (INT_1_B) , (INT_7_B)… bulk recruitment function… background verifications… payroll procedures… temporary staffing solutions (INT_3_B), (INT_9_B), (INT_8_B) (INT_10_B) (INT_4_B)…welfare related schemes (INT_5_B), (INT_7_B) © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

―See Appendix 2 for the table 4.13‖.

Commonly outsourced HR functions

4.12 Most Commonly Outsoursourced HR functions Outsourcing Health benefit schemes

Temporary staffing procedures

Background verification

Outsourcing payroll proecdures

Bulk recruitment functions

Food and Transportation schemes

Outsourcing contractual agreements, compensation programs

2 0

Respondents

The above figure 4.12 shows the number of respondents responded to most commonly outsourced HR functions.

Majority of the interviewees expressed their views that there are few issues and challenges that are faced by the outsourcing vendors which includes payment issues,

salary

crediting

issues,

errors

performance

evaluation,

miscommunication issues, and challenges faced in data protection and privacy policies and many more… But on the contrary, some have addressed that none of their clients experience any issues related to their outsourcing services- All services are executed in a well-organized manner and they put in their best beyond efforts providing complete solutions for all their management related issues. Payment issues (INT_1_B), (INT_4_B)… errors in candidate details… salary crediting(INT_3_B)…

performance

measurement

parameters

vary

(INT_5_B)… Translating the organization’s objectives (INT_6_B)… Data © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

protection and privacy laws (INT_7_B)… timeline not provided… lot of misunderstandings (INT_8_B)… mutually agreement cost model (INT_9_B)… However, few have reported that: Our clients are pleased and satisfied with us for their HR functions (INT_2_B)… Well-documented legal agreements… helped us to avoid these kinds of issues (INT_10_B)…

Issues faced by outsourcing vendors

4.13 Issues Faced by HR vendor companies

Timeline not provides

Issues in data protection & Privacy Policies

Miscommunication

Errors in Salary Credition

Errors in Candidate Details

Payment Issues

2 0

Respondents

The above figure 4.13 shows the number of Vendors mentioning the above Issues faced by HR vendor companies

―See appendix 2 for Table 4.14‖ .

Most of the interviewees have addressed that providing testimonials and success stories of their prospective clients would definitely add on to their marketing © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

strategy. Other factors providing excellent customer services, meeting deadlines, following strict recruitment policies would also play a vital role in building an effective marketing strategy. Testimonials and successful practices (INT_1_B), (INT_2_B), (INT_4_B), (INT_8_B)… … follow stringent recruitment policies… maintain good relationship with all our clients (INT_3_B)… methodologies and the suggested alternatives… in relate to client requirements(INT_5_B), (INT_7_B)… subject analysis experts (INT_6_B)… 100% customer satisfaction … low turnaround time(INT_10_B)… Excellent customer service(INT_9_B)… 4.14 Marketing strategy adopted by outsourcing vendors

Marketing strategy adopted by outsourcing vendors 2 2 4 4

Record of testimonials & best practices of prospective clients Providing ultimate client satisfaction Low turnaround time

Providing customized services

Maintain Holistic relationship with clients

1 2 1

The figure 15 reveal the marketing strategy adopted by outsourcing vendors 4 of them respondents mentioned Record of testimonials & best practices of prospective clients in their interviews followed by 3 of them responds providing customized services, 2 of them responds providing ultimate client satisfaction, 2 of them responds maintain Holistic relationship with clients and 1 of them respond low turnaround time.

Interviewees were asked about various challenges and issues of outsourcing. Most interviewees have reported that there are several challenges faced by the outsourcing vendors while rendering their services for developed countries, some of which includes, communication barriers, technological factors, cultural and legal differences, stringent work policies, high cost range, working on shift basis and many more… Training and interview patterns… more stringent… sophisticated evaluation and assessment procedures… (INT_1_B)… professional etiquettes (INT_2_B)… work on a shift basis… (INT_3_B)… cultural and legal differences (INT_4_B)… work policies and ethics are different (INT_5_B)…Language Barrier (INT_6_B),(INT_9_B),(INT_7_B)… implementing new methodologies (INT_7_B)(INT_8_B)… Huge Pay )(INT_10_B)… ―See appendix 2 for Table 4.15‖.

4.15 Challenges aced by HR outsourcing vendors from developed countries

Challenges faced by HR outsourcing vendors from developed countries Stringent in work policies and ethics

Cultural and legal differences

4 1

Work on shift basis Stringent training & Interview patterns Sophisticated assessment procedures

Language barrier & miscommunication

High cost range Challenges in execution of new methodologies

1 1

The figure 16 reveal the challenges faced by HR outsourcing vendors from developed countries 4 of them responds to Stringent in work policies and ethics followed by 3 of them responds language barrier & miscommunication, 2 of them responds Stringent training & Interview patterns, 2 of them responds challenges in execution of new methodologies, 1 of them respond cultural and legal differences, 1 of them respond work in shift basis, 1 of them respond sophisticated assessment procedures and 1 of them respond High cost range

According to HR outsourcing vendors, there is not much risk with regard to HR outsourcing to developed countries. However, there are chances of outsourcers to undermine the services provided by vendors of developing countries. Undermine

the

capabilities

(INT_2_B)…

convince

the

multinational

companies… organization’s legal and governmental policies (INT_5_B)… change in authority or in the case of acquisitions (INT_5_B)… provide less © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

freedom to execute procedures (INT_7_B)… Customer service quality… constantly maintained at high standards (INT_8_B)… Also, some have addressed that process of the organization… the requirement is well outlined (INT_1_B)… not faced any risks…(INT_3_B)… made a good relationship with the clients… trust and their customer satisfaction (INT_9_B)…

―See Appendix 2 for Table 4.16‖. 4.17 Risks Faced by the HR outsourcing vendors from the Devoloped countries Challenges in convincing the MNCs and earning their trust 3 2 1 Change in authority or acquisition

Providing less freedom to execute procedures

Customer service quality to be constantly maintained

4.11 Summary

This chapter presents the interview data using thematic analysis highlighting various critical drivers, benefits, challenges, and risks of Global IT Outsourcing. In total 20 interviews were conducted, out of which 10 participants represented outsourcing organizations and 10 participants constituted vendor organizations.The interview findings revealed various benefits, risks and challenges involved in HR outsourcing. Participants from outsourcing organsiations indicated that low cost operation is the major benefit as well as driving factor for outsourcing. In addition, competitive advantage, increased quality and flexibility are the major benefits of outsourcing. The major challenge faced by outsouring vendors are found to be vendor selection and identifying outsourcing functions.

Similary, from the interview findigs with outsourcing vendors, it is clearly identified that miscommunication and delayed response time are the major challenges faced by outsourcing vendors. The other issues faced by outsourcing vendors are payment issues, stringent work practices, assessment procedures. The following section presents the discussion and conclusion based on the findings obtained in this chapter.

Chapter 5. Discussion

The central question of this study was to identify the advantages and risks and challenges associated with HR outsourcing and to determine the effective measures adopted by organization to mitigate them. Outsourcing is increasingly adopted by organizations than ever before and as a result, there is a huge demand for structured information that guide them to identify benefits, challenges, and effective practices related to outsourcing. Even though several studies have focused on the benefits and risks associated with outsourcing most of them focused only on the outsourcer‟s perspective. Moreover, there were only limited information on the challenges faced by outsourcing vendors. In order to fill this gap, this study attempted to investigate the risks involved in outsourcing from both vendor and outsourcer‟s perspective. This will enable both outsourcing organization and vendors to have an in-depth understanding of © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

outsourcing and enable them to effectively handle inherent challenges involved in outsourcing. The findings of this study are discussed in detail as follows:

5.0 Core motives and benefits of HR outsourcing Outsourcing possesses several advantages and hence a range of motives and benefits exist for organizations to adopt outsourcing. 5.0.1 Low cost operation The interview findings of the present study indicated that cost reduction was found to be the major driving factor for respondents to adopt outsourcing. In the present study, the majority of the outsourcing organizations indicates that outsourcing helps to reduce the average unit cost of product/service sold by an organization. Moreover, interviewees indicate that outsourcing enables organizations to utilize the skilled expertise at lesser costs. In addition, through outsourcing organizations are able to control infrastructure and support systems cost. All these findings clearly indicate that organizations adopt outsourcing mainly to reduce cost. Similarly, previous studies on outsourcing (Csoko, 1995; Domberger, 1998) have also indicated that cost reduction is the major driving factor for outsourcing. 5.0. 2 Competitive advantage Followed by cost reduction, competitive advantage is another driving factor for organizations to adopt outsourcing. In the present study, the respondents indicate that outsourcing HR functions enable organizations to attain competitive advantage by focusing on core motives. In the present study, both vendors and outsourcers revealed that organizations employ outsourcing to reduce work load thereby focusing on core motives. This can also be correlated ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

with the fact that the majority of the commonly employed HR functions is redundant and time consuming functions such as bulk recruitments, administrative tasks, evaluation procedures, periodic assessment of employees and Payroll functions. By outsourcing these kind of redundant and time consuming functions, organizations can focus on core activities and thereby attaining competitive advantage. In addition, through outsourcing organizations have access to skilled expertise which helps in attaining competitive advantage. The finding of this study is also consistent with the results of previous studies examining the benefits of outsourcing (Vanson, 2001; Weidenbaum, 2005). 5.0.3 Increased flexibility In the present study, most of the respondents indicated that outsourcing offers flexibility to the organization as it is easier to terminate the contracts owing to poor delivery than changing the employee. HR outsourcing enables managers not only to select the best outsourcing vendors, but also offers better scalability (faster scale-up/scale-down capability). This is also consistent with the findings of Belcourt (2006) who proposed that outsourcing provide improved organizational flexibility. 5.0.4 Increased quality In the present study, the major strategic reason for organizations to adopt outsourcing is to utilize vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x;s specialized technology and processes resulting in better quality products and services. The outsourcing organizations indicated that outsourcing results in quality improvement through better quality production via advanced technological skills. Moreover, outsourcers indicated that outsourcing enables them to avoid technology obsolescence and to keep them up-to-date with advanced technology. Thus, it is clearly evident that outsourcing results in added value to the company thereby resulting in improved ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

quality. These advantages also correlate with the results of previous findings (Belcourt, 2006). From the study findings, in addition to the above-mentioned benefits, the other benefits of outsourcing are found to be efficient processes, ease of inhouse HR functions, legal requirements, best management practices and reduced infrastructure investment. 5.1 Challenges and issues involved in HR outsourcing The challenges involved in HR outsourcing are found to be different for both vendors and outsourcers. The following section discusses in brief the major challenges faced by both vendor and outsourcing organizations. 5.1.1 Vendor selection The study findings indicate that vendor selection is the major challenge faced by most of the outsourcing organizations. This is because vendor selection involves identification and evaluation of vendors and making contracts with them. Moreover, uncertainty exists in whether the selected vendors fit with the outsourcing organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x; culture and meet their technological demands to produce consistent quality This result collaborates with the results of Wadhwa and Ravindran (2007) and Lacity and Wilcocks (1998) who also studied the major challenges faced by HR outsourcing organizations. This clearly indicates the need of structured framework to assist outsourcers in selecting vendors. Future studies can focus on developing structured framework in vendor selection.

5.1.2 Selecting outsourcing functions Identifying in-house and outsourcing functions and determining the risk factors involved in outsourcing is another major challenge faced by HR outsourcers . This is because the outsourcers find difficulties in setting limits for each task, identifying risk-prone area and defining responsibilities and performance monitoring mechanisms. These findings are also in-line with the results of Dhar and Balakrishnan (2006). However, Dhar and Balakrishnan (2006) focused only on two companies. Thus, these previous findings have now been replicated in the present study using a sample of twenty companies. 5.1.3. Inconsistent quality and performance According to the interview findings, the majority of the outsourcing organizations faces trouble with vendors in terms of insufficient service quality, inconsistent performance and lack of technical competence. Moreover, outsourcers revealed their difficulties in delivering their product on time. These challenges are found to be similar with the results of Alexandrova (2012) 1 however, they just studied the challenges related to IT outsourcing. Therefore, the present study successfully replicated the present study findings by focusing on HR outsourcing.

5.1.4 Privacy and confidentiality of organizational data The study findings revealed that Privacy and confidentiality are the major risk involved in HR outsourcing. The outsourcers are found to be uncertain regarding their confidentiality of data. Moreover, this relates to the security risk 1

IT Outsourcing Risks: Empirical Evidence from Bulgarian Service Providers ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

factors of outsourcing such as a lack of reliability among service providers, data security issues and compliance issues. Similar results are obtained in the previous study findings of Alexandrova (2012). 5.2 Challenges and issues faced by vendors 5.2.1 Delayed response time and miscommunication Both vendors and outsourcing organizations indicated that delayed response time and miscommunication are the other common issues involved in HR outsourcing. This occurs mainly because of a mismatch in national and organizational cultures and value which creates a major challenge for both HR outsourcing organizations and vendors. In the present study, the outsourcing organization stated that miscommunication results in less satisfaction and poorer quality. Moreover, communication gap between outsourcers and vendor results in unclear statements regarding processes, objectives, and timelines. This also results in poor coordination between both parties. Therefore, proper training should be provided for both parties to overcome this issue. The results of this study clearly indicate the need of proper communication and systems to improve the effectiveness of outsourcing. The results of the present study are inline with the previous studies (Azeem & Khan, 2012) suggesting that miscommunication and delayed response time are the common challenge faced by both vendors and outsourcing organizations. 5.2.2 Stringent work practices and assessment procedures The vendor has to adhere to the stringent work practices of outsourcing organizations, which forms a major challenge for the vendor. Moreover, the study results reveal that Indian outsourcing vendors face difficulties in work arrangements and organizational readiness for outsourcing. Most of the vendors ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

indicated that developed countries tend to underestimate the quality of Indian outsourcing vendors and hence they face difficulties in the performance assessment practices. This often imposes a major barrier between Indian outsourcing vendors and developed countries. The result of the present study is consistent with the results of previous studies (Ranganathan & Balaji 2007) investigating the challenges faced by vendors. The other challenges faced by vendors are adhering to high quality standards, payment issues, compliance with data protection regulations and privacy and confidentiality issues. 5.3 Effective outsourcing practices 5.3.1. Effective practices of outsourcing organizations From the study, it is clear that a range of methodological procedures is followed by outsourcing organizations to effectively handle their HR outsourcing practices. In the present study, the major effective HR outsourcing practices employed by the majority of the outsourcing organizations include online portal or website specifically dedicated for outsourcing activities. Usage of online portal can help in increasing coordination among vendors and outsourcing organizations. Another effective strategy adopted by outsourcing organizations are periodic updating of HR policies using feedback from both parties. In addition, handbook of HR policies and monthly meetings are other effective outsourcing approaches followed by outsourcing organizations. 5.3.2. Effective practices of vendors The effective practices implemented by most of the vendors include marketing strategies to increase their businesses. The major effective practices ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

of vendors include employing testimonials and customer success stories. This will not only help to improve their image but also trust between outsourcing organizations. This in turn enables vendors to overcome the uncertainty among outsourcing organizations in terms of their efficiency. Moreover, the vendors indicated that they focus on low turnaround time and adhering to deadlines. This increases vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x;s efficiency as well as increases customer satisfaction. In addition, the other effective HR outsourcing practices employed by vendors are offering customized services, focus on customer satisfaction and maintaining holistic relationships with the client.

Chapter 6 Conclusion The present study attempted to identify the benefits in addition to various challenges and risks involved in HR outsourcing from the perspective of both Indian vendors and UK outsourcing organizations. The study findings indicate that low cost operation and competitive advantage are the major core motives for organizations to adopt HR outsourcing. The other major benefits of HR outsourcing are to attain improved quality and organizational flexibility. In terms of outsourcing issues, the most common issue faced by both HR outsourcing organizations and vendors is miscommunication and cultural differences. Miscommunication and cultural differences imposes a major challenge for both parties and hence proper training should be provided to both parties. The study results reveal that the challenges faced by outsourcing organizations

are

different

from vendors.

According

outsourcing

organizations, vendor selection is the major challenge faced by outsourcing organizations. Vendor selection is a crucial factor as it determines the effectiveness of outsourcing. The other major challenges faced by HR outsourcing organizations are identifying in-house and outsourcing functions, setting limits for each task, determining performance monitoring mechanisms, defining responsibilities for each party and identifying major risk prone areas involved in HR outsourcing. On the other hand, the most common challenge faced by vendors is ensuring quality work practices and adhering to work practices. Moreover, the study results indicate that privacy and confidentiality issues are the major HR outsourcing risk factors for outsourcing organizations. The other common risk factors involved in HR outsourcing organizations are loss of control over HR policies and negative impact among in-house employees. On the other hand, for vendors, the risk factors involved in HR outsourcing are issues related to payment, performance assessment and compliance with data protection rules and regulations. The study results demonstrate that online portal, website for outsourcing activities, regular meetings and periodic assessment of outsourcing policies are some of the effective practices adopted by HR outsourcing organizations. Thus, this study concludes that outsourcing definitely offers benefits to both parties, provided they offer effective training to all employees and incorporates effective outsourcing practices. This study provides a detailed insight regarding the challenges faced by vendors and enable outsourcing industries to improve the outsourcing practices.

6.1. Limitations and future studies The following are the major limitations of this study: 1. The research methodology carried out in the current study was crosssectional qualitative study employing semi-structured interview method of data collection to determine the major challenges involved in HR outsourcing. Despite of the fact that a cross sectional study enables to collect data from a huge group of people it fails to assess cause and effect relationship. Therefore, further studies should employ longitudinal study design to identify various benefits and challenges involved in HR outsourcing.

2. The major limitation of this study is limited in sample size. This study employs only 20 participants (n=10 vendors and n=10 outsourcing organizations). Therefore, future studies should employ huge sample size. 3. This study employed, semi-structured interview method of data collection. The major limitations of this data collection method are that the interviewees may hesitate to reveal all the challenges and issues faced by them in order to maintain the esteem of their company. Hence, future studies should employ both survey and interview method of data collection so as to improve the reliability of the study results. 4. This study determined the challenges and risks of HR outsourcing eliminating other interesting inter-group effects. Hence, future studies should assess whether the challenges differ with various outsourcing activities. 5. This study is limited by focusing only on the outsourcing activities between India and UK. Hence, future studies should whether the benefits and challenges vary with other countries. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

6.2 Recommendations This study offered clear insights regarding the various risks and challenges. Our study focuses on the nascent area of IT outsourcing vendors. We examine the issues from the standpoint of IT outsourcing vendors in India, currently the primary destination for IT off shoring. 6.3. Making an outsourcing decision In making outsourcing decision, it is very important to know the strategic significance and constructive steps that will be taken to outsource the process. The study finding clearly reveals miscommunication is the major reasons for many of the HR outsourcing issues. Hence, outsourcers should provide adequate training to improve the skills required in efficient management of outsourcing activities. Training and communication help to reduce resentment or resistance (Foster, 1999). Further research is required to ensure that the outsourcing strategy will fulfill the organization or business financial goals and business objectives and need to know if the vendor marketplace can withstand and exceed the current level of service standards. It is also important to concentrate on the timing of the change and process of outsourcing. 6.4 Managing relationships and contract It is very significant for companies to actively and constantly administer and manage the relationship and contract with the service provider. Recruitment, training and general HR issues are created for many organizations. At the micro-level, workers are willing to switch over to other jobs and employers, resulting in higher labor turnover, which also increases the transaction costs for employers, and personal disruption for the individuals concerned. There is a significant change in the structure of the economy, ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

manufacturing and extractive sectors being much less important than a generation ago, with this increased activity in private and public services today. This has implications for education and training policy and employment prospects for existing and potential workers, particularly, such as graduates in higher education. So making the providers knowing the clients ambitions, strategic discussions and plans on a regular basis will help in achieving competitive advantage for a buyer. 6.5. Major risk in HR outsourcing Human Resource Outsourcing is a great tool to achieve competitive advantage as the company can concentrate on core process by outsourcing noncore processes. In the present growing business trends are seeking to be more accustom to a more volatile global economy, which can be seen by the increased foreign direct investment in the form of outsourcing. Large operations, including lack of cost effectiveness, large share device center and rapidly redeploy as different market matures. Moreover the outsourcing is used to reduce the overall costs and provide other benefits where oversight and feedback are the paramount to a successful outsourcing operation. Any time the company may need the change in the strategy and their outsourced vendors also no longer have the same expectation and goals. Hence outsourcing remains an effective tool for businesses to focus on their strategic goals by reducing cost. When the contract are already been made, the organization has to maintain the cultural difference for the structure overview tools. 6.6 Establishing a governance structure Creation of a governance structure that has effective organization and reciprocated gain is forever been a key accomplishment in outsourcing. Numerous HR implications are arising from outsourcing, where the legal issues ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

are considered in subcontract of the in-house activity includes the transfer of the regulations. The issues associated with the control and the sub contracts must be taken into account. An implication arises at the level of regulation of the performance.

Performance is not regulated through a typical contract of

employment along with the outsourcing, but it can be managed through a commercial contract and the service level agreements. The implications are also there for the job security and work intensification within outsourced organizations. 6.7. Selecting a service provider It is only possible to get the successful outsourcing arrangement only if the vendor fits the company exactly. Outsourcing must be done carefully, systematically, and with explicit goals and expectations. Sensible reasons to consider outsourcing include both strategic and tactical concerns on both a department and organizational level (Casale, 1996; Corbett, 1999). A good choice of outsourcing partners contributes for successful organizations, which should be selected based on their expertise in the operation being outsourced and their cultural fit with the firm. Providing adequate training skills to manage outsourcing activities and to negotiate a sound contract. Providing managers with skills that will enable them to adapt to other cultures and work with other managers may be very important to ensure the success of outsourcing (Sinderman, 1995). A service provider can also utilize technology to ensure transparency to clients as to demonstrate how they are functioning and upholding quality standards. Failure to understand the terms and regulations will bring the complications and risks to the organizations. It is very important for the organizations getting ready to outsource to know how the providers support and manage regulatory compliance. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

6.8 Strategies to avoid the risks in HRO Even though outsourcing Human- resource is a common practice in the present business world, it is very important to have a careful groundwork and monitoring to get full advantage from it. Developing a comprehensive plan outlining detailed expectations, requirements, and expected benefits during all phases of outsourcing activities may be the key to successful sourcing efforts (Guterl, 1996). The major clearly the understanding of such issues is important to the vendors, but also to the clients in order to maintain an effective dyadic relationship. 6.9 Future Research Opportunities • Future research should focus on the longitudinal study design for identifying various benefits and challenges involved in HR outsourcing and also ensure to employ huge sample size. • The Interview method should include both survey and interview methods to improve the reliability of the study. • Research to quantify the potential risks in HR outsourcing for organizations in the UK and other countries. • The development of an HR core / noncore matrix / methodology to assist organizations to accurately identify what the core, risk initiating processes or process elements are. • The identification of effective methodologies and tools to measure HR Risk management.

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Appendix:1 INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OUTSOURCING ORGANIZATION Background Information Respondent No: 1 Designation: HR Country Head Type of Organization: Kier group of construction

Name: Aron Paul Age:

50 years

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 16,000 Description: Employee:

Aron Paul is a Senior HR manager in the Kier group of construction UK. He started his career in the company in the year 1998 as a HR and he is now HR Country Head for the company. He has significant experience in handling wide variety of legal and regulatory issues, having advised a number of clients in the construction sector. Company Profile: Kier Group of construction was started in the year 1928 by Olaf Kier. The company is one of the early pioneers in the domain of design and construction. The company has more than 16,000 people globally and has annual revenue of £2.8bn. Kier provides a variety of services in terms of building and civil engineering, support services, commercial property development, structured property financing and private and affordable housing. Kier group has outsourced Part of their HR activities to a HR management vendor in India. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Interview: Mr. Aron Paul is one of the key members of the renowned company so I took prior permission from him for an interview. Despite of his busy schedule, he agreed to answer my questions. It was 4:30 pm and I met him in his office for the interview.

Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Aron Paul: Yes, of course. Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Aron Paul: Well, the time constraints involved in performing the multifaceted roles and responsibilities of HR are challenging while executing HR duties. However, we follow methodological procedures for all HR related activities. Me: In your view what are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Aron Paul: The phenomenon, „globalization‟ and restructuring‟ have surmounted the pressures on HR department and have added to its complexity. Multiple operative offices have increased the need for outsourcing HR related activities. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Aron Paul: Outsourcing has become a strategic imperative to our company and it allowed us to concentrate more on productivity and quality rather than our regular HR concerns. The major objectives of the organization can be attained cohesively using strategies when other administrative functions are outsourced. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision?

Aron Paul:

The booking procedures, fare comparisons, accommodations, currency

conversions will be executed better when outsourced as they are well informed on the fares and discount and can even negotiate better. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Aron Paul: Yes of course, outsourcing helps in decreasing redundancy of work and provides more professional documentation, eliminating manual record maintenance replaced with efficient processes.

Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Aron Paul: You see, challenges will exist in each and every step in the outsourcing process. We confront challenges mainly in selection of appropriate vendor since it is imperative for successful alliance that a mutual agreement exists. The owner of the outsourcing agency, if changed poses a problem in contracts and also alters the relationship and payment involved. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Aron Paul: The HR outsourcing helped us to concentrate more on strategic planning and development of the organization rather than concentrating on our regular HR routines. We are now able to focus on the core functionalities in order to improve the company‟s performance and service quality. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Aron Paul: Yes we had a few issues in the beginning, the service quality that our vendor company had provided is not up to our mark, as our HR vendors failed to understand our exact requirements our work got delayed. It not only wasted our time but also increased our budget for that project, that intern affected our customer satisfaction. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Aron Paul: The rapport between the employees and the organization is minimized due to the contracts and the organization is unable to effective understand and interpret the requirements of the employees including their perception of corporate values, beliefs and standards. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Aron Paul: well the main reason is low cost and availability of skilled professionals. Though the use of software/ hardware is lesser, more man-hours compensate for the work involved and are open to adopt updated measures for improving the quality of work.

Background Information Respondent No: 2

Name: Johnson

Designation: Regional HR Manager

Age:

Type of Organization: Logicalis

50 years

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 10000

Description: Employee: Mr. Johnson is the Regional HR Manager in Logicalis . Mr. Johnson joined in the company in 2004 as a HR executive and he became the regional HR manager in the year 2011. He has significant experience in directing change management initiatives through awareness creation, developing strategies to improve employee engagement simultaneously assessing the employee capabilities. Company Profile: ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Logicalis is an international IT solution and managed services provider which started in 1988 as Logical Networks Ltd in UK. The Logicalis Group operates in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and South America and generates annual revenue of over $1.4 billion. The Logicalis Group provides services in data centre and cloud services, business analytics, managed services, communications and collaboration. Interview: Mr. Johnson is the regional HR manager of a renowned company who is very busy with his work schedule. Regardless of this busy schedule, when I requested him for an interview, he immediately agreed. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Johnson: Oh, Sure.

Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Johnson: According to me, execution of HR policies can be practiced effectively and the policies need to be reviewed on periodic basis to adapt to the organization‟s development. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Johnson: If you ask me that, the legal regulations in various countries and compliance directives have made it complex for HR to implement them in the organization. Such requirements call for specifically skilled personnel with knowledge. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Johnson: As per our company perspective, the information or data exposure can be minimized as the outsourcing party will be held responsible for such conditions for which greater protection will be exercised by the vendor. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Johnson: Surveys, evaluation procedures and periodic feedback of employees are well drafted and the data collected, are processed and secured to provide information or report from which strategic decisions can be planned rather than spending much time in formulating and analyzing these procedures involved. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Johnson: Definitely, to carry out all the functions of HR requires a team of HR professionals which is not feasible at developmental stages, so only the services required are outsources instead of recruiting professionals full time at high cost basis.

Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Johnson: The challenges we are facing in terms of getting a consorted opinion on the vendors for outsourcing. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Johnson: If I am analysing that factor, there is not much impact in the HR team functions; still certain functions like training, motivation for employees are better carried out by inhouse HR personnel. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Johnson: At some extent, the vendor‟s credibility is at times questionable and requires further scrutiny for confirming the information provided. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Johnson: Outsourcing might produce better services but are not likely to affect manpower but influence the internal employment. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Johnson: The reasons to choose India for outsourcing HR activities is due to the increased establishment of manufacturing units, administrative or customer support centres for international organizations in India to gain proximity to the customers.

Background Information Respondent No: 3

Name: David Cooper

Designation: Procurement specialist

Age:

Type of Organization: Electron technology

Sex: Male

50 years

Total no of employees: 10000

Description: Employee: Mr. David Copper is the Procurement specialist in Electron Technology. Mr. Cooper worked in various companies and has 20 years of working experience. Initially, he started his career as a commercial trainee and gradually he has grown up to the level of Procurement specialist. His career in Electron technology started in November 2012. He has significant ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

experience in cost reduction, strategic sourcing, supplier evaluation, procurement, electronics, and supplier evaluation and so on. Company Profile: Electron is a global technological player headquartered in the United Kingdom. The company operates in America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia pacific. The Electron provides design, manufacture and market innovative technology products. The services can be found in various areas right from scientific and medical to the industrial and commercial arenas. Interview: Mr. David Cooper is a Procurement Specialist of well-established firm in London. Regardless of this busy schedule, when I requested him for an interview, he immediately agreed. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Cooper: Of course.

Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Cooper: For me, executing HR policies is vital for any company. In our company, we have established clear HR policies and every employee is provided a handbook of HR policies which are also available on our internal portal. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Cooper: Following the 2008 recession, our company decided to outsource certain HR functions since it was cost efficient and the company could focus more on its core business. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative?

Cooper: Outsourcing HR functions in our company have enabled the management to invest more on its core business, expand its product range, productivity, marketing and promotion. Hence, HR outsourcing is strategically aligned with the company‟s primary goals. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Cooper: We mainly intended to outsource recruitment process including advertisement and application screening, background check and appointment. The interview however, is conducted by our company. The entire process was time consuming and we did not have the appropriate IT facilities to hasten the process. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Cooper: Why not!! We have outsourced only recruitment function which has been predominantly successful so far. We have been able to focus on training process which is essential for employee performance and other appraisal processes. But there have also been minor issues. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Cooper: Basically, selecting the appropriate vendor was the primary challenge that we faced since it is important for a successful alliance that a mutual agreement exists.

Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Cooper: Some of my colleagues felt that the essential HR task being recruiting should not be outsourced. Most of our HR activities now focus on payroll, employee motivation and training. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Cooper: Yes yes!!! There is insufficient knowledge about skill requirements for a non-IT organization. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Cooper: HR department in any organization deals with confidential information both of the company and employees. Outsourcing this function involves risk. Hence, it involves elaborate legal agreements before outsourcing HR functions. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Cooper: Well, people in India are highly professional and dedicated too. Besides, we can get good quality of work at low cost and the place is very safe for an investment.

Background Information Respondent No: 4 Designation: Associate HR Manager Type of Organization: Ricco Associated Ltd

Name: Kenneth Price Age:

45 years

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 5000 Description: ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Employee: Mr. Kenneth price is the Associate HR Manager in Ricco Associated Ltd. Mr. Kenneth joined in the company in 2004 as a HR executive and the he became the associate HR manager in the year 2012. He has a significant experience in directing change management initiatives through awareness creation, developing strategies to improve employee engagement simultaneously assessing the employee capabilities. Company Profile: Ricco Associate is a multinational company having 20 years of experience in electronic product development. It is a registered member of the Manufacturing Advisory Services (MAS). Ricco Associates offer electronics and mechanical design prototypes and manufacturing services to customers nationally. Interview: Mr. Kenneth Price is the Associate HR manager of an international company. In spite of this busy schedule, when I requested him for an interview, he immediately agreed. Me: Sir, shall we start the interview? Kenneth: Ya ok. Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Kenneth: The HR policies we practice are not different from the norms followed by most organizations and we have made them employee centric while also maintaining a professional work culture. We have recently introduced an online tool through which employees can post their grievances since many of them are unsure of who to approach and how to deal with work place problems. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Kenneth: The management started taking advantage of IT advances for several of its functionsâ&#x20AC;Ś. With regards to HR activities, we did not have the IT expertise and outsourcing seemed to be more cost effective. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Kenneth: HR outsourcing has increased the efficiency in terms of recruitment which adds value to the organization‟s primary goal of improving employee performance. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Kenneth: The management regarded in-house HR management to be ideal but background checks of employees became challenging while conducting mass recruitments. So, we outsourced background check function and later even the Payroll. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Kenneth: Ya sure!! During the initial phase of outsourcing, the company faced problems with respect to mutual agreements. However, it has eased in-house HR functions and we are able to focus on core HR functions like talent acquisition. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Kenneth: See, companies making the strategic decision to outsource manufacturing or design service confronts several challenges. In our company, it was challenging to establish the right alliance to ensure that the company‟s mission, vision and goals are upheld….We had to ensure that the type of knowledge required and the culture that exists is understood by the vendor.

Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Kenneth: It requires for us to constantly interact with our HRO vendors and we feel this is an additional task. Even though some functions are outsourced, we have to keep track for our own record. We feel it has increased our work.

Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Kenneth: Hmm well yes!!! The quality of service has been fluctuating and the process of legal agreements to uphold the trust is complex. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Kenneth: There is certainly the risk of loss of control over HR policies among employees. For example, if there are issues with employees‟ salary payment, they are unsure of who to approach and how to resolve the problem. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Kenneth: In India, many professional people are available at lower cost. At the same time, we can get quality work from them.

Background Information Respondent No: 5

Name: Clement Hubert

Designation:©Senior HR Manager Age: 47 years 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com

UK: The Portergate,Bertelsmann Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com Type of Organization: Arvato Ltd Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 63,000

Description: Employee: Mr. Clement Hubert is the Senior HR Manager in Arvato Bertelsmann Ltd. Mr. Hubert has profound knowledge in Human resource consulting, recruiting, training and development arena. Mr. Hubert joined in the company in 2004 as a HR executive and he became the senior HR manager in the year 2012. Company Profile: Arvato Bertelsmann is a global company and has 50 years of experience in a public sector organization. The company provides a variety of services such as financial service, customer service, and supply chain solution and so on. The company operates in various countries and generates annual revenue of over €16.1bn. Interview: Mr. Clement Hubert is the Senior HR manager of an international company. Despite of his hectic schedule, when I requested him for an interview, he immediately agreed. Me: Sir, are you ready for the interview? Huber: Yes.

Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization?

Huber: Execution of HR policies is not only good for employees but also for the organization. Our company strictly follows well framed HR policies and ensure that we address the grievances of our employees. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Huber: Well, companies generally view outsourcing for administrative purposes, like pension, healthcare and employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x; welfare related aspects which are considered to be cumbersome processes involved in preventing the conception and implementation of growth related strategies. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Huber: My opinion is the outsourcing might be a possible approach to execute or restructure internal processes and also might help in delivering strategic advantages to the organization. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Huber: The benefits basket was entirely demanding to be outsourced as it involved health insurance, medical claims, family health covering schemes, etc., which was too much to handle and required financial and medical knowledge to process these functions. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Huber: Success and failure are common for any business. Well, yes, we have achieved fruitful success in outsourcing business as the vendors are updated with the latest information on regulations and schemes for benefits, it was considered to hire them to perform these functions of the HR department. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Huber: Some vendors were hesitant in disclosing the companies who had availed their services which the vendors claimed to be associated with and have provided appreciable results. In such cases the claims of the vendors are skeptical. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Huber: The HR staff size decreased in organizations with HR outsourcing and the recognition for HR professionals within the organization has comparatively decreased. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Huber: Yes!! There is a gap in transferring the skill and knowledge which is specific for the position which in turn affects the productivity of the organization. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Huber: The management sometimes losses track of the functions that are executed if any aspect of the HR functions are outsourced for which necessary procedures need to be structured before outsourcing. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Huber: India has the largest pool of talented people and it is easy for companies to find out employees at affordable rates.

Background Information Respondent No: 6

Name: Richard

Designation: HR Manager

Age:

Type of Organization: Cygnet info tech

38 years

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 10000 Description: Employee: Mr. Richard is the HR Manager at Software Company. He has good knowledge in the management area specifically human resource consulting, recruiting, training and development. Mr. Richard joined in the company in 2004 as a HR executive and he became HR manager in the year 2012. Company Profile: Cygnet info tech is a multinational software consulting company and has 14 years of experience in developing web and mobile software. The company provides a variety of services such as customer software development, software testing, mobile app development and software product maintenance. Interview: Mr. Richard is the HR manager of a well established and renowned company. I have met him in his office and requested him for an interview. Without any hesitation, he immediately agreed. Me: Sir, shall we start our interview? Richard: Yes

Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Richard: HR policies are very important for an organization and having realized this we have excellent policies and procedures which will be updated periodically and intimated to our employees. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Richard: Our parent organizations are concerned with the expenditure involved in executing HR activities for newly founded organizations. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Richard: According to me, time consuming activities such as processing procedures and verification processes can be executed by outsourcing thereby providing time and scope for planning and implementation of strategic goals. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Richard: The payroll process and fulfillment of government regulations in payment process or conforming to labor laws, which might interfere with the crucial time of the organization‟s growth. Therefore, such unavoidable procedures that have to be executed promptly are best executed by the vendors who keep updated of the latest government rules and regulations and are aware of its procedures. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Richard: Yes. Professional reporting on all the training, evaluation methods will enable to assess the outcome of the strategies employed and associate with returns on investment. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions?

Richard: Well, the resources or the expertise available, the software and hardware systems involved and also the reliability of the firm on all these aspects against the claims of the vendors is daunting to scrutinize the facts.

Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Richard: Sometimes employees with inappropriate skill set recruited were challenging to be trained and attitude alignment with the vision and mission of the organization were compromised resulting in low productivity. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Richard: We mainly confront challenges in conveying information pertaining to the requirements of the organizations to the vendors. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Richard: There were possibilities of cross cultural differences between our organization and the vendor and a clear understanding was lacking past these barriersâ&#x20AC;Ś Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Richard: HR outsourcing is to integrate business and technology systems of the organizations which are to be established in India.

Background Information Respondent No: 7

Name: Andrea

Designation: HR Regional Head

Age:

47 years

Type of Organization: Aegis limited

Sex: Female

Total no of employees: 55,000

Description: Employee: Ms. Andrea is the HR regional head of the Aegis global service company. He has indepth knowledge in good employee relations experience, along with strong project management skills and he has the ability to manage multiple stakeholders across different locations. Company Profile: Aegis Limited is a global outsourcing and technology company who‟s providing this service for the past 30 years. At present, the company has operation in 56 locations across 13 countries. The company provides a variety of services such as Banking and Financial services, insurance, Technology, Telecom and so on. Interview: Ms. Andrea is the Regional HR manager of a prominent company. One fine morning I have met him in his office and requested him for an interview. He accepted the request without any aversion.

Me: Madam, shall we move on to the interview? Andrea: Yes, please. Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Andrea: We include a representative of the employees to obtain their viewpoint while framing HR policies and for its optimal application and execution of the frame policies. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Andrea: Truly speaking, the reason is the low cost. The factors that seemingly drive organizations for outsourcing can be a cost and man-hours involved in executing the norms, legal processes and reducing business volatility. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Andrea: As per me, Volumes of data processing or insurance, healthcare procedures can be facilitated by outsourcing agencies or vendors which renders the organization free from involving in such elaborate processes. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Andrea: In our organization, mostly temporary staffing is handed over to the vendors as they are likely to be replaced frequently and their payroll and other associated procedures are not to be interfered with the growth of the organization. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Andrea: From my perspective, sometimes best management practices and updated personnel management techniques. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions?

Andrea: See, without any challenges, there will not be any enthusiasm. Let‟s come to the point, the customer service, including the response time, contact establishment and mode of communication for clarifications are vital which are compromised with certain vendors. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Andrea: Employee rapport and record of grievances and feedback were overlooked as employees resort to approach vendors reading the allocated functionalities.

Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Andrea: Obviously!! We mainly face challenges to obtain a consolidated opinion on the vendors with varied opinions and perspectives. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Andrea: It is important to identify the vendor who could comprehend the requirements of the organization and translate it to suit the requirements which at times can make the organization quite dependent on them Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Andrea: Hmm!!!!! Well, the primary motive is to reduce operational costs involved in setting up an entire team of professionals and supportive infrastructure.

Background Information Respondent No: 8

Name: Adam

Designation: Senior HR Manager

Age:

42 years

Type of Organization: Allied global solution

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 15,000 Description: Employee: Mr. Adam is a senior HR manager in the Allied global solution for last 3 years. He joined in the company as an HR manager in 2006. He is very efficient in developing, implementing and evolving HR policies to maintain a high business growth in areas such as performance management, organizational design and career development. Company Profile: The Allied global solution is leading global managed IT Outsourcing company. The company established in the UK in 1992. The company provides IT Outsourcing Services and operates in EMEA, North and South America, Australia and Asia Pacific.

Interview: Mr. Adam is a prominent HR manager in Allied global solution. He is always busy with his managerial tasks. Despite of his hectic schedule, when I approached for an interview, he gave me the permission without any hesitation. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Adam: Yes Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Adam: HR policies are indispensable to any organization. By understanding its importance, we are strictly adhering to the policies. The policies will be updated periodically and the same will be intimated to our employee‟s at a time. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Adam: Well, our company feels that outsourcing is the panacea for all problems. It is a kind of shortcut procedure to obtain high competitive advantage in marketing niche. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Adam: In my opinion, Outsourcing has become a strategic imperative to our company and it increases the organization flexibility, productivity and quality. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Adam: We are outsourcing our administrative tasks. The reason behind this is if our manpower is concentrating more on the administrative tasks, we will not be having enough time to focus on our strategy planning. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Adam: Obviously, HR outsourcing helps us to minimize risk in terms of labor laws and employment regulations which our employees may come across. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Adam: We are facing challenges in identifying the key metrics which are important to attain the business goals and performance. Apart from that it is difficult to understand the factors which will lead to user satisfaction. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Adam: Some of my subordinates feel that they should be comfortable in contacting an outside party rather than the in-house team. This can be a complex change to accommodate. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Adam: Not that extent, but still some vendors‟ fails to provide the best practices which the service provider learned from its other clients. Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Adam: Well, while outsourcing the HR functions, our company should give the employee information to the vendor. It may create a security problem. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Adam: As per me, in the world, the people of India have a sound technical knowledge. This is the reason we prefer India for HR outsourcing over other countries.

Background Information Respondent No: 9

Name: Zephan

Designation: HR Regional Head

Age: 52 years

Type of Organization: Acora Solution

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 3000

Description: Employee: Mr. Zephan is Regional HR head of Acora Solution who is joined in the company in 2004 as a HR manager. Then he got promoted to HR Regional Head in 2009. Mr. Zephan possesses good employee relations experience, along with strong project management skills and he has the ability to manage multiple stakeholders across different locations. Company Profile: ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Acora is an international organization which provides outsourcing solutions with headquarters in the UK. The company provides consultancy services, cloud services, IT security etc. Interview: I approached Mr. Zehan, who is the regional head of a famous company, despite of his busy schedule, he immediately accepted my request. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Zephan: Yes, please. Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Zephan: In our company, the HR policies are framed based on the suggestions which are obtained from employees. Presently, our company established a new website where employees can easily express their suggestions and feedbacks.

Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Zephan: One of the biggest factors which made our company take the outsourcing decisions is cost reduction and brings more profit to the company. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Zephan: While considering outsourcing as an initiative, it offers soft-cost savings to the organizations in a more efficient way. Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Zephan: We outsource finance related functions. It helps us to save money and we will get more time to focus on the key part of our business.

Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Zephan: Why not? The most obvious benefit is in terms of cost savings. Also, it enables us to deliver our services a faster rate. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Zephan: good question! The biggest challenge we are facing in identifying the risk factors for the company and transferring them over to the outsourcing partner. Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Zephan: As you rightly asked, it may bring a negative impact on our internal team and they will lose their motivation, feeling that their significance as good performer became less. Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Zephan: As you know, nobody is perfect. Due to some mistakes made by the vendor, our in house employees need to rework on the same task, which in turn affected our whole productivity.

Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? Zephan: In my opinion, the main risk associated with our in house employee satisfaction. If a third person handles the HR functions, employees may feel their issues aren't being handled properly by the employer. Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Zephan: Well, employees from India are very talented and they will assure fast turnaround time.

Background Information Respondent No: 10

Name: Wilson

Designation: HR Manger

Age: 32 years

Type of Organization: CAPITA

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 5,000 Description: Employee: ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Mr. Wilson is the HR manager in Capita, who joined in the company in 2006 as an HR executive. He is well experienced in recruitment, career development, compensation and benefits, employee relations, grievance issues, industrial relations, employment law, compliance etc. Company Profile: Capita

international business

process

outsourcing and professional

services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has a overall market share of 27% in 2009, and the company supports clients in central government, local government and the private sector. Interview: When I approached Mr Wilson for an interview, he happily accepted my request and was very cooperative throughout the interview. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Wilson: Sure. Me: How would you describe the execution of HR policies and practices in your organization? Wilson: Regarding the HR practices in our company, I can say that we have well-developed HR policies which favors both company and staff members. Before implementing new policies, we will conduct meeting with employees in order to get their suggestions. Me: What are the core motives that have influenced outsourcing decisions? Wilson: Fine, it is a boon to our company which yields more profit and strengthening the bottom line. Me: From a strategic viewpoint, how do you view Outsourcing as an initiative? Wilson: Well, in place of current management, if we are outsourcing administrative functions relating to employment, it adds value to the company. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Me: Which HR functions did you perceive required Outsourcing and what influenced your decision? Wilson: Well, we outsource some specific business functions, which can reduce the operating cost of our business and thereby achieving superior customer service and productivity. Me: Would you describe your HR outsourcing function as successful? If yes, in what ways has it benefited the organization? Wilson: Yes of course, by outsourcing the functions, we no need to invest in the infrastructure, since our outsourcing partner takes the responsibility of the business processes and also develops the infrastructure for the same. Me: What challenges did you face in order to outsource your HR functions? Wilson: Ok, the challenge we are facing related to the service costs. That means, we are finding difficulty in understanding the process costs which is to be transferred to the vendor and finding a mutually exclusive cost model for the same.

Me: How did HR outsourcing affect your HR team in terms of function? Wilson: Hmm... Some of my colleagues lost interest work, thinking that their job role is being moved away. It affects their performance, hence reducing company‟s productivity.

Me: Has your organization faced any issues related to HR outsourcing? If yes, describe the instances? Wilson: Yap, recently we got a bad feedback from one of our client due to the mistake made by the company‟s outsourcing vendor, Me: What were the risks that you had to work with during HR outsourcing services in your organization? © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Wilson: One of my important considerations is in the quality of service provided by the vendor. If the quality is not up to the mark, ultimately, our company is responsible for that, right? Me: Why do you choose India as your HR outsourcing destination? Wilson: According to my perspective, in India, it is very easy for us to find the talented employees at an affordable rate.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OUTSOURCING VENDORS Background Information Respondent No: 1

Name: Karan

Designation: Senior HR

Age:

45 years

ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Type of Organization: WNS Global Service Sex: Male Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Total no of employees: 4,000

Description: Employee: Karan is a Senior Manager in the business process management company based in Mumbai. He started his career in the company during 2000 as a Team leader. Due to his sincerity and hard work, he got promoted as a senior manager in the year 2012. He has profound knowledge in the management field as well as good leadership skills and people management capability. Company Profile: The company was commenced in the year 1996 as a captive / in-house unit of British Airway and was known as a WNS World Network. It provides several services in the area of risk management, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, media and entertainment, retail and consumer packaged goods, shipping and logistics, telecommunications and so on. Interview: Mr. Karan is a senior officer in a global company. I have met him in his office and requested him for an interview. He immediately agreed to give me an interview. Me: Sir, are you ready for the interview? Karan: Yes.

Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities?

Karan: We have been in business for the past 15 years, which is evident of our success. Various multinational companies outsource their HR activities so that they can expand their business and invest more on their core activities.

Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Karan: Well, response time or miscommunications are the commonly occurring issues; however, when the client is satisfied with the solutions these issues are rectified from occurring further Me: As HR specialist, what are the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Karan: HR functions are critical to the everyday operations of the business and as the organization develops, the functionalities associated are also significant. Important aspects such as soft skills training, additional updated skill set for the employees are also important to execute the strategic decisions taken by the organizations. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Karan: For me, contractual agreements, coaching, relocation, compensation programs, fire drill, orientation of laws against sexual harassment, food and transport contracts are some of the most commonly outsourced HR functions. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Karan: There are certain payment issues that arise with the services provided which might vary in perspective depending on the continuous change during the development of the organization.

Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients?

Karan: We have a record of all the testimonials and successful practices that has enhanced our clients in meeting the goals, posted on our website. Our clients are also enlisted in our website which can be viewed or verified. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Karan: We found that training and interview patterns, information management pertaining to the employees of the developed countries are much more stringent and necessitate the employment of sophisticated evaluation and assessment procedures. Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Karan: To my knowledge there might not be any disadvantages in outsourcing the HR functions once the process of the organization is explained and the requirement is well outlined.

Background Information Respondent No: 2

Name: Rajesh

Designation: Assistant Manager

Age:

Type of Organization: Reliance BPO services

45 years

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 40,000

Description: Employee: Mr. Rajesh is the Assistant manager well established BPO service firm. He started his career in the company during 2000 as a Team leader and gradually he got promoted as Assistant Manager. Company Profile: Reliance BPO services is one of the well-established company In India. India`s largest private sector Information and communications company, a non banking financial services company and India`s largest integrated private sector power utility company, among other national & international businesses from telecom and banking verticals and generated the total revenue of US $ 6 billion. Interview: Mr. Rajesh is the Assistant Manager in a renowned company. Being an assistance manager, he was very down to earth. I have met him in his office and requested him for an interview. He immediately agreed to give me an interview. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Rajesh: For the last 15 years, our company successfully run this business and we have received a number of projects from various multinational organizations regarding HR outsourcing activities.

Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Rajesh: Companies are concerned about confidentiality issues and quality of service. We have framed precise policies and ensure that we clearly understand the requirements of our clients. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Rajesh: For me, recruitment and training play an important role in influencing the organizational strategy. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Rajesh: It varies depending on the organization. Some organizations outsource entire HR function, while others outsource only part of the function. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Rajesh: We have never faced any issues with our clients. We provide quality service and regularly ask for feedbacks. Our clients are satisfied, engaging with us for their HR functions. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Rajesh: We request our top clients to write testimonials on our websiteâ&#x20AC;Ś.. We keep our clients engaged on professional networking sites. We are flexible with our service and provide customized service to our client which builds trust. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Rajesh: It is challenging to deal with organizations in developed countries since their professional etiquettes are far different from India.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Rajesh: There are no risks per se….. But multinational companies based in the US and UK tend to undermine the capabilities of Asian vendors

Background Information Respondent No: 3

Name: Samuel

Designation: Marketing Head

Age:

Type of Organization: Zenith Consultant

Sex: Male

35 years

Total no of employees: 1000

Description: Employee: Mr. Samuel is the Marketing head of a consultancy. Initially, he started his career in the company during 2000 as a Team leader and gradually he got promoted as marketing head. Company Profile: Zenith consultant is the famous consultant in North India. They placed first position in providing consultant service for IT sector. Zenith Consultancy Services can help your business to develop strategic marketing campaigns to ensure that all contacts generated are target specific inbound leads with the prospective clients. Interview: Mr. Samuel is the Marketing head in a well-established consultant. Despite of his busy schedule, he agreed to give an interview. Me: Shall, we start our interview? Samuel: Ok. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities?

Samuel: We are ranked one among the top ten Indian outsourcing vendors. Most organizations that outsource intend to advance and speedup the recruitment process and reduce the cost involved.

Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Samuel: Some of our clients are concerned with leakage on information. To avoid this, we strictly maintain confidentiality of our clients. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Samuel: Human resource is the primary driving factor of any business. Hence, building a strong human capital is the essential task of a HR team. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Samuel: Majority of organizations approach us to seek services for recruitment function, payroll, training and background verification. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Samuel: Even though we employ sophisticated tools for HR functions, errors do happen. For example, mistakes while entering candidate details, errors in salary crediting etc…. But these have been rare scenarios and every time we try to eliminate possibility of errors. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Samuel: We do not engage in much of promotional activities since we are already well established. We present and follow stringent recruitment policies and maintain good relationship with all our clients which build trust.

Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Samuel: Since we need to co-ordinate with our UK counterparts, we need to work on a shift basis and in some cases where the candidate is located abroad; processing documents may be time consuming.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Samuel: We have several clients from different parts of the world including US, Canada, Australia and UK……… We have not faced any risk dealing with these companies.

Background Information Respondent No: 4

Name: ChandraPaul

Designation: Senior HR

Age:

Type of Organization: Ace technology solution

Sex: Male

45 years

Total no of employees: 5000 Description: Employee: Mr. Chandrapaul is the senior head of a software company. During his initial period, he struggles a lot and finally he reached his ultimate position as Senior HR. Company Profile: The Ace technology solution is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified company providing end to end software solution. It provides a range of services such as Open Source Development, Web Design & Development Services, Software Testing, Technical Maintenance and Support services. Interview: Mr. Chandrapaul is a Senior HR who is very busy with his work schedule. I have an opportunity to meet him in his office and I requested him for an interview. He agreed to give me an interview. ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Me: Shall, I start the interview sir? Chandrapaul: Sure. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Chandrapaul: Yes of course!!!! We are able to control the staffing procedures and provide continuous staff rotation and also negotiate with prospective employees on the CTC. Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Chandrapaul: Usually we face problems regarding the leakage of information and miscommunication. However, we rectified such kind of problems immediately to avoid reoccurrence. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Chandrapaul: Traditional transactional functions such as leadership development and management of manpower and skills which are outsourced now days were the core functionalities of HR earlier. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Chandrapaul: Well, in our company, temporary staffing procedures are often outsourced based on the requirement of client. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Chandrapaul: Sometimes payment issues have occurred with the services provided which may differ in perspective relied on the changes occurs during the development of the organization. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Chandrapaul: We maintain a record of all our success stories and practices that has enhanced our clients in meeting the goals, posted on our website. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Chandrapaul: The cultural and legal differences are most stringent forms of challenges we come across when dealing with HR outsourcing in developed countries.

Background Information Respondent No: 5

Name: Sami

Designation: HR Manager

Age:

Type of Organization: Genpact Limited

Sex: Male

35 years

Total no of employees: 65000

Description: Employee: Mr. Sami is the HR manager of Genpact who joined in the company in 2008 as HR executive. He is well versed in recruiting employees, career development and employment law, etc. Company Profile: Genpact is the largest BPO Company in India with a population of 65000 employees working, and a turnover of about $1.5 billion, which is highest by any Indian company. It is a business processing and technology management company which mainly deals with outsourcing and technology services Interview:

Mr. Sami is a dedicated, efficient, and prominent HR manager of Genpact an international BPO company. He always seems to be more active, busy and friendly person. Though he was too busy, he allocated some time when I approached him for an interview. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Sami: Ya sure. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Sami: The methodology for process improvement is challenging for us as it is for the organization when implementing it, nevertheless we learn and improve each time with the requirements to match their expectations Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Sami: Companies are concerned about whether their requirements are clearly understood by us. We meet them with concerned professionals who have the knowledge to comprehend their requirements from where start off. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Sami: HR function is imperative for day to day operations in the business. The talent and skill management are primary factors that influence the organizational strategies of an organization. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Sami: Additional facilities such as transport, medical insurance, health benefits or schemes are highly preferred to be outsourced. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced?

Sami: The performance measurement parameters set by the organization may vary from that of the performance set by us which in turn needs to be reassessed. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Sami: We explain the methodologies and the suggested alternatives which are convincing for the clients to relate that their requirement will also be fulfilled as previous cases handled. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Sami: The work policies and ethics are different and solutions have to be modified according to such policies and practices of the organization while the HR functions are outsourced to us.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Sami: It is important for us to convince the multinational companies that we are aware and are knowledgeable of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x;s legal and governmental policies so that they can entrust us with their requirements to offer our services otherwise which the contract can be terminated.

Background Information Respondent No: 6

Name: Kishore

Designation: Branch Head

Age:

Type of Organization: Tata consultancy services

Sex: Male

35 years

Total no of employees: 65000 Description: Employee: Mr. Kishore is the Branch head in one of the famous company TCS. He is too sincere and dedicated person. Because of these qualities, he got promoted as branch head during 2012. Company Profile: ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

TCS BPO is the second after Genpact to cross this mark. TCS BPO has 34000 working professionals. It experienced a growth of 14% last year and contributed to 11% of the total revenues of TCS. Interview: Mr. Kishore is a prominent branch head in TCS group. He is too active and busy with his work always. Despite of his hectic schedule, when I approached for an interview, he gave me the permission without any hesitation. Me: Sir, Shall we proceed? Kishore: Definitely. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Kishore: It is difficult to perform the redundant process of calculating and processing health care facilities which involves the collection and submission of supportive documents which the organizations prefer to rather outsource than get involved with.

Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Kishore: The iteration rate is another challenge which we come across while recruiting for organizations, but pinning down a person into a position which is not fulfilling will result in such issues. However, we have constant discussions about it with organizations and try to prevent staff turnover. Me: As HR specialist, what are the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Kishore: Leadership development programs are critical to the implementation of organizational strategies and are also one of the core functions of HR. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Kishore: Government, labor policies, or regulations and filing of tax returns are also outsourced to be completed by the vendors as it involves immense paperwork. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Kishore: Translating the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x;s objectives and mission into the prospective employee while recruitment is important and the reception of information varies from employees. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Kishore: Our subject analysis experts are the first point of contact that are well versed with the problem scenario and assess the requirement of the clients. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Kishore: Language in some countries can be a barrier and often may lead to miscommunication as the terminologies or technical terms can often be misunderstood across countries.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Kishore: Any change in authority or in the case of acquisitions or mergers, the contract has to be redrawn and at times there are high chances of losing the contract.

Background Information Respondent No: 7

Name: Luke

Designation: Regional level Manager

Age:

Type of Organization: Aditya Birla Minacs

Sex: Male

35 years

Total no of employees: 65000

Description: Employee:

Mr. Luke is the regional level manager of Birla group. He is very brilliant in handling employees and excellent in his work. He joined in this company as junior level manager during 2004 and he got promoted as regional level manager. Company Profile: Aditya Birla Minacs is a business processing service provider and a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Corp. The company started its operations in 2007 and in six years the company has put

up a turnover of $438 million while adding 21000 employees. Interview: Mr. Luke is a regional level manager of well established firm. One day, all of sudden I got an opportunity to meet him in his office and I requested him for an interview. He immediately says yes without any hesitation. Me: Sir, are you ready for the interview? Luke: Yes, proceed. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Luke: We collect information on the regulations issued by the government and while it is about to be implemented, we are prepared with the essentials to complete the process for the employees of the organization. Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Luke: Companies do have apprehension specifically on the legal aspects, governmental regulations and whether they will be any implications if any norms are not followed. We provide assurance on the procedures and legal advisors are part of the team. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies?

Luke: Being a HR specialist, I consider certain factors such as soft skills training, knowledge updated skills, etc are the influential factors of organizational strategies. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Luke: Mostly, the functions like coaching, compensation programs, food transport contracts, medical insurance, health benefits are highly preferred for outsourcing. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Luke: Data protection and privacy laws need to be conformed for which experienced and skilled workforce is required for our team without which such policies can be compromised. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Luke: Client sometimes comes up with the solutions which are required to be followed on periodic basis and we assure them that we possess the appropriate software and facilities required to periodically process the functions specified. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Luke: The executions of new methodologies, training, interview pattern, languages, work policies, ethics are the areas where we can face major challenges.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Luke: The multinational organizations sometimes provide less freedom to execute procedures and undermine the services rendered which will lead to distrust and may reflect in delay of payment date.

Background Information

Respondent No: 8

Name: Shiva

Designation: Customer service quality head

Age:

Type of Organization: First source solution Ltd

Sex: Male

38 years

2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Total no of ÂŠemployees: 26000 Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Description: Employee: Mr. Shiva is the Head of customer service quality in a well renowned business outsourcing company. During his initial period, he struggles a lot and finally he reached his ultimate position as Senior HR. Company Profile: Firstsource is a specialised company in global business outsourcing . The company operates in India, UK, Ireland, and the Philippines and generated the total revenue of $138 million. Interview: Mr. Shiva is the head of customer service quality and always busy with his work. I have an opportunity to meet him in his office and I requested him for an interview. He immediately says yes without any hesitation. Me: Sir, shall I start the interview? Shiva: Yes. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities? Shiva: We are providing assistance to the organization right from the initial stage by understanding their requirements and minimizing on the time taken to comprehend those requirements employing skilled professionals who can immediately understand the requirements and associate with updated solutions. Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Shiva: There are at times uncertainty in the functions of internal HR and those that have been assigned to us. The clear demarcation of the roles and functionalities can be used in resolving such discrepancies. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Shiva: Innovative workforce management skills and motivation for the employees towards achieving strategic goals are important core functions of the HR department. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Shiva: High-volume recruitment and payroll generation and human resources maintenance are the outsourced HR functions. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Shiva: Yes of course!!! Clear communications of the goals, timeline are not provided which leads to a lot of misunderstandings. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Shiva: Out team expertise and the previous accomplishments are satisfactory for the clients to entrust in our services. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Shiva: There is a high possibility of resistance to change while implementing new methodologies, policies or procedures as the employees have to be convinced of the reason for which it has to be carried out or explain its outcome to get their cooperation

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Shiva: Customer service quality has to be constantly maintained at high standards to ensure smooth transactions and execution of the functions outsourced which can otherwise become a threat to the agreement.

Background Information Respondent No: 9

Name: Arjun

Designation: Assistant Manager

Age: 32 years

Type of Organization: Datamatics

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 5000 Description: Employee: Mr Arjun is an assistant manager in Datamatics for last 4 years. He joined in the company as HR executive in 2005. Company Profile: Datamatics is a CMM level 5, with registered office in Mumbai, India. It is an IT Services company providing services, solutions, consulting such as enterprise business solutions, application development etc. Interview: I met Mr. Arjun in his office for the interview, despite of his busy schedule he agreed for it immediately. Me: Sir, are you ready for the interview? Arjun: Yes, of course. Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities?

Arjun: Definitely, our existence in the industry for these many years is a proof for that. By outsourcing the HR functions, client companies can focus on their core business activities.

Me: What kind of apprehension do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Arjun: Ok, outsourcing causes the company to lose control over whoâ&#x20AC;&#x;s doing what and the details, which is an important consideration. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Arjun: According to me, HR functions are very significant to every organization. The core functions which affect organizational strategy are staffing, training and development, employee engagement. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Arjun: From my experience, I understood that the most common HR functions which companies outsourced are payroll, background checks, temporary staffing, employee relocation etc. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Arjun: In my opinion, the most common issue which every outsourcing partners face is making a mutually agreeing cost model for the processes which is outsourcing. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Arjun: By ensuring 100% customer satisfaction and providing low turnaround time, we are maintaining a good relationship with our clients. Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Arjun: In my perspective, the communication pattern and language is the main barrier. We are now providing adequate training to overcome; still it persists as an issue

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Arjun: In my perspective, once we made a good relationship with the client in terms of trust and their customer satisfaction, there will not be much risk.

Background Information

Respondent No: 10

Name: Joshua

Designation: Marketing Head

Age: 38 years

Type of Organization: ITC infotech

Sex: Male

Total no of employees: 20,000

Description: Employee: Mr. Jousha is a marketing head of global IT Service Company. He has good potential in managing marketing and sales teams and capable of identifying markets for the company‟s products and service. He joined in the company as a sales representative and he got promoted as marketing manager in 2010. Company Profile: ITC Infotech, a global IT services company, is a fully-owned subsidiary of ITC Limited. ITC Limited is rated among the „World's Most Reputable Companies‟ by Forbes magazine and among „India's Most Valuable Companies‟ by Business Today. Interview: Mr. Jousha is the most sincere and fun-loving person. When I approached for an interview, he gave me the permission without any hesitation. Me: Sir, are you ready for the interview? Joshua: Sure.

Me: Has your business of providing HR services to organizations been successful? Why do companies prefer to outsource HR activities?

Joshua: Yes, of course. HR outsourcing enabled our company to attain competitive edge over competitors by delivering products promptly as well as with high quality. In my experience the main reason for companies to outsource is to save cost and eliminate risks.

Me: What kind of apprehensions do companies have in outsourcing their HR functions and how do you deal with them? Joshua: Yes, outsourcing comes up not only with advantages but also with certain disadvantages. Outsourcing limits our flexibility in few ways. However, its benefits overcome its disadvantages. Me: As HR specialist, what is the core functions of HR you think that influence organizational strategies? Joshua: It affects our organization strategy in terms of training and development, recruitment, and customer service. Me: Which HR functions in the industry are outsourced mostly? Joshua: Generally, bulk recruiting, temporary staffing, payroll, updating staffs handbooks and policy manuals. Me: Have you faced any issues with organizations you provide HR services for? If yes, what kind of issues have you faced? Joshua: No, I have not faced any such issues till now. Well-documented legal agreements helped us to avoid these kinds of issues. Me: What initiatives do you take to market your service and how do you build the trust for your clients? Joshua: We mainly focus on excellent customer service and effective marketing strategy to attract customers.

Me: What challenges do you have to face when you provide HR services for developed countries? Joshua: Huge pay and inconsistent performance are the two major issues we faced while HR outsourcing in developed countries.

Me: What are risks in accepting HRO from developed countries? Joshua: As I mentioned above, both these factors are the main challenges we faced with the developing countries.

Appendix : 2 Table 4.1: Table below present’s main themes emerged under HR policies and procedures, description and relevant interview codes.

Main Themes emerged: Description of themes HR

Policies

Interview codes

and

Procedures Online

tool

and INT_3_OUT

;

Handbook, Suggestions INT_4_OUT; Effective HR practices

from employees, conduct INT_5_OUT; meetings

post INT_7_OUT;

grievances

and

read INT_9_OUT;

policies employee

and

made INT_10_OUT

centric

mitigate the problems faced by the employees Table 4.2: Table below present’s main themes emerged under Motives that influenced Outsourcing Decisions, description and relevant interview codes.

Motives that influenced Description of themes

Interview codes

Outsourcing Decisions Globalization and restructuring, INT_1_OUT; © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Phenomenal

Motives Multiple

Operative

Offices, INT_2_OUT;

and Complexities that Legal regulations, companies are INT_6_OUT have led to outsourcing concerned with the expenditures involved

Decisions

executing

activities, Major Driving Factors

Cost-effective and could focus INT_3_OUT; more on business, Can avail INT_4_OUT; better advantage of IT advances, INT_5_OUT outsourcing is panacea for all INT_7_OUT; problems, a shortcut procedure INT_8_OUT; to

obtain

high

competitive INT_9_OUT;

advantage, view outsourcing for INT_10_OUT administrative pension,

purposes,

healthcare

employee‟

welfare

like and

aspects Table 4.3: Table below present’s main themes emerg ed under Strategic viewpoint Of Outsourcing Decisions, description and relevant interview codes.

Strategic viewpoint Of Description of themes

Interview codes

Outsourcing

the

perspective

business Enables

activities, organization

focus

increases

core (INT_1_OUT);(INT the _2_OUT);

flexibility, (INT_3_OUT);(INT

productivity and quality, invest _4_OUT); more on marketing, offers soft (INT_8_OUT); cost savings, data exposure can (INT_9_OUT); © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

minimized

and

greater (INT_10_OUT);

protection exercised by the vendor.

efficiency

recruitment, Other beneficial factors

Possible approach to execute or (INT_5_OUT); restructure internal processes (INT_6_OUT); delivering strategic advantages, (INT_7_OUT); time consuming activities such as dats processing procedures and verification processes, or insurance,

healthcare

procedures can be done by outsourcing, Table 4.4: Table below present’s main themes emerged under driving factors of HR outsourcing description and relevant interview codes.

Driving factors of HR Description of themes

Interview

outsourcing

codes

Major driving factors

Superior

customer

productivity,

service

focus

and (INT_1_OUT); core (INT_2_OUT);

activities, data protection, increased (INT_3_OUT); efficiency, adds value to company, (INT_5_OUT); restructure internal process, reduce (INT_7_OUT); work redundancy, offers soft-cost savings.

Functionalities require outsourcing

that Booking

procedures,

(INT_9_OUT)

currency (INT_1_OUT);

conversions and fare comparisons of (INT_2_OUT);

transportation

are

well

executed, (INT_3_OUT);

employees‟ periodic feedback are well- (INT_5_OUT); drafted,

processed

recruitment covering

and

process

secured, (INT_7_OUT);

and

schemes

health (INT_9_OUT)

handled

outsourcing, handle payroll procedures of temporary staffing, updated with governmental norms, finance related functions, specific business functions Major Drawbacks of in- Background house HR management

checks

employees (INT_4_OUT);

became challenging while conducting (INT_6_OUT); mass recruitments, payroll process (INT_8_OUT); affect crucial time of the organization‟s growth. Handling administrative tasks are time-consuming

Table 4.5: Table below present’s main themes emerged under Benefits of HR outsourcing functions description and relevant interview codes.

Benefits

HR Description of themes

Interview Codes

outsourcing functions

Ways which HRO has Decreasing benefitted organization

redundancy

of INT_(1)_OUT;

the work, provides professional INT_(2)_OUT; documentation, high

cost

recruitment

cuts

basis,

down INT_(3)_OUT;

efficient INT_(4)_OUT;

functioning, INT_(5)_OUT;

eased in-house HR functions, INT_(7)_OUT; Updated with all regulations INT_(6)_OUT; and beneficial schemes, best INT_(8)_OUT; management

practices,

to INT_(9)_OUT;

minimize risk in employment INT_(10)_OUT; regulations, no need to invest in the infrastructure,

Table 4.6: Table below present’s main themes emerged under challenges and issues of outsourcing functions description and relevant interview codes.

Challenges

and Description of themes

Interview codes

issues in outsourcing

Major Challenges

Selection vendor,

appropriate INT_(1)_OUT;

identifying

the INT_(2)_OUT;

keymetrics vital for attaining INT_(3)_OUT; business goals, poor mode of INT_(4)_OUT; communication clarifications,

for INT_(6)_OUT; delayed INT_(8)_OUT;

response time, Difficult to INT_(9)_OUT;INT_(10) understand factors leading to _OUT; INT_(4)_OUT user satisfaction, Identifying the risk factors and assigning to the outsourcing partners, Challenges related to service costs, mutual agreements.

Table 4.7: Outsourcing and its impact on HR team

Outsourcing and its Description

of Interview codes

impact on HR team

themes

Effective

Enabled to focus more INT_(1)_OUT; INT_(8)_OUT; on strategic planning and

core

functionalities,

comfortable to contact an outsourcing partner rather than the inhouse team Not effective

Recruitment should

not

task INT_(2)_OUT; INT_(3)_OUT; be INT_(4)_OUT; INT_(5)_OUT

outsourced, constantly INT_(6)_OUT; INT_(7)_OUT; interacting with HRO INT_(9)_OUT;INT_(10)_OUT; vendors, Decrease in the HR staff size in organizations, employees recruited

often are with

inappropriate skill and are difficult to get them trained, record of

grievances

feedback

and were

overlooked, can create a negative impact on ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

in-house team, Table 4.8: Table below presents main themes emerged under issues related to HR outsourcing functions description and relevant interview codes.

Issues related to HR Description

of Interview codes

outsourcing

themes

Definitely yes!

Services quality not INT_(1)_OUT; satisfactory,

INT_(3)_OUT;INT_(4)_OUT;

Insufficient

INT(5)OUT; INT(6)OUT;

knowledge about skill INT(7)OUT INT(9)OUT: requirements, challenges

conveying information, Challenges

obtaining consolidated opinion,

Frequent

rework done by the inhouse employees To some extent

times,

vendor‟s INT_(2)_OUT; INT_(8)_OUT

credibility

questioned-double checking

the

information provided, some vendors fail to offer best practices.

Table 4.9: Table below present’s main themes emerged under Risks in HR outsourcing functions description and relevant interview codes.

Risks

in Description of themes

Interview codes

HR Outsourcing

Major Risk Factors

Employees and organization INT_(1)_OUT; rapport

affected, INT_(3)_OUT;

organization‟s confidentiality is INT_(4)_OUT; affected, loss of control over INT_(5)_OUT; HR policies among employees, INT_(6)_OUT; looses track of functionalities, INT_(8)_OUT; lack of clear understanding INT_(9)_OUT;INT_( between the management and 10)_OUT; the vendors, Affects in-house employees‟

satisfaction,

Service quality

might get

affected. Table 4.10: Table below presents main themes emerged under outsourcing destination, description and relevant interview codes.

Outsourcing

Description of themes

Interview codes

Destination: India

low

cost

and

availability

skilled INT_(1)_OUT;

professionals, increased establishment of INT_(2)_OUT; manufacturing

units,

customer

support INT_(3)_OUT;

Choosing India centers for MNC firms, Indian people are INT_(4)_OUT; as

major highly

professional,

safe

make INT_(5)_OUT;

outsourcing

investments,

avail

destination

turnaround time,

quality

work,

fast INT_(7)_OUT; INT_(8)_OUT;I NT_(9)_OUT; INT_(10)_OUT;

Table 4.11: Table below present’s main themes emerged under motives and effective HR outsourcing and practices, descript ion and relevant interview codes.

Motives

HR To expand their business, (INT_OV_01;

outsourcing

focus

core INT_OV_03;

activities, to reduce cost INT_OV_06; and time, to update the INT_OV_07; process, to follow rules INT_OV_08; and

regulations

of INT_OV_09;

Government, to reduce INT_OV_10) work

load,

attain

competitive edge Effective HR practices

Having

understanding

clear INT_OV_05, of

requirement,

their INT_OV_07, having INT_OV_02,

updated knowledge on INT_OV_04 government

rules

and

regulations, by framing precise policies,

Table 4.12: Table below present’s main themes emerged under role of HR in influencing organizational strategies, description and relevant interview codes. © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Role

influencing

in Description

of Interview codes

themes

organizational strategies Soft skills training,

INT_(1)_OV; INT_(2)_OV;

knowledge

updated

skill set, building a INT_(3)_OV; strong human

INT_(4)_OV; capital,

leadership

INT_(5)_OV;

development and management

of INT_(6)_OV;

manpower, training

and INT_(7)_OV;

recruitment,

INT_(8)_OV;

innovative workforce management

INT_(9)_OV; INT_(10)_OV

Table 4.13: Table below present’s main themes emerged under commonly outsourced HR functions, relevant interview codes.

Commonly outsourced Description of themes

Interview codes

HR functions

contractual

agreements, INT_(1)_OV;

compensation programs

INT_(3)_OV;

food and transport contracts, INT_(4)_OV; © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

bulk

recruitment

function, INT_(5)_OV;

payroll, training and background INT_(6)_OV; verification, temporary staffing, INT_(7)_OV; outsourcing

health

schemes,

benefit INT_(8)_OV;

outsourcing INT_(9)_OV;

government

policies

and INT_(10)_OV;

regulations, payroll procedures, legal regulations etc…

Table 4.14: Table below presents main themes emerged under issues faced by outsourcing vendor’s description and relevant interview codes.

Issues

faced Description of themes

Interview codes

by outsourcing vendors

Yes!

Payment issues, errors in candidate details INT_(1)_OV; and

salary

crediting,

performance INT_(3)_OV;

measurement parameters may vary, Issues INT_(4)_OV; in Data protection and privacy laws, INT_(7)_OV; timeline

not

understanding

provided, on

clear INT_(6)_OV;

company‟s

goals, INT_(8)_OV;

mutually agreement cost model No!

INT_(9)_OV;

Provide quality services- our clients are INT_(2)_OV; pleased and satisfied with us for their HR INT_(10)_OV; functions,

Well-documented

legal

agreements, provide solutions to all kinds of issues © 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors India™ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Table 4.15: Table below presents main themes emerged under marketing strategy, description and relevant interview codes.

Marketing

Description of themes

Interview

strategy adopted by

codes

outsourcing

vendors

A track record of all testimonials INT_(1)_OV; and

successful

prospective

clients,

customized Chief Marketing stringent

practices

services, recruitment

of INT_(2)_OV;

providing INT_(3)_OV; follow INT_(4)_OV; policies, INT_(5)_OV;

maintain holistic relationship with INT_(7)_OV;

Initiatives

clients,

bring

suggested INT_(8)_OV;

alternatives and methodologies that INT_(9)_OV; meets the clients‟ requirements,

INT_(10)_OV;

ensuring customer satisfaction, low turnaround time Table 4.16: Table below present’s main themes emerged under challenges of outsourcing functions

Challenges faced by Description of themes HR

Interview codes

outsourcing

vendors

from

developed countries

More stringent training, INT_(1)_OV; interview

patterns, INT_(2)_OV;

Major Challenges

assessment

procedures, INT_(4)_OV;

sophisticated professional

INT_(3)_OV; etiquettes, INT_(5)_OV;

rigid cultural and legal INT_(6)_OV; differences, work on a INT_(8)_OV; shift

basis,

processing

document INT_(9)_OV; is

time INT_(10)_OV;

consuming, Difference in work ethics and policies, language

barrier,

miscommunication, High cost range,

Table 4.17: Table below presents main themes emerged under risks of HR outsourcing functions description and relevant int erview codes.

Description of themes

Interview codes

Risks faced by HR outsourcing vendors from

developed

countries

Major risk factors

Challenges in convincing the INT_(2)_OV;INT_( multinational companies and 5)_OV; make them to entrust us with INT_(6)_OV; their requirements, change in INT_(7)_OV; authority

acquisitions,

case

provide

of INT_(8)_OV; less

freedom to execute procedures, ÂŠ 2017-2018 All Rights Reserved, No part of this document should be modified/used without prior consent Tutors Indiaâ&#x201E;˘ Your trusted mentor since 2001 I www.tutorindia.com UK: The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, S11 8NX I UK # +44-1143520021, Info@tutorsindia.com

Customer service quality to be maintained

all

times,

undermine the capabilities Haven‟t risks

faced

any Process and requirement is well INT_(1)_OV; outlined,

maintain

good INT_(9)_OV;

relationship with our clientele