Management Issue

Management Issues

The single biggest reason for the failures that InternationalStaff.net has experienced at offshore merchant facilities running our small and midsized programs is because of management issues at those facilities. We have put up with brief technical problems without a voice program totally failing. These technical problems have included line outages, switching issues, technology-scaling problems, e-mail and fax system failures, and poor line quality. Management problems, in contrast, are often harder to correct and can quickly spell total disaster.

It is standard practice to screen for both technical and managerial capabilities at the call centers that approach U.S. firms for business.

Facilities with technical issues are surprisingly easy to screen out with a form called the Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE) borrowed from the U.S. military. For example, if a facility does not have International Private Leased Connections (IPLCs) to the U.S. and will be attempting to utilize a U.K. hub for calling into the U.S., then that will show up in their TOE. Management issues are harder to uncover.

The two most important management factors determining the performance of offshore call centers are:

1. Corporate background and management background in the IT industry; and

2. The lifecycle of the facility.

Background factors will be covered in a future column. Here the focus is on facility lifecycles.