Nov

14

Students from Notre Dame University and Benedictine College will engage in an inter-collegiate debate on outsourcing.

Hosted by the International Political economy project division of the Student International Business Council (SIBC) program at Benedictine and Notre Dame, the debate teams will argue the positive and negative aspects of outsourcing on host countries.

This issue has been highly contested, especially on regard of the human rights issues, associated with outsourcing to “third-world” countries.

Talitha Hazelton, one of the seniors of the debate team from Benedictine College and President of the Young Democrats, has opted to argue on the “pro” side of the debate despite this going against some of her personal beliefs.

“It is hard to not frame the debates in the way that it effects the U.S. I had to think about the fact that it must benefit someone, or else it wouldn’t be so prominent. I have learned more about both sides of the debate, and how it can be a win-win situation. We really are a part of a global community, and this is an increasingly important topic for many countries.”

-Talitha Hazelton

This goes to show that with knowledge comes understanding, and with the right understanding comes positive progress. When people realize that both sides have valid points, the best resolution is a compromise that addresses these points and make a win-win situation for everyone.

Life is a continuous learning process. In whatever endeavor one engages in, one must not forget that not only one learns for oneself, but one learns in regards to others as well.

So, to further your learning, here is the last batch of outsourcing terms:

Unbundled pricing strategy. The decision to impose the expense of going beyond uniform service delivery on the business unit that is requesting it.

User environment. An aspect of an Service Level Agreement which describes in detail the number of users, their respective geographic locations and respective computing platforms.

Utility computing. The idea that IT services are a commodity — akin to electricity — rather than an aspect of the organization that can provide strategic differentiation.

Value audit. The process in which an organization investigates whether the cost reductions and/or revenue enhancements suggested in an outsourcing business case have actually been achieved.

Value-added outsourcing. An aspect of strategic sourcing or multi-sourcing, in which some functional area is turned over to a service provide who can add value to the functional area that wouldn’t be cost-effective if provided by internal staff.

Warranties. An aspect of the outsourcing contract’s “Terms and Conditions” which specifies what either party is required to warrant with respect to the agreement. This can include: quality of services; personnel; fitness for purpose; performance against specification; conformance to standards; warranty maintenance period and service levels.

Your-mess-for-less. This describe the attitude taken by those companies and organizations that view outsourcing as an avenue to hand over a muddied business process that needs cleaning up, along with the expectation that it should cost less to do when performed by a service provider. Origin of the term is attributed to an analyst at Gartner.

Zero Defects. Developed by Phil Crosby as a notional quality standard. Although applicable to any enterprise, it has been primarily adopted within industry supply chains regarding the purchase of large volumes of components, such as common item like nuts and bolts.

The principles of the methodology are as follows:

  1. Defect prevention is preferable to quality inspection and correction.
  2. “Zero Defects” is the quality standard.
  3. “Quality” is conformance to requirements.
  4. “Quality” is measured in monetary terms – the Price Of Non-Conformance (PONC)

(Part 5 of 5. This concludes the Outsourcing Glossary of Terms.)

Outsourcing Solutions, Inc. – your outsourcing partner!

 

References:

  1. Givens, John. “Students to debate outsourcing at Notre Dame.” 14 November 2008. E-Circuit Online. Accessed 14 November 2008.  Link here
  2. “Outsourcing Dictionary and Glossary.” Sourcing Magazine Online. Accessed 14 November 2008. Link here

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