Offshoring Creates Good Jobs in Poor Countries
July 15th, 2010A recent study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) showed that outsourcing services like in call centres, accountancy and even medicinal practices, have led to getting good jobs done in terms of payment and number of working hours in poor and developing countries.
This study, published as a book on Monday, also found out that such a kind of outsourcing industry, even though gave good quality of services, could also decrease the staff turnover in the country by a huge rate.
The study also covered that such outsourcing of work has produced what are called “cyber-coolies” or “electronic sweatshops”, which has rendered the services in poor and developing countries into good quality.
These jobs are even better in terms of wage and working conditions, as compared to the local standards of the same.
The two biggest outsourcing markets are India and the Philippines, while Brazil and Argentina centres of South …
Different parts of the world use corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. In the U.S., it’s often synonymous with corporate philanthropy; in Europe, it’s more likely to be associated with how socially responsible the day-to-day management of a company is. In Latin America? Expectations run higher.
Its home-grown multinationals (MNCs) — as well as governments and general public — view CSR as a way to reduce poverty and address other pressing social issues across the region, while ultimately improving the sustainability of companies, asserts Lourdes Casanova in a published paper written with fellow Insead academic, Anne Dumas, titled, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Latin American Multinationals: Is Poverty a Business Issue?” Recently published in Universia Business Review, the paper raises questions about whether the region’s home-grown MNCs are indeed able to run successful businesses while improving the lives of the under-privileged. In an interview with Universia …
CSR in the Nearshore: We’re Paying Attention
March 12th, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
A key part of our mission at Nearshore Americas is to create a more visible platform to highlight the work sourcing providers and their customers are doing in the area of corporate social responsibility. Although CSR may seem to have little to do with our core business-oriented coverage of the exploding Nearshore sourcing industry, we believe discussing CSR activities on a regular basis will be an appropriate reminder and powerful symbol of the kind of commitment companies are making in local and regional societies across the Americas.
Our role – and hopefully this is pretty apparent by now – is to get accurate information out to the world and particularly to US sourcing customers about what is really going on in this market. Those of us in the Nearshore sourcing industry continue to hear countless myths and misinterpretations about this market, so we’re always going to be here to get the story right and paint the most accurate picture possible.
Part of telling an accurate story includes highlighting the strong alliances outsourcing providers are establishing to help people in need. By exposing these activities we hope to contribute to breaking down any lingering perception that sourcing providers are solely in these locations to strip the local economies of good talent and operate in a bubble without regard to the needs of local communities.
Is Carlos Slim Really Committed to Corporate Social Responsibility?
February 9th, 2010He’s tied with Bill Gates for the title of the richest man on the planet. Carlos Slim Helú is perhaps the most famous—or infamous—man in Mexico. Yet few Americans have heard of him, let alone have much idea about the nature of his corporate empire, or how he created it.
For a portrait of this portly, 70-year-old son of Lebanese immigrants, there are a variety of popular opinions to draw from. On the one hand he’s the brilliant businessman and telephone tycoon poised to eclipse Gates on the Forbes list of the world’s most wealthy. Others see him as an opportunistic robber baron and crass monopolist who made his fortune thanks to political favors and weak government regulation. Lately, he has re-tooled his image, highlighting his humble immigrant roots and supposedly modest lifestyle, while also posing as a philanthropist alongside celebrities, from Bill Clinton to Colombian pop singer Shakira …
Call Centers in Dominican Republic Answer Call in Haiti
February 9th, 2010
“This is a non stop job and we are working with five organizations to make sure all the people are receiving our aid,” said Emma Castro, Site Administrator for Stream.
By Karina Cuevas
A large part of the Dominican Republic call center industry has stepped up in a wide variety of ways to help alleviate the terrible suffering in Haiti.
Many of the institutions began collecting monetary donations internally through their employees, while others have obtained in-kind goods to deliver in Haiti. “Right after the earthquake, a high sense of corporate responsibility kicked in,” said Kemil Carbuccia, Sales and Marketing Manager for Nearshore Call Center Services. We always try to contribute because there is a willingness to help the people in need.”
Nearshore Call Center Services has already made three trips to the devastated nation and is planning on a fourth one within the next two weeks. Employees have delivered medicine, food and clothing to various sectors in Haiti and despite their well intentioned efforts; it does not seem like enough.
“At the beginning it was traffic and logistics [that made it difficult to get to Haiti],” said Carbuccia. Everyone wants to help, but it’s hard to organize and try to get everyone what they need.”
A client company of Nearshore is providing space for storage and thanks to contacts in Haiti; the goods are being delivered from one community to another in a somewhat efficient manner despite the lack of security engulfing the country.
Corporate Social Responsibility has a “Permanent Place” in CALA Region
December 6th, 2009The 7th Inter-American Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility concluded late Thursday.
With a call for a broader commitment to social responsibility, not only from businesses but also from governments and civil society organizations.
More than 1,000 people attended the event, including 130 panelists and over 900 participants from 35 countries. The conference has become “the benchmark meeting on this topic in the region,” Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno said at the opening of the conference on Wednesday.
Organized by the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), the two-day conference this year was co-sponsored by the Government of Uruguay and the business association DERES, comprising Uruguayan companies active in corporate social responsibility.
“A growth strategy based on enterprises that are successful in societies that aren’t cannot be sustained over the long term,” MIF General Manager Julie T. Katzman said at the closing ceremony. “In Latin America and the Caribbean,” she …
NARS (National Asset Recovery Services), a BPO provider which employs over 3,000 people in two US sites and also 
sites in Panama and Jamaica, has accepted a “significant investment” from a private equity firm with the intent of growing the accounts receivable management activities of NARS, according to an announcement from the company.
