Fundamentals of Business Process Outsourcing

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions, history in the Philippines, and various types of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) based on Module 1.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

A business practice in which one organization hires another company to perform a process task that the hiring organization requires for its own business to operate successfully.

Frank Holz

The founder of the very first contact center in the Philippines, Accenture Global Resource Center, in $1992$.

Accenture Global Resource Center

The very first contact center in the Philippines which provided basic services such as email response and service management.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)

An agency instituted in $1995$ during the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos to assist foreign investors in facilitating business operations.

Sykes Asia

The first multinational BPO company to establish itself in the Philippines in $1997$.

eTelecare

Founded in $1999$ by Jim Franke and Derek Holley, it is better known as the country’s first call center.

Contact Center of the Philippines

An organization established in $2001$ by former Trade Secretary Mar Roxas to raise awareness and encourage idea sharing in the contact center industry.

World’s BPO Capital

A title given to the Philippines in $2010$ after it employed $525,000$ people and generated $8.9\,\text{billion}$$ in revenue.

Battle of Marawi

An event in $2017$ in Mindanao that terrified foreign investors and led to a decrease in the BPO industry's annual growth rate.

Ease of Doing Business Ranking ($2019$)

The Philippines' improvement from $124\text{th}$ to $95\text{th}$ place, with a score of $62.9$ out of $190$ countries according to the World Bank.

IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP)

The association that reported a $1.4\%$ rise in BPO revenues in $2020$ despite the health pandemic.

Back-office functions

Internal business functions that include accounting, information technology (IT) services, human resources (HR), quality assurance (QA), and payment processing.

Front-office functions

Functions focused on external engagement, including customer relation services, marketing, and sales.

Onshore BPO

Outsourcing to another firm whose premises are located in the same country.

Offshore BPO

Outsourcing to another firm whose premises are located in a different country.

Nearshore BPO

Outsourcing to another firm whose premises are located in a neighboring country.

Information technology-enabled services (ITES)

Also known as web-enabled or remote services, these include production support, service desk, and technical support.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO)

A type of outsourcing where businesses hire service providers for highly skilled jobs requiring advanced expertise, such as legal processes and research & development.

Legal process outsourcing (LPO)

A process where law firms and legal departments outsource work like legal research and drafting patent applications to economical geographic areas.

Research process outsourcing (RPO)

A type of outsourcing involving research and data analysis processes, such as investment research and primary market research, to reduce costs.