Human Resource Practices in Outsourcing Industry in India - Research Proposal Example

Introduction The Indian out sourcing industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few decades. A significant proportion of the Indian population are employed in different outsourcing companies. This has also given a boost to the increase in employment level to the country as a whole. Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkota, Cochin etc are some of the major cities in India, as far as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) activities are concerned (Important IT Cities in India). All the above cities are located in different states in India with huge differences in culture, language, educational level and social setups. This paper is written as a research proposal to investigate various issues like Human Resource Practices, Employee Voice and Quit Rate in Outsourcing Industry in India. Research question Since India is a country which is diversified in many ways, thus a unique HRM strategy can not be formulated. The research is conducted to find out the parameters which are required to be considered while formulating HRM strategies for outsourcing businesses in India. Research Objective The objective of this research is to find out why many employees quit from the outsourcing industry in India. The research will try to make a study as to whether employee quit because of insufficient compensation or any other reasons. Literature Review The increasing quit rates are actually an important concern of cost for organizations. This is because quit rates increase labor costs (Oi 1962) and at the same time they decrease organizational functioning (Norsworthy and Zabala 1986). According to Freeman and Medoff (1984) industrial relations show that in firms which have a union the quit rate is lesser than when compared to those firms which has no unions. Unions actually in firms are a tool through which the employees can voice their problems and seek better compensation instead of quitting. Arthur (1994) feels that current research on better commitment and high level of performance is in reality a coherent set of human resource (HR) practices. This coherent set can also bring in better performance on the part of the employees according to Ichniowski etal, (1996). High rate of quitting by the employees will sabotage functioning (Alexander, Bloom, and Nuchols 1994; Huselid 1995). Appelbaum et al., (2000) state that better performance patterns comprise those that commit in the accomplishments of the work force and furnish the chance and inducements for employees to utilize those skills efficiently. “Employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of company business” (Attrition and Retention in BPO sector, p. 10), in fact the retention process begins at the time of recruitment itself. No company wants to avoid the service of efficient workers under any circumstances. At the same time, no efficient employee will be ready to work in companies which offer less salary, benefits and poor working conditions. BPO industry is one such industry in which the retention of employees is a big problem. No growth opportunity/lack of promotion, Less Salary, Misguidance by the company, Non-conducive Policies and procedures, Lack of opportunities for personal life, Physical strains, Uneasy relationship with peers or managers etc are some of the major reasons for the increased quit rates in outsourcing industries in India (Retention Strategies in ITES-BPO Industry). Most of the BPO units are working on a 24 hours/7 days weekly basis. Such job schedules without many benefits will always discourage the employees from continuing in the BPO units. Most of the employees in BPO units are getting less salary and promotion opportunities which force them to think in terms of other options. BPO jobs are not suitable for married persons because of the lack of opportunities for personal and family life. “Fear of stagnation, stressful work schedule and having to work night shifts, are among the primary concerns in BPO units in India” (India leads the race as e-publishing hub) Research Design A comparative and cross-sectional design will be used to enable collection and comparison of data. Quantitative data related to a few variables to detect patterns which can hopefully answer the research questions will be gathered. Research Methodology The primary and secondary data will be collected based on questionnaires and other secondary references like the journals and data collected from the electronic media. Sampling Plan Non-probability sampling will be applied for both primary data collection methods. For the questionnaire, quota sampling will be used for the type of company to achieve comparative results. Within different companies, the researcher will try to initiate snowball sampling to get as many results as possible. The questionnaires will be send to individuals within companies, additionally some independent marketing professionals will be chosen. A response rate of 15% will be targeted, which is relatively low due to the sector. The researcher will try to overcome this problem with personal contacts. The semi-structured interviews will be chosen via purposive sampling from the respondents who ticked the question of availability for an interview in the questionnaire. Data Collection A range of techniques for carrying on an explorative research has been proposed which will be used for the purpose of the research. These include searching a relevant literature, discussing with the experts in the subject and conducting interviews of an appropriate sample. Secondary data collected by reviewing literature of international marketing. A short review of both primary and secondary data collection is as follows: Secondary Data Written materials like textbooks, journals, newspapers and reports will be used to explain the circumstances of the proposed research. Other methods of survey will be carried out to study and discover the similarities if any and to research further facts. Primarily, electronic databases like Emerald, Business Source Premier and Lexis-Nexis will be used, and newspapers like the Financial Times and other imminent journals would be used for gaining better understanding of the underlying theories. Primary Data Questionnaire will be used to gain information about the working environment at different outsourcing points. Questionnaires will be mailed to different employees. The questionnaire will be of two parts. The information derived from the questionnaire will be mostly quantitative. A pilot test would be conducted before the actual questionnaire is sent to different professionals. Interviews Interviews will deepen the understanding of the actual reasons behind people leaving or quitting their jobs at different BPO centers. Each interview will be 25-30 minutes long and recorded with the permission of the interviewee so that the research team would be able to make notes concerning body language and expressions. A disadvantage of this procedure is that it could “make respondents anxious and less likely to reveal confidential information” (Blaxter et al. 2001). Data Analysis Using Microsoft’s Excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), the research team will use descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data of the questionnaire. The results will be examined in three ways: Univariate: investigating country or company type at a time Bivariate: analysing two variables together, performance and country or company type and country Multivariate: examining three variables together to ascertain patterns. This will never exceed the extent given in the example with two parameters for three variables to avoid too high complexity. Using these analyses, the research team will present different kinds of charts and tables separated according to the objectives of the research, and will also make comparisons where ever possible to give an indication on how to proceed with the research problems. Interviews will be analysed by category and also within their context. A mixture of an inductive and deductive approach will be used, and hence some proposition derived. To achieve a reasonable amount of useful data, the data will be reduced and simplified so that they can be displayed in matrices. Gantt chart showing the time by which the research would be completed. Reference 1. Alexander, Jeffrey A., Joan R. Bloom, and Beverly A. Nuchols. 1994. "Nursing Turnover and Hospital Efficiency: An Organization Level Analysis." Industrial Relations, Vol. 33 (4): (October), pp. 505-20. 2. Appelbaum, Eileen, Thomas Bailey, Peter Berg, and Arne Kalleberg. 2000. Manufacturing Advantage: Why High Performance Work Systems Pay Off. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press (an imprint of Cornell University Press). 3. Arthur, Jeffrey. 1994. "Effects of Human Resource Systems on Manufacturing Performance and Turn-over." Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37, (3): (June), pp. 670-87. 4. “Attrition and Retention in BPO sector”. http://www.scribd.com/doc/18707437/ Attrition-and-Retention-in-BPO-sector, retrieved January 1st 2010 5. Freeman, Richard B., and James L. Medoff. 1984. What Do Unions Do? New York: Basic Books. 6. Huselid, Mark A. 1996. "The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productivity, and Corporate Financial Performance." Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3 (June), pp. 635-72. 7. Ichniowski, Casey, Thomas Kochan, David Levine, Craig Olson, and George Strauss. 1996. "What Works at Work: Overview and Assessment." Industrial Relations, Vol. 35, (3): (July), pp. 299-334. 8. “Important IT Cities in India”. http://www.indobase.com/bpo/indian-it-cities.html, retrieved January 1st 2010 9. India Leads The Race as e-publishing Hub”. 2009. http://bpo-service.blogspot.Com /2009_01_01_archive.html, retrieved January 1st 2010 10. Lorraine Blaxter et al, How to Research, Buckingham: Open University Press, (third edition) 2001, pp.336, ISBN 033521746X 11. Norsworthy, J. R., and Craig A. Zabala. 1985. "Worker Attitudes, Worker Behavior, and Productivity in the U.S. Automobile Industry, 1959-76." Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 38, (4): (July), pp. 544- 57. 12. Oi, Walter. 1962. "Labor as a Quasi-Fixed Factor." Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 70, (6): (December), pp. 538-55. 13. “Retention Strategies in ITES-BPO Industry”. 2009. http://www.bpoindia.org/ research/retention-strategies-call-center-industry.shtml retrieved January 1st 2010 Read More