Outsourcing in Transport Industry - Essay Example

Outsourcing in Transport Industry Companies have been much focused with respect to their risks that they could find themselves within. Thus for the individual firms, companies need to outline some drastic policies which can counter this threat from time to time. The need for contingency planning supports the perspective related with understanding where the risks could evolve and more so when we speak of the global outsourcing regime. The trend has adopted well within the midst of large companies around the world but there is a big enough need still to find out and discern what can pose as a threat at any moment of time within the activities, actions and tasks of the business enterprise. For this paper, we have delved deep into the domains of the transport sector and discussed the real causes and reasons behind outsourcing troubles. All efforts have been made to explore the intrinsic details. (Henwood, 2004) With the passage of time, it has been seen that the developed nations are more than happy to outsource their work and set up offshore avenues in order to earn revenues and make the most out of their business. However the litigations that are in place with regards to setting up these industries is something that needs to be delved into by them in detail and we, as students of the same, will try our best at understanding the whole ball game. Global sourcing is a phenomenon which is on the rise with the passage of time. It is also known as ‘outsourcing’ as it looks to cover the weak areas of a business, enterprise or a country for that matter in another’s area of strength, manpower abundance and availability of proper resources. However all this requires sound planning and immediate provision of funds which will not only benefit the two parties, but also the major (and minor) stakeholders, the employees working at the sites and above all the whole society who is about to go on a radical shift in their fortunes. Outsourcing is defined as the amalgamation of the required skill set from a number of different areas with the eventual aim of benefiting the people in a number of ways by providing them what they really need as well as provide back to the organization and at times the country as well. Outsourcing can pose quite a few problems for the stakeholders and just about anyone who is attached with this business. To list three of the more significant ones, we can quote the case of the organizational, environmental and infrastructural aspects. The infrastructural concerns are an unlimited proposition since the problems posed with setting up an industry of a particular product is virtually next to impossible at times. This could be accredited to the shoulders of bureaucracy and red tape, not to forget the several amendments made in the government’s litigations with regards to the very same. (Hanley, 2003) The infrastructure for setting up selective industries is difficult to come by. It is all the more hard to acquire trained manpower and select skill sets. If only all these measures are taken in the right direction, the single most issue of funds poses as the biggest hurdle in the way of setting up the infrastructure in that place. Only when all these combine in unison, then the same is possible with the backing of major players, the outsourcing representative which in these cases is generally the government itself as well as the people who are taking the gamble of investing their money, i.e., the stakeholders. The reason for global sourcing of products and industry is that there are no infrastructures in place which can help and thus this leads to a situation of chaos and more than that a price hike in the neglected area of concern. Since we discuss the transport industry exclusively here, we find that the environmental concerns raised in the light of the global sourcing issue are of immense importance. These include the cars, buses, trains, airplanes and just about everything that is moving and is a source of locomotion for people as well as goods. These vehicles and moving objects produce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with which there is an alarming situation in the whole world. Already the issue of the hole in ozone layer has taken much debate all over the world and now since the population is increasing at a swift pace, different organizations and NGOs the world over need to step up and do their bit at reducing the carbon dioxide emissions in the open air. It has been brought to the notice of all and sundry with tremendous amounts of research owing to it that nearly 22% of all global emissions of carbon dioxide are courtesy the transport sector. (Kraemer, 1993) This is an alarming rate, one which needs to be tackled with proper insight and planning. We need to get our act right in the wake of ozone literally breaking up in the atmosphere and thus posing a problem for the mankind as well as the plants and animals. The aviation sector has resulted in 12% of all the carbon dioxide emissions (in the year 1990) which comes duly under the transport sector. There are some regional variations to this equation but on the whole this has been the general trend all over the globe and it is not something to be proud of in the literal sense of the word. Also the fossil fuels have resulted in 2% of the global emissions of carbon dioxide courtesy the aviation industry. Rails and vehicles that are run of the roads within the metropolis have been taken as the substitute for air travel all over the world. The electrical power generation which gives out its resources to the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions is very much dependent on the electrically powered vehicles which have included the fast speed trains, tubes and rails. An interesting point to note here is the fact that carbon dioxide emissions are nearly twice in terms of the aviation industry than the other forms of the transport used all over the world. This is true for both the passenger aircrafts as well as the freight transportation which occurs in the sea as well as in the air. (Siemers, 1995) However the amount with which it happens in the sea is much more than a freight aircraft can handle per trip but owing to the carbon dioxide emissions in the air, that single aircraft trip is twice the emissions of the sea freight, which goes on to suggest the negative aspects related with aviation in terms of the global atmosphere and hence the global sourcing discussion is taken into proper perspective here as well. The government of Japan has taken proper and adequate steps in the right direction to cut down on the emissions of Green House Gas (GHQ) courtesy the ocean going ships and vessels. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) discussed the issue of emissions with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in a quantitative estimation so as to study the possible options for the reduction of GHQ. Moreover, within Japan, the Ship & Ocean Foundation (SOF) has been pretty instrumental at solving this problem once and for all. The results of the GHQ emissions by ships and vessels in the oceans has been estimated to be about 20-44% up rise in the year 2010 as well as 38-74% increase in 2020 as compared to the original emissions as taken in the year 1997. This however depends on the vessel types and the distances that they voyage over a period of time on a global scale. This also examines the aspect of indicating the exact significance of taking and thus recoding these emission values and noting the reduction courtesy the measures employed when we talk about the aspect of global warming. There needs to be a proper framework as well as a model in line with the steps that have to be taken for reduction in the GHQ emission and more than that an understanding that has to be reached by the IMO and the relevant ocean bodies. The substandard vessels and ships need to be taken off the roster and new and efficient ones should be on board so that there is a complete check and balance for the reduction as far as GHQ is concerned in the proper scheme of things. (Quinn, 1995) The policy making in the transport sector all over the world has seen some pretty important litigations and rulings set in place which is the emissions of transport coming in from the dispersed sources as there is a general absence or lack thereof the point source emitters. The alternative fuel options are not that abundant and seem to fall short on the chart of the transport sector on the whole as the fuels have not been able to provide enough of its resources on the aspect of GHQ reductions when we compare the same to gasoline. The important points that need to be seen in the wake of the policy draft are the receiving of attention in the road transport passenger sector as well as the chalking up of an effective policy mix, one that takes into consideration all the related aspects and points within it. Also there is the fact that a number of countries like India, Philippines and the like are inter-connected with each other, when the discussion is related with the transport systems. (Ninian, 2006) In the wake of the rising global sourcing within United Kingdom we see that a number of smaller business concerns are adopting the way of the international organizations, i.e., going global and with the trend. This has certainly brought some problems for the nations that have taken the brunt in this whole scenario since the outsourcing has been in the form of not only the educational and call center industries but in the oil and petroleum industry, outsourcing of cars and heavy vehicles and other related equipment. (Domberger, 1998) Thus the technical side has been pretty evasive in this whole situation and this is one thing that the government of UK needs to take a look at. It must find certain ways to solve the issues of unemployment and the like within its own territories and to do the same the UK government needs to draft measures which are in line with the global sourcing strategies adopted by other developed nations of the world. The crux of the whole situation should be to save the environment from degradation in the countries which develop products and offer services that will eventually be used for the UK markets. (Banister, 2002) Efforts have to be shaped up in line with the activities that are planned by the UK government on 5 yearly and 10 yearly basis and the tactical changes have to be modified in order to save the environmental degradation and related problems that are on the rise within the countries taking the brunt of the UK going on a global sourcing route. The lack of general infrastructure within the UK markets has forced the business affiliates and entrepreneurs to adopt on the bandwagon of outsourcing big time. (Harler, 2000) This is a plus point for the UK marketers since their work can be done swiftly as well as in a professional manner from the offshore markets. It also reduces the sales force automation concept since channel members are minimal in such a scenario. When the points of contact between the outsourcing agents are minimal, best and most effective results are thus achievable. But on the other hand, it comes with a responsibility to give more and more jobs to UK’s own countrymen and women since it is their first right to have proper jobs within their own country. In the framework of UK, we need to see whether the environmental, organizational and infrastructural outsourcing issues are not playing a negative role in its own economy, environment and human resources fields. If the same is happening within the UK territories, there should be a way to counter it as well as a substitute is devised in order to satisfy all concerned. (Berechman, 2000) Bibliography BANISTER, David. (2002). Transport Planning. Spon Press BERECHMAN, Joseph. (2000). Transport Investment and Economic Development. UCL Press DOMBERGER, Simon. (1998). The Contracting Organization: A Strategic Guide to Outsourcing. Oxford University Press HANLEY, Richard E. (2003). Moving People, Goods, and Information: The Cutting-Edge Infrastructures of Networked Cities. Routledge HARLER, Curt. (2000). Opting for Outsourcing. Business Communications Review, Vol. 30 HENWOOD, Doug. (2004). Toward a Progressive View on Outsourcing. The Nation, Vol. 278 KRAEMER, Joseph S. (1993). Local Competition: The War of All against All. Business Communications Review, Vol. 23 NINIAN, Alex. (2006). India in the World. QUINN, James Brian. (1995). Strategic Outsourcing. The McKinsey Quarterly SIEMERS, Richard. (1995). Meet the New Outsourcing. ABA Banking Journal, Vol. 87 Word Count: 2,037 Read More