Offshore business process outsourcing for developing countries: a South African perspective

Offshoring of IT-enabled services to developing countries will continue to dominate the offshoring sector. Companies are constantly on the lookout for locations where they can provide services at a low cost. This has made developing countries to take advantage of this opportunity to create value propositions for companies in developed countries leading to economic development. This paper describes the South Africa's BPO industry in order to explore the current opportunities and potential challenges the industry offers. The role of government support, quality infrastructure, prevalence of HIV/AIDS and inflexibility in labor laws are found to feature significantly within the South African context. The paper contributes to literature on outsourcing in developing countries which has elaborated how African Countries can serve as attractive location for offshoring BPO. This study concludes by providing implications for policy and practice.