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Call Centres, Offshoring and Outsourcing - UK

Published by: Mintel International Group Ltd.

Published: Jun. 1, 2005 - 113 Pages


Table of Contents




Introduction and Abbreviations

Rationale for the report
Scope of the report
Other reports
Global information and research
Definitions
Consumer research
ACORN
Abbreviations
Executive Summary
Background considerations
Industry issues
Market size
The consumer
Future development
Defining the Market

Some basic definitions
Call centre
Contact centre
Offshoring
Outsourcing
Distinguishing between purchasing and outsourcing
The basic difference
Cost is a driver
Long contracts are the norm
A useful perspective
Relationship between call centres, offshoring and outsourcing
Figure 1: Relationship between call centres, offshoring and outsourcing

Outsourcing the ‘boring bits’
Figure 2: Relationship between customers and offshored/outsourced functions

The need for business processes and infrastructure
Understanding business processes
Business architecture
Figure 3: Generic business architecture

Processes
Figure 4: Example process model fragment for mortgage processing

Figure 5: Example revised process model fragment for mortgage processing

Value chains
Figure 6: Representation of typical financial services value chain, card issuing

Understanding infrastructure
More confusion
Technology plays an important role
Figure 7: Generic technical architecture

Application architecture
Infrastructure
Relationship between information technology and telecommunications
Social architecture
Figure 8: Generic social system

International Context
The United States
Continental Europe
Offshoring centres
Figure 9: Overview of offshore call centre capacity, number of agent places, by selected countries, 2003 and 2004
Figure 10: IT-enabled services, international competitors, by selected country, April 2005

Market Drivers

Cultural influences
Business culture
Fashion and American influence
The growth of shared service centres
The Zeitgeist
Angst
Long-term economic changes
Shift to services
Figure 11: Growth of the UK economy and relative strength of the services sector, gross added value (£billion), 1989-99

The growth of information content
Balance of power moving to Asia
Expensive labour and cheap goods
Technological developments
Speed and power of computers
Functionality of components
Networking
Voice and the Internet - enabling the contact centre
Competition and regulation
Competition environment since 1971
Deregulation of telecommunications
Re-regulation
Financial regulation
Data protection
Corporate Social Responsibility
TUPE
European regulation
Distance Selling Directive
Electronic Commerce Directive
Safe Harbour Agreement
European Union VAT Directive
Market Size and Trends
Market participation
Figure 12: Reference model for participation in call centre, offshoring and outsourcing markets

Market governance
Market size
Figure 13: Schematic for market size

Call centres
Continued growth expected
Figure 14: Growth in United Kingdom call centres, by numbers of centres and agent places, 2000-04

Finance dominates
Figure 15: Call centre agent places, by market sector, 2000-04

Market value
Outsourcing
Offshoring
Key Players

Financial services organisations
Figure 16: Financial services’ share of British contact centre industry, by number of agent positions, December 2003
Figure 17: United Kingdom financial services providers cited as using domestic and offshore call centres, by type of provider and location of call centre, April 2005

Suppliers
Figure 18: Outsourcing supplier ‘food chain’, March 2005

Facilities management
Infrastructure outsourcers
Application service providers
Shared service centres
Specialist business services
Call centre specialists
Comprehensive outsourcing
Consultants
Interim management
The Consumer

Figure 19: Financial products owned, March 2005

We love branches
Figure 20: Channel usage, by gender, age and socio-economic group, March 2005

Implications
Cockneys on the dog*
Figure 21: Channel usage, by TV region, March 2005

Implications
Busy urbanites on the blower
Figure 22: Channel usage, by Mintel’s Special Groups and ACORN group, March 2005

Implications
The upper classes expect service
Figure 23: Channel usage, by newspaper readership, technology usage and commercial TV viewing, March 2005

Implications
The usual stuff
Figure 24: Reasons for telephoning a current account provider, March 2005

Lifestyle is the key
Figure 25: Reasons for telephoning overall, by gender, age and socio-economic group, March 2005

Implications
Other analyses
Consumer Attitudes and Targeting Opportunities

Figure 26: Call centres, offshoring and outsourcing, causes of ill feeling, March 2005

Youngsters suffer ‘hold rage’…
Figure 27: Causes of ill feeling, by gender, age and socio-economic group, March 2005

Implications
…and the middle-aged are weary of the rubbish…
Implications
…while the upper classes expect better treatment
Figure 28: Causes of ill feeling, by newspaper readership, March 2005

Implications
Confirmation from the soundbite culture
Figure 29: Causes of ill feeling, by commercial TV viewing, March 2005

Implications
Attitudes based on experience
Figure 30: Attitudes towards offshoring, by gender and socio-economic group, March 2005

Implications
Practical considerations are important
Figure 31: Attitudes towards offshoring, by TV region and ACORN group, March 2005

Implications
The voice of experience
Figure 32: Attitudes towards offshoring, by age and Mintel’s Special Groups, March 2005

Implications
The phone isn’t everything
Figure 33: Attitudes towards the telephone, by gender, March 2005

Implications
Figure 34: Attitudes towards the telephone, by age and socio-economic group, March 2005

Implications
Londoners on the dog again
Figure 35: Attitudes towards offshoring, by TV region and ACORN group, March 2005

Implications
Busy lifestyles
Figure 36: Attitudes towards offshoring, by Mintel’s Special Groups, March 2005

Figure 37: Attitudes towards telephone security, by Mintel’s Special Groups, after numerical manipulation, March 2005

Implications
Class tells
Figure 38: Attitudes towards offshoring, by commercial TV viewing and supermarkets used, March 2005

Implications
Further analysis
Consistent parochialism
Figure 39: Attitudes towards offshoring, by channel usage, March 2005

Implications
The soothing voice
Figure 40: Attitudes towards the telephone, by channel usage, March 2005

Implications
Menu rage - the killer feature
Figure 41: Sources of ill feeling, by channel usage, March 2005

Implications
Figure 42: Generic model for systems qualities

Effect on Brand Management
Importance of brand philosophy
Figure 43: Reference model for brand construction philosophies

Impact of call centres
Figure 44: Reference model for strategic marketing concepts

Lovable Geordies?
Figure 45: Location of call centres in the United Kingdom, by region, December 2004

Impact of outsourcing
The executive view
Industry Views

Initial observations
Offshoring developments
Outsourcing development
Call centres
Future development of the industry
The Future of the Market
Change management
Figure 46: Generic areas of concern in business process re-engineering projects

Whither the call centre, offshoring and outsourcing markets?
Figure 47: Call centres, offshoring and outsourcing, potential market lifecycles, 2005

Call centres
Outsourcing
Offshoring
Politics vs. Economics
Brand influence

Abstract

Over the last 20 years or so, British financial institutions have been active in setting up call centres to handle high volumes of telephone traffic. They have also been active in contracting with external suppliers for the provision of business services which were formerly provided by internal departments; in other words, outsourcing. In more recent times, they have started to obtain some business services, both from external suppliers and internal departments, from overseas locations; in other words, offshoring. In recent times too, they have shown some interest in expanding the role of call centres beyond their original purpose.

There is often a link at both the strategic and the operational levels between these strands of activity. Some of the manifestations of the resulting business systems are apparent to the end-consumer. For that reason, the end-consumer forms perceptions related to such business systems. The formation of those perceptions is very directly concerned with the development of institutions’ brands. Changes in consumer opinions and brands, even when they do have their origins in business-to-business markets, are at the core of the value delivered to its clients by Mintel and so form a proper subject for Mintel’s Finance Intelligence series.

Mintel last examined part of this aspect of the financial services scene more than two years ago in Optimising the Power of Call Centres - UK, Finance Intelligence, October 2002. The purpose of the present report is to update the consumer research, briefly recapitulate the present call centre market in financial services and expand the coverage to include the associated offshoring and outsourcing activities. Finally, these strands of enquiry are brought together in an examination of their consequences for financial services brands. The present report is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of outsourcing in financial services as this is a huge and highly technical field. The aim is to provide the strategic marketing manager - on whose shoulders responsibility for the integrity of the brand will inevitably fall - with a framework for understanding developments in these areas and to provide some hard data on related consumer views.

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