Outsourcing and international marketing potential of Pakistan: A case study of call center industry

• Main Authors: Jahanzeb, Sadia, Mehmood, Naheed
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: HF Commerce
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/2529/1/Sadia_Jahanzeb_.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/2529/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

Outsourcing has accelerated the pace of globalization and this trend supports countries that are strong enough to compete in the relevant field. Call center industry is an area that requires application of technology, supported by trained human resource. This industry can open the way for developing countries like Pakistan to grab their share of revenue and international limelight in a relatively short span of time. Purpose of this study was to investigate the problem why Pakistan is not on outsourcing map and why could the country not make its mark in the international arena with this hypothesis, ‘pace at which activities are carried on to make Pakistan a most wanted destination for outsourcing, is less satisfactory as compared to neighboring countries’. This research is exploratory in nature as it is a lesserexplored area in the field of business administration in Pakistan. In order to scrutinize the potential of call center industry in Pakistan, Gartner’s countrylevel selection criteria is used as a premise. A total of twelve respondents call centers based in Islamabad became the part of the research and survey method was adopted for data collection. It is figured out that the country has not been able to make its mark due to lack of a marketing strategy well knit with quality assurance. Technology employed by the said industry is also not up to the world standard. Both the government and the private sector have to make concerted efforts to help this industry carve out a market niche for itself in the global scenario.