Outsourcing is a concept that today has been used frequently, it is handled in various organizations, including institutions, hospitals; where we notice that the cleaning or security personnel are from other companies that are working in said institutions or hospitals.
But is this method really convenient for workers who are involved in it? Or for companies? These questions will be answered throughout this article, with data that perhaps we already knew, and others that were not known. of it. Like everything, it has its benefits, but also its prejudices.
BACKGROUND
This phenomenon began in the forties (20th century) in the United States, the first records of outsourcing date back to the mid-sixties when organizations considered it necessary to hire centers of computer specialists to help them in their financial areas and operations.
Due to the arrival of globalization and the evolution of the markets, companies began to see the needs of delegating some processes of their company to focus on their advantages, previously they preferred to completely do their processes independently, it was considered the best strategy At that time in order not to depend on suppliers, however little by little this strategy began to decline due to lack of capacity, incompetence, lack of technology or the financial situation that some companies began to present, these were the factors that forced companies to use outsourcing.
Around the eighties the way was opened for the arrival of Outsourcing due to the need that companies had to compete with others at an international level, with this some of them had to move or open branches abroad allowing them to position themselves in these markets, this The process brought with it several advantages, such as minimizing its personnel costs, injecting marketing into different markets, as well as investing in research and development.
Approximately forty years ago, Outsourcing began to be implemented in Mexico, since companies sought to contract externally the surveillance and maintenance services, until with the organizational trend in the nineties it began to be used for the contracting of external personnel services, in Mexico it is considered a business strategy to avoid some fiscal and labor issues.
Today the tendency of companies is to completely delegate some areas of the company and also entire processes, so that the organization can implement a business specialization, that is, so that it can fully dedicate itself to the core activity that keeps the business running and that allows you to make a profit.
OUTSOURCING CONCEPT
"The term Outsourcing designates the activities or processes of an organization whose performance and administration are in charge of an external company." (Werther & Davis, 2008).
In the book "Direction and management of information systems in the company, an integrating vision" the authors say that the term Outsourcing comes from English, and literally means "to remove the source outside". This is an approximate translation into Spanish, and it refers to the fact that it could be the outsourcing of activities that defines a phenomenon that is probably more complex than Outsourcing itself (Herderos, et al., 2004).
Lacity and Hirscheim in 1993 define Outsourcing as the purchase of a good or service that was previously provided internally. De The definition refers to the outsourcing not only of an activity, but also of the responsibility for carrying out said activity.
"Outsourcing is an English term made up of two words" out "that translated into Spanish means outside and" source "whose meaning is source or origin, that is, the expression refers to an external source, which generally within the business environment It is used to refer to subcontracting, outsourcing or outsourcing, which we can define as a process used by a company in which another company or organization is hired to develop a certain area of the contracting company ”. (Almanza Martínez & Archundia Fernández).
On the other hand, in 1995 Quinn and Hilmer proposed a classification of the conceptual possibilities of outsourcing business activities, ranging from the establishment of short-term contracts to the total ownership of the activities by the client of outsourcing services, in which the supplier is limited to developing jobs where the customer is.
Another definition summarizes us as "transferring services from external resources previously provided internally." (Derose, 1999).
Based on these concepts, we can define Outsourcing as the action of hiring a third party to carry out an operation in the company in order to increase the effectiveness of the organization.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF OUTSOURCING
The use of outsourcing contains several benefits, among these are:
- It allows you to focus on what is really important: the activity that makes the company earn money Reduce costs, since you can pay less for certain functions, for example cleaning Some Outsourcing companies have technology that is not as accessible for the company that wants to use it It allows to have a lean organization It encourages innovation as new ideas can be obtained The image of the company can be improved by hiring specialized services Some processes corresponding to the human resources area such as negotiations are delegated and recruitment.
Despite being an efficient tool, it can have some drawbacks, some of which are mentioned below:
- Cost reduction may not be enough. There is a possibility that clients may not like the service of the function that was outsourced. Not many outsourcing companies are sufficiently qualified to perform the functions that are delegated to them. If the subcontracted company does not carry out the assigned task well, one of the three main areas of the company may be affected: operational, administrative and financial. As the company is not prepared to delegate a task, there may be a culture shock of the In some cases direct contact with the customer is lost.
TYPES OF OUTSOURCING
* This classification is according to its nature:
-Co-Sourcing
This type of Outsourcing occurs when both the company that delegates the function and the one that provides the service share the responsibilities and in some cases the risks of providing the same.
-En casa
It occurs when the requested services are performed within the facilities of the company that requested them.
-Off-shoring
It is also known as offshoring and is so called when the contracting of services is requested from a company that is abroad, it is used when it offers lower costs compared to nationals.
-Off-site
It occurs when services are generated in the facilities corresponding to the company that is providing them.
* There are two ways to classify Outsourcing, this is with respect to its purpose, which can be tactical or strategic:
-Tactical outsourcing
This type of outsourcing is considered as such a simple outsourcing of a function that is not so essential for the company and generally the main reason for implementing it is due to the need to reduce costs.
-Strategic outsourcing
In Strategic Outsourcing, the aim is to create a stable relationship with the company to which a function is delegated, it is considered a strategic alliance which is consolidated according to the interdependence of the delegated task with respect to the others that make up the company, because it seeks to improve the quality of the delegated function, improve some service and / or increase the capacity of the same.
OUTSOURCING LEVELS
Outsourcing has different levels within the organization, where the following will be mentioned.
Complementary parts
It consists of the purchase of parts or sub-parts that make up the final product, from another company specialized in the manufacture of said parts, generally applied when the company does not have the capacity to produce them or as a strategy to reduce costs.
Individual
This level of Outsourcing is applied when it is only necessary to delegate the function or set of tasks of a worker or administrator, it is mainly used for those positions or activities that are used by the company on a regular basis, but that does not need the employee to be full time in it.
Functional
Outsourcing is used at a functional level when it is necessary to delegate a function or tasks that require a set of knowledge or technical skills in a specialized way.
Process
It includes the delegation of an entire process to another company that specializes in the set of tasks that it requires, it is used regularly in the human resources area with the recruitment process.
OUTSOURCING AND ITS APPLICATIONS
The applications to the areas of an organization are:
- Finance and accounting
Some of the functions that this area comprises are delegated because it is considered that in relation to administration, they are not the core of organizational operations, some of these functions include: payroll, financial systems, tax return, budgets, credits, treasury, among others.
- Capital and investment management
It is generally occupied by companies dedicated to investing, since they can delegate that part of financial services, as well as hedge funds and investment funds.
- Real estate administration
It involves a responsibility for certain functions such as customer service, cafeteria, parking leasing, physical security, disaster recovery, among others.
- Human Resources
The area where there has been the greatest movement and has received the most attention is considered, among the functions that are outsourced are: payroll, recruitment, training, administration of complaints and suggestions and administration of benefits for personnel.
- Logistics
It involves non-essential functions for the company with respect to procurement and supplier management such as: deliveries, inventory, packaging, facilities, warehouse management, maintenance or cleaning, receptionist services, among others.
Mexico ranks fifth in the outsourcing industry in Latin America, with a market value of $ 1.457 billion annually. Likewise, the study indicates that this figure is below that reported by other nations in the region where the total for that market is 47.8 billion dollars. This analysis lists the outsourcing firms with the largest operation in Latin America, where the operation of 37,000 outsourcing companies in Latin America stands out, where only Brazil reports 35,000 of these, even though it is still a market with restrictive legislation (http: // www. labormx.com/outsourcing-en-mexico.html).
In the case of Mexico, only 100 companies are registered with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and of these, 40% pay taxes. In its diagnosis, Staffinng Industry Analysts points out that in Mexico a fifth of workers work under the subcontracting scheme, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). Some studies speak that in Mexico there are between 2.4 and 4 million workers under the outsourcing scheme and that the market is worth about 700 million dollars. Other studies, according to the researchers, reveal that approximately 10% of workers in Mexico are under this tool (http://www.labormx.com/outsourcing-en-mexico.html).
CONCLUSION
As seen above, with my criteria I see that outsourcing opens up job opportunities, but the downside of this is that the employees subjected to specialization companies are very poorly paid, compared to those who are in a free outsourcing company Apart from the fact that they do not receive all the benefits of the Law and that drastically affects what is related to the pension and retirement of said workers.
Outsourcing is a vitally important tool in all organizations today, and obviously in our country, it can be from something extremely simple such as; cleaning service, information technology services, maintenance of factories, premises, facilities, etc. On the issue of banks we have the case of Cometra, which provides its services for the safeguarding of securities. In most companies with the heyday of e-commerce, messaging is used to deliver goods to consumers that they kindly buy via the web.
THANKS
I want to first of all thank my parents, since while I did not have the support of Conacyt, they supported me financially, while I was here in Orizaba.
To Conacyt for the support they are giving me and my colleagues so that we can continue studying a postgraduate degree, the institution and postgraduate academic body, without them I would not have prepared adequately to be able to reach the first semester. To Dr. Aguirre of the FIA subject, for being a professor with a teaching approach very different from that of most of the professors that I have had throughout my student life. To my colleagues, since until now we have been united and we support each other if one does not understand the issues or to deliver any documentation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Almanza Martínez, M., & Archundia Fernández, E. (sf). Outsourcing and tax planning in Mexico. Mexico: University of Guanajuato.
Chapman, J. (2005). Learn how to outsource. In a week. Spain: Ediciones Gestión 2000.
Conde Sánchez 2015. Outsourcing: definition, advantages, disadvantages, types and levels.
Derose, GJ (1999). Outsourcing Training and Education. American Society for training and development.
Fórneas Carro 2008. Business pocket. Ed Netbiblio.
www.labormx.com/outsourcing-en-mexico.html
Morales Gonzáles 2015. Definition, advantages and disadvantages of Outsourcing.
Werther, WB, & Davis, K. (2008). Human resources management. Mexico: Mc Graw-Hill.
