Sustainable Development in the Call Centre Industry

1 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CALL CENTRE INDUSTRY
CASE STUDY OF OFFSHORING BOOM IN MANIZALES, COLOMBIA

ANDRES FRANCO MORALES MASTER IN MANAGEMENT SCIENCE VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL [e-mail]

January, 2012.

ABSTRACT In order to learn about the sustainability of the current call centres expansion in Manizales, considering the growth and development it might bring to the working labour there; a literature research has been undertaken. Firstly, a retrospect of the constitutional reform process is presented, endorsed by theoretical arguments supporting such initiative. Secondly, a theoretical research of the dynamics in the call centre industry is analyzed in contrast with the call centre scenario in Manizales. It is found that the approach given by the firms to the exceptional conditions in Manizales to settle new call centres is not sustainable, therefore the author propose three attempts to ameliorate the situation. They are implementation of corporate social responsibility clauses; flourishing the working labour with training and development of green technologies.

JEL classification: J81, K31, Q01. Key words: Constitution of Colombia, reform, working labour, call centre, sustainability.

2 Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Constitutional reforms and Substantive Labour Code reforms ........................................................... 4 The Offshore Outsourcing in Manizales, Colombia ........................................................................... 9 Sustainable Development in the Offshoring Outsourcing Business.................................................. 12 References ......................................................................................................................................... 17

3 Introduction

Colombia has experienced a Constitutional reform back in

References: Aguirregabiria, Victor and César Alonso-Borrego, 'Labor Contracts and Flexibility: Evidence from a labor market reform in Spain ' (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2009) Economy department, Working paper, Spain. Barrera, Anna, Detlef Nolte and Almut Schilling-Vacaflor, 'New Constitutionalism in Latin America from a Comparative Perspective: A Step towards Good Governance? ' (GIGA, Hamburg, 2010) German Institute of Global and Areas Studies, Germany. CEPAL, ‘Economic survey of Latin America and the Caribbean’ (United Nations, 19992000) New York, United States of America. Constitution of Colombia 1991. Costanza, Robert, ‘Ecological Economies: The Science and Management of Sustainability’ (Columbia University Press, 1991) United States of America. Echeverry, Juan Carlos, and Mauricio Santa Maria, „The Political Economy of Labor Reform in Colombia‟ (World Bank, 2004) World Development Report, Washington, DC. Feinberg, Richard, Tamar Benzaken Koosed, Yanina Kowszyk, and Andrés Covarrubias, ‘Sustainability and Call Centers in Latin America’ (Forum Empresa, 2011) Santiago, Chile. Koole, Ger, and Avishai Mandelbaum, ‘Queuing Models of Call Centers: An Introduction’ (Annals of Operation Research, 2002) Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherland. Krugman, Paul, and Maurice Obstfeld, „International Economics, Theory and Policy’ (Pearson 8th edition, 2009) Boston, United States of America. Krugman, Paul, Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz „International Economics, Theory and Policy’ (Pearson 9th edition, 2012) Boston, United States of America. 18 Kugler, Adriana, „The Incidence of Job Security Regulations On Labor Market Flexibility and Compliance in Colombia: Evidence from the 1990 Reform‟ (Inter-American Development Bank, 2000) RNWP #R-393, Washington, DC. McGregor, Douglas, and Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’ (McGraw Hill Professional, 2006) United States of America. Nadeem, Shehzad, ‘The uses and abuses of time: Globalization and time arbitrage in India’s outsourcing industry’ (Lehman College, University of New York, 2009) Global Networks, United States of America. Núñez, Jairo, ‘Successes and Failures of the Labour Market Reform in Colombia’ (Andes University, 2005) Bogotá, Colombia. Ramírez, Gonzalo, „Reformas a la Constitución de 1991 y su Control de Constitucionalidad: Entre Democracia y Demagogia’ (Externado of Colombia University, 2008) Derecho del estado Journal No 21, Dec 2008, Colombia. Substantive Labour Code of Colombia. Thirión, Jordy Micheli, ‘Los Call Centers y los Nuevos Trabajos del Siglo XXI’ (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2007) CONFINES, Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal, Mexico. Uprimny, Rodrigo, 'The recent transformation of constitutional law in Latin America: Trends and Challenges ' Texas Law Review, University of Texas. World Trade Organization, (visited on 20 http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/what_we_do_e.htm December 2011). Zona December 2011). Franca Andina (visited S.A.S on 17 http://www.zonafrancaandina.com/es/Inst_Detalle.php?ID_CONTENIDO=134