KPO: A Shifting Paradigm

Knowledge has emerged as the primary basis and strategic tool for competitive advantage. The world today is gearing towards the knowledge era. Products, processes and firms are increasingly becoming knowledge intensive. The slogan ‘what is repetitive automate, and what is easily available outsource’ lead to the beginning of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The next logical step was of hiring skilled operators to handle knowledge intensive activities and thus began Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO).This book is an attempt to explore the new field of KPO, the key success factors of the KPO business and competitive advantages to economies like India. It explores the wider global impact of proliferation of KPO among developing countries and the consequent emerging scenarios.The book is designed into three sections. The first section attempts to cover the basic concepts of KPO. It also traces the evolution of the outsourcing phenomenon. In the second section, the book explores the various sectors of Indian companies in tracking the transition and emergence of the KPO in India. The final section examines the future of KPO and beyond in the passage of knowledge era towards civil society resulting from the shifts in education and knowledge explosion. This section gives a hope that the emerging knowledge era would give ample scope for mankind to steer towards sustainability and survival.