商務禮節美語第193期:Outsourcing 外包業務(上)

公司執行總裁Dave召集董事會成員Helen和Pete開會，討論業務外包和公司重組。

Dave: I've called this meeting to discuss a very important decision we need to make. In the interest of cost saving, it's been suggested that we outsource some of our operations.

Helen: I have a lot of concerns about this idea. What exactly are we talking about, here?

D: Well in my view there are benefits to outsourcing for both our company and for our customers. In our case, the cost savings are impressive. And from the customers' perspective, outsourcing means we can expand services at no additional cost to them.

執行總裁Dave說，開會是要討論爲節省開支、將部分業務外包的問題，to outsource some of our operations. Helen表示有顧慮。 Dave解釋說，外包對公司和客戶都有利，既可以爲公司省錢，也可以增加客戶服務，at no additional cost而不必增加任何成本。

Pete: Can you give us an example of exactly which divisions you'd outsource?

D: I'd say accounting is a good place to start. It would mean that we would axe around 100 jobs but we'd be able to save up to a quarter million dollars a year.

H: Where are you thinking of moving the accounting department to?

D: We have a great offer from an Indian company. They handle a lot of big clients and have a solid reputation.

Pete希望瞭解外包的業務範圍。Dave表示，可以從財務開始，accounting is a good place to start，這就意味着to axe裁員100人，但是每年可以節省25萬美元。他們看中了一家印度公司。They handle a lot of big clients and have a solid reputation. 很多大公司都找他們，信譽很不錯。

P: Should we consider outsourcing customer relations? Many corporations are using Indian call centers, right?

D: has become a trend. But in our case, I'd recommend we do not switch to a call service overseas because many companies have experienced difficulties with accents and culture. It's created a backlash that I'd like to avoid.

H: But we could move our email customer service center overseas.

D: Yes, absolutely. We can also consider moving the development and managing of our web site to a firm in China. They have a great track record and their prices are very competitive.

Pete提出，很多公司都把客戶服務，customer relations外包給印度呼叫中心。Dave承認，that has become a trend. 這已經成了一種潮流，但是因爲口音和文化的關係，出現了backlash，負面的反彈，所以不準備把客戶服務外包到海外去。

Helen提議把電子郵件服務外包出去。Dave同意，並表示，考慮把網站的開發和管理外包給一家中國公司，they have a great track record and their prices are very competitive. 因爲他們的業績一貫不錯，價格也很有競爭力。