Thailand's Offshore Services Landscape
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Bangkok’s Offshore Services Landscape MSc IDS David Jerome 2015 Thailand’s Offshore Services Landscape David Jerome Graduate School of Social Sciences MSc International Development Studies Supervisor: Dr. Bart Lambregts. 10th March 2015 Student Number: 10601317. Email address: [email protected] 1 Bangkok’s Offshore Services Landscape MSc IDS David Jerome 2015 Acknowledgements I would like to offer my special thanks for the valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and development of this research to the many people without whom this thesis would have been an insurmountable obstacle. I wish to thank Dr Bart Lambregts, who has been an invaluable guide throughout the whole thesis process. He has shown patience and understanding through all the difficulties this research has entailed, and has always been frank and constructive with his advice. Without him, this thesis would have been impossible, and I am extremely grateful for all his time and consideration. I also wish to thank my family, for their love and support has been constant. Despite the travails involved in this research, they have always been an inspiration and source of advice for me, and their encouragement to seek new experiences and challenge myself in new surroundings have been instrumental. I will be forever indebted to them, and hope they are as proud of me as I am of them. Finally I wish to thank Elisa Wubs, who has supported my every effort from day one, and guided and supported me throughout. I will always be thankful for her companionship and support. 2 Bangkok’s Offshore Services Landscape MSc IDS David Jerome 2015 Abstract This thesis looks to explore Bangkok’s offshore services landscape and its suitability as a location for offshore services in general. Globalisation has provided an opportunity for developing countries to benefit from a new international division of labour, and there is little existing research to gauge to what extent firms are choosing Thailand as a viable location for offshore services production. India and the Philippines have become regional powers in offshore services, and a cornerstone of their economic growth has been achieved by successfully harnessing their human capital to effectively engage with this new wave of service provision. Thailand has been developing rapidly over recent decades, but how much of its success is attributable to offshore services is uncertain. Data was gathered on offshore services firms and interviews were conducted with experts in the sector, academics and government employees in Bangkok, Thailand and in Europe over a period of six weeks from January 2014. Results suggest that Thailand’s offshore services landscape is primarily made up of less advanced Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), but with a substantial presence of more advanced Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). The suitability of Thailand to further offshore services was contested, with many participants presenting a negative prognosis. Despite this, Thailand has many qualities that suggest it is a viable location for offshore services, and it retains great potential as a location for offshore services firms to locate in the future. Active engagement and growth of human capital, coupled with political stability would go some way to making Thailand an extremely suitable location for offshore services in the short, and long term. 3 Bangkok’s Offshore Services Landscape MSc IDS David Jerome 2015 Contents Chapter 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.1. Patterns of unevenness in the global offshore service delivery landscape .................................. 7 1.2. Relevance of this research ............................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Thesis outline ................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 10 2.1. What are Offshore Services? ...................................................................................................... 10 2.2. Drivers and enablers of offshore outsourcing ............................................................................ 11 2.3. Firms' motives to engage in services offshoring ......................................................................... 12 2.4. Different modes of services outsourcing and offshoring ........................................................... 15 2.5. Factors influencing firms offshoring location decisions ............................................................. 16 2.5.1. Creating suitable conditions for offshore services ............................................................. 21 2.5.2. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 3. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 24 3.1. Research questions ..................................................................................................................... 24 3.2. Conceptual scheme ..................................................................................................................... 24 3.3. Research design .......................................................................................................................... 28 3.4. Research techniques ................................................................................................................... 30 3.4.1. Quantitative ........................................................................................................................ 30 3.4.2. Qualitative ........................................................................................................................... 30 3.4.3. Secondary data ................................................................................................................... 31 3.5. Ethical considerations, challenges and constraints .................................................................... 31 3.5.1. Ethical Considerations ......................................................................................................... 31 3.5.2. Epistemological and Ontological Position ........................................................................... 32 3.5.3. Challenges and Constraints ................................................................................................. 32 3.5.4. Reliability ............................................................................................................................. 33 Chapter 4. Thailand’s Offshore Services Landscape ............................................................................. 35 4.1. Data sources and methods ......................................................................................................... 35 4.1.1. Limitations ........................................................................................................................... 36 4.1.2. Validity ................................................................................................................................ 36 4.1.3. Data appreciation ................................................................................................................ 37 4 Bangkok’s Offshore Services Landscape MSc IDS David Jerome 2015 4.1.4. Selection Criteria ................................................................................................................. 37 4.2. Bangkok’s OSS: Basic characteristics........................................................................................... 38 4.3. Bangkok’s OSS: Probing relations ............................................................................................... 40 4.3.1. Ownership and markets serviced........................................................................................ 44 4.3.2. Line of business, ownership and firm size .......................................................................... 47 4.3.3. Location ............................................................................................................................... 49 4.4. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 5. Explanatory factors of Thailand’s Offshore services Network ............................................ 55 5.1. Notes on data and methodology ................................................................................................ 55 5.1.1. Access Difficulty .................................................................................................................. 55 5.1.2. Interview difficulties ........................................................................................................... 56 5.1.3. Additional Data ................................................................................................................... 57 5.2. Explanatory factors of Bangkok’s OSS......................................................................................... 57 5.2.1. Presence of adequate IT infrastructure .............................................................................