This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a prototype capability aimed at improving U.S. competitiveness on a global basis as it relates to the call center industry. Large scale migration of back office jobs in call centers as well as large scale software development activities continue to migrate to locales such as India and the Philippines at alarming rates. Like the manufacturing industry, the initial reasons forcing this migration of work is labor arbitrage. The goal of the study is to determine if the "tribal knowledge" gained from the experiences of various projects can be codified into a system that can deliver 65-75% of the benefits of a consulting engagement. If successful, this research will help preserve jobs in the U.S. in the near term while also making US companies more competitive on a global basis.
