Employee Work Sustainability in Selected International Business Process Outsourcing Companies

Abstract

As organizations maximize on increasing global integration, leaders are faced with the challenges set forth by the rapidly changing international business environs. In this study, the researcher sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the cultural flexibilities of the organizations involved and the cross-cultural competence of its workers in the process of cultivating their individual work sustainability in the international business process outsourcing (IBPO) industry. The respondents of this study were 513 employees from at least twenty-five (25) identified IBPO companies distributed in different areas of Metro Manila, Philippines where their organizations cater to clients based in various parts of the world. This work produced a number of significant findings that supported the objectives as well as the hypothesis. The findings showed that those who identified themselves to belong to a group who held top level management positions, 61 years old and above, earning more than P60,001 per month, and belonging to the IBPO industry for more than 10 years, were highly satisfied with the cross-cultural literacy trainings they have gone through and been exposed to, respectively. The same group of respondents also expressed their agreement in terms of work satisfaction as well as the impact of their cross-cultural competence on their aptitude to sustain in IBPO companies. However, since the respondents did not classify their satisfaction in the extreme affirmative end, IBPO companies are left with much room for improvement. This result calls for introducing adjustments, changes, and adaptations to human resource management strategies and practices by considering any differences existing based on the demographic uniqueness of employees. Specifically, IBPO companies’ cross-cultural literacy training needs more attention and dedication. For future studies, the researcher recommended to also consider other features – like social perspectives within organizations and in wide-ranging societies to appreciate how these factors could change, or not change at all, the results of this endeavor.