Desirable practices for contact centres outsourced to an African country

Contact centres have become an important growth industry, and there are good opportunities for some African countries to attract outsourced business from Northern Hemisphere organisations through offshoring. Executives from major companies in the Western Cape, South Africa that offer outsourcing services to European and American countries were interviewed. Using hermeneutic content analysis a set of 22 desirable practices for setting up and operating contact centres in South Africa were derived. These are shown, with relevant quotes from contact centre management. It is suggested that African organisations bear these in mind, with possible local adaptations, when considering offering outsourced services.