#ESL Podcast 216 – Outsourcing Operations##GLOSSARY**overhead –** the money a company spends to run its business*Moving to a bigger office building will mean an increase in the company’soverhead for upcoming years.**to outsource –** to have company business done by people outside of thecompany; to pay someone else to do part of the company’s work*Many companies outsource for services that they need only once in a while.**pros and cons –** reasons for and against something; the positive and negativereasons for something; the advantages and disadvantages; the good and the badparts of something*She sat down with her parents and made a list of the pros and cons of going toan out-of-state college.**in principle –** in general, but not necessary all the time or in all cases*She followed the recipe exactly, so in principle, the cake should taste good.**downside –** the bad parts of something; the negative aspects of something; thedisadvantages*The downside of the job promotion is working more hours.**in house –** in the building; within the company*She used to work part-time for that publishing company, but now that they editits books in house, she has to find other work.**non-core operations –** the services within a company that are not as importantto the main business*When a company decides to downsize, non-core operations are usually the firstof many departments to let people go.**IT –** short for *“information technology”*; a department or part of the company thathandles computers and technology-related problems*Lisa was told to make an appointment with IT so she can learn about the newprograms that they’ve just installed on her computer.**accounting –** the department or group of people at a company that keeps trackof how much the company spends its money and how much money it receives*June is a busy month for government accounting departments since it’s usuallythe end of the official year.**call center –** a place where people answer or make phone calls for companies*Many U.S. airline companies forward customer calls to call centers in othercountries.**call volume –** number of calls; the number of calls during a specific time period*This month’s increased call volume proves that it was a good idea to advertisein major newspapers.**to micro-manage –** to tell someone what to do step-by-step; to supervise worktoo closely and not to let employees make their own decisions*The new hires wouldn’t have to be micro-managed if they showed up on timeand did what they were supposed to do.**oversight –** supervision; overseeing someone or some work to make sure it isdone properly and on time*Hopefully, having Beatrice working at the downtown office will give her moreoversight of the Showland project.**quality control –** rules and levels of standard in a company to make sure thatsomething is as good as it should be*If a product doesn’t meet quality control standards, it is never sold.**offshore –** company business done in foreign countries; overseas*It’s not unusual for American companies these days to have offshoreoperations.**to think along the same lines –** to be thinking of the same thing or of doing thesame thing; to agree with someone else’s thinking*Laura and I were thinking along the same lines and agreed to paint the livingroom walls blue.**staff –** a group of workers*For Martha’s birthday, the staff put money together and bought her a nicesweater.##COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1. Which part of the company is Bonnie and Jean-Luc not thinking ofoutsourcing?a) The call centerb) Accountingc) IT2. What does Jean-Luc think of Bonnie’s suggestion to outsource some of thecompany’s operations?a) He disagrees with her.b) He thinks it’s a good idea.c) He doesn’t think the staff will like the idea.##WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?overheadThe word *“overhead”* in this podcast means the money used to operate abusiness: “If we don’t reduce our overhead, we’ll need to fire at leastemployees.” The word *“overhead”* can also be used as an adjective to meansomething that is above your head: “This room is too dark. We need to installsome overhead lights so visitors can see the displays better.” Or, “While I wassitting on the beach, a really big bird flew overhead and made a lot of noise.” Inan airplane, the storage space where passengers put their bags above theirseats are called the *“overhead compartment”*: “I was the last passenger to geton the plane and there was no more room in the overhead compartment for mybriefcase.”staffIn this podcast, the word *“staff”* is used as a noun to mean a group of workers:*“The staff’s positive attitude made it a pleasant place to work.”* The same wordcan also be used as a verb, *“to staff,”* which means to supply or hire people towork on something or for someone: “Make sure to staff the event with at leasteight waiters and five busboys.” *“Staff”* can also be used as a noun to mean along stick that is usually as tall as or taller than the person carrying it: “In thestory, the old man who lived on the side of the mountain always carried a staff tohelp him get around.”##CULTURE NOTEMany companies outsource to reduce costs. It makes sense that if a companycan get work done by hiring an outside firm, they will have a “competitiveadvantage” or a better chance of getting a customer because of their lowerprices. As outsourcing has become more common in U.S. companies, however,it has become more *“controversial,”* or something that people disagree about.The most controversial part is *“offshoring,”* or transferring a company's work toanother company in another country that specializes in that type of work. Thetwo areas in a company most likely to be offshored are production and service.American companies have, for a long time, offshored production ormanufacturing to countries where *“labor”* or paid work is cheaper. For instance,U.S. companies may *“manufacture”* or make their electronic parts in Taiwan ormake clothes and toys in China. Until recently, companies didn’t think thatservices could be offshored. With the creation and improvement oftelecommunications, however, many large U.S. companies have transferred theircall centers offshore. Even though the company provides a phone number in theU.S., calls are *“forwarded”* or sent to a different company that's been contractedto take them, such as those in India, South Africa, or the Philippines.Although offshoring is becoming more and more common, there have been*“critics,”* or those who have a negative opinion. One of the drawbacks they pointout is that offshoring results in lower quality of service. These critics argue thatbecause outsourced workers don't actually work for the main company (theywork for the company that's been hired to do the work), they might not care aboutthe quality of the job they're doing as much as regular workers would. And, sinceoutsourced companies tend to do one type of work for many companies, somesay that special needs that a company has may not be served.Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – b##COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to number 216, “OutsourcingOperations.”This is episode 216. I'm your host, Dr.Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com to find more information about thispodcast, additional services we offer and a complete Learning Guide to thisepisode. The Learning Guide contains all of the vocabulary, additional words,explanations, sample sentences, cultural notes and a complete transcript of thisepisode.This podcast is about a business that tries to hire, or get, another company to dopart of their work. It's called *“Outsourcing Operations.”* Let's get started.[start of story]Bonnie: I wanted us to meet today to talk about ways to reduce our overhead.One suggestion is for us to outsource some of our operations. I’d like to hearwhat you think are the pros and cons of doing that.Jean-Luc: I think that, in principle, it’s a good idea. It would save us a lot ofmoney, but I see a downside. We would lose control of some of our key in houseoperations.Bonnie: Well, I think that we want to focus on non-core operations, such as IT oraccounting. I know that other companies have outsourced their call centers, butthat would take a lot of training, especially with our call volume.Jean-Luc: I completely agree. I don’t think that the call center needs to bemicro-managed, but it does take more oversight than IT or accounting for qualitycontrol, especially if we decide to go offshore.Bonnie: Okay, I think we’re thinking along the same lines. Let’s call a meetingwith the rest of the staff to get their thoughts. How about next Tuesday ata.m.?Jean-Luc: That works for me. I’ll send out an email to everybody today.[end of story]The title of this podcast is, *“Outsourcing Operations.”* To outsource, *“outsource,”*one word, means to get another company to do part of your work. So, if yourcompany or organization does many different things, it may hire, *“hire,”* or payanother company to do part of your work. Operations just refers to the differentthings that a company does.Our dialogue is between Bonnie and Jean-Luc, and they’re in a meeting - alwaysan exciting thing. Bonnie says to Jean-Luc, “I wanted us to meet today to talkabout ways,” or methods, *“to reduce our overhead.”* To reduce means to makeless or to lower. Overhead, *“overhead,”* is the money that a company pays for itsrent, for its insurance, for all the things that it needs to keep the company going.Overhead is sometimes called fixed costs. Fixed, *“fixed,”* costs, *“costs,”* arecosts, or expenses - money you have to pay - that do not depend on how muchyour company produces. For example, if you are a manufacturer, a maker ofchairs, you need to buy materials, to buy things to make each chair. But, thereare some expenses, some things you have to pay for - the rent, the lights - thatdo not depend on how many chairs you sell, and these fixed costs are youroverhead. It's what the company pays, no matter how much it sells of a certainthing or makes of a certain thing. The word overhead actually has a couple ofdifferent meanings. Take a look at the Learning Guide today to find out whatelse overhead means in English.Bonnie says, *“One suggestion is for us to outsource some of our operations.”*We know what outsourcing means. It means getting another company to dosome of your work - paying another company, or another person, to do part ofthe work of your company. This has become very popular in many companies inthe United States. Take a look at our Learning Guide where we talk about thismore in detail.Bonnie says, *“I’d like to hear what you think,”* Jean-Luc, “are the pros and cons ofdoing that.” The pros, *“pros,”* and the cons, *“cons,”* refer to the good things andthe bad things. The pros are the good possibilities, what we may call theadvantages, and the cons are the bad things, or the disadvantages. We also usethe expression, *“the pluses and the minuses.”* A plus is something that is goodthat adds something, and a minus is something that takes something away, or isa negative thing.Jean-Luc says, *“I think that, in principle, it’s a good idea.”* The expression here,in principle, *“principle,”* means that Jean-Luc likes the idea in general, but notnecessarily for this specific case, for this specific situation. So, when someonesays, *“Well, that's good in principle,”* they mean, well, in a general way, maybefor some other situation, but not necessarily for this particular situation. Wemight also say, theoretically. In principle or theoretically, it's a good idea.Jean-Luc says, *“It would save us a lot of money, but I see a downside.”* Adownside, *“downside,”* all one word, is a negative result, a bad thing that couldhappen if you do this thing. For example, if you walk up to a beautiful womanand you say, *“Hey baby, do you want to dance with me,”* the downside is that shewill say, *“No! Get away, I don't want to dance with you!”* That's the downside.The upside, which is the opposite, *“upside,”* is that she'll say, “Oh, yes Jeff, Iwould love to dance with you!” So you see, every situation has an upside and adownside. I usually see the downside.Jean-Luc says, *“We could lose,”* or “We would lose control of some of our key inhouse operations.” In house, *“house”* - like the house you live in - in houseoperations are things that a company does by itself, that it doesn't give to othercompanies to do.Bonnie says, *“Well, I think we want to focus on non-core operations.”* Non-core,*“non-core,”* are things a company does that are not the most important, they'reless important things. The opposite of non-core would be core operations, andthese are the most important things that your company does. Bonnie says thatshe thinks they should *“focus on non-core operations such as IT.”* IT meansinformation technology - those are the computer people, some of you listeningtoday are IT people, *“or accounting.”* Accounting, *“accounting,”* is the part of thecompany that pays the bills and collects, or gets, the money. So, that's the partof the company that takes care of the money and often the taxes that a companypays.Bonnie says that she knows that some “other companies have outsourced theircall centers.” A call, *“call,”* center is a place where you have people who answertelephones. For example, when you have a problem with something, you maycall the company to complain - to say, *“I have problem”* - and you will talk tosomeone in a call center. It's a building, it's a place where you have usuallyseveral people answering the telephone. Bonnie says that having an outsourcedcall center would require, “would take a lot of training, especially with our callvolume.” The expression here, call volume, *“volume,”* doesn't mean how loudsomething is, it means how much there is. So, the volume is the number oftelephone calls, in this case.Jean-Luc says, *“I agree,”* he doesn't “think that the call center needs to be micro-managed.” To micro, *“micro,”* -manage, *“manage”* something means to try tocontrol every little thing. To micro-manage is when a boss tries to tell theemployee everything they need to do too much. Usually micro-manage is usedas a negative expression, not always. But, to micro-manage means that youhave to manage, you have to supervise someone for everything that is requiredfor the job.Jean-Luc says that the call center does require *“more oversight.”* Oversight,*“oversight,”* is the same as supervision - to be watching something. It requires*“more oversight...for quality control.”* The expression quality, *“quality,”* control,*“control,”* means that you are making sure that it is good. Quality control is whata company does to make sure that the things it is making are of a good, or ahigh, quality.Jean-Luc says that this is a special problem if they *“decide to go offshore.”*Offshore, *“offshore,”* all one word, means to go to a company in a differentcountry, or to go overseas, *“overseas,”* to go to a different company in anothercountry.Bonnie says, *“Okay, I think we’re thinking along the same lines.”* To think alongthe same lines, *“lines,”* means to be thinking the same, we have the same idea.She suggests that they meet *“with the rest of the staff to get their”* ideas. Thestaff, *“staff,”* are the other workers, the other employees.Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.[start of story]Bonnie: I wanted us to meet today to talk about ways to reduce our overhead.One suggestion is for us to outsource some of our operations. I’d like to hearwhat you think are the pros and cons of doing that.Jean-Luc: I think that, in principle, it’s a good idea. It would save us a lot ofmoney, but I see a downside. We would lose control of some of our key in houseoperations.Bonnie: Well, I think that we want to focus on non-core operations, such as IT oraccounting. I know that other companies have outsourced their call centers, butthat would take a lot of training, especially with our call volume.Jean-Luc: I completely agree. I don’t think that the call center needs to bemicro-managed, but it does take more oversight than IT or accounting for qualitycontrol, especially if we decide to go offshore.Bonnie: Okay, I think we’re thinking along the same lines. Let’s call a meetingwith the rest of the staff to get their thoughts. How about next Tuesday ata.m.?Jean-Luc: That works for me. I’ll send out an email to everybody today.[end of story]Our script today was written by - who else? Dr. Lucy Tse.That's all we have time for. From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.Thanks for listening. We will see you next time on ESL Podcast. is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2006.

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