Advances in transport, communications and increased links underpin changes in manufacturing and services, enabling them to become a worldwide affair. There has been a decline in the costs of air and sea transport and this is due to the advances made in communications due to the increase in the number of satellites. As well as satellites, submarine cables have been built allowing global communication between different parts of the same TNCs.
Submarine cables are vitally important
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The development of submarine cables has been important in allowing global operations for both manufacturing and service industry. One particularly important submarine cable system is the SEA-ME-WE cable linking South-east Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe, which was developed during the 1980s. Further developments have followed with SEA-ME-WE3 extending the original area and linking Western Europe to the Far East and Australia. This is 39,000km in length and improvements in cable quality ensure increased capacity and quality of reception, especially over long distances. SEA-ME-WE4 was developed by 16 telecommunications companies spread across Europe, the Middle East and
South-East Asia. This is 18,800km in length and offers high-speed transmission between linked countries designed to meet demand in countries with growing economies.
Localised industrial zones with global
connections: Motorpsort Valley, UK
Submarine cables allow businesses of a similar type to cluster together. Often they may have their headquarters in different places.
Some features of motorsport valley are:
internet is important as it allows factories and headquarters to have rapid
clear communication across the globe
close to major motorways and airports to allow for the easy transport of
goods and people in and out
close to major areas of population to ensure a large market and
workforce
close to universities for research and development and skilled graduates to
work for the companies
Call centres: Why have call centres moved abroad?
The setting up of call centres is big business and a total of 400,000 people are employed in the UK, often in small towns such as Harrogate, Carlisle, Gateshead and Warrington. Banks and other finance companies such as insurance were among the first to develop centralised call centres and the first to look abroad. Household names such as ASDA, Tesco, BA, Barclays, Lloyds, TSB, HSBC and Virgin Media have all set up call centres in India. It is the big cities that house these, such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Other important destinations for call centres abroad are South Africa and the Philippines.
Advantages of having a call centre in a poor country for a TNC
10% of India speak English fluently (about 100 million people)
80% of the people living in urban areas are literate (can read and write)
and 18% of these are graduates
Operating costs are between 10 and 60% lower than in the UK
Salaries are lower e.g. £1,200 per year in contrast to £12,000 per year in
the UK
Low staff turnover, working nine-hour shifts at time to fit in with
origin-country of company
development of ICT allows fast and clear communication
Two videos showing the frustration with call centres and dealing with some stereotypes
Another video I found – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCGMvyd7Y3A