4. Market Overview
4.3. SWOT Analysis
offering lower costs than if the projects were developed within the company. When the market necessity for projects that do not need to be executed internally in the companies is conjugated with the internet as the link to these remote locations, we have a new business model.
As technology has improved and become better and better, more tasks have been able to be
accomplished distantly by sending completed products by electronic means, and even having face to face video conferences allowing two parties that could be half way around the world to have a virtual face to face meeting.
Data Entry Companies’ competition does not have important physical borders. There is no disadvantage in choosing a service from one country in comparison to another. Data Entry
competition relies on availability, cost, quality, and skills. These considerations are primary for the initial selection of a Data Entry service. Once a service has been provided a couple of times, it is likely that the client will maintain a working relationship with them if quality has been assured, unless a new provider has some new features that attract the attention of the clients.
4.3. SWOT Analysis
4.3.1. Strengths
1. One of the major strengths of this company is its tripartite partnership because its members not only share values and principles, but are partners that share their vision and that are already contributing to assist the victims of war and poverty.
2. Global recognition of DDD as a leader in the Data Entry service, as well as their vast experience and technology.
3. Knowledgeable, friendly, and in need staff. Refugees Dreams will go to great lengths to find people with a passion for sharing their internet, computing and English experience to have a professional job. Refugees Dreams’ staff are knowledgeable and leaders of the refugee community in Mae La Camp. They have dreams and they will work with us to accomplish their dreams.
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4. Strong vision of the market needs. Refugees Dreams recognizes what it takes to provide an upmarket data entry service. We know how to build the service that will bring the customers and the technology together.
4.3.2. Weaknesses
1. A dependency on rapidly improving technology. The Internet changes very quickly and new applications or features are being offered day by day. Refugees Dreams needs to keep up with the technology because a lot of the Refugees Dreams’ experience and services require new technologies and software.
2. Being a startup company in a Refugee Camp. It will be the first experience for Digital Divide Data operating in a humanitarian refugee camp. They will have to give special treatment to Refugees’ Dreams, different from its other partners.
3. Customers could doubt about the quality of service offered by refugees. DDD will have to make extra effort to convince organizations to give jobs, particularly for our first target since it is not common in the camp to provide services in general, and less those services that require technology, computing and English skills.
4.3.3. Opportunities
One of the major opportunities found is the fact that the creation of jobs or self-reliance has been included in the planning of the 2010 Committee for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reworked the plan as “Framework for Durable solutions” to formalize it as a common framework for all humanitarian actors.
It is now a requirement for all CCSDPT members to work within this framework and all programs proposals submitted to the Ministry of Interior of Thailand for 2011 were within this context according to the 2010 (Jul-Dec) report of the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium.
Most of the efforts done by the governments and NGOs working in the Thai-Burma border follow objective number two of the Strategic Plan Objectives 2009-2013 of the TBBC which is: “Increase
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As result a new entrepreneur pilot program have being implemented in the camps which has already resulted in almost 300 refugees receiving small start-up grants (baht 2,400 or USD 80, EUR 60) which have been used to start or expand small businesses such as groceries and small stores;
making snacks, bakeries or noodles; weaving; running tea shops, barbers or restaurants; and pig raising and vegetable farming9.
Another opportunity is the fact that the United States is one of the countries with major concern for Burmese Refugees and US companies, organizations and population are aware of the situation of Burmese and its huge humanitarian needs. 64,513 refugees have left the camps for resettlement in third countries since 2005, with the majority of the departures; 76% going to the United States.
Refugee departures by camp for 2010, and totals by country from 2006 are given in exhibit 8.
Refugees Dreams plans to use the benefits of having Karen people in some of these countries with major economic power and huge companies that are demanding data entry services. We intend to create a network of Karen abroad and give them the incentives necessary to market our services in their communities, which represents another opportunity for this partnership.
Karen that have resettled have already shown strong interest in supporting their people. They are increasing the awareness about the situation in Burma, and they are the overseas voice of the refugees. Refugees Dreams will offer them commission for sales, and they can work as our sales representatives sending jobs to Refugees Dreams from companies, NGOs, and local and national governments of the countries where they are living. All of this can help in the long run once Refugees Dreams has gained international competitiveness. Exhibit 9 is a picture taken from the Camp Noticeboard which shows the distribution of Refugees that were resettled in the different States of the United States.
4.3.3.1. Other opportunities
1. Low investment costs since prices in the camp are much cheaper than in other areas of Thailand and the rest of the world.
9 Official web portal. Thailand Burma Border Consortium, 2010 TBBC Program Six Month Report from July to December. Retrieved by March, 2011, from National Chengchi University:
http://www.tbbc.org/resources/resources.htm#reports
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2. A sense of business ownership from the future employees since this company will be created for them, and will be the foremost or only company that brings professional jobs into the camp.
3. Absence of attrition. This is one of the major weaknesses of other data entry companies worldwide. Their employees are not stable doing data entry jobs because they have more opportunities to apply for other jobs in different companies or industries. Their situation is different from refugees since they have no access to companies inside the camp.
Among the refugee population we find people that have Bachelor degrees, professionals, or even Master degree holders that were obliged to leave Burma to protect their life. In the camp it is possible to find several high school and even higher education colleges; however they do not have any legal recognition. Those schools are not recognized by the government of Burma or by the government of Thailand. Creating jobs represents a huge opportunity for refugees, and Refugees Dreams will be the only way for them to make their educational or professional dreams come true.
The internet and globalization have turned the world into a global village, facilitating the seamless delivery of IT and Business Processes across time zones. Due to its skilled manpower, cost advantage, and appropriate infrastructure, Refugees Dreams will be in a good position to attract organizations that need to outsource their data entry jobs and would like to contribute and support the dreams of refugees living in Mae La.
Mae La Camp is located just one hour from the urban area of Mae Sot, which is one of the most dynamic cities of Thailand. Refugees Dreams typifies the best of the core evaluation criteria that companies look to optimize when requesting data entry services: cost control, quality, risk and fulfillment of their social responsibility by impacting the lives of poor and disadvantaged refugees.
Creating data entry jobs at the Camp level will also drive business opportunities for computer training centers of communal organizations and schools of the camp. It will also enhance livelihood opportunities for refugees, which is one of the goals of humanitarian organizations working in the camp. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has been a very prominent model of new chances, and a business model for rural areas of developing countries, thus why not make it happen in the camp.
4.3.4 Threats
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solution available for Burmese refugees. However, most of the educated and skilled refugees have chose, or were chosen to leave. According to the same report of TBBC, in early impact assessments it soon became apparent that at least 75% of the most skilled refugees would leave, and NGOs were forced to reorient and strengthen training programs to find replacements. The fact that services have not collapsed is due in combination to the resilience of the strong community structures and the willingness of NGOs to respond to the new challenges.The employment of unregistered and categorized as new arrival refugees will be crucial to survival, and to prevent suffering in terms of the quality of Refugees Dreams services. Refugees Dreams will carefully plan its personnel, as expressed before, focusing on the most vulnerable among the vulnerable and those that are the unregistered refugees will be prioritized. Refugees’ Dreams will look for the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to have access to official information about the registration situation of potential employees. They have to be the ones with fewer opportunities in the camp and they are the unregistered, the ones that do not have a Refugee Card and that most of the time have no ration of food, shelter and clothing aid.
Refugee Dreams will enjoy a first-mover advantage in the humanitarian impact BPO market of Thailand. However additional competitors may enter into the market. Therefore, many of our programs will have to be designed to build customer loyalty.