ESL Podcast 216 - Outsourcing Operations

overhead - the money a company spends to run its business

Moving to a bigger office building will mean an increase in the company's overhead for upcoming years.

to outsource - to have company business done by people outside of the company; 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 negative reasons for something; the advantages and disadvantages; the good and the bad parts of something

She sat down with her parents and made a list of the pros and cons of going to an 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; the disadvantages

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 edit its books in house, she has to find other work.

non-core operations - the services within a company that are not as important to the main business

When a company decides to downsize, non-core operations are usually the first of many departments to let people go.

IT - short for "information technology"; a department or part of the company that handles computers and technology-related problems

Lisa was told to make an appointment with IT so she can learn about the new programs that they've just installed on her computer.

accounting - the department or group of people at a company that keeps track of 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 usually the 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 other countries.

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 advertise in major newspapers.

to micro-manage - to tell someone what to do step-by-step; to supervise work too 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 time and did what they were supposed to do.

oversight - supervision; overseeing someone or some work to make sure it is done properly and on time

Hopefully, having Beatrice working at the downtown office will give her more oversight of the Showland project.

quality control - rules and levels of standard in a company to make sure that something 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 offshore operations.

to think along the same lines - to be thinking of the same thing or of doing the same thing; to agree with someone else's thinking

Laura and I were thinking along the same lines and agreed to paint the living room walls blue.

staff - a group of workers

For Martha's birthday, the staff put money together and bought her a nice sweater.