Outsourcing Terms

A

• arbitration – the hearing and determination of a dispute by an impartial referee agreed to by both parties
• arbitrator – someone elected to judge and decide a disputed issue
• auction – the platform in which online outsourcing services offer work-for-hire employment opportunities

B

• bid request – a formal request for bids
• bid winner – the service provider whose bid was accepted by an outsourcer
• bidder – the service provider who places a bid for a contracted job
• boilerplate response – a response to a bid that appears to be constructed from a template

C

• common law worker – typical employees who travel to a designated workplace, perform a specific job at the designated workplace, and then work for a specific amount of time for a specific amount of pay
• competencies – services or products for which a business is known to provide
• contract amendment – an agreed-upon stipulation appended to an existing website
• contracted employment – a type of employment that’s obtained and secured through a contract or written agreement.
• core function – the services or products for which a business is known
• cosmetic flaw – an error in a project that does not interfere with the project’s main functions (example, wrong color, font, etc.)
• covenant not to compete (cnc) agreement – an agreement in which a service provider agrees not to work for an outsourcer’s competitor for a specified number of months or years

D

• deliverables – the collection of work delivered by an outsourcing provider
• direct outsourcing costs – expenses that can be traced to a product or a department, and that pay for putting an outsourced project into place
• double-blind ratings system – a ratings system that does not reveal what on party rated the other until both parties have rated each other.

E

• escrow – money put in the trust of a third party to be returned after fulfillment of some condition
• ethical outsourcing – the act of contracting and working with a service provider according to industry standards
• expert rating certification – certification achieved from the test administered through the group above
• expertrating – a type of status awarded to service providers who’ve successfully passed a test supplied by the expertrating online certification and employee testing group.

F

• facilitator – someone who makes progress easier
• fixed-fee job model – a job that’s paid for with one lump sum
• flaw list document – a formal document listing non-cosmetic flaws; submitted as documentation in an arbitration case

G

• global outsourcing – outsourcing performed on a global bases (as opposed to a national or regional basis)

I

• indirect outsourcing costs – expenses that are not directly accountable to a particular function or product (taxes, administration, personnel and security costs, overhead, etc.)
• industrial standards – a set of rules or guidelines businesses should follow to demonstrate ethical decisions, behavior, and executions

J

• job board – online platform in which jobs are made available to job seekers
• job type – a type of project based on its compensation or execution (examples: fixed-fee, per-hour, contingency, etc.)

L

• labor arbitrage – the act of paying for labor at low wages
• labor laws – laws designed to protect the welfare of working individuals; differs by state and country
• labor market – the entire pool of employable workers
• lead time – amount of time prior to starting a project
• legal injunction – a court order that orders a party to do or refrain from doing a certain act (or acts)
• legally binding record – a collection of documents and communications which may be used as evidence in a dispute
• limitation of liability – the limit to which an individual (outsourcer or service provider) is responsible for some action or non-action
• log in date – date and time which marks the last time a service provider logged into an outsourcing service website

M

• mediation – the negotiation to resolve differences, conducted by an impartial party
• metrics management – a type of monitoring that measures how well or poorly an outsourced project is progressing

N

• non-compete agreement – see covenant not to compete (cnc) agreement
• non-cosmetic – an error in a project that interferes with the project’s main functions (example, opening a file open dialog box instead of a font dialog box, etc.)
• non-disclosure agreement – an agreement in which a service provider promises not to disclose an outsourcer’s proprietary information

O

• offshoring – the relocation of business activity to a location in another country with lower costs
• outsourcer – the person, group, or business who outsources
• outsourcing – the act of obtain goods or services from an outside supplier; to contract work out
• outsourcing industry – the collection of all things related to outsourcing
• outtasking – the act of hiring out small tasks of an entire work process

P

• pay for deliverables – a type of job defined by its delivery (see deliverables)
• pay for time – a type of job defined by its payment frequency (usually hourly)
• per-hour job model – a job that’s paid for on an hourly basis
• preferred payment – a type of payment that reduces fees for both an outsourcing service and service provider
• privatization – the act of making something private (hidden from public view)
• project deadline – the date in which a job must be completed

R

• requirement – a part of a contract that a service provider is expected to supply

S

• sample – a demonstration of the type of work an outsourcer can expect from a service provider
• scope – a job’s entire set of requirements
• security risk – a type of behavior (available from an animate or inanimate object) that could breach existing security
• self mediate – the act of resolving a conflict without the intervention of a formal arbitration
• sensitive information – information that is extremely private
• service provider – the 3rd party to whom work is contracted out to
• status report – a report detailing progress performed on a job (required at some outsourcing services)
• statutory non-employee worker – a direct seller or licensed real estate agent
• statutory worker – a beverage and food delivery driver, laundry pickup and delivery driver, life insurance sales agent, work-at-home employee, or merchandise or supply salesperson
• submission – the entire collection of a project’s deliverables
• submission deadline – the date in which no more job bids are accepted
• supplier – same as service provider

T

• tax status – a type of status assigned to a tax payer
• team manager – the person in charge of managing a team of individual service providers
• telecommuting – the act of communicating or performing some act from a remote location
• terms of service – service rules in which outsourcers and service providers are require to obey
• third party trust reserve – a location which holds funds or privy information on the behalf of a service provider or outsourcer
• timecard desktop application – a device that monitors a service provider’s activity on a job
• top scorer – a service provider who has achieved the utmost mark in a test or achievement
• traditional outsourcing – outsourcing performed offline
• traditional workplace – a physical working environment
• transition – the process of shifting job processes, employees, and/or equipment onto the online outsourcing environment

U

• underbidding – the processs in which a service provider will offer his or her services for a cheaper price than what another provider offers. Common at outsourcing services that don’t hide bids
• upper management – part of management that dictates and monitors the activities of lower management

V

• virtual assistant – a service provider who performs personal or office assistant-type duties from a remote location
• vendor – another description for a service provider

W

• weakness – a particular part of a work process that’s problematic, too time consuming, open to competition, or non-productive
• wire transfer – the process of sending money from one bank account to another, or through a transfer of cash at a cash office
• written agreement – a legal document summarizing the agreement between parties
• work crimes – crimes that take place at the workplace during work hours
• work ethic – behaviors that describe a service provider’s adherence to standards, protocols, rules, etc.
• work habits – behaviors that describe a service provider’s character
• work history – a service provider’s list of past jobs
• work process – a set of steps required to perform a task or job
• workload – the amount of work a service provider currently has
• workplace – the environment in which work (labor) occurs. Online, that environment is the Internet.