This reflection has two parts: the reflection itself, and the requirement to make a substantive comment on another learner's post.

Read the scenario below and answer the following questions.

A friend of yours owns a business, Fruitful Arrangements, which sells and ships edible fruit arrangements, including fruit bouquets, fruit baskets and platters filled with treats. It is a franchise model, with locations in most major Canadian cities. Customers generally place their orders online, but the business still receives calls from customers who prefer to place their orders with an agent, or who have specific questions about the products, ingredients, allergy information, and so on$.$ With a trend towards healthier choices, her business has experienced significant growth; she has a good roster of corporate clients who order from her regularly.

She employs a small team of customer service agents in Winnipeg who take calls between $9$:$00$ and $4$:$00.$ The agents know her products inside out and provide a high level of service; they have developed this knowledge over their long tenure with the organization. However, as demand for her products grow, the wait time for customers to have their calls answered is also growing. She is also finding it challenging to serve customers in different time zones. She is concerned that her competitors who offer a greater service window are positioned to eat into her client base.

As a result, she is thinking about outsourcing the call centre function. She has heard it can be a cheaper option than having her own staff and is wondering if it might solve some of her service challenges.

Your friend knows you work in HR and asks for your opinion.

$1.$ Thinking about the SWOT analysis model, identify at least one strength or weakness $($internal$),$ and at least one opportunity or threat $($external$),$ that you can identify from your short conversation.

$2.$ Knowing that HR strategic decisions need to flow from organizational strategy, what are some questions you would have for your friend before you could offer an opinion as to whether or not outsourcing is a fit for her business?

$3.$ Given what you know about this business, what do you imagine their competitive positioning to be $($cost focus, differentiation, or focus$),$ and how might this position impact the decision whether or not to outsource?

$4.$ If she decides to explore outsourcing, what are some environmental factors to be considered when selecting a partner?

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