The Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) in conjunction with Supply Chain Management Institute (SMI), Germany has launched a certification program for executives working in BPO companies in India. The program is focused at preparing Indians to manage global supply chains.

The certificate program will initially be offered to BPO companies and their employees and will be extended to individuals including supply chain managers in India by the next year.

The program is focused at three main areas in BPO firms - Marketing/Sales, Production/Operations and HR. The idea is to attract and retain people by showing growth paths.

"For the BPO company, the focus of the program will be on quality and competence while for its employees, there will be 10 criteria including procurement/SCM skills, social skills, inter-cultural skills, business development skills and customer surprising skills," said Dr Holger Schober, Director Executive Education, SMI Germany.