Filed in archive
Outsourcing Pros and Cons
by on April 8, 2004
DP, one of our readers, a computer scientist for a major IT firm, has something to say about outsourcing. Well said, DP, well said...
In the case of high tech industries, look at the distribution of personnel and facilities comparing them to the customer base. Look at major projects and who is doing them. Look also in business trade journals for the advertisements for expatriate help for specific fields like science, IT, Engineering and medicine. Historically, read about the auto, steel and construction industries, electronics and pharmaceuticals as well as the history of American business after WWII.
Interestingly enough, expertise in quality came to Japan from the US. Manufacturing was setup around the world by Americans. We are now teaching them the service industry (Wal Mart in China for example). One of the most striking things is that many countries around the world send their students and business people to us to learn what we already know to apply it to their own country.
The biggest change has been in the location of specialized talent around the world that can now deal easily with each other. The advent of telecommunications and IT technology has dramatically changed outsourcing so that you can take a piecemeal approach to splitting up your staff to work on a project.
For instance, we are currently working a project of worldwide scope with people working from Europe to North America to Australia to China. The team itself works primarily remotely around the world including India. I haven�t seen many of them but it doesn�t prevent us working together. Past of this works because most of the persons involved speak English. You no longer have to locate an entire functional business in one geographic nation to accomplish something.
The biggest reason we do this is because we have projects around the world with deadlines that can�t be met if we have to wait for someone in country who is busy or we have valuable skills in someone that are required but cannot be utilized completely by any geographical location. With this approach, we can get someone assigned to do a job generally when we need them.
The issue I am finding with technical education and the skills that are listed by others as constituting a highly skilled work force present us a dilemma. High skills such as Math, Science, Engineering, Project Management, Languages and deeper knowledge of history and culture are the things we lay out in front the US population as required.
As I and my parents grew up, this was implicitly understood as desirable things to do. Currently, education in these fields for many sectors of my country has declined considerably as people perceive that they can continue to have comfortable lives not leaning any of them. We are more concerned with the trappings of a good life rather than the substance of one. Part of this is human nature to take the path more comfortable and easy and part of it is a true change in the way we value things.
Represented in the US it is the attention paid to leisure, celebrity, easy money, the idea that all aspects of human activity are equal. It has never been the case throughout history that that has been true. The repeated rise and fall of cultures throughout history repeatedly proves that it�s the combination of hard work, skill, luck, knowledge and will as key to both their rise and demise.
I see less people interested in putting in the work required to acquire and develop these skills than in the past. However, I see a lot of places around the world that have already learned what we learned and are actively trying to figure out how to do the same thing.
Why should I be offended that an Indian is willing to put in the time to learn how to do the technical work that persons in my own country can�t be bothered by and yet is willing to work an adjusted schedule at night to be available when I am working during the day halfway around the world. That person realizes that doing this work will improve their life. That�s the dedication and its consequences we should realize.
In the case of high tech industries, look at the distribution of personnel and facilities comparing them to the customer base. Look at major projects and who is doing them. Look also in business trade journals for the advertisements for expatriate help for specific fields like science, IT, Engineering and medicine. Historically, read about the auto, steel and construction industries, electronics and pharmaceuticals as well as the history of American business after WWII.
Interestingly enough, expertise in quality came to Japan from the US. Manufacturing was setup around the world by Americans. We are now teaching them the service industry (Wal Mart in China for example). One of the most striking things is that many countries around the world send their students and business people to us to learn what we already know to apply it to their own country.
The biggest change has been in the location of specialized talent around the world that can now deal easily with each other. The advent of telecommunications and IT technology has dramatically changed outsourcing so that you can take a piecemeal approach to splitting up your staff to work on a project.
For instance, we are currently working a project of worldwide scope with people working from Europe to North America to Australia to China. The team itself works primarily remotely around the world including India. I haven�t seen many of them but it doesn�t prevent us working together. Past of this works because most of the persons involved speak English. You no longer have to locate an entire functional business in one geographic nation to accomplish something.
The biggest reason we do this is because we have projects around the world with deadlines that can�t be met if we have to wait for someone in country who is busy or we have valuable skills in someone that are required but cannot be utilized completely by any geographical location. With this approach, we can get someone assigned to do a job generally when we need them.
The issue I am finding with technical education and the skills that are listed by others as constituting a highly skilled work force present us a dilemma. High skills such as Math, Science, Engineering, Project Management, Languages and deeper knowledge of history and culture are the things we lay out in front the US population as required.
As I and my parents grew up, this was implicitly understood as desirable things to do. Currently, education in these fields for many sectors of my country has declined considerably as people perceive that they can continue to have comfortable lives not leaning any of them. We are more concerned with the trappings of a good life rather than the substance of one. Part of this is human nature to take the path more comfortable and easy and part of it is a true change in the way we value things.
Represented in the US it is the attention paid to leisure, celebrity, easy money, the idea that all aspects of human activity are equal. It has never been the case throughout history that that has been true. The repeated rise and fall of cultures throughout history repeatedly proves that it�s the combination of hard work, skill, luck, knowledge and will as key to both their rise and demise.
I see less people interested in putting in the work required to acquire and develop these skills than in the past. However, I see a lot of places around the world that have already learned what we learned and are actively trying to figure out how to do the same thing.
Why should I be offended that an Indian is willing to put in the time to learn how to do the technical work that persons in my own country can�t be bothered by and yet is willing to work an adjusted schedule at night to be available when I am working during the day halfway around the world. That person realizes that doing this work will improve their life. That�s the dedication and its consequences we should realize.
Permalink: DP Has Something to Say
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/1509
Addthis
Ask
Blinklist
del.icio.us
Digg
Fark
Facebook
Google
Lycos
Ma.gnolia
Mr Wong
Netscape
Netvousz
Newsvine
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Slashdot
Tailrank
Technorati
Wink
Yahoo
Vote for DP Has Something to Say:
|
Rating: 4.33 out of 3 vote(s) cast.
|
Subscribe
Use the search to look for other interesting posts
| RSS |  See all blog subscribe options |
 What is RSS? | |
| Yahoo! |
|
| Addthis |
|
| Bloglines |
|
| Newsletter | |
| Follow us on Twitter! |
