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Opinions & Insights
by Gary Zeiss, Esq. on September 25, 2008

The question raised by the article was "why can't India be like China?" in the context of Olympic sports. China was an Olympic backwater just a few short years ago, but with solid hard work and good coaching, China has become a world leader in many sports - including fencing.
How did they do this? Certainly, a centralized structure helps, but China took one more critical step - they in-sourced some of the best and brightest coaches in a number of disciplines (including fencing) - and committed to building a program of excellence.
Why is this relevant to outsourcing? For one, there is constant talk about how India is going to "move up the value chain" and really begin performing higher-level work. But moving up the value chain is difficult - it requires two key components - smart people (the athlete) and creative, skilled leadership (the coaching) - to develop the "athletes" that succeed at the highest levels. India has plenty of "athletes" - but is short on "coaches."
This isn't a forever situation. In China, these first generations of champions are entering the next phase of their careers - which often involves coaching and development of young athletes. The same is true in business - once the industry learns to manipulate the levers of creativity and innovation, new leaders will be created.
However, to get over that initial hump, much is needed. If India looks outside of its borders to bring in the best and brightest leaders in industries like technology, automotive design, law and science, it will bootstrap its incredible talent pool and develop thought leaders in these industries. Then we'll be asking "why can't China be more like India?"
Permalink: Outsourcing and Insourcing
Trackback: http://publish.creative-weblogging.com/publish/mt-tb.pl/134560
Mr Wong
Vote for Outsourcing and Insourcing:
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Rating: 9.00 out of 2 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
John Patterson
(09/25/08 10:34am)
Response from:
Dennis Stevenson
(09/25/08 1:26pm)
Gary,
Love the fencing reference. In college I was a fencer (epee USFA rating D0 -1990). Great sport, but I can't maintain the commitment level to train and compete any longer. So I finally sold all my gear at a garage sale. :(
As to India, I think they need to expand their global economic base beyond services (i.e. call centers and outsourcing) to include some hard manufacturing. When we begin to see little "made in India" tags on our clothing, I think India will be on the path to being a full blown world player.
Dennis
Love the fencing reference. In college I was a fencer (epee USFA rating D0 -1990). Great sport, but I can't maintain the commitment level to train and compete any longer. So I finally sold all my gear at a garage sale. :(
As to India, I think they need to expand their global economic base beyond services (i.e. call centers and outsourcing) to include some hard manufacturing. When we begin to see little "made in India" tags on our clothing, I think India will be on the path to being a full blown world player.
Dennis
Response from:
Outsource Opinionist
(09/25/08 10:24pm)
I believe that this is already occuring in India's pharmaceutical industry, as highlighted in Business Week Sept 4. article, "Outsourcing the Drug Industry", where Indian drugmakers are hiring India-born biologists and biochemists based abroad, bringing them home and offering themm leadership opportunities. However I am not sure if the same trend is followed in IT/ITeS, software, BPO industries of India. I definitely agree with the article though, there is a great demand presently (seems unhindered by the recent Wall Street crisis) but a lack of suitable talent to meet it. Insourcing the right people to train and lead the work pool of these industries could be the way to deal the growing demand of outsourcing services.
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