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How Essential Is The Offshoring Panic Really?
If you just limit your
searches to published articles on the topic of offshoring for one month,
you’ll have material to read for a day. And that’s exactly what I did in
order to find out what the progresses in the upheaval around this phenomenon
have been recently.
Overall, it seems that a more rational approach
toward offshore outsourcing has emerged, now that the first panic outbursts
have subsided. The tone of articles is less alarmed and more analytical,
whereby the predominant piques are:
1) Offshoring is not a new
trend: we’ve faced it for several decennia. For instance, when we allowed
manufacturing jobs to shift to overpopulated, and thus cheaper economies. But
that did not panic us then: we simply transformed into a service-based
economy. So what is the big worry now that the possible next shift is
approaching?
2) Returning to protectionism in a world that is
increasingly
intertwining would be the most shortsighted thing to do by any
government. It would not only create hostile attitudes from those who have
been opening their borders to globalization when it was beneficial to the
industrialized countries, but it would also represent a setback in
development for all stakeholders, which are all countries in the
world.
3) Offshoring has its limitations for various reasons. The
immediacy of certain services comes to mind here: you cannot have your
haircut done over the Internet, and you certainly cannot have a paramedic or
a firefighter fly over from Bangalore to solve your pressing issue. And as
for the telephoning services: there is something to say about a customer
service representative being able to relate to your perceptions as opposed to
one who constantly needs his catalogue and dictionary to continue a
decent conversation.
4) Offshoring is in effect on all fronts:
just as dreadful as the U.S. and Western Europe consider losing jobs to
India, Japan, China, Slovenia, or Lithuania, just as dreadful do these
countries find it when their intellectual cadre, and sometimes entire
industries, move across country borders, or entire oceans in order to
establish themselves in the U.S. or Western Europe, where they see more
opportunities.
5) Offshoring is not as simple as many companies
initially seemed to think. The additional troubles with training, traveling,
culturally adapting, and communicating have gradually been surfacing, making
Human Resource departments press for more influence in the decision
making processes when an organization considers offshore
outsourcing.
6) Offshoring has also caused a number of companies to
see their clientele heading toward competitors, as they are concerned with
the handling of delicate personal information in annals that are located
in countries that may not have similar ethical- and moral
codes.
7) Offshoring has already ignited new trends. The first
signs of shift awareness have been manifesting themselves: a growing number
of job market analysts recommend more concentration on creative jobs, and
less on repetitive ones. This implies a rethinking of study foci in
higher education. For instance: a) Finance should be preferred over
accounting as a study major, because the financial manager needs to be on
location to
inventively respond to eventualities, while accounting processes
can be easily executed overseas. b) Engineering should definitely be
encouraged, as it will provide the brains and, therefore the insights that
will shape the new focus in our economy. c) Entrepreneurship should be
supported, since “lean and mean” may be the best and most efficient way to
respond to all
troubles.
Overall it seems that the level to which one
should worry about offshore outsourcing has very much to do with one’s work
area. Some have more reasons to develop immediate action than others.
However, it is always wise to continue measuring one’s applicability level in
the local- as well as the global market; engaging in continuous education,
especially in those service
areas that cannot be exported; and trying to have
as many irons in the fire, in order not to depend too much upon one single
source of income at any time.
Dr. Joan Marques,
Burbank, May 26,
2004
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About the
Author:
Joan Marques emigrated from Suriname, South America, to California,
U.S., in 1998. She holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership, a Master’s
in
Business Administration, and is currently a university instructor
in Business and Management in Burbank, California. You may visit her web
sites at http://www.joanmarques.com
and
http://www.spiritcounts.com
Joan's
manual "Feel Good About Yourself," a six part series to get you over the
bumps in life and onto success, can be purchased and downloaded at:
http://www.non-books.com/FeelGoodSeries.html
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