Second decade of outsourcing!

Informationweek article again triggered angry comments.  There is not a single thing in the world that is “ALL” advantages and “NO” disadvantages.

The key is balance.

One angry comment calls outsourcing as “corporate prostitution”.

When you talk about “Nothing matters but the bottom line, corporate prostitution, etc”, it is not limited to outsourcing. As an example – take cell-phone contracts that ties you up for 2 years – or many many other examples.On the other hand, come to think of it – bottom-line does matter. Profits do matter.

It is another thing if a company starts losing revenue because a competitor who does not use outsourcing provides better service. Then, the company that uses globalization will suffer from bad service or products and hence lose its customers.

It is just that in-spite-of the disadvantages, there are firms that have increased their competitiveness due to outsourcing. That is the only reason outsourcing thrives.

If there is a thinking that “customer service” in a company exists because of morality or ethics, I can only call it “naive”. Companies have customer service because otherwise they lose their competitiveness and business. So, the entire “customer service” is a competitive weapon to increase profits, not an “ethics” or “moral” responsibility.

If and when that competitiveness depletes, irrespective of the ethics or morals, companies will move away from outsourcing or offshoring.