Posted on 01/28/2006 10:26:38 AM PST by Dark Skies
Yes digital sourcing is already quite the rage in publishing/printing. The international CENVEO company in the U.S. basically 'frontdesks' client designs ftp's the design files to China and the client has the printed pieces on their desk within 24hrs FedEx.
The small company I'm with is looking to do the same thing, as a way of leveraging its small pool of talent in order to execute larger projects.
We're already using foreign talent, bringing them here; we've found that, through the magic of broadband, some of them are able to be productive while they are back home, which leads us to ask the question, why bring them here in the first place? Why not instead send our project leads there?
I've seen the same thing with my previous company, doing the high-end work in the states and doing the detailed work in the host country, and it worked well, again you just send a couple of specialists to lead the effort, and broadband allows you to keep it all together.
So we're going after work a hundred times the size of our normal projects. Not sure how its all going to play out, though. We're covered up with work right now, but they are looking ahead to the day that work slows down again; we want to have made the leap to the bigger playing field.
With many potential pitfalls, Asia’s continued economic development is not assured. Instead of trying limit trade and investment with the developing world, it is in America’s best long-term interest to promote more interdependence and keep China and India moving on a path toward greater prosperity.Willie Green. Call your office. The future beckons you.
Interesting article. My wife as a computer program was someone who was "replaced" by someone from India. The company went from being a very good non-profit one with a good working model to a not-so-good public one. They lost big contracts (note that they prospered during the dot com busts) and are in much smaller offices than before--a shell of their former selves.
I still can't stand getting a call from "George Jones" or "John Smith." HEHE I do like having someone close by who can understand certain situations better than someone clear away in Timbuktu.
I hope this process spills over into the world of education (how can it not).
It would depend on our attitude and efforts.
Last week I was having problem with my Dell. I called up tech support. They diverted my call to somewhere in India.........
.....err wait a minute. I live in India (oops).
Uh, ok never mind.......sorry (wrong thread).
Outsourcing is very common (and becoming moreso) in the architect and engineering fields. For example, armies of CAD technitians are working for US companies via electronic transmission in India, Malaysia, Philipines, Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia).
Some management pundits theorize about the "totally disaggregated corporation," wherein every function not regarded as crucial is stripped away.
The latest outsourcing: debt collectors.
I have the misfortune of having the same name as someone up to his eyeballs in debt and sloppily delinquent about paying his bills. Over the last few years I go through spates of phone calls from so-called lawyers' offices and their investigators. I've even had so-called self-proclaimed bounty hunters show up at the door to repossess cars I have never owned.
Guess where the calls come from now? Just guess. Come on. You can do it . . .
lol..."Is this Dell tech support? It is? Oops, please hang on, my other line is ringing."
I have the misfortune of having the same name as someone up to his eyeballs in debt and sloppily delinquent about paying his bills. Over the last few years I go through spates of phone calls from so-called lawyers' offices and their investigators. I've even had so-called self-proclaimed bounty hunters show up at the door to repossess cars I have never owned.
Guess where the calls come from now? Just guess. Come on. You can do it . . .
WOW. interesting. Yeah, that does happen. I had a neighbor who had the same name as a teacher who died. She went to the office to renew her teaching certificate and someone told her, "You can't renew it, you're dead."
One thing that a lot of folks here at FR forget; as the Japanese say, "Business is war."
When China has the lion's share of world industry and the jobs and taxes that go with them, their economy will prosper.
When the United States loses most of it's industry, and the jobs and taxes that go with it, our economy will wither.
One wonders: When the United States loses our heavy manufacturing capacity, who will produce the equipment that would be needed to support a war effort on the scale of WWII?
Oh, right, I forgot- that can never, ever happen.
Customer: "I've been ringing your call centre on 0700 2300 for two days and can't get through to enquiries, can you help?"
Operator: "Where did you get that number from, sir?"
Customer: "It was on the door to the travel centre."
Operator: "Sir, they are our opening hours."
From the article:
>>True, some hardworking Americans will lose their jobs<<
F'm!
I truly believe that America is entering into a post-capitalist era.
Unless you have a quasi-monopoly (as does Microsoft, and to a lesser extent some of the pharmaceuticals on patented medications), the HIGHEST profit margins (not to be confused with TOTAL profits) come from selling fewer goods, not more. (check out your local Foot Locker and look at the prices on numbered, limited edition sneakers).
This means that attracting large sums of capital in order to mass produce items is becoming less important than being able to quickly attack small, niche, high-end markets, which is something that large corporations are generally unable to do (Kodak or Xerox anyone?) but which small teams (maybe coming together for one project before disbanding and re-forming differently for another project) are perfectly suited to.
Unfortunately, this will, of course, have a negative impact on those people who want the security of staying at one company and doing the same job for 40 years. On the other hand, I'm not sure why those people believe that they should have today's standard of living while producing at the rate of 40 years ago.
Let the Asians have the stinky, polluting factories. As long as Americans are telling them WHAT to produce, we'll continue to do just fine.
Globalists are always spewing this garbage, but you notice that they never spew specifics.
The worst thing we can do is use regulation and tax policy to trap Americans in jobs where overseas sources are more competitive.
Yep, can't have an American getting a paycheck larger than someone in the third-world.
You identify some things that I've wondered a lot myself.
Gentlemen:
We can decry the outsourcing of US jobs or take a real look at what is going on...try to understand...and anticipate trends and consequences to our advantage.
Outsourcing is a global phenomenom...trade barriers are coming down to varrying degress...some countries like China are still agressively protecting their home industries and invading other markets like ours (but also massively investing in our governments bonds)...but other countries like Brazil are aggresively countering such predatory measures...India is certainly a leader in outsourcing but they are running out of skilled professionals and countries like the Phillipines will benefit by supplying the shortfall ...other countries like Japan need to deal with aging populations and shrinking workforces (while foreign investment in Japanese markets skyrockets).
The bottom line is that gradual massive movements are taking place in reaarangements of supply lines (China from Saudi Arabia) labor forces (outsourcing) markets, and investment capital
Deal with it...national boundaries are becoming economically unviable.
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