Technology And Offshore Outsourcing Strategies

Outsourcing has become one of the most important trends used in managing the enterprise during the last ten years and is now transforming the corporation. At the same time, it is one of the most talked about and hotly debated topics of our times. This book analyses these trends with leading outsourcing practitioners providing a strategic look at how the modern corporation can succeed through outsourcing, the pitfalls and hidden costs of offshoring, what to include in an outsourcing contract, and what outsourcing will look like in the future.

This book is generated from a thesis written by this author in 2009 and provides an insight into the myth that is offshore outsourcing. The Information Technology field has often been criticized for its offshore outsourcing strategy and the negative impact it has on the American Economy. This book however, will provide insight and data gathered over the last twenty years, to show the true effects of offshore outsourcing. The advantages provided by offshore outsourcing are evident through the research in this book. Are we really losing all our jobs to offshore outsourcing? The rapid deployment of call centers to Asia Pac, has many claiming that all our jobs are overseas, this book gives you an insight into how globalization has affected the Information Technology field. The results might surprise you.

To outsource or not to outsource its internal IT department? That is the question that many firms have been asking themselves. Outsourcing has been around for more then 20 years in the different manufacturing areas. At first, companies decided to outsource the manufacturing of components in countries which would be bringing cost benefits by reducing the overall cost of their products. With the Internet gaining momentum as a quick and reliable source of information transmission, many manufacturing firms are now evaluating the possibility to outsource their IT functions in order to focus their energy, efforts and capitals on core-competencies thus reducing costs and improving quality of their IT services. From the literature review, we understand that cost reductions could be obtained, but they are usually less impressive than estimated in the preparation of a typical IT outsourcing business case. The overall objective of this dissertation, through the study case of a manufacturing business (THE COMPANY), is to build a framework that will take into account all the elements necessary for a manufacturing firm to accurately evaluate the strategic initiative of outsourcing its internal IT functions in order to achieve not just cost reductions, but improved value for the users performing activities with these technological tools and processes.

Widely practiced by many Fortune 500 companies, global outsourcing has become one of the key strategic imperatives for successful enterprises. Often referred to as offshore outsourcing, services globalization is the next step in the evolution of global trade and capitalism. Top organizations are performing, buying, selling, and transforming services at an incredibly quick pace. Written by outsourcing and global services experts Atul and Avinash Vashistha, The Offshore Nation presents a comprehensive, balanced view of the rapid growth of outsourcing and its expanding role in corporate strategy, providing a roadmap for business leaders and upper-level managers to plan their own strategies. Drawing upon their vast experience as consultants to Fortune 1000, multinational corporations, the authors help you determine what role offshore services should play in your company, how to integrate the strategy into your overall corporate identity, and successfully manage the initiative on an enterprise-wide level. This practical, strategy-packed guide outlines the "big picture" of outsourcing, breaking down its different components and examining its impact on world and local economies and employment shifts. Covering outsourcing in many different countries and a variety of services--from IT, telecom, and customer service to accounting--the authors reveal best practices and step-by-step, proven methods for: Building a sound globalization strategy Identifying the processes that are mature enough to send offshore Choosing the right business model for globalizing IT, back office, and other services Attracting and retaining customers Effectively managing your suppliers Chock-full of valuable insights and tactical advice, The Offshore Nation is the authoritative primer for global outsourcing, helping companies to minimize the risks and maximize their return on investment.

This book considers offshore client/supplier relationships' biggest challenges, including the protection of intellectual property, and managing knowledge transfer and offshore outsourcing at project level. Based on over 150 interviews and case studies, this is an invaluable read for managers and researchers looking to learn from real experiences.

One of the most significant techniques to which companies and organizations have turned to improve service delivery and reduce costs has been outsourcing. Over the last 10 years, almost any process has been successfully outsourced. But during that period there have been failures too; projects that never realised their objectives or that had unforeseen impact on business. Global Outsourcing Strategies is a state-of-the-art guide to the best lessons to be learned for successfully implementing and outsourcing projects, or for revisiting existing operations. The 22 chapters explore some of the new areas for outsourcing, after traditional targets such as IT and finance. Information is provided on the different facets of the outsourcing process, such as contract negotiation, the risks involved in outsourcing, the need for service level agreements, the critical requirements needed to build and sustain outsourcing relationships, and ethical supply chain issues. There are also sections exploring the impact of outsourcing on organizational structures; the long term effects; legal issues; management control and inter-firm relationships; as well as case studies from both the public and private sector on the practical side of outsourcing. The book will appeal to practitioners and researchers alike. This is a must-have guide for any organization approaching outsourcing as a global (or local) strategy and for those organizations now reviewing or developing their outsourcing partnerships.

"This book covers a wide range of topics involved in the outsourcing of information technology through state-of-the-art collaborations of international field experts"--Provided by publisher.

This research study seeks to understand the nature of organisational change with respect to offshore outsourcing of information technology services in a multinational pharmaceutical company, and to examine the effectiveness of approaches used to manage this change so that lessons may be drawn from these experiences. Despite the abundant literature on effective organisational change management, the key factors that need to be managed properly at different stages of the offshore outsourcing process are not well understood. The research adopts a processual view to paint a broad picture of the issues involved in these different stages. A generic process model of change, based on the review of the change literature, was first developed to represent how change was intended to occur. This model focuses on the following four stages in the change process: context, diagnosis and planning, implementation, and institutionalisation. The research employs an interpretive case study approach and draws on fieldwork from three independent information systems departments (cases) of the company, where offshore outsourcing programmes were implemented. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis are analysed by applying the generic process model to produce a detailed account of the way in which change was managed in the case organisations. The findings reveal that a combination of contextual factors, both external and internal to the company, influenced the adoption and use of offshore outsourcing in the case organisations. Externally, the economic forces were found to be the main catalyst for the change, while internally the role of the executive leadership and the lack of internal resources further explain the motivations behind the adoption of offshore outsourcing. The study illustrates that achieving successful outcomes from offshore outsourcing activities critically depends on the organisation adequately addressing a number of factors, such as conveying a sense of urgency, developing and communicating the vision, identifying the benefits of change and how they will be delivered, generating short-term wins, providing education and training, developing a fit between the change and organisational culture, etc., throughout the change process. The findings also highlight the effects of offshore outsourcing on the case organisations, including change in job roles and responsibilities and organisational learning activities that enable corrective actions to improve change management efforts. An important contribution of this research is the development of a model providing a more comprehensive understanding of the change process associated with the implementation of offshore IT outsourcing. Recommendations for policy makers and change managers to improve change management practice based on the research findings, as well as recommendations for further research, form a significant part of the conclusions.