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But why can off shoring be so treacherously
misleading? The problem, in a nutshell,
is one of bad calculation. In an increasingly
unpredictable market, if a company does
not effectively map out a strategy of
how to account for the common problems
that overseas jobs bring with them, they
are bound to shipwreck. Unfortunately,
however, many companies are completely
unaware of what they are to expect from
pooling labor abroad.
For example, an
overconfident executive who looked
forward to cutting costs by up two three
quarters
of what he would have been paying for
U.S. labor, was woefully surprised
to find a 50% rate of turnover among
the
employees and an irreversible lost
edge on labor competition. If he had
developed
a more solid business plan, taking
better care of his employees and preventing
such a high turnover, he most likely
could have successfully surpassed one
third savings without endangering his
endeavor and losing the off shore setup
entirely. If a company invests heavily
in onsite human resource management
and training and allows time for the
establishment
of
a cohesive and secure setup, the chances
of failure are greatly reduced. Perhaps
the heady fantasy of labor obtained
practically
for free has to be remitted by overzealous
executives so that a solid foundation
can be put down and tangible savings
can be experienced. Ultimately, profit
increases are very likely, but exporting
jobs must not involve abandoning a
healthy dose of reality.
What outsourcing does to domestic labor
is a very complex problem for Human Resource
Management. Workforce planning has always
been an
in-depth
process of statistically determining
the age and skill factors of a given
labor potentiality. With globalization
in the mix, the data field becomes much
larger. The HRM statistician needs to
balance the skills and wage requirements
of a U.S. college graduate against those
of a worker from abroad, and when choosing
one over the other, the trade offs are
significant. For instance, while many
companies choose to have telephone operators
with limited English skills in India
and Pakistan receive questions from American
customers, the rate of customer satisfaction
drops. With high rates of turnover for
these foreign operators, the level of
satisfaction for American customers does
not auger improvement. Still, however,
many companies choose to continue with
foreign labor, experiencing a certain
level of profitability regardless of
various blemishes.
continued on page 1,
2, 3
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