I had the chance to sit on a presentation by Mary Lacity, a professor of Information Systems at the University of Missouri at St Louis. Ms. Lacity is an expert on outsourcing and a prolific author who discussed several phases of outsourcing that include.
1) Hype and Fear
2) Pilot and First Relationships - (Reduce Cost)
3) Relationships Mature - (Improved Quality)
4) Institutionalized. - (Seeks Value Added)
Offshoring for most US companies is still stuck in those first two phases, which usually leads to comments like "Outsourcing will save us 50 cents on the dollar (hype), and All of the jobs are going overseas (Fear). Companies in the pilot stages often hear things like, "The experience was so bad I'll never use outsourcing again."
Understanding the nature of outsourcing and the difficulty in implementing full changes in a supply system are valuable tools for companies looking to compete. The presentation was far more complex than what I've given you, but the story behind offshoring is not yet complete. - Jim Durbin
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