Reflection Essay 5: Outsourcing
Outsourcing refers to the practice of obtaining goods or services from outside sources or foreigners instead of using one’s resources or internal sources (Verwaal, 2017). It also involves the contractual transferring of management or operation of the business processes of one organization to another. The USA has primarily outsourced most of its businesses to other countries, with India being the leading one. Some of these jobs range from simple tasks such as data entry to high-end research, including into engineering projects. Other occupations include technical spheres such as information technology, call center jobs, computer programming, and codding. Others also include such careers as in website and software development, contention creation, and development, web design. The outsourcing has spread to finance and accounting areas and medical transcription. Some of the companies that have adopted this strategy include Apple and Nike. It has also opened doors and allowed the thrive of such businesses that promote outsourcing, including companies like Wipro Limited, Cognizant, Technology Solutions (CTS), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Infosys.
Most of the outsourcing areas in India occur primarily in urban areas, especially in the cities. However, major cities have more prevalence than others. These include cities such as Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Noida, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai. The other cities where outsourcing prevails but to a smaller extent include Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Mangalore, Vishakapatnam, and Coimbatore. According to Akinyemi (2016), these cities have produced the largest numbers in terms of outsourcing services to countries such as the USA, the United Kingdoms, and Australia. The reasons for such clusters and why the USA uses India are immense. The first aspect that makes them more attractive is its low-cost services. In the USA, for example, a company would have to pay an entry-level IT expert about 47,000 dollars per year. In India, this figure stands at approximately 4,500 dollars. These allow businesses to save on expenses while getting high-quality work done. Second, the country has a lot of highly skilled persons. They have sound technical knowledge, thus offering the required services. This factor, coupled with their cheap human resources, makes them more preferable for countries such as the USA. Third, there has been an improvement in communication skills and means. Through the use of such facilities as video conferencing and emails, the global market has come closer to the country’s doorstep. Lastly, the country also has a very supportive government. This case has enabled and facilitated outsourcing by other countries to its people. Democracy has in place policies and regulations that allow businesses to operate freely and with fewer interest rates.
The language of the country has an impact on its success when it comes to businesses in other countries, outsourcing to it. Indians are fluent in the English language. One can attribute this fact to the predominant British rule in the country for about two hundred years. Because of this, India has one of the highest English-speaking population (Mohiuddin, Mazumder, Chrysostome & Su, 2017). Their fluency and literacy abilities have made outsourcing to them easier because there is no language barrier. The companies also save when they do not have to hire translators or tools for interpreting one language to the next. The time zone location of India has also influenced its success rate in attracting more outsourcing. Its difference in time with countries such as the USA means that the completion of work and hours of working for the workers and the companies in both countries is beneficial. The two countries have a time difference of about nine hours. This case means that workers can complete work by their night, meaning day time in the US. The distance between the two countries has, therefore, eased and made outsourcing more realistic and reliable.