Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Outsource my thoughts..

Recently, while reading through a random selection of weblogs, I have come across a common, but, disturbing percpective (amongst many) that abhorrently goggles at the concept of outsourcing. Even more incomprehensible is the fact that the countries (or economies) that willingly host the offshore-model are becoming subject to criticism and, in many cases, hatred. Quoted below is [a part of a] text from an evidently popular American blog that has managed to get at least 15 comments supporting the thought reflected in the post:
"Keep jobs in America, there is no reason for me to be paying for 1st rate tech support from a third world country. I know most people have a story like the one I wrote about so hopefully some people out there can relate.. and I also know that most people probably didn’t get as irritated and pissed as I did but I assure you that I was dealing with an extremely uninformed tech support agent.. so for all the people with similair stories about Indian tech support I hope this give you a chuckle and remember It is not healthy for American’s to have to deal with some third world camel humping indian when they need serious help with their computers."
Clearly, the writer [above], profuse of ignorance and prejudice, finds it almost compelling to shed his beliefs in a fashion that is utterly aimed at manifesting racial superiority. Sadly, the view above, as outrageous as it may read, is held by many, amongst the thinkers of the modern world.

Outsourcing is a business tactic that is prevalent for many years. It is a mutually-beneficial trade agreement between large corporations and developing economies that seek to earn (foreign currency) by offering [comparatively] cheaper skilled labor. Corporations, on the other hand, gain (save cost) by delegating the expensive jobs to intelligent but cheap labor that specialises in those operations. The concept is so simple that its unacceptability to so many people worldwide is anything but apparent. The shift of car [and many other products] manufacturing from America to countries like Japan, China and Korea was not a resultant of some imaginary labor unrest in America, but plainly a business decision to get them manufactured cheaply elsewhere. Don't the consumers want a cheaper product?

The idea of outsourcing, as many of you would agree, has gained publicity only in past few years. The reasons are manifold, including an aware media and the not-so-outperforming-anymore American economy, where corporates are [now] akin to cost and competition. Also, the fact that the theory of outsourcing has been extended to accommodate service outsourcing, has contributed to the much hyped hoopla over the same.

There is, however, a need of [respectable] concern over the whole outsourcing issue. The governments (and also business corporations) of presently insecure nations (job-markets) must begin to understand that the transition of tasks from developed to developing countries must also include creating new alternate opportunities for the people in developed countries. In today's world that [owing to the weight of globalization] has become flat, it is almost obligatory [for employers] to have opportunities for all. Great economies like American, should invest [its resources and people] in digging options in avenues that are still challenging for many developing countries. Only such a process of constant revision of one's skill will lead to a world that is truly global.

UPDATE: This article was also published on blogcritics (here). The comments and opinions that were received on blogcritics have been reproduced here. [Friday, 26th August 2005]

Friday, August 12, 2005

From God's Laboratory..

The age of the Earth is estimated to be 4.55 billion years (a figure determined by C.C. Patterson, in 1956, using Uranium-Lead dating on fragments of a meteorite). We are living on a planet that is 233,000 times older than we are (the bones of early humans found in Herto, Ethiopia are believed to be 195,000 years old).

In those 4.549 billion years (the time we took to come into the world), I wonder, if we (assuming we were we) went through many phases of endure-only-to-vanish eras. Imagine, if the [earlier] world (n.) had it all figured out - Newtonian Laws, Theories of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Elements, Galaxies, Atoms, Electricity, Automobiles, F-16s, Refrigerators, Mobile Phones, I-Pods, Robots, Clones, Beer - only to wake up to [clumsy] God one day, who accidentally pressed the reset button last night.

Many scientists, including the likes of Newton and Einstein, strongly believed in God. In fact, Einstein refused to accept the theories established through Quantum Mechanics only because he couldn't comprehend the thought of God having a different set of rules for the Universe at large and, for the things at small scale. To him that was like God playing dice with the Universe.

Being such believers in God, did they never wonder (do you ever wonder?), if God could one day decide to create the Universe and eventually the Earth, which now is a world full of us, thinking animals (no pun-intended), why could she [God] have not tried this more than once? After all, in a game of dice, one rolls again, if one scores a perfect square. And with a world so amazing, living in the Universe so abstract, God has long scored a perfect square.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

The Bad-Ad World..

While there are plentiful TV commercials that are literally bad, there are also some [or at least in discussions] that are wickedly bad. Check out this blog entry by David Kiley where he talks about the recent fix that Ford awkwardly finds itself in over a TV campaign idea for their Ford Fusion.

The article also reminds me of this recent posting on TOI about the changing ad-scene in India. It is only engaging to find out that the growing face of India is comprised of a few grown ups too. Way to go!

Friday, August 05, 2005

Are we there yet?

TOI [on 5 August] has a posting titled "India Drowning", with an array of pictures from the recent floods in Maharashtra and other parts of India. This dreadful incident has killed over a thousand people, bringing losses worth more than Rs.10,000 crore ($2000 million) to the Indian Government.


58 years of Independence and we are still struggling with our infrastructure needs. But, I will be an ignoramus, if I fail to note India's accomplishments.

India has an economy ranked as the tenth largest in the world [in terms of currency conversion] and fourth largest [in terms of purchasing power parity]. It recorded one of the fastest annual growth rates of around 8% in 2003, and it has only got better since then. Bangalore, known as the 'Silicon Valley' of India, is a hub to many multinational corporations. It facilitates operations for over 200 global IT firms and is a growing base for Biotechnology. Only 58 years of Independence and we are already [owing to a large population] ranked 120th by the World Bank.
(Note: The statistical content in the above post is cited on Wikipedia)