Aug

5

Ancient Taoist philosophy holds that the World is made of two opposing yet equivalent forces that are locked in an eternal, dynamic struggle to dominate each other. Through this, matter is made solid yet movement is fluid, change is constant yet there are things that can resist change.

The Taoist philosophers signified these two forces, one as the Tiger and the other force the Dragon. It appears pre-ordained that these two representations, the Tiger and the Dragon, are the national symbols of two nations who are the dynamic powers that impact and influence the business world of outsourcing: China and India.

The Dragon Power, China.

China, already an economic superpower, is poised to take a huge bite on the outsourcing industry in Asia.
Reforms in its education and business policies, which includes attractive packages of investor incentive and tax breaks, are giving China a hold over the global outsourcing markets as wide and as solid as the Great Wall.

Also, China’s outsourcing industry does not only have vast human resources in terms of work force but they do have what’s perhaps the world’s largest consumer population to which China’s domestic IT and business process outsourcing firms cater to. To partner with Chinese IT and BPO vendors allows companies to tap into that market which can include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore as well as the myriad Chinese communities spread around the world.

The Tiger of Asia, India.

The Tiger is still King of the global outsourcing industry, maintaining a healthy economic growth rate and demand for India’s IT skills and competency has grown exponentially.

Yet India’s title to being the prime outsourcing destination is besieged by internal problems: high attrition rates, innovation challenges and talent scarcity. Indian companies in the outsourcing sector are making their own efforts in adopting new competencies in training that’ll start directly in the classrooms of Indian universities in order to produce graduates who’ll be technically capable in the IT/BPO industry.

The Indian traditional business model of managing the IT/BPO firms has been deemed counter-productive to generating the innovation that’ll keep these Indian firms ahead of its regional rivals. Programs have been implemented on the work floor for employees to be personally invested in their company and to be rewarded well when they communicate ideas that’ll benefit the company’s future.

Despite these initiatives, the present global economic conditions have hampered income growth to a degree to cause concern. With the Chinese Dragon breathing fire behind them, India’s IT/BPO industry can not only strive to deal with their internal issues but also face China head-on.

The best defense is a good offense. India, knowing that it can’t beat China’s workforce advantage, uses outsourcing to build back offices off-shore, drawing on the talented workforce of countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico as well as the United States’ low cost regions.

Just today, Aegis BPO-the BPO arm of the Indian conglomerate group Essar, has made a move to purchase PeopleSupport, a back office outsourcing provider based in the Philippines. Previously, similar expansion has been done by India’s WiPro Technologies and Sutherland Global Services in the same country.

WiPro of India has also made a two-year plan of expanding its operations into China, seeing the dragon country not as a threat but a potential source of employable, technical talent and profit.

The initiative of these Indian outsourcing providers to outsource work, build captive facilities,  partner with or purchase local firms in their industry rivals’ home turf is reminiscent of the myth of the Trojan Horse or Beowulf’s act of slaying the Dragon in Robert Nye’s “Beowulf: A New Telling.”

These Indian companies’ recent acquisitions and actions have put on a whole new mode of doing business in the industry and coming on top over competition: If you can’t beat them, buy them.

As India and China compete with each other over domination of the global outsourcing industry, there can be a chance for these two industry giants to coexist with each other.

In Feng shui, the ancient Asian science of landscape design, the dual polar forces represented the Tiger and the Dragon must be respected. The areas in which these two energies mix well are known to be most auspicious. To be able to dwell and draw in such auspicious area would mean continuous prosperity.

Perhaps, a similar equilibrium can be achieved in business between India and China that would not only profit Asia but also the entire world.

Outsourcing Solutions, Inc. – your outsourcing partner!

References:

  1. Giridharadas, Anand. “Outsourcing Works, So India is Exporting Jobs.” 25 September 2007. The New York Times. Accessed 25 July 2008. Link here
  2. Heath, Nick. “India’s outsource giants feeling the pinch”. 19 July 2008. Silicon.com-ZDNet News. Accessed 24 July 2008. Link here
  3. Nye, Robert. “Beowulf: A New Telling.” Bantam-Doubleday-Dell (Random House), New York, 1968. Accessed 4 August 2008. Link here
  4. Prasad, Swati. “China is India’s ‘Only Possible Threat’”. 12 May 2008. BusinessWeek. Accessed 25 June 2008. Link here
  5. Williams, Martyn. “India’s WiPro plans Big Expansion in China.” 26 February 2008. CIO Website. Accessed 25 June 2008. Link here
  6. Vembu, Venkatesan. “India being Bangalored by China.” 27 May 2007. DNA India. Accessed 4 August 2008. Link here
  7. “BPO Firms leave Indian Soil.” 24 July 2008. Silicon India. Accessed 24 July 2008. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/44823
  8. “India’s Aegis BPO buys PeopleSupport in $250-million deal”. 5 August 2008. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Accessed 5 August 2008. Link here
  9. “Indian BPO firm to expand RP operations.” 5 October 2007. The Republic of the Philippines Government website. Accessed 25 June 2008. Link here
  10. “Indian Property Developers Turn to Foreign Architects”. 1 August 2008. Economic Times of India. Accessed 4 August 2008. Link here
  11. “Wipro opens BPO centre in the Philippines.” 3 January 2008. Express India. Accessed 25 June 2008. Link here

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