Outsourcing Leaders Speak Up

Computerworld - Offshore outsourcing is an emotional subject these days, and many senior managers are uncomfortable talking openly about their company's projects for fear of being labeled unpatriotic job killers. One fellow from California told me that when he accepted a posting to run his company's offshore facility in the Philippines, a number of co-workers came to his office to let him know he was "tearing apart the very fabric of our nation."
Even big-talking CEOs, who can usually be counted upon to hype their company's cost-reduction strategies, are often remarkably silent about offshore outsourcing. They seem to treat the subject like pornography -- they all want to sneak a peek at it but none want to admit to doing so.
Happily, there are some people who will talk about their experiences with offshore outsourcing, and their comments are useful for the rest of us. Most seem optimistic and think the future of offshore outsourcing is bright. Nevertheless, no one should be misled that running an outsourcing facility in a developing country is a Sunday afternoon picnic. There are serious frustrations that must be contended with.
Charles Phelps is a Texan who runs the large Manila-based design engineering center of Fluor Daniel, one of the world's largest engineering companies. The facility has been in the Philippines for many years and is now able to develop complete engineering designs for large facilities in the oil and gas and manufacturing sectors. Charlie speaks highly of his Filipino employees. "Our clients are always impressed when they visit our office," he says. "They see the smiles, the friendly atmosphere, the positive attitude of our team and immediately are impressed."
Charlie became rather testy with me when I referred to his center as a "back-office operation." He responded, "Richard, don't you ever call us 'back-office.' We are a global service partner within Fluor's worldwide operations and leading-edge in our areas of focus."
He also presented an interesting slant to the job loss worries at some U.S. companies. Charlie believes employees at Fluor feel that their jobs depend on offshore engineering-design groups like his. Without Filipino engineers, their project bids wouldn't be competitive in today's global market.
Neil Elias started the Manila-based business-processing facility of American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurance company, from scratch a few years ago. He has good things to say about the quality and quantity of applicants available for his processing work -- all of whom are university graduates. He says his employees have a "real desire for training and a service