Counteracting "Outsourcing"

Offlate there has been much more than expected backlash in the name of Outsourcing .Though it is very necessary to get the exact picture in the front of the our eyes before we can actually argue about the pros and cons of Outsourcing.As the term suggests, outsourcing is a very strategic function of the business plan, a businees decision that has been implemented by various big firms at various times.then what is there in this outsourcing that has fired up so much trouble than the bigoutsourcing phenomenon in the 1960's in the automobile industry which was , we can say , the beginning of the industrial age in the Asian continent.But surely there must be something this time that has aroused so much public attention that you can actually see people wearing T-shirts with Anti- Outsourcing slogans in the streets of New York. If we look objectively at the problem , there does not seem to be much problem. It is infact a phase of the US economy which will pass on.And come to think of it , the US industrialists and big men are not even bothered about this problem. What has been the root cause of so much public agitation is the propaganda and the light that it has received.And the only plausible reason for that may be the forth coming US Presidential elections.But whatever be the reasons , we are not sitting here to think of the reasons , rather we are here to think proactively and come out with something that can help us in overcoming this phenomenon.And when we think about thinking hoe to win the race , we actually do something that helps us in winning the race. If the US has to overcome this phenomenon , it has to look deep into itscavalry and find out what actually made countries like Malaysia , Argentina ( leave alone Indiaand China, I will be discussing about them later on in the next article !! ) get the work which was done by the big engineers in the US.What has happened in these countries is the rise of a new generation , a generation which is educated and which is willing to work and work much more. Naturally the US big men save a lot when they actually give their low end works to these people at a fraction of the cost of a US engineer.That in place, the small economies start taking things into their hand. They want to show their worth , people their want to work for the big firms . And why not will they work for 12-14 hours a daywhen they are getting 30% more than their counterparts in the other native manufacturing companies. It seems at the first point , that in a given period of time , the US economy will have no jobs exceptfor the posts of CEO and Presidents. But then we have to wait and think . And when we think , then the first thing that comes to the mind is the progress of the US economy .If the US is out sourcing all these lower endjobs to the other countries , then they must have a plan wherein the people as a whole will undergo a radical change in their skillsets.And for that to happen they must have something to resort to . And what better than to hone up their R & D and come up with the new practices in each and every possible field.what matters is not the execution of a test plan but the plan itself.So if US has to remaina leader in the business sector , it will have to come with innovative methods and optimum practices for the production. The US feels that has been and will remain a leader in the market by virtue of its till now sustained positionin the market in all these years. But the US economy must beware at this moment. It is hightime that the US knows what to do to maintain its position in the market.In the next article, I will be discussing about the position of India and China vis a vis US and the strategic factors involved.

My tryst with NRN

It had been roughly 4 years ago that I had noticed that there exists a man with the name of NRN whom people called the IT Stalwart of India. For these four long years , I used to admire this person whenever I saw him. But the irony was that I was able to see him only in newspapers and news clippings. But then it was 2nd august,2004 when I finally got a chance to see him , see him in person just in front of my eyes.

It was 2nd August,2004 when NRN visited our Infosys campus at Pune. He had been to Pune to receive some award but then he took some time off his busy schedule to visit his
very own campus.
I had heard a lot about the simplicity of this Big Man but then never could imagine about the extent to which one can be polite and humble.As usual, NRN was dead on time.That's what I like about all these great people - they have such a nice understanding of the time and are always in synch with time that they have enough time at their disposal when we could have just simply lamented about the dearth of time and all.The very first thing that NRN addressed in his speech -- it was an apology and an apology from the Chief Mentor to his employees . An the reason ,well , was for coming to the office without wearing a tie. And that very moment I realised that this man is as modest as the rainfall at 6:00 pm yesterday. There was a slight feel of apology and a slight wait when he apologised for not wearing a tie. And look at me , I thought during this period of about 3-4 seconds , that something drastic had happened and he wants to convey us the bad news.But then it all boiled down to not wearing a tie. Does not wearing a tie amout to this much of public apology? Maybe yes when the latter part of the motto of his founding company says : "Driven by Values" .
Not wearing a tie in no way is against any policy ,what ,in fact,it is, is an adherence to the values , values which have been imbibed by dozens of sincerety and truthfullness and the values which speak about his immense faith in himself and the work he does,values which have stood the tide of time , the waves of big economic upheavals and the seas of fame and fortune.
The rest all proceeded as normal, with some people being given the opportunity to speak on the behalf of all of us,the normal and interactive question answer session et al. Somebody asked NRN as to what his shortcoming was that he had tried to overcome and he replied instantly : being always in a hurry.
If you tell any Tom,Frank or Harry that NRN's shortcoming is that he is always in a hurry , I bet it will take you loads of arguments to prove your point.How can being in hurry be a shortcoming to any person , forget the man in light.But then this man is no ordinary man , this man is the Chief Mentor of Infosys.And when he is asked if he has the requisite faith in the new generation to hand over this big empire ,he was clear as crystal. NRN replied " Nandan is taking care of the present , I am taking care of the future of Infosys". For the first time, I understood why he is the Chief Mentor and not any ordinary CEO or any ordinary MD /Chairman.
The session ended in about an hour as planned . He is a busy man , in fact.
What remained at the end of the session, was a shadow of this person's immaculate
adherence to values and discipline, his simplistic yet high standards and his deep desire to contribute to the full in the progress of - not only his Infosys but the whole country as a whole.
And just a passing thought: What do you think when he said Infosys is a company "of the
Professionals, by the Professionals and for the Professionals".