Video Guide – The Other Side of Outsourcing
Objectives:
• to introduce students to the concept of outsourcing
• to understand how culture and identity are part of global trade and business
• to use India as a case study for understanding the effects of globalization
This video is designed to introduce you to the outsourcing industry and help you analyze the positive and negative
benefits for both India and the United States. Outsourcing is a business practice meant to treat the production and
delivery of a product or service as a set of modular parts that can be “sub-contracted” to various parts of the
world. This practice has costs and benefits for companies.
The practice of outsourcing has received a lot of press in the United States and around the world. Many people in
the US see it as responsible for loss of jobs for US workers. In India, the case study we’ll be examining, many
people see outsourcing as an example of the effect that globalization has on India’s newly resurgent economy.
This video explores one aspect of outsourcing – call centers and customer service centers staffed by young men
and women in India. These young workers answer calls though the night for customers in the US and Europe.
These workers are taught American and British accents and familiarized with elements of these cultures. Some
American customers complain about the difficulty of understanding Indian accents, causing frustration for
workers, consumers, and companies.
As a result of outsourcing, many young people in urban India are able to become financially independent in their
early 20s. Many young people seek out these jobs, although the monotony of the job, its unusual hours and
sometimes verbal abuse from customers make it a stressful career. As a result, labor turnover is high and most
workers to do not stay in the call center for more than two years. Some people in India view newly independent
urban youth as spending their money on frivolous things and indulging in a materialistic lifestyle at the cost of
their education and traditional cultural values.
Source: Adapted from http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:FUs1SFUKJuIJ:www.utexas.edu/cola/insts/southasia/outreach/lesson_plans/noformat/outreach/PDF/LP_Outsourcing.pdf+Outsouring:+understanding+new+business+relations+lesson+plan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Vocabulary Support
Outsourcing - to obtain goods or services from an outside or foreign supplier
Multinaitonal corporation/Multinationals - a corporation operating in several countries.
IT – information technology; the use of systems (esp. computers and telecommunications) for storing, retrieving,
and sending information.
Please consider these questions as you watch the video:
1. What are the benefits and costs to US companies from outsourcing?
2. How has the movement of jobs to India affected India’s young workers? How have their lives changed?
3. What are some of the critiques of outsourcing and globalization among some people in India?
4. One entrepreneur discusses the importance of the growing middle class in India and explains the fundamental
shift he believes is occurring. What does he think this enduring change will be?
5. Have the changes in India’s economy and high-tech sector benefited a wide range of people in India? Explain.
Homework
Step 1. Please click on this link, and scroll down to the map that shows some of the key centers for
high-tech industry and the outsourcing industry in India. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/1800-india/map-exploring-indias-outsourcing-economy/72/ . Choose any three cities and add information to the
chart below. (This is 2005 data – we can imagine that the IT sector has grown since then.)
Fill in city:
Fill in city:
Fill in city:
What is the metro
area population?
What is the average
per capita income in
the city? (in US$)
$
$
$
$
$
$
How many people are
employed in IT
industries?
What is the average
per capita income in
the IT industry?
Step 2. Next, click on this link and read through the data on this page:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/1-800-india/data-india-america-and-outsourcing/104/
Please write three questions or comments you have after reading this data.
1.
2.
3.
Step 3. As India’s middle class grows, it will have an effect on demand for products globally. Click on this
link and read through the data on this page: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/425/india-middle-class.html
Please write three questions or comments you have after reading this data.
1.
2.
3.