Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com

A Joke or Seriousness in a Light Vein?

Recently, a friend sent me an email about President  Bush and the Budget Deficit due to the growing cost of running the government.  PResident Bush decided to follow the lead of many companies and outsource some of the government responsibilities to a Legislative Support Center in Bangalore, India.  He decided to lay off the 535 members of Congress and move the lawmaking responsibilities to the Support Center, citing a savings of over $80 million per year.  The $150,000 per year salary of the ex-congressmen would be replaced by people making $250 per month and we can train the new people to do exactly what we want them to do.

The paper goes on to discuss the transition and the responses from all involved.  While it was fun to read, I could not help but to think how the scenario relates to the outsourcing we see today in many of our companies.  In the early 1990s, we started with outsourcing manufacturing and Customer Call Centers.  After that, we progressed to Help Lines, then HR Services and now wer are venturing into outsourcing $&D.  I can see how profits are rising and unemployment staying the same in the U.S.  Is this idea of outsourcing good fundamental business or short term gain?  Only time will tell.

When I myself encounter outsourcing, I often wonder if the company has thought abeyond the dollar savings of the act.

I wonder how many of the above questions are addressed before making the move to outsource?  In all of this something can be said for focussing on core competencies.  We should keep in mind, however, that Newton's Third Law also applies to business.  There can be a down side in Corporate Security as well as Corporate Image.

For more of my Views on the topic of "Outsourcing" go to www. popsg.org/views and see the issue of November 5, 2002 titled "Downsizing, Liquidating & Outsourcing -- in search of a better bottom line."

Maybe this is a place for the thoughts expressed in the Views of August 20, 2003 titled, "Confirm, Confirm & Reconfirm."

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