Tuesday, October 12, 2004
There's a lot of talk about outsourcing these days. The campaign (at least on the Democratic side) has heated the rhetoric.
But what is the business case for outsourcing? Here's a good article that explores this perspective. It makes the case that cost-driven justifications are often short-term and narrowly focused. A cost-driven strategy can get a busness into trouble.
The author argues that managers should focus on value creation when thinking about outsourcing strategies. Read more.
My own experience bears this out. Prior to launcing my career in economic development, I was a corporate consultant. In that role, I helped multinational companies -- Ford, Volvo, GE -- understand their global manufacturing systems. Invariably, companies got into trouble if they did a shallow cost-based analysis of outsourcing. Moving a production offshore is a more complex decision than comparing labor rates.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
A value-based perspective on outsourcing
