Offshoring
The term offshoring is used for the transfer of business processes (manufacturing or services) to a lower cost location, usually overseas. Key offshoring destinations for services are countries such as India and the Philippines, which have built markets in IT services and back-office processes such as call centres - as well as high-end functions such as research & development.
Recently, some public service contracts have begun to set requirements for all or part of the business processes involved to be outsourced to overseas locations as a way of reducing costs. However, whether for public services or for market-led consumer services, offshoring is not a popular approach amongst service users, who say that they feel more comfortable if their queries or transactions are handled closer to home.
Offshoring may prove to be a short-term solution in some cases. Outsourcing to a lower cost overseas location only holds advantages whilst the overall cost savings continue to outweigh the (real or perceived) service benefits of sourcing more locally.
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Offshoring And Public Fear: Assessing The Real Threat to Jobs Ted Baker and Adrian T. Moore, Ph.D, 2005 Reason Foundation Policy Study 333 USA
Services and Offshoring: The Impact of Increasing International Competition in Services Department of Trade & Industry, 2004 Consultation Paper UK
Offshoring practices in the UK - Where are the limits? Van Zoest, Anna, 2004 Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Background Paper USA
Exploding the Myths about Offshoring Baily, Martin N. and Farrell, Diana, 2004 McKinsey & Company Research by the McKinsey Global Instuitute quantifies the benefits of offshoring for the US economy and debunks several myths. Rather than debating whether offshoring is good or bad, businesses and policy makers should be thinking about how to help its victims. UK
The Titans Take Hold Gentle, Chris, 2004 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's Global Financial Services Industry Group How offshoring has changed the competitive dynamic for global financial service institutions UK
UK Company Issues: 1.Consumer apprehension of offshore service migration AMICAS, 2003 Performance House Ltd UK