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By Professor Ilan Oshri,Friday, 20 January 2012
As I write this column, I am making my way back from Shanghai to Europe. My mind is occupied with thoughts about my visit to VanceInfo, a Chinese outsourcing vendor which is considered to be the Chinese Infosys. I visited two of their sites in China – one in Shanghai, which specializes in providing IT services, and another one in WuXi, which focuses on various BPO services. While at their Shanghai facility, I am impressed with the high standards and their client list, many Fortune 500 firms with operations in China. But then I think to myself, “Impressive, yes – but I have seen this before, in India, Brazil and Eastern Europe”. I keep asking my hosts questions about employee motivation, their skills-base and well-being, only to discover that even these attributes have somehow standardized across the industry, regardless of the physical location of the vendor. My hosts suggest that we wrap up the visit at the Shanghai center and make our way to their Wuxi operations. I agree while thinking to myself that I would have preferred going to the French Concession quarter for a nice walk and a good meal instead – after all, it is a couple of hours drive to Wuxi and it is my last night in China.
On the way to Wuxi, my host explains that VanceInfo recently acquired Lifewood, an outsourcing outlet, and in fact Wuxi is one of Lifewood centers in China. When I asked about the line of BPO carried out in Wuxi, my host says: "Wait and see”. I am getting curious, but prefer to relax for the rest of the trip...
For the full article, please visit:
http://www.ssonetwork.com/could-this-work-anywhere-else/14344-78-A
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