The human factor

I am not one of the leading examples of emotional sensitivity in the world today. I definitely could learn a thing or two about getting in touch with ones own emotions and also better understanding the emotions of others. I do understand, on a basic level, standard human emotional instincts.

Globalization has resulted in many U.S. and European corporations going multi-national. This is done to expand their marketplace and also get a step ahead of competitors upon observing or predicting market transitions. The two countries in which countries are expanded to most frequently are China and India. Why China and India? They have enormous populations which means they are a huge marketplace and also a solid target for good local talent. This is most true in China. India is similar with an additional bonus in that they have strong laws and policies in place to protect intellectual property.

In order to meet these marketplaces head on, outsourcing occurs. Jobs that would normally be created in the original host country where the corporation headquarters are stationed are moved elsewhere. It makes business sense in many ways. I will use myself as an example. I know much about the customs and culture of the United States in order to drive development of a product. Development can be defined as requirements, functionality, usability, testing, and marketing research to best fit a particular product to a particular market. The problem is that I can't fill all of these roles when developing a product for India. I don't know the language. I don't know the culture. I can't effectively fill all of these roles, but local talent certainly can.

The problem occurs in the human factor. When jobs are being migrated or opened in outsourced locales, the existing employees get restless. On an intellectual level, many professionals understand the business loyalty is no longer present in the modern workplace. It is rare for an employee to hold the same job for 30+ years, gathering his or her pension, and then move to a condo in Florida. Companies are more fickle. They are more concerned for the inhuman corporation rather than the individual employee. They are more concerned with the shareholders rather than the shareholder. This isn't a diatribe on big brother, but it is a reasonable utilitarian perspective on earning money and developing business success.

Individuals on a non-intellectual level want to feel secure. They want some sort of job security. When that job security is threatened, it causes distrust and low morale. This may seem nonsensical to the non-emotional player. However, it has very real business consequences. It results in lowered productivity and also attrition. The question that businesses need to ask is that how much outsourcing can I manage without tipping the scales overwhelmingly?

I struggle with this issue ethically. I asked my father several times over the years, "Do you ever feel bad firing someone?" He responded, "I don't feel bad because that person always gave me a valid reason to fire them." What exactly defines a valid, ethical reason though?

I understand business reason and I sympathize with the emotional reason of the employee. However, both sides appear so far apart from where they used to be. Globalization indeed. This reason shows more in the form of absolutism and that truly worries me.