The Rules of the Game
The Rules of the Game
This chapter traces the offshoring of work from the United States to India as it occurred at one company. It considers the types of work being moved and the labor conditions under which they are performed. While the complexity of services offered from India is increasing, there are presently limits to how high subsidiaries and subcontractors will move up the so-called value ladder. That is, they depend on standardized work for the bulk of their revenues. This translates into extreme levels of work rationalization, or the Taylorization of information work, and consequently, high turnover. The chapter also emphazies two points: first, the Indian outsourcing industry is not terribly innovative; second, Indian workers are innocent of the knowledge of what to do and must be told. It argues that outsourcing workers do not take “ownership” of their work for a variety of reasons beyond an ingrained lack of initiative.
Keywords: offshoring, United States, India, subsidiaries, subcontractors, work rationalization, information work, turnover, outsourcing industry, Indian workers
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