Outsourcing Concerns: Issues of Culture

We’ve discussed a lot of issues in regard to how outsourcing
can save your business money. Reducing labor costs and
increasing productivity is just a start. But today, I would
like to address cultural issues of working with a particular
country when searching for potential overseas reps. India,
Asia and even Africa have gotten into the outsourcing game
as it becomes easier for these countries to access the Internet
and local communication and infrastructure improves. But that
is not the final picture when working with outsourced reps.

Cultures vary greatly in emerging markets such as Asia. It may
be difficult to research just what kinds of work ethics,
holidays and marketing understanding a particular culture may
have. It is best and easiest on you to work with a culture
that is as similar to an American society as it can get.
The Phillipines has a structure very similar to the US in
terms of their government, work ethics and technological
understanding. Many workers in the Phillipines speak
English quite fluently and have visited the US or may have
even gone to school here. They are familiar with the American
way of doing things and many companies emulate the US vision
of commerce.

Some cultures are so different from ours that a number of
problems can arise for an American company looking to
outsource. Communication can be very touchy in places such
as Asia where it may be easy to offend one of your reps.
Ways to communicate in the US would not fly in many Asian
cultures and who wants to offend their workers? Researching
these differences could take forever. Other factors such as
religious practices, the threat of terrorism and even privacy
laws and the court systems can create a major headache for
businesses interested in outsourcing. Business conduct,
greetings, forms of address, gestures, value systems and
punctuality vary widely around the globe. Choosing a culture
that may be more familiar to our way of life will create a
easier situation when it’s time to make your decision.


For more info on outsourcing companies in the Philippines click here