Guide to Global Sourcing (Paperback)  | Released: 01 Nov 2004

This excellent publication examines the opportunities and obstacles associated with offshore outsourcing and other global delivery models. Elizabeth Sparrow shows a range of business models and supports this with real-life case studies from a variety of industries. She explains how countries exploit technological advances, low wage rates and good education systems to develop world-class IT services that can offer very competitive prices in addition to excellent facilities, incentives and tax breaks and favourable employment regulations. However, the use of offshore services also brings increased risk of problems in communications, quality management and control, and the associated implications for IT professionals. The country-by-country analysis of offshore services is a unique resource. She identifies the particular strengths within each country, highlighting the issues of labour costs, socio and geopolitical factors, physical and time zone differences, the business environment, market prospects, communications, culture, infrastructure and the availability of specialist skills, plus general facts and figures and sources of further information. Elizabeth looks at the spectrum of opportunities available to companies, including outsourcing to overseas suppliers; outsourcing to companies who themselves have offshore subsidiaries; setting up join ventures or shared service centres; and acquiring overseas companies.