Offshore coding and it success

This article is dealt with the pragmatic discussion of the costs and benefits of offshore coding, grounded at least tenuously in reality and in a slight way.

Legal Obligation of Corporations

It must be acknowledged that corporations do not have an inherent duty to their employees to employ them, to refrain from replacing them with machines or cheaper employees, or to subsidize inefficient workers. As much as we may distrust and despise money-hungry, soulless mega-corporations and the money-hungry, soulless executives who run them, we must acknowledge one thing that corporations have a moral and legal obligation to make money for their shareholders. While this does not condone illegal activities ala Enron, it does condone any legal activity that stands to benefit the corporation and thus its shareholders. It is the opinion of many that corporations have a social obligation to the communities in which they operate and this does not forbid the lawful use of more efficient resources to perform the same tasks.

Exception

An exception to this rule arises when one considers unions. However, a corporation's obligations to its unions are not inherent, but rather contractual. At the same time, if I could convince my employer to sign a document obligating her to employ me for the duration of my life, and barring her from ever questioning my efficiency or value, she would then have an obligation to do so.

Voice of the Public

The market decides who wins and who loses in a free-market economy. As well as factors like quality, cost, and availability influence market success, the tangible factors like public perception and reputation also influence the success of a market.

The offshore coding may make great financial sense, but it may cost more in public opinion than it saves in dollars. Actually, the populous does not like to lose jobs to foreigners, particularly when the foreigners are paid substantially less and thus undercut domestic labor substantially. This affects a serious back-lash in the public's opinion of the domestic corporation doing the outsourcing.

If we consider the outcry on the state of New Jersey's decision to outsource welfare processing to a call center in India. In a fiscal perspective, this made complete sense, particularly for a cash-strapped state suffering from serious budget deficits. Unfortunately, if the public resents the decision enough to create a significant outcry, they may also vote to punish the perpetrators and it may be actualized.

Conclusion

If a corporation consider offshore coding must consider the sensitivities of its customers and the domestic governments who are sometimes hostile to corporate interests. This may be a significant concern for corporations that deal directly and visibly with the public, and virtually no concern for corporations with a very low profile. And it will lead to success in offshore coding.