| Purdue University Center for International Business Education and Research and the Global Business Institute at New York University Stern School of Business collaborated to bring together leading faculty researchers, industry leaders and students for the “Understanding Global Outsourcing” conference. The conference was hosted at NYU on December 9-10, 2004.
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Global outsourcing has taken center stage during the past year due to new types of services being outsourced by US and European firms to developing countries. Such outflow of work is not uncommon, as the development and discovery of resources and labor skills have spurred outflows of capital for the past 1,000 years. In recent years, IT outsourcing has become a topic of great interest and the supply chains of major US firms have become extended to the Far East.
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Why, if at all, is the current phenomenon of outsourcing drawing more attention and generating debate? One reason may be that global outsourcing has grown more rapidly aided by factors that were not as salient during previous shifts in the international flow of goods and services. Through many engaging speakers and discussions, this conference was able to provide different perspectives on this phenomenon. |
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The event began with a Dinner Reception, featuring keynote remarks by Rick Dauch, Vice President of the Metal Formed Products Division at American Axle & Manufacturing. Friday morning, attendees had the unique opportunity to hear presentations from several renowned business and academic leaders, including William J. Baumol, Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University, and Ralph Gomory, President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, co-authors of “Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests.” Each speaker will share his/her views on the issue of outsourcing, its scope, grounds and probable impact for firms in the U.S. and other countries.
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Panel discussion offered direction on possible areas of future research from industry experts.The panel, moderated by Ingo Walter, Seymour L. Milstein Professor in Ethics and Corporate Governance and Strategy and Director of the Global Business Institute at NYU Stern, included participants from Deloitte & Touche, McKinsey, and other leading international firms.The Conference also offered attendees the chance to continue the discussions sparked by the presentations and panel discussion.
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“The goal of this conference is to provide different perspectives on the issue of outsourcing,” explained Professor Walter.“The Global Outsourcing Conference offers a forum in which Stern and other leading institutions’ researchers can come together in one venue to provide a comprehensive overview and discussion on the issue.”
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The questions below are a sampling of the topics addressed:
- What is the real impact of outsourcing?
- How to measure the medium and long-term benefits from a firm, country or regional viewpoint?
- Are the traditional factors such as co-location, clustering, and scale impacting outsourcing or are there factors other than these that weigh in favor of outsourcing?
- How do firms in different regions compare with regard to cost, quality, timely delivery performance, customer service, design, and other metrics of performance?
- Does the rate of change in metrics provide insights into how fast a given region can catch up with the global economy?
- Can regions attain competitive performance standards more quickly today?
- How much and in what way has the IT revolution impacted the ability of firms to work together at long distance?
- How has outsourcing changed hiring practices and HR policies?
- What skill sets are expected from workers, managers and executives?
- How can firms learn at a distance?
- How about IP protection? Reporting guidelines, auditing, taxes, etc.
- Specifically, how has the recent phenomenon of outsourcing affected the service sectors? What do these trends imply for the structure of firms?
- How has outsourcing affected the manufacturing sector?
- How do regions and firms maintain competitive advantage in particular areas?
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