Projects | Selected Past Projects | IT Outsourcing

IT Outsourcing

"Looking Beyond India: Factors that Shape the Global Outsourcing Decisions of Small and Medium Sized Companies in America," published in " The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries ," Vol. 13, 2003

Many countries look to IT-enabled services, an industry that encompasses everything from coding software to transcribing medical notes, as a way to benefit from the Internet revolution. India, with $8 billion in revenue from the export of such digital goods and services, is proof and inspiration that a developing country can make it in the "new economy." A long list of reasons make this an extremely attractive industry for the developing world, which when coupled with a shortage of IT workers in the developed world, would appear to bode well for countries seeking to establish a presence in this industry. The reality is more complex. Just as the "build it and they will come" mentality doomed many e-commerce businesses, efforts that do not consider the array of issues involved in creating a sustainable IT-enabled services outsourcing industry are likely to fall far short of their objectives.

The purpose of this project is to uncover the critical factors that a country needs to address in order to promote the development of a viable IT-enabled services outsourcing industry. In other words, can India's success be replicated, and if so, how?

Research Findings

"Obstacles to Developing an Offshore IT-Enabled Services Industry in Asia: The View from the US" (PDF, 493KB).

Manila Presentation of Findings by the Asia Foundation (PowerPoint)

Articles in Philippine press following Manila presentation of study by the Asia Foundation

Study Cites "Success Secrets"

RP Urged to Compete in Non-Software Mart

Can the Philippines Replicate India's Success in IT Outsourcing?

Funding for this project is provided by The Asia Foundation .