How Outsourcing is Changing the Work Culture

The term “24 Hour Knowledge Factory” coined by Dr Amar Gupta and Satwik Seshasai of MIT, means a globally distributed team working on a project for 24 hours. This 24 hour day is made possible by the team members being in different time zones. For example, team in works its normal schedule and by the time they are ready to close for the day, team in is ready to start. So the work cycle goes on for 24 hours everyday.

With growing trend of off-shore outsourcing, many companies in and abroad are able to have 24 hour work day. This offers many benefits but then creating a continuous workday in two different time zones is a big task and requires lot of work and resources. The first hurdle is the infrastructure. The company will have to maintain a location in the different time zones with same level of infrastructure sophistication. This is sometimes difficult because many of the offshore destinations are in developing countries which do not have good infrastructure. Then there is the language barrier. Although the language of business is English, not knowing local language can be a setback. Here, it is interesting to note that which has the second largest English speaking population in the world (150 million) still faces language barrier while communication with or because of the difference in lexicon, accent and regional languages inspired phrases.

Issue of cultural differences and also religious beliefs of team members are also important. A company unable to keep cultural difference in mind could hurt its team members, affecting the team performance. For example, an American company doing business in would be expected to follow the country’s custom of respecting elder team member suggestions even though they may be less qualified. In Muslim countries drinking alcohol is forbidden by the religion, and even foreigners are expected to follow it. Then in China and Japan there is the custom of gift giving, which has to be followed but within the boundaries of law so that it does not seem like bribe.

Managing big technical issues along with the seemingly minute cultural issue, it may be seem hard to set-up and manage a 24-hour team looking at its benefits it is worth all the trouble. It offers advantage against competition as the company is able to work while the rival is closed for the day. Also the possibility of backup; if the system in one location fails then other can pick up so that no work day is lost. This increases client’s faith in the company resulting in more projects. Raised productivity, abiltiy to serve global clients are also benefits of having a 24 hour knowledge factory.

The trend towards implementing 24 knowledge factory is growing along with the growing global economy. Still the area is lacking in good theoretical and technical research. In depth-study is needed in this field to come up with ways to increase output and minimize resource wastage. Study is also needed to look at the role culture and language plays in effectiveness of the knowledge factory.

Reference: ebusiness.mit.edu/research/papers/203_Gupta_24Hour.pdf