The Indian outsourcing market, which includes services such as call centres, back office operations and IT services is forecast to grow from $2.3 billion in 2002 to $8.5 billion in 2008, according to NASSCOM, the Indian lobbying organisation. The global market is forecast to grow to between $200 billion and $250 billion in 2008.
Bangalore, India’s leading “offshoring” city, recently claimed it was on the verge overtaking Silicon Valley as the leading IT employment centre in the world, such is the volume of work being outsourced from overseas there.
Case in point: in a Law.com interview, Mark LeHocky, general counsel at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, advocates the use of early dispute resolution to keep costs down and prevent disputes from, in his words, “metastasizing”. As LeHocky explains,
…Litigation costs typically account for the biggest portion of expenditures that companies spend on outside counsel. And the proper management of disputes is in turn the biggest cost control opportunity most companies have before them…
More often than not, disputes go on longer than they should and become bigger than they need to be due to misunderstandings as to facts as much as legal issues. Sorting those items out as soon as possible is the best for everyone concerned and helps to avoid the unnecessary buildup of litigation fees and other costs. That doesn’t mean we don’t litigate. We do so when the situation warrants and we use the best and the brightest lawyers. But that happens only after we have pursued the early dispute resolution path in rigorous fashion.
With thanks to Stephanie West Allen who pointed me to the post on the excellent blog Law Department Management linking to the interview.)
posted by Diane Levin @ 9:34 AM 0 comments
Chicken peacekeepers mediate bunny turf war
Chickens mediate bunny turf warHere in Massachusetts, although technically it’s Tuesday, today is our work week Monday. How come? Yesterday was Patriots’ Day, a state holiday which commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord in the American Revolutionary War
… I actively pursue a package of early dispute resolution tools — starting with a disciplined internal review process and the use of mediation and other ADR devices regardless of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the positions of each dispute matter. I have served as a mediator for the federal courts for 10 years — one of my few pro bono activities now that my kids are grown up enough that I can stop coaching soccer teams. That experience, together with my background in private practice, has transformed my thinking about how disputes arise and, more importantly, how they grow and metastasize unnecessarily.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
GE Sells India Outsourcing Unit
INDOlink reports General Electric sold a majority stake in its Indian outsourcing arm for $500m to two private equity firms. The deal gives US-based General Atlantic Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners a 60% stake in GE Capital International Services (GECIS).
GECIS is a pioneer in the lucrative global outsourcing industry. GE was one of the first American companies to outsource back-office work to India in an effort to save costs. GECIS employs 17,000 people, some 12,000 of whom are in India.
# posted by OffshoreXperts.com : 9:23 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
China Competing For India Outsourcing
Yahoo Sigapore reports some companies are looking to China for their offshore software applications as rates rise in India.
“China’s structural cost advantage over India is massive, and I think it’s long term,” said Freeboarders Chief Executive John Cestar.