Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, business theorists thought that their work was all about efficiency, and not at all about politics. They thought that outsourcing was a really good idea, because businesses could focus on what they were really good at, (or maybe thought they were good at!), and pay someone else to do the stuff that has to be done, but isn’t at the heart of the business. They pointed to advertising, almost always contracted out to specialists. Also to cleaning, running canteens and organising travel.
In the here-and-now, in the US and Europe, outsourcing is seen in some quarters as an invention of the Devil, designed by greedy capitalists to cut jobs out of corporations, and -horror of horrors – to export them to undeserving foreign countries. Unions fight against it. Even the US government, which really knows better, goes along with the populist rhetoric that seeks to preserve “American jobs for American people”.
The truth is that the theorists were right all along, and the Western populist view is misguided, and the example set by the nations of Asia proves it.
The key to national economic success turns out to be the success of a nation’s businesses. Look what has happened in India, China and Vietnam over the past couple of decades, once their respective governments cut back on central controls and set their businesses free. Next, business success turns out to depend on productivity. Even where labour is cheap, the most successful companies are the most productive ones. Finally, the most productive companies are the most international ones. They are the businesses most open to new ideas in technology or management. And they are the businesses most likely to be taking part in the chains of international production that are such a feature of the Asian economies. They are the masters of outsourcing!
In its simplest form, the old business motto of “focus on what you are good at” really does work in the here-and-now world, so long as the business also works hard to raise its productivity, Training is one of the resource factors that plays a key role in lifting productivity in technology, business practices, or communications. It’s also an area where outsourcing can pay huge returns. Especially in the area of language training, there’s a world of difference in the way a specialist works, and in the results they can obtain.
In Jakarta there is one English Language school that has, over the past 5 years, established itself as by far the leading outsourced provider of English training for businesses. It’s been trusted by leading private and state-owned businesses, by government departments, and by NGOs to deliver the highest possible quality of training, and to get the best possible results. AIM for English is an Indonesian success story in outsourcing.