Why the “Command and Control” Model of US Management Fails to Work in Latin America
August 21st, 2012
Duke’s Lewin: P&G is struggling in Brazil because of trying manage the ‘American Way’.
By Jon Tonti
Just because US music, fashion, and entertainment have long since permeated and been adopted by Latin America, don’t think that the US corporate style of management enjoys the same reception. Latin America has its own management style that is as different to the US management style as France’s is to Germany’s. “I recently saw a situation where a company brought in a top manager from outside the region who was put in charge of a group of executives from the home country that resulted in 25 percent of those executives leaving the company,” said Jane Siegel, a senior scientist at Carnegie Mellon’s Silicon Valley campus.
Atul Vashistha of Neo Group and Steve Rudderham of Capgemini with Mark Pfeiffer and Henri Sas of Teleperformance at Nexus 2012
By Jon Tonti
Teleperformance, the customer care and technical support giant with over 135,000 employees worldwide and almost $3 billion dollars in revenues in 2011, took home the Foundations for the Future Impact Award presented at Nearshore Nexus. Teleperformance bested a competitive field of applicants in part because of its exceptional ability to transform the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts into community based grassroots campaigns with sustained local support.
Corporate Social Responsibility Award: Just for Nearshore
February 15th, 2012
The deadline for nominations is March 15
Hundreds of IT/ BPO and call center operators in Latin America and the Caribbean are making a profound impact on the daily lives of local citizens in the region through a whole range of socially-conscious ventures. The new “Foundations for the Future” Award is designed to highlight the very important work done in business sustainability, the environment and within the community of your organization. (More information on F4F is here.)
We call on providers, investment agencies and business parks to submit nominations and bring due attention to your social impact programs. The award winner will be announced during an evening reception taking place at Nearshore Nexus 2012 in New York City.
Participation is the award program is complete free and nominations can be made on this page. The deadline to …
2011 Nearshore Americas’ Power 50 Ranking Nominations Open
July 6th, 2011
With remarkably little ‘fine print” and a simple mandate to identify the most influential executives on the Americas outsourcing scene today, the team at Nearshore Americas has opened nominations for the 2011 Power 50 Ranking. For those ready to dive right in, follow this link which will land you on the nomination page where you can nominate yourself or a colleague. There is no charge to participate.
The Outsourcing Critic: Policy-Makers Just Give Lip Service to Protecting US Workers
June 29th, 2011
Hira: "The power elite in both parties buy into the notion that offshoring is a good thing"
By Patrick Haller
Abuse of visas, fraud investigations, allegations of treason and the pressures – fair or not – put on politicians to ‘protect’ US jobs from going offshore were some of the topics we addressed in an interview recently with Dr. Ron Hira, a well-known detractor of offshoring and someone who has testified before Congress on the topic.
As campaigning for the 2012 presidency revs up, and the after-burn of the financial crisis still plagues US industry, Dr. Hira, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, calls for more of a ‘managed’ approach to offshore outsourcing so the brunt of the impact is not borne by US workers.
How One Outsourcing Company Is Giving Back
November 23rd, 2010Capgemini and Coca-Cola Enterprises Team Up to Do Great Work – Outside of the Office
By Dennis Barker
The popular image of big corporations in the U.S.A. these days is not exactly bright and shiny. Wall Street shenanigans; a massive oil spill caused by ineptitude; an unemployment rate of 10 percent, minimum — coupled with outsourcing of jobs; and financial fears all contribute to a national mood that does not smile upon the captains of industry.
In fact, when a corporation does try to do good, through a social responsibility program, you can easily find skeptics who say the only motivation is to polish up a tarnished image.
Offshoring Creates Good Jobs in Poor Countries
July 15th, 2010A recent study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) showed that outsourcing services like in call centres, accountancy and even medicinal practices, have led to getting good jobs done in terms of payment and number of working hours in poor and developing countries.
This study, published as a book on Monday, also found out that such a kind of outsourcing industry, even though gave good quality of services, could also decrease the staff turnover in the country by a huge rate.
The study also covered that such outsourcing of work has produced what are called “cyber-coolies” or “electronic sweatshops”, which has rendered the services in poor and developing countries into good quality.
These jobs are even better in terms of wage and working conditions, as compared to the local standards of the same.
The two biggest outsourcing markets are India and the Philippines, while Brazil and Argentina centres of South …
Different parts of the world use corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. In the U.S., it’s often synonymous with corporate philanthropy; in Europe, it’s more likely to be associated with how socially responsible the day-to-day management of a company is. In Latin America? Expectations run higher.
Its home-grown multinationals (MNCs) — as well as governments and general public — view CSR as a way to reduce poverty and address other pressing social issues across the region, while ultimately improving the sustainability of companies, asserts Lourdes Casanova in a published paper written with fellow Insead academic, Anne Dumas, titled, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Latin American Multinationals: Is Poverty a Business Issue?” Recently published in Universia Business Review, the paper raises questions about whether the region’s home-grown MNCs are indeed able to run successful businesses while improving the lives of the under-privileged. In an interview with Universia …
CSR in the Nearshore: We’re Paying Attention
March 12th, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
A key part of our mission at Nearshore Americas is to create a more visible platform to highlight the work sourcing providers and their customers are doing in the area of corporate social responsibility. Although CSR may seem to have little to do with our core business-oriented coverage of the exploding Nearshore sourcing industry, we believe discussing CSR activities on a regular basis will be an appropriate reminder and powerful symbol of the kind of commitment companies are making in local and regional societies across the Americas.
Our role – and hopefully this is pretty apparent by now – is to get accurate information out to the world and particularly to US sourcing customers about what is really going on in this market. Those of us in the Nearshore sourcing industry continue to hear countless myths and misinterpretations about this market, so we’re always going to be here to get the story right and paint the most accurate picture possible.
Part of telling an accurate story includes highlighting the strong alliances outsourcing providers are establishing to help people in need. By exposing these activities we hope to contribute to breaking down any lingering perception that sourcing providers are solely in these locations to strip the local economies of good talent and operate in a bubble without regard to the needs of local communities.
Is Carlos Slim Really Committed to Corporate Social Responsibility?
February 9th, 2010He’s tied with Bill Gates for the title of the richest man on the planet. Carlos Slim Helú is perhaps the most famous—or infamous—man in Mexico. Yet few Americans have heard of him, let alone have much idea about the nature of his corporate empire, or how he created it.
For a portrait of this portly, 70-year-old son of Lebanese immigrants, there are a variety of popular opinions to draw from. On the one hand he’s the brilliant businessman and telephone tycoon poised to eclipse Gates on the Forbes list of the world’s most wealthy. Others see him as an opportunistic robber baron and crass monopolist who made his fortune thanks to political favors and weak government regulation. Lately, he has re-tooled his image, highlighting his humble immigrant roots and supposedly modest lifestyle, while also posing as a philanthropist alongside celebrities, from Bill Clinton to Colombian pop singer Shakira …
