Offshoring Yet?

In a recent ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) survey, 97.4% of the respondents said their organizations have a skills gap or will have one within a year. But only 8.24% of them said they are considering outsourcing to remedy the gap.

Has your organization considered outsourcing or “offshoring” to India? Have your competitors?

India has become a resource for a wide range of services. This phenomenon involves more than call centers. Many organizations are now looking to India to fill their skills gap.

What’s next for the offshoring-to-India phenomenon? Let me make a few predictions based upon a recent article by Stan Gibson, some informal discussions I’ve had with clients, and a recent McKinsey study.

Gibson’s article, “India 2.0,” was published less than one month ago. The 2.0 refers to the next generation of the India phenomenon.

India’s technology companies have been on an exciting ride for more than a decade. The industry’s revenues have grown 200 times in the last 15 years (eWeek Magazine). Companies such as Infosys Technologies, Tata Consulting, and Wipro have experienced incredible growth and profits.

India’s technology companies have been operating at only 30 cents on the dollar compared to developed countries, such as the U.S. This has made India the “go-to” source for low-cost services. India’s English-speaking skills add a great advantage to its already strong position.

But, what about the next generation of Indian companies (India 2.0)? Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services in Hyderabad, India, said, “The last 15 years is the end of the beginning.” Wages are already beginning to rise. Are Indian companies prepared to respond to a changing world? Yes.

In a recent conference in Mumbai, India, companies expressed a collective desire to increase innovation and to globalize. Apparently, India will follow Japan’s model to becoming an economic power. Japan started with low-cost products fifty years ago and eventually moved up to high-end, high-quality products. Will India do the same thing in services? I think so.

Stan Gibson reports, “Indian companies are eager to develop, patent, and license their own IP (intellectual property), instead of just working on projects where their customer retains rights to newly formed ideas.” Gibson goes on to predict that Indian companies will soon begin selling software products.

Education is a critical issue when predicting the future of the outsource-to-India phenomenon. The Indian system has been successfully training tens of thousands technology workers. But a recent McKinsey study found that India will need 2.3 million IT and business process outsourcing workers by 2010. Indian universities simply will not be able to meet the future need at current rates of growth. McKinsey predicts a shortfall of 500,000 workers. There is already wage inflation in excess of 10%.

What will the effect of these trends be on developed countries such as the U.S.? Maybe you should start the discussion at your organization.

To read more about this and related topics, check out my website, www.mikebeitler.com.

Learning Management Systems

All of us should be familiar with what’s happening with learning management systems (LMS). As organizations move away from a training mindset to a learning and performance culture, LMS will play a central role.

The organization’s LMS should be more than a training documentation system. In a recent article by LMS-guru Elliott Masie, Elliott listed the following expectations for a fully implement LMS:

· a “dashboard” for managers that highlights what their teams and individuals are learning

· an invitation-to-learn system that personalizes and targets individuals based on their current projects and performance goals

· a system to create and maintain a social learning network that enables knowledge sharing throughout the organization

· a system that makes learning recommendations based upon an individual’s preferred learning style

· a system that maximizes the learning power of podcasting, wikis, blogs, and other “extreme learning”

· a system that delivers learning to a wide range of devices, including PDAs and mobile devices, not only to desktops and laptops

· a system that promotes external learning affiliations

· a system that works closely with knowledge management systems

· a system that provides peer reviews of content (similar to the reviews of books provided by Amazon.com)

· a system that can deliver multi-language content, which enables employees to learn in their native language

· a system that will capture informal as well as formal learning

Learning management systems are part of the leading edge of performance improvement interventions. Learning and development departments are now expected to significantly reduce time to competency. LMS will help reduce that time.

In the future, learning will be delivered through an increasingly wider range of channels. M-learning (mobile learning), including laptops, MP3 players, mobile phones, will become a key element in today’s efforts to embed learning in the work process itself.

Take a look at some of the latest innovations from the three leaders in LMS at Learn.com, NetDimension.com, and GeoLearning.com.

To read more about this and related topics, check out my website, www.mikebeitler.com.

Scenario Planning

When I mention scenario planning, most of my clients say, “I’ve heard of that. Isn’t it a type of strategic planning?”

That’s only partially correct. More important is the question, “Do you know when to use scenario planning?”

Scenario planning is an effective way of doing strategic planning when considerable uncertainty exists. In today’s world, scenario planning is obviously becoming a very important skill.

During scenario planning, senior organizational leaders are encouraged by a facilitator (typically an independent consultant) to imagine not just one probable scenario, but a variety of future possibilities. The goal is to craft multiple diverging scenarios. What emerges from the exercise is a range of choices based upon the opportunities and threats of each plausible future.

Should scenario planning replace all traditional strategic planning? No.

When is scenario planning appropriate?

• the industry is experiencing significant change
• competitors are using it
• few new opportunities appear to exist
• costly surprises have occurred in the recent past
• major differences exist among organizational leaders

In a 1959 Cary Grant movie called “Operation Petticoat,” Tony Curtis, who plays a charming but unscrupulous navy officer, says, “In confusion there is profit.” In today’s uncertain environment, there is great opportunity for organizations that take the time to explore a variety of scenarios.

To take advantage of future opportunities, it is necessary to project new core competencies, new product/service development, and new strategic alliances. This requires thinking outside of the current “box”; it requires exploring a range of possibilities. Keep in mind, each possible scenario has implications for organizational change, organizational learning, leadership development, and succession planning.

To read more about this and related topics, check out my website, www.mikebeitler.com.