AOC: Globalization and Offshore Sourcing of Knowledge Work: Economic, Relational and Informaton & Computer Technology Dynamics

AOC：知识工作的全球化和离岸采购：经济、关系和信息

• 批准号: 0527180
• 负责人: Kenneth Kraemer
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-10-01 至 2011-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0527180&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: AOC; Globalization; Offshore; Sourcing; Knowledge

SBE-0527180Kenneth KraemerThe offshore sourcing of knowledge work is a relatively new frontier in economic globalization. There is a growing shift in knowledge work, including product design, software development and business processes, to places such as Taiwan, India, China, the Philippines and Ireland, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Some often argue that the shift of knowledge work offshore will lead to the loss of millions of U.S. jobs. Others make the case that there will be significant cost and efficiency gains for the whole economy, and that jobs will be created in newer entrepreneurial firms and industries even as more mature industries move work offshore. Given these conflicting views and potential impacts, the issue is of great interest and concern to U.S. companies, workers and policy makers. What is currently lacking is a solid empirical understanding of the dynamics underlying this phenomenon, how large it may become, and what its consequences might be. A first step is to look closely at the sourcing decisions of firms and the factors that influence them. The most obvious are economic factors, in particular, differences in wage rates and other costs between the U.S. and other countries. In addition, relational factors associated with geographical proximity or social networks are likely to come into play. Finally, information and computer technologies (ICTs) can be used to improve the productivity of U.S. knowledge workers and help keep work onshore, but also can facilitate offshoring by enabling better coordination of activities across borders and geographic distance. In order to understand the offshore sourcing of knowledge work, and its potential scope and impacts, the proposed research will address the following questions: 1) What are the dynamics of economic and relational factors and ICTs in determining whether knowledge work is moved offshore? 2) How do these dynamics differ depending on the nature and maturity of a knowledge activity, and 3) What are the impacts of sourcing decisions on firm performance, and the potential impacts on employment in the U.S.? The research will be conducted by a multidisciplinary team from economics, computer science and management in two interrelated activities: (1) intensive qualitative fieldwork in eight companies aimed at generating a theoretical model and formal hypotheses, and (2) quantitative analysis to refine, formalize and test the model on a large-scale survey sample of 800 firms. Broader ImpactThe research is socially significant because overseas relocation of knowledge-based activities has important implications for U.S. economic prosperity, potentially affecting jobs, trade, innovation, and industry competition. It is important to know whether there are limits to the amount of knowledge-based work that can be relocated offshore. It is also important to understand whether the deployment of ICTs might be a source of competitive advantage for U.S. firms and workers, or whether their global diffusion will tend to level the playing field with other countries. Finally, it is important to measure the effects of offshore sourcing on firm performance, in order to understand the both costs and benefits.

知识工作的离岸外包是经济全球化中一个相对较新的领域。知识型工作，包括产品设计、软件开发和业务流程，越来越多地转移到台湾、印度、中国、菲律宾和爱尔兰等地，而且这种趋势没有放缓的迹象。一些人经常认为，知识工作的离岸转移将导致数百万美国工作岗位的流失。另一些人则认为，整个经济的成本和效率将大幅提高，即使较成熟的行业将工作转移到海外，新的创业公司和行业也将创造就业机会。鉴于这些相互矛盾的观点和潜在影响，这个问题引起了美国公司、工人和政策制定者的极大兴趣和关注。目前缺乏的是对这一现象背后的动力学、它可能变得多大以及它的后果可能是什么的坚实的经验理解。第一步是密切关注企业的采购决策和影响因素。最明显的是经济因素，特别是美国与其他国家之间的工资率和其他成本差异。此外，与地理邻近或社交网络有关的关系因素也可能发挥作用。最后，信息和计算机技术（ICT）可用于提高美国知识工作者的生产力，并帮助将工作留在国内，但也可以通过更好地协调跨境和地理距离的活动来促进离岸外包。为了了解知识工作的离岸外包及其潜在范围和影响，拟议的研究将解决以下问题：1）经济和关系因素以及信通技术在确定知识工作是否离岸转移方面的动态是什么？2)这些动态如何根据知识活动的性质和成熟度而有所不同，以及3）采购决策对公司绩效有何影响，以及对美国就业的潜在影响？ 该研究将由一个来自经济学，计算机科学和管理学的多学科团队在两个相互关联的活动中进行：（1）在八家公司进行密集的定性实地调查，旨在生成理论模型和正式假设，以及（2）定量分析，以改进，正式化和测试800家公司的大规模调查样本的模型。更广泛的影响这项研究具有社会意义，因为知识型活动的海外搬迁对美国经济繁荣具有重要影响，可能影响就业、贸易、创新和行业竞争。重要的是要知道，对可以转移到海外的知识型工作的数量是否有限制。同样重要的是要了解信息和通信技术的部署是否可能成为美国公司和工人竞争优势的来源，或者它们的全球传播是否会与其他国家竞争。最后，重要的是要衡量离岸外包对企业绩效的影响，以了解成本和收益。