The relocation of jobs to low-wage countries (offshoring) has been a widely used approach of European companies in search of competitive advantage during the recent decades. Whereas in the past production and manufacturing were affected, now the services industry starts to use this option. IT and telecommunications are among the most important services branches of the Western European economies today. Offshoring is becoming a macro-economic problem in these countries because a lot of jobs will be lost.
This dissertation researches the impact of offshoring on the German IT industry. Furthermore it points out the consequences for project management, quality assurance and human resources management. It highlights the pros and cons for the offshoring companies as well as the concerned employees.
This research starts with a detailed literature review that clarifies important key terms and outlines the key findings of other authors. After that the methodology chapter describes the theoretical framework of this dissertation. Within the scope of this research a survey was conducted among 335 German IT companies. As the surveyed companies are primarily small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) it ascertains the attitudes of this type of firms towards offshoring. The subsequent case study of the telecom supplier Alcatel shows the point of view of a global player on offshoring. At the end, the analysis of the results of the survey and the conclusions from the case study lead to the recommendations for large companies, SMEs and the affected IT employees.
The key finding of this dissertation is, that offshoring is a growing trend that no German IT company can deny regardless of its size. Currently the willingness for offshoring is strongly increasing, which means that many firms are in force to deal with this topic and the German IT employees must cope with changing demands in kind of IT jobs.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- 1 Introduction
- 1.1 Background and Context
- 1.2 Research Objectives
- 2 Literature Review
- 2.1 Definition of Key Terms
- 2.2 Prerequisites for Offshoring
- 2.2.1 Globalisation
- 2.2.2 Decline of Transaction Costs
- 2.2.3 Global Sourcing
- 2.2.4 Process Orientation
- 2.3 Why Offshoring?
- 2.4 Opportunities and Threats
- 2.5 Where to Locate?
- 2.6 Choosing the Vendor
- 2.7 Employment Challenges
- 2.8 Offshoring - The Next Bubble?
- 3 Methodology
- 3.1 Design
- 3.2 Primary Data Collection
- 3.2.1 Interviews vs. Questionnaire
- 3.2.2 Structure of the Questionnaire
- 3.2.3 Sample and Processing
- 3.3 Secondary Data Evaluation
- 3.4 Case Study: Alcatel
- 4 Data
- 4.1 Results of the Questionnaire
- 4.2 Case Study: Alcatel
- 5 Analysis
- 5.1 Impact on the German IT Industry
- 5.1.1 How Large Companies Practise Offshoring
- 5.1.2 How SMEs Meet the Offshoring Challenge
- 5.1.3 Implications for the German IT Employment
- 5.2 Impact on Quality
- 5.3 Impact on Project Management
- 5.4 Impact on Human Resources Management
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This dissertation examines the offshoring of German high-tech IT jobs to low-wage countries. The research aims to analyze the motivations, challenges, and consequences of this phenomenon. It explores the impact on the German IT industry, employment, quality, project management, and human resources management.
- The impact of offshoring on the German IT industry and employment
- The challenges and opportunities associated with offshoring
- The role of globalization and technology in driving offshoring
- The implications of offshoring for quality and project management
- The impact of offshoring on human resources management
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction provides context and outlines the research objectives. The literature review defines key terms, examines the prerequisites for offshoring, explores the motivations behind offshoring, and analyzes the opportunities and threats associated with it. It also discusses the selection of offshore locations and vendors, as well as the employment challenges and the potential for offshoring to become a bubble.
The methodology chapter outlines the research design, data collection methods, and case study approach. It details the questionnaire structure, sample selection, and data processing techniques. The data chapter presents the results of the questionnaire and analyzes the case study of Alcatel.
The analysis chapter examines the impact of offshoring on the German IT industry, including the practices of large companies and SMEs, and the implications for employment. It also explores the impact of offshoring on quality, project management, and human resources management.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The key focus topics of this dissertation are offshoring, globalization, IT industry, German economy, employment, quality, project management, human resources management, case study, Alcatel, and the impact of offshoring on various aspects of the German IT landscape.
- Citar trabajo
- Dipl.-Ing., MBA Andreas Birkholz (Autor), 2004, Offshoring of German high-tech IT jobs to low-wage countries, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/32533
