Information Systems Skills Differences between High-Wage and Low-Wage Regions: Implications for Global Sourcing

Developing Information Systems (IS) skills for a company’s workforce has always been challenging, but global sourcing growth has caused the determination of needed IS skills to be more complex. The increased use of outsourcing to an IS service provider and from high-wage regions to low-wage regions has affected what IS skills are required globally and how to distribute the workforce to meet these needs. To understand what skills are needed in locations that seek and those that provide outsourcing, we surveyed IS service provider managers in global locations. Results from 126 reporting units provide empirical evidence that provider units in low-wage regions value technical skills more than those in high-wage regions. Despite the emphasis on commodity skills in low-wage areas, high- and low-wage providers value project management skills. Low-wage regions note global and virtual teamwork more than high-wage regions do. The mix of skills and the variation by region have implications for domestic and offshore sourcing. Service providers can vary their staffing models in global regions which has consequences for recruiting, corporate training, and curriculum

Globally Distributed R&D Work in a Marketing Management Support Systems (MMSS) Environment

Globalisation, liberalization and rapid technological developments have been changing business environments drastically in the recent decades. These trends are increasingly exposing businesses to market competition and thus intensifying competition. In such an environment, the role of marketing management support systems (MMSS) becomes exceedingly important for the long-term growth of an organisations marketing expertise and success. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of a globally distributed R&D project spanning three continents in developing an MMSS for the motion picture industry. We first provide the conceptual background of the MMSS and knowledge management systems relevant for our work. We then provide a detailed case study of our MMSS implementation. We specifically focus on the following elements of our work: globally distributed R&D efforts, knowledge elements, and fit between demand and supply sides of MMSS. We conclude with a discussion of implications for future research in this area