Articles by Anthony Mitchell

The Internet revolution has had the unintended effect of decreasing the use of oral communication and increasing the importance of text -- particularly e-mails -- as the primary means of business communications. Why has e-mail become so popular? Why use e-mails instead of phone calls? It is harder to control the conduct of phone calls than e-mail, ...

Business communication skills are the most important skills that any manager or staff person can have. You might have the best product or service in the world. You might have great technical skills and domain knowledge. However, if you cannot communicate effectively, then you are lost. All other advantages depend on effective communication skills I...

Your most critical business decisions often come down to prices: how much to charge and how much to pay. Prices have been driven down in the South Asian call center industry in the last two years, thanks to a flood of new entrants into the industry, a glut of low-end capacity, and improvements in telecommunications services -- particularly managed VoIP services and hosted call center technology from vendors such as Stratasoft, Five9 and TelephonyAtWork...

So you've landed a business deal. Do you know how to sign the contract and move on? Also, how should confidential data collected during an IT outsourcing project be protected? Contract signing procedures will be covered first, followed by data protection....

Why is Pakistan the hot new offshore information technology (IT) destination? This is because of a combination of favorable economic circumstances. Just when many Western managers are finally becoming comfortable with the idea of working closely with Indian IT firms, along comes Pakistan Pakistan is shaking off decades of "also ran" status. Funds i...

Why do almost 80 percent of e-commerce and other software development projects undertaken in the U.S. fail to be completed on time, or within budget, or to function as anticipated? What is the biggest cause of these failures? Most problems stem from an unwillingness or inability to develop adequate software specifications at the beginning of an e-c...

A strange thing happened after Tara Bradford was "Bangalored" and her job was moved to India. She followed it and stayed In 2003, Tara was working in the U.S. as a trainer of customer service representatives for Earthlink, an Internet service provider. It was her fourth year with Earthlink and she was asked to go to India twice to train her replace...

American businesses are usually very price sensitive. Compared to firms elsewhere in the world, American companies tend to pay close attention to performance numbers. Valuing this kind of metric often comes as a surprise to offshore service providers, particularly in cultures where personal connections may be more important than consistently meeting performance goals...

The information technology (IT) industry requires more than just competence with a few software applications or development tools. To be able to move up the career ladder and manage IT organizations effectively requires a broader range of skills than those traditionally taught to software developers or call center workers. These broader skills are more important for long-term productivity and career development than familiarity with the current version of any software language or application package...

Your most critical business decisions often come down to prices: how much to charge and how much to pay. Prices have been driven down in the South Asian call center industry in the last two years, thanks to a flood of new entrants into the industry, a glut of low-end capacity, and improvements in telecommunications services -- particularly managed VoIP services and hosted call center technology from vendors such as Stratasoft, Five9 and TelephonyAtWork...

The information technology (IT) industry in Pakistan faces challenges that need to be understood by everyone preparing to send or receive IT services from that country Restrictions on funds transfers from the U.S. to Pakistan, implemented after 9/11, are causing problems for firms in Pakistan that need to receive funds from the U.S. Some U.S. clien...

Why is Pakistan the hot new offshore information technology (IT) destination? This is because of a combination of favorable economic circumstances. Just when many Western managers are finally becoming comfortable with the idea of working closely with Indian IT firms, along comes Pakistan Pakistan is shaking off decades of "also ran" status. Funds i...

U.S. firms outsourcing software development and customer service work to firms overseas are largely doing so without regard to the environmental or labor records of those firms. This is a risky path for U.S. companies to follow, according to Trudy Heller of Executive Education for the Environment "I like to use the example of Kathy Lee Gifford's cl...

North American firms often take great pride in their environmental policies and performance, and justifiably so. Corporate demonstrations of environmental and social responsibility generate long-term marketing and branding advantages, which translate into competitive advantages American consumers, investors, and business leaders increasingly recogn...

Canadian call centers were recently estimated by U.S. law enforcement authorities to be doing US$100 million in illegal business annually in the U.S. In comparison, InternationalStaff.net estimates that South Asian call centers operating illegally are currently generating four to five times that amount in total revenues InternationalStaff.net estim...

A new tax rule for U.S. businesses that have moved software development, customer service, and research and development work to India was issued by the Finance Ministry of India (GOI) on September 28. The circular, titled "Circular 5/2004," replaces a circular issued by the Finance Ministry's Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in January It is im...

Dear Craig, Everyone knows that you have had a rough time recently. Everyone knows that Oracle's Larry Ellison wants to cleanroom your software and cannibalize your company....

Labor market conditions can change dramatically in a few months. As American firms become increasingly dependent on labor market conditions in other parts of the world, changes in those labor markets can have profound economic consequences in the U.S Here we examine the rapidly changing IT labor markets in India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. In f...

The best guarantee of success in outsourcing call center programs offshore is to match the work to be outsourced to the appropriate stage of a facility's lifecycle. Herein is a description of management and technical issues involved in running programs at offshore call centers that have gone beyond the awkward first stage of their facility lifecycle...

A fire at a telecommunications hub in Chennai, India, crippled call centers across the country yesterday, and voice and data service interruptions continued this morning Cell phone customers of Tamil Nadu were also impacted by the fire at a Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited telecommunications facility in the south Indian metropolis of Chennai. Cell phon...