New Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UCD

Majella Murphy has taken up the Entrepreneur-in-Residence role for 2015-2016 at UCD's Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Her role is to support all students with an interest in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, whether considering entrepreneurship as a career path, if working on a new business idea, or to research entrepreneurship in Ireland and Dublin particularly. Drop in times (Room S209a) Monday mornings 9am-12.30pm or by appointment (majella.murphy@ucd.ie or 01-716 8819).

Majella will be organising a series of events including entrepreneurial journey talks, panel discussions on controversial topics, an entrepreneurship competition and an ecosystem open evening.

H-1b system in the U.S.A. opens a keyhole view

The H-1b system in the U.S.A. is analysed by Haeyoun Park, who highlights how dominant Indian offshore outsourcing businesses are in the competition for the limited number (85,000) of H-1b visas on offer from the government.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/06/us/outsourcing-companies-dominate-h1b-visas.html
The headline angle that Park follows most strongly is the complaint that the system operates in an almost unpatriotic way. Foreign multi-nationals benefit at the expense of smaller indigenous firms;

"squeezing out many American companies, including smaller start-ups" (Park, 2015)

However we can also infer that outsourcing's inherent contradiction is also evident, that distance really matters.

Source: New York Times article (link)

Why else would multi-national outsourcing firms seek to locate so many of their employees close to their client organisations? The 16,573 visas awarded to 7 outsourcing firms based in India reflect significant organisational operations in their own right.

Research Exercise: Interview questions: Reflecting on open sourcing the thing we do/did!'

Context:

• Did you have an idea of what 'success' or 'failure' would look like?
• Why OS or community sourcing?
• Was a pre-existing OS community seen to be relevant?
• Who used the OS version of the product?
• Where was the OS product used?
• Why did they use the OS product?
• Are they still using it?

Actors/Involvement:

• How did the idea to OS the product/service come about?
• How did the idea to OS 'get off the ground'?
• How was the argument for OS positioned beside proprietary activities, products or services?
• What role did the various actors play (engineering, services, support, executives, board)?
• What did/do you have to do to get an OS product and community working?

Feeling:

• How did/do you 'feel' about being involved on the OS side?
• How did/do you 'feel' about OS and its relationship to the rest of the business?
• How would you characterise other's 'feelings' about OS?
• Who was identified with the OS side and the OS initiative?
• Why do you think they became identified with OS?

Impact:

• What kind of things were necessary for OS to operate (infrastructure, technology, social environment, market, marketing, people etc)?
• Did the OS demand a different approach to product (software) engineering or any other activities?
• What kinds of resistance were encountered?
• What enabled the OS initiative?
• Did anything arising from the OS initiative impact or drive internal or other proprietary activities (product development, support, services, marketing etc)?

Reflections:

• How have things changed as a consequence of the OS work?
• What can go wrong?
• Would you do it again?

Finalists in Deloitte Top Tech Challenge 2015

Smurfit MSc Students Finalists in Deloitte Top Tech Challenge

Pushpendra, Tanvita, and Ajay

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Masters students Pushpendra Singh, Tanvita Srivastava, and Ajay Singh Rajput reached the final round of the Deloitte Ireland Top Tech Challenge 2015. (link)

The team at the #TopTechTalent final.

• Pushpendra Singh (MSc Strategic Management & Planning programme)
• Tanvita Srivastava (MSc iBusiness - Innovation through ICT programme)
• Ajay Singh Rajput (MSc iBusiness - Innovation through ICT programme)

Exercise: It's important to talk about Ethics because...

Ethics discussion keywords

Goal: To explore the meaning of ethics within and between organisations.
Preparatory reading (optional): 

• Carr, Albert (1968). Is business bluffing ethical? Harvard Business Review, Jan.8Feb, 143, 155. 
• Kavanagh, Donncha (2011) 'Work and play in management studies: A Kleinian analysis'. Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization, 11 (4), 336–356

Exercise workshop/debrief

Steps:

1. Write the following keywords on the board. This can be done in advance or as an 'icebreaker' with the class. For instance, ask the class why we have included the concept of 'GAME'.
• Ethics
• Responsibility
• Moral
• Ethos
• Play
• Regulation
• Rules
• Safe
• Values
• Winners
• What matters?
• Game
• Sustainable
• Interests
• Self-interests
• Power
• Barriers
• Welfare
• "it's important to talk about ethics because..."
2. After this ask groups to discuss further and to create their own response to the opening sentence "It's important to talk about Ethics because..."
3. Visit each table to ensure the discussions commence, encourage and highlight. Allow 5' to 10' for this phase.
4. Give a 2' warning that each group must debrief to the rest of the class. Groups may present one or two different positions, possibly contrasting.
5. Groups state to the rest of the class their interpretation and reasoning. Allow wider discussion. The lecturer can interject and 'characterise'. The tone will shift between serious and playful.

Notes:
After the discussion ask groups or individuals if they are willing to be photographed for the "Let's talk about ethics" initiative. Volunteers will need to sign the 'Photography Release Form'.

Indeed some of this year's class did elect to take part in the "Let's talk about ethics" initiative at UCD launched by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins (link). Slideshow below.

But where is the innovation?

"How P&G Tripled Its Innovation Success Rate" by Bruce Brown and Scott Anthony (2011)

This article by Brown & Anthony (2011) illustrates for me one of the difficulties of seeking to identify a strong link between innovation and outsourcing. All of P&G's efforts towards innovation appear to be corporate internalisations of one kind or another and not outsourcing at all.

Likewise the TedTalk by Nirmalya Kumar titled "India's invisible innovation" drills into the common criticism that the net impact of outsourcing to India has not resulted in innovation from India.

A more pessimistic reading of the outsourcing literature might see it as rather devoid of product or service innovation at all. In fact it might appear, if innovation is occurring at all then it seems to take place at the inter-firm competitive level, the level of markets, organisational forms, and business models.

Story telling presentations

You only have 5 minutes to present.
Think like a TedTalk presenter.

Some strategies that may or may not work for you...

• Focus on story telling for the presentation.
• Perhaps focus on illustrating your key findings in some memorable and distinctive way.
• Perhaps try fewer slides
• Perhaps put some of the text into your speech rather than on the slides.
• Perhaps focus on your key findings; they may relate to the case data or they may relate to the method you employed, or you may wish to cover both.

Globalisation, changing trade, industry, purchasing

Speculating on the future of globalisation shifting to localisation. Shawn Donnan, FT. (link)

Telecoms improvements draw distant cities nearer (FT article - access/registration needed)

From the FT Big Read article http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb7b77d8-c347-11e4-ac3d-00144feab7de.html

{Hertshten Group, has quietly broken into the top ranks of traders on global derivatives bourses in Chicago, London and Frankfurt. Yet few of its 700 employees live anywhere near these financial centres. Most are in emerging and frontier markets such as India, China, Kenya and Mauritius, as well as Israel. Most still execute orders with a manual mouse click even as rivals are investing millions to shave microseconds off trades... 

Its success shows how the offshoring that began with manufacturing and services is now encroaching on the diehard capitalists of the western trading industry. “Jobs that are disappearing in Chicago are appearing in Nairobi,” says a US-based trading executive.}
(link)

Research project tips

Some tips for your research project when gathering data.

• Remember to keep your eyes open to implications of digital, virtual, digitally mediated processes.
• Innovation also takes many forms, a business process, an understanding, a perspective, or something you discover by looking a contrasts or finding something you didn't expect to see.
• Changes are particularly illuminating particularly if unexpected. But so too are continuities and stability, particularly if they're unexpected too (like avoiding or resisting change or "innovation" for some reason).

Prepare research papers "as if" to submit to ICIS 2015

Exercise: Prepare a first draft using whatever you have (in shared folder here)
Pointers on structure and grading criteria here.

ICIS 2015 call for papers is online (see http://icis2015.aisnet.org).

The 2015 conference theme is “Exploring the Information Frontier.”
Research tracks include:

• Conference Theme Track: Exploring the Information Frontier
• Breakout Ideas in IS
• Decision Analytics and Support
• E-Business and E-Government
• Economics and Value of IS
• General IS Topics
• Human Behavior in IS
• Human-Computer Interaction
• IS Curriculum and Education
• IS Design and Business Process Management
• IS Governance and Control
• IS in Healthcare
• IS Security and Privacy
• IS Strategy and Organizational Impacts
• IS Theory Development and Use
• IT Adoption and Use
• Managing IS Projects and IS Development
• Methodological and Philosophical Foundations of IS
• Panels
• Practice-oriented Research
• Social Media and Digital Collaborations
• Sustainability and Societal Impacts of IS

Conference Co Program Chairs are: Cathy Urquhart, Armin Heinzl and Traci Carte

Bringing Business Back

This video piece on BBC's World News channel illustrates how emotionally loaded and contested the field of outsourcing is. It also highlights some of the unexpected unforeseen consequences of broad outsourcing strategies, in this case the seeming permanent loss of knowledge and skills from society.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31447904
A longer version (30") on BBC News Channel, the "Our World" programme, titled "Bringing Business Back" by reporter Natalia Antelava, flmed and edited by David Botti.

The video follows Antelava as she "travels across the US and to India to investigate whether the tide is turning on one of the biggest trends in globalisation - the outsourcing of work from the rich to the developing world."

Alumnus sets up sourcing enterprise based in Vietnam

An Alumnus of our programme has gathered a team of people and set up a sourcing enterprise based in Vietnam. Their web presences are http://outsourcewith.me, https://facebook.com/outsourcewithme and https://twitter.com/outsourcewithme.

Started in 2014 they plan on growing the business and expanding the range of outsourcing services on offer.

Wishing them all the best for the future.

Allen

Exercise: What is (out)sourcing? Part 2

Follow up to "What is (out)sourcing? Part 1"
Cluster industry activity/sourcing models/examples along a horizontal axis.

1. The lecturer claims (boldly) that the previous definitions are wrong!
2. Then ask students to take 5' to list examples of business activities or services or products that fit our evolving definition of (out)sourcing.

• ...
• ...
• ...
• ...

3. Draw a long axis on the whiteboard. Mark positions along the axis, "In-House internal capability" - "Outsourced supply" - "Marketplace transaction"

4. Above the axis cluster terms that distinguish the models/examples.

Some seed examples:
Electricity supply
Gas supply
Telephone
Internal phone extensions (PABX: private automatic branch exchange)
Mobile phone
Internal http
Public http
Internal email
Public email
Commercial printing
Desktop printing
Network printing
Customer support on customer sites
Customer telephone support
Customer support via internet
Information systems hardware...
Information systems software...
Database development...
Database management...
Software development...
Software maintenance...
Post/parcel delivery
Delivery of goods in locale/region
Delivery of goods in region/nation/international
Bulk shipments, sea freight
Bulk airfreight
Rail services:
Site rail transport
Regional rail transport
Claims processing
Sales process
Market analysis
Quality audit
Accounting services
HR activity
Banking activity
Regulatory compliance
Manufacturing goods
Research and development
(and the list goes on...)

Between the lines of the TCS story

TATA : From reference site to reference site

(1983?) 1984-1985: Projects with TKS for SNB: organisation size - 326: 13 member internal IT team.
TCS Delhi's first true offshoring project was through a partnership with Pierre Page's Teknosoft (TKS) on a joint development for the Swiss National Bank (SNB). This was SNB's largest technology project at that time. The SNB is Switzerland's central bank, acting in a banking regulation and policy role with responsibility for money supply, reserves, currency exchange, price stability and regulation of payment and securities settlement systems (link).

"Working with the Swiss presented us with our first experience of working with a demanding customer. Milestones for both sides were set, but there was no pressure on TCS to complete the project by a predetermined 'go live' date. Instead the bank trusted us as experts to define the schedule, after which they held us to it stringently."(Ramadorai, 2011: 60)

1989: SEGA: fixed price contract, 300 person-year, 3 year turnkey project.
TCS's winning of the Swiss SegaInterSettle (SEGA) project in 1989 was seen as the next defining moment for the burgeoning business of delivering offshore software and IT services. TCS, partnering with Teknosoft (TKS) competed for the business directly against Andersen Consulting. The pricing of the two bids ended up being quite similar (Ramadorai, 2011: 61). Andersen's strategy was to have its offshore development teams in Manila, the Philippines. TCS planned to offshore from India (Madras) but TCS had limited domain knowledge in 'depositories' so they sent a team on-site for 3 months in advance to understand the customer's requirements in order to prepare the bid.

SegaInterSettle (SEGA) required the development of a second generation real-time settlement system; a crucial piece of infrastructure for the Swiss financial system. It would be used to clear and settle bonds, equities.

"The settlement Communication System went live as planned in October 1993 and handled 4.6 million transactions in its first year of operations. It was a pace-setting and visionary project for the industry. Today, almost twenty years later, it continues to run flawlessly and remains one of the most sophisticated systems in the world in terms of technology, functionality and its architecture which was way ahead of its time." (Ramadorai, 2011: 62).

Exercise: What is (out)sourcing? Part 1

(this is also an icebreaker to encourage participation in a large lecture theatre environment)

Goal
Come up with a working definition of sourcing and outsourcing.

Instructions
1. Ask members of the class to define sourcing and outsourcing or give examples of global sourcing. (3 minutes)
2. Write down and display this list of definitions and examples.

Definitions

• "Outsourcing is the procurement of goods and services from external suppliers" (Mol, 2007)
• "Sourcing is the act through which work is contracted or delegated to an external or internal entity that could be physically located anywhere." (Oshri et. al, 2009)
• "Outsourcing is defined as contracting with a third service provider for the management and completion of a certain amount of work, for a specified length of time, cost, and level of service." (Oshri et. al, 2009)
• ...
• ...

Examples

• ...
• ...
• ...
• ...

Comments
There are no wrong answers, just build up a list, tabulate and provide back to the class

Definitions offered (edited) by each group (2015)

References:
Mol, M.J. Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., and Willcocks, L.P. The Handbook of Global Outsourcing and Offshoring Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, p. 266.

Footnote
The lecturer then makes a bold statement that in fact, these academic definitions are WRONG!
Follow up with the second part of this exercise with "What is (out)sourcing? Part 2". Possibly 2 or 3 weeks later.

Exercise: Egypt as an ideal OOS location

Exercise: 
In groups (~10 min)
Identify 2-3 key advantages of Egypt
Identify 2-3 key disadvantages of Egypt

Classroom discussion (~15min)

In light of these advantages and disadvantages, what type of work would you outsource or offshore to Egypt?

Thinking outside the box, what other destinations would you consider?

Summary of responses:

For:
Young working population 82M
Low cost of labour
Proximity to Europe
Language skills (multi-lingual)
Good exchange rates
IT infrastructure
Good numbers of knowledge workers
Corporation tax 25%
Open culture (high level of tolerance)

Against:
IT infrastructure
Unstable political landscape *
Lack of monetary supports for new business
Cultural conflict *
Corruption in government *
Climate conditions
Low standards of living for many
Low economic growth
Gender inequality
Unclear corporate policy environment for business

Other comments:
Suitable for the following kinds of business
Financial, accounting and HR
Manufacturing
Call centres and customer support
Technology R&D
Translation
BPO
Content providers
Law and legal services

Tech R&D requires: good infrastructure, low risk, low cost and good IPR protections

Thoughts on recording classroom sessions...

(At the time of writing this) UCD does not currently have a policy on lecture recordings made by students from the general population.

In view of this I adopt the following policy for my own classes.
In general I do not record or permit recording of my classes for the following reasons.
Classroom discussions may involve confidential disclosure, personal opinions, and draw on privileged information, from students, guests and lecturers. Furthermore the learning process may itself be compromised if being recorded i.e. students may be reluctant to offer opinions.
In certain instances I will permit recording and release edited output, for example to produce additional learning materials or as a statement of record.

First some principles:

Ask permission first. Permission may be withheld.

No copyright is conferred therefore no copies should be made nor should they be distributed to others. Likewise no backup copy to be made.

The recording should be destroyed after a reasonable time, i.e. after reviewing and making notes, less than 3 months.

Turn off the recorder when requested.

Paraphrasing the University of Warwick policy: I believe that attendance in class is an important formative experience and that note taking during class is an important skill that must be practiced to be learnt. Therefore as a general point, recordings are not made to overcome class absence. Absentee students (whether due to illness, work, or other incapacity) have access to the slides and extensive notes provided on the website. 

Unless otherwise permitted by prior consent:

1. Permission is sought by whomever is recording part of a class.

2. Recordings are to be deleted after use.
3. No copyright is given.

4. No distribution allowed.

From time to time, if I (the lecturer) determine a need to record, photograph or video part of a class or exercise I will notify and seek the permission of those involved.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/aro/dar/quality/recordinglectures/
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/sas2/quality/recordinglectures

This statement does not negate UCD's guidelines for students with special access requirements (link).

All editions of the textbook can be used, although some variation in content

All editions can be used although some content varies between them. 

The Handbook of Global Outsourcing and Offshoring by Ilan Oshri, Julia Kotlarsky and Leslie P. Willcocks. Published by Palgrave Macmillan (link). 3rd Edition (ISBN 9781137437426), 2nd Edition (ISBN 9780230293526) 1st Edition (ISBN 9780230235502).

This may be of interest if you wish to improve your writing.

This MOOC titled "A Beginner's Guide to Writing in English for University Study" hosted by the University of Reading may be of interest to you if you wish to improve or develop your English writing skills, vocabulary and grammar. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/english-for-study

Notes for myself:
Can I identify focus and supporting evidence in the essay?
One way to assess it is, at the simplest level, by looking for content, structure/organisation, language/grammar. Or, expressed as three questions: What have you got to say? How do you say it? Are you in line with rules and norms of English expression?
A simple way of constructing individual paragraphs is to use the focus/response pattern.

UCD: teaching and learning links for staff and students.

Some Useful links.

• UCD Business Academic Writing Centre: Follow @UCDAWC for info and appointments with Dr Megan McGurk
• The School of Business Utilises the Harvard Style Guide. Please link your students to the UCD Library Harvard Style guides on http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/Guide69.pdf
• UCD Business Proudly Made in Africa Teaching Fellow: link with Siobhan McGee on bringing a focus on Africa to your module
• UCD Teaching and Learning Resources and Teaching Toolkit http://www.ucd.ie/teaching/resources/
• UCD Grade Descriptors 
• https://intranet.ucd.ie/registry/assessment/gradingguidestaff2013_2014.pdf
• UCD Library Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism 
• http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/Guide101.pdf
• http://www.ucd.ie/library/supporting_you/support_learning/plagiarism/
• UCD Late Submission of Coursework Policy
• http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/latesub.htm
• Unless stated otherwise in the module outline, students can submit work up to two weeks late with penalty of two grade points per week.
• User's guide to UCD general regulations 
• http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/asug/
• UCD Student Code http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/regs_sc.html
• http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/docs/student_code.pdf
• Guidelines for staff for working with students with a disability 
• http://www.ucd.ie/openingworlds/ucdaccesscentre/supportsforstudentswithadisability/