13 Outsourcing Articles
13 Outsourcing Articles
Date: Saturday, September 13, 2003 1:06 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
Article 1:
http://news.indiainfo.com/2002/07/27/27cyber.html
CBI's cyber-cell arrests Aligarh resident for fraud
Article 2:
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/business_f385335b648b60010004.html
Thousands of federal jobs may go abroad, U.S. says
Article 3:
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=722559&fid=942
Ness Technologies to carry out $11m outsourcing project for Indus Int'l
Article 4:
http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=15342
US resentment over outsourcing spills over to streets
Article 5:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/6671785.htm
Protesters angry over loss of U.S. jobs
Article 6:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=14200081
Economist: Offshore IT Outsourcing Should Boost U.S. Economy - Deloitte
Consulting's Carl Steidtmann says shipping IT work overseas will
ultimately lead to more higher-paying jobs in the United States.
Article 7:
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2003/103091106.asp
CIOL : News : Sutherland to hire 1500 - With two delivery centers in
Chennai, the company expects one third of its clients to move
operations to India from the US.
Article 8:
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=41750
Ford US To Source Engine Parts From Bharat Forge
Article 9:
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/3075191
3Com Outsources Manufacturing, Cuts 1,000 Jobs
Article 10:
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7136627%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
More HP jobs go to India
Article 11:
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2003/09/02/business/business/01712977142195da86256d9100773f92.txt
More manufacturers head to China
Article 12:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11286
IT salaries in India and USA contrasted
Article 13:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/sep/02marks.htm
Marks & Spencer to source shoes from India
http://news.indiainfo.com/2002/07/27/27cyber.html
CBI's cyber-cell arrests Aligarh resident for fraud
Saturday, July 27 2002 17:58 Hrs (IST)
New Delhi: The cyber-crime-cracking-cell of the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Aligarh resident for allegedly
defrauding an American national of $ 578 by misusing her credit card
through the web.
A CBI spokesman said Arif Azim was arrested on July 24, and accused of
misusing credit card details of Barbara Campa, to order a colour
television and a cordless phone worth$ 578 through an online shopping
site Sony-sambandh.com, a CBI spokesman said hereon July 27.
On reciept of a complaint from Sony India searches were conducted at
the residence and offices of Azim where a letter proving that the goods
were delivered to him were recovered.
Azim, who has been remanded to police custody till July 28, admitted
during interrogation that he got the details from Campa during a live
chat on the internet at the call centre where he was a technical
support staffer, the spokesman added.
Campa, who had a problem with the billing status of her credit card
consulted the call centre for a solution. Azim, who attended to her
call, allegedly managed to convince her to reveal her credit card
number and other details on the pretext of updating her billing
information, although he was not authorised to obtain such information
from any customer.
Azim first opened a fake e-mail account in Campa's name so that all
correspondence in her name from the website would come to him, and
changed his residence after the transaction was completed, he added.
Campa, however, termed the transaction as 'unauthorised', and the
payment was reversed by her bank and the credit given to Sony Marketing
Asia Pacific, the owners of the website, was withdrawn.
Azim also shifted the televsion and phone to his native place in
Aligarh so that he could not be traced. The CBI recovered the goods
yesterday.
A CBI search of his office led to the Central Processing nUnit and the
terminal of a computer, which was ostensibly used by Azim to place the
order for the goods and carry out all his online transactions, the
spokesman added.
PTI
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/business_f385335b648b60010004.html
Thousands of federal jobs may go abroad, U.S. says
By Marilyn Geewax
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Friday, September 5, 2003
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's push to outsource hundreds of thousands
of federal jobs could end up shifting some high-tech employment to
foreign workers, administration and industry officials said Thursday.
Although Bush has been calling for the creation of more jobs, his
administration has been promoting a plan to open roughly 425,000
federal jobs to competition from private companies.
Harris Miller, president of the trade group Information Technology
Association of America, nodded "yes" Thursday when asked whether that
move inevitably would mean some federal jobs would go to contractors or
subcontractors operating over- seas.
The use of offshore labor has become increasingly controversial as the
unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high. The U.S. economy has
lost 2.6 million jobs since Bush became president.
Many unemployed technology workers are blaming their job losses on
employers -- including Dell Inc., Intel Corp., Motorola Inc., Computer
Sciences Corp. -- who send work to low-wage countries, such as India
and Ireland.
In his Labor Day address, Bush said that stemming the loss of jobs has
become his top domestic policy goal. But while meeting with the Chamber
of Commerce in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, Bush also said that
although there's a "down- side in the short term" when employers slash
labor costs, "over the long term, productivity lifts Americans' wages."
Miller, of the tech trade group, said that last year several states
considered legislation to block the movement of government jobs
overseas. Although none of the bills passed, the 2004 legislative
season might bring more such attempts at both the state and federal
levels.
Government and industry leaders argue that such laws would be bad for
taxpayers and businesses alike.
"It plays into the hands of other governments around the world that do
not want to open their government IT business to allow an EDS or an IBM
or an Accenture to come in and compete." Miller said.
People everywhere worry about local jobs going to foreigners, said
William Sweeney, vice president for global government affairs for
Plano-based Electronic Data Systems Corp., the nation's second-largest
computer services and consulting firm.
But increasingly, high-tech companies must use the "global teaming" of
workers to get jobs done at the lowest cost and highest quality, he
said.
Miller compared the trend in computer services to what already has
happened with computer hardware. For example, a customer may purchase a
computer made by Round Rock-based Dell, but the product contains
components from many countries.
"It's like the United Nations in there," he said.
Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary for technology policy at the
Commerce Department, and Drew Ladner, chief information officer at the
Treasury Department, said at the briefing they did not know how many
federal government jobs ultimately might go offshore. But they said
decisions about outsourcing to foreign workers would take security
concerns into account.
mgeewax@coxnews.com
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=722559&fid=942
Ness Technologies to carry out $11m outsourcing project for Indus Int'l
This is Ness's first demonstration of international capabilities since
acquiring India's Apar Infotech.
Uri Rabin 9 Sep 03 15:13
Ness Technologies will carry out an outsourcing project for US company
Indus International (Nasdaq:IINT). Ness Technologies will centralize
Indus International's development, maintenance, support, and testing of
key products. Indus International provides EAM (enterprise asset
management services). Industry sources estimate that the three-year
project is worth $11 million.
Ness Technologies US office will carry out the project as an offshore
service in India. Ness Technologies will set up a special development
center in Bangalore, India, with 110 employees, for the Indus
International project. Indus International serves 300,000 users in 40
countries.
Ness Technologies president and CEO Raviv Zoller said the company had
entered the tender at the last moment, in collaboration with the
company offices in Israel, the US, and Czech Republic. Zoller added
that the Indus International project was one of the first won by the US
office, since the acquisition of Indo-American company Apar InfoTech in
May 2003 for $78 million.
"The merger with Apar improved our ability to develop and provide
solutions to multinational companies," said Zoller. "The use of the
offshore model will enable us to leverage our capabilities and increase
our relative advantage, especially in the North American and European
markets."
Ness Technologies US office is based on its acquisition of BlueFlame in
November 2001 for $5 million, which gave Ness Technologies a foothold
in the US market. Ness Technologies Czech office is based on its
acquisition of APP in September 2002 for $16 million in a share-swap.
This acquisition also strengthened Ness Technologies' position in the
services for infrastructures sector.
Zoller recently told "Globes" the importance of the acquisitions of
BlueFlame and APP in meeting Ness Technologies' target of achieving
half its revenue from outside Israel by 2005. 40% of the company's
revenue currently comes from overseas.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 9, 2003
http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=15342
US resentment over outsourcing spills over to streets
4-September-2003
Washington: Resentment in the US against outsourcing technology jobs to
countries like India is growing, with protests spilling over to
American streets.
About 40 technology workers, carrying placards that said "Will code for
food", and "Outsourcing is stealing billions from America," staged a
'Labour Day' protest against companies that send American jobs overseas
and employ foreigners on work visas.
The group of protesters, which included three candidates in
California's recall election for governor, gathered on a street corner
next to a Bank of America office complex in Concord, California, where
about 3,500 people work.
Bank of America was the target of the protest because in April,
41-year-old software engineer Kevin Flanagan committed suicide after
being laid off from his job in Concord, according to his father.
A loose network of laid-off technology workers blames Bank of America
for Flanagan's death because the company has signed software contracts
with several India-based consulting firms, according to a report in The
San Mateo County Times, published from California.
Many of the protesters were programmers and IT workers who are now
jobless. They blamed the lack of Bay Area high-tech jobs on companies
that send jobs offshore and bring in foreign workers on visas such as
the H1-B and L-1.
Several protesters said companies favour foreign workers on visas
because they are easy to manage and can be paid less, even though the
law mandates that they be paid wages equal to those of US citizens.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/6671785.htm
Posted on Tue, Sep. 02, 2003
Protesters angry over loss of U.S. jobs
By Ellen Lee
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
CONCORD - After job hunting for more than a year, Mike Anderson traded
in a high-paying career as a technology consultant for a substitute
teaching position with the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
"I used to have my pick," he said. "Now there's just nothing out
there."
The Berkeley resident, who last had a contract with IBM in 2001, joined
about 40 protesters in Concord on Labor Day rallying against a growing
corporate trend: sending technology jobs to places such as India and
Russia, where workers are typically paid half the amount of their
American counterparts to handle the same responsibilities.
The frustrated protesters blame this shift, called outsourcing or
offshoring, for the drought of technology jobs in the Bay Area.
"The dot-com bubble broke, but it shouldn't have erased all the jobs,"
Anderson said.
The group held signs such as "War on Nerds" with a red slash through it
and "Stop outsourcing. Save America. Hire Americans." in front of Bank
of America's Concord Technology Center, where Kevin Flanagan, a
computer programmer, committed suicide after losing his job this
spring. They vowed to continue protesting regularly, including in front
of an outsourcing conference in Burlingame later this month.
Bank of America is just one of an increasing number of corporations
employing workers outside the United States to handle information
technology tasks such as coding and maintaining a company's computer
systems. Businesses say the move allows them to serve their customers
better and keep them competitive.
But critics say that outsourcing could lead to dire consequences, such
as less income tax revenues as local workers lose their high-paying
jobs.
"Before we know it, we're going to be a third-world country," said Ken
Hamidi, a former Intel worker who is running for governor and joined
the protesters Monday morning. He suggests offering tax breaks and
other incentives to encourage businesses not to outsource. "If this
trend continues, we'll lose our technology leadership."
Security guards for the Bank of America kept an eye on the protesters
Monday, but did not interfere.
"It was very peaceful," said Harvey Radin, a spokesman for Bank of
America. "We respect their right to be out there."
Radin said the bank, which employs about 3,500 people in Concord, does
outsource some projects, but that it is not done on a "large scale."
Outsourcing doesn't always "equate to decisions about staffing levels,"
he added.
"We look at staffing in all of the units and lines of business of the
bank," he said. "It's an ongoing process. At times it may be necessary
to reduce staff. At the same time, we're adding staff in another area.
It really depends on what's happening in the markets we serve."
Lee Perry, who helped organize the protest, said he planned to help
others across the country hold similar rallies.
"We want to move this from a conspiracy to a movement," said Perry, a
technology worker who lives in Martinez and is job hunting. "When you
lose your job, it's real."
Ellen Lee covers technology and telecommunications. She can be reached
at 925-952-2614 or elee@cctimes.com.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=14200081
Economist: Offshore IT Outsourcing Should Boost U.S. Economy
Deloitte Consulting's Carl Steidtmann says shipping IT work overseas
will ultimately lead to more higher-paying jobs in the United States.
By Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Aug. 29, 2003
URL:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=14200
081
Politicians and labor leaders looking to block the export of IT jobs to
low-wage countries such as India are "the last surviving members of the
flat earth society," says the chief economist of a Big Five consulting
firm that offers offshore outsourcing services.
In a new position paper that's drawing fire from labor activists,
Deloitte Consulting's Carl Steidtmann argues that U.S. companies that
ship IT work to India and other emerging countries will be more
competitive, grow faster, and have more money to invest in research and
development. All of this, Steidtmann says, will ultimately lead to
more, higher-paying jobs in the United States. "Restrictive employment
laws in Europe go a long way towards explaining why Europe consistently
runs a higher rate of unemployment when contrasted with the U.S. or
Britain," Steidtmann says.
Steidtmann also maintains that because, historically, work that has
been exported has typically been replaced by higher-level economic
activity in another sector, the same will hold true for IT. "How much
better off would the U.S. be today if we had saved all those farm jobs
a century ago?," he asks. "Just imagine what the economy would look
like today if 70% of all American workers were still tilling the soil."
Labor advocates say it's ludicrous to liken IT jobs to agricultural
work. "We're talking about exporting what is the cornerstone of the new
economy--IT talent," says Marcus Courtney, the top organizer at the
Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, an IT labor advocacy group
that's affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. Courtney
said his "blood boiled" when he saw the report.
In an interview, Steidtmann concedes that he doesn't know what "the
next big thing" is that will replace IT jobs. "It's very difficult to
predict how technology will develop," he says. He also admits that
offshore outsourcing will cause "a painful transition" for U.S.-based
IT workers who lose their jobs to overseas workers.
But Steidtmann further argues that legislative constraints on
outsourcing could lead to protectionism that will do more harm than
good to the U.S. economy. "The more the U.S. does to limit the
importation of services, the more difficult if will become to export
them, which in turn will destroy jobs," says Steidtmann, noting that
the country runs a large services surplus with the rest of the world.
Deloitte operates an offshore services center in Mumbai, India.
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2003/103091106.asp
CIOL : News : Sutherland to hire 1500
Sutherland to hire 1500
With two delivery centers in Chennai, the company expects one third
of its clients to move operations to India from the US.
Cyber News Service
Thursday, September 11, 2003
CHENNAI: The Sutherland Group, a customer management company in the BPO
space is further expanding its Indian operations by over 1500 employees
over the next 3-6 months. Within 18 months of setting up operations
here, the company has already built two delivery centers in Chennai and
has currently a 1500 employee base.
With global headquarters based out of Rochester, New York, The
Sutherland Group has developed core competencies in the High Tech and
Telecom verticals over the past 17 years.
Since establishing its India operations, the company has transitioned
work for a number of its US-based clients. The company expects that at
least one third of its client base will move work to India over the
next 6 months.
Commenting on its India strategy, Bharat Chadda, Senior Vice President
and Country Manager, Sutherland India said, "Our plan to foray into
India was in line with our strategy to expand delivery centers globally
and offer a blended delivery model to customers in the US.Sutherland
has achieved significant gains through its move to set up operations in
India. We are witnessing growth with our existing clients and expect to
significantly ramp up by over 1500 employees in the next 6 months."
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=41750
Corporate
Ford US To Source Engine Parts From Bharat Forge
SHIV AROOR
New Delhi, Sept 9: Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) has been selected by Ford
USA for supply of components to be used in its next generation V-6
engines to be manufactured at its upcoming $335 million factory in
Ohio, USA. The factory is slated to go into production in 2005.
BFL declined to comment on quantum and the duration of the supply
contract but the companys chairman and managing director Baba
Kalyani, however, told FE that a formal announcement was going to be
made shortly. Ford Indias spokesperson Vinay Piparsania said that as
a policy, the company did not comment on its suppliers.
It was also indicated by a source that the order was likely to be
large, and initially was likely to cater to Fords engine component
(forged crankshafts) needs for the upcoming Ohio unit.
We are investing about Rs 50 crore this year in capacity expansion,
mostly for export, but also for the domestic market, which is a new
focus area, said Mr Kalyani.
Ford USA issued a statement in July 2003 announcing investments
amounting to $335 million in a new V-6 engine facility at Ohio.
Currently among the top three forging companies in the world in terms
of production capacity and having the largest single location
manufacturing facility, BFL is renewing its de-risking business model
which was set in motion a few years ago. The company has tapped into
manufacture of products for the oil and gas industry such as well head
equipment and high-pressure valves and products for the construction
segment as well.
While we have so far focussed on large components used in heavy
vehicles, we are now exploring market opportunities for small forgings
for passenger car applications and engine components. We believe that
there are exciting opportunities for us in this segment, Mr Kalyani
said.
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/3075191
3Com Outsources Manufacturing, Cuts 1,000 Jobs
By Colin C. Haley
September 10, 2003
Network equipment maker 3Com (Quote, Company Info) will outsource all
its manufacturing and lay off 1,000 workers to cut costs.
Over the next six months, production will be shifted to Jabil Circuit
and Flextronics (Quote, Company Info), which will also handle
distribution from its regional hubs.
In addition, 3Com will established a design center in Taiwan. It will
be running this fall and fully staffed by spring.
"These actions further enhance 3Com's ability to bring competitive and
comprehensive networking solutions to the enterprise market," president
and CEO Bruce Claflin said in a statement.
The company did not say how much the cuts will save. 3Com spokeswoman
Sondra Magness said financial details will be discussed during 3Com's
quarterly conference call Thursday.
The restructuring will mean the closure of 3Com's Dublin facility by
March 2004. About 650 people will lose jobs there. Magness confirmed
the figure but declined to break out the reductions further.
In past years, many U.S. IT companies have established manufacturing
centers in the country because of the skilled workforce and lower
costs. They also viewed it as a base to reach European customers. But
apparently, the costs weren't low enough for 3Com.
In addition to manufacturing jobs, some product development and supply
chain employees will be dismissed.
3Com, which recently moved its headquarters from Santa Clara, Calif.,
to Marlborough, Mass., will focus its engineering on Voice over
Internet protocol , ASICs and security components.
Buffeted by a poor economy and competition from Cisco and others, 3Com
has been laying off staff and trying to focus its business for months.
Earlier this year, it cut 10 percent staff reduction and sold its
CommWorks telecommunications division for $100 million.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7136627%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
More HP jobs go to India
Simon Hayes
SEPTEMBER 02, 2003
HEWLETT-PACKARD continues to ramp up its Indian call-centre strategy,
importing staff from its soon-to-be-closed Sydney facility to train
workers at its new Bangalore centre.
It is understood five Australian call-centre technicians are in India
training workers at majority HP-owned Digital GlobalSoft to take
support calls from Australia.
The India move, which resulted in at least 80 HP staff being retrenched
in Sydney and Melbourne, was revealed in May when a leaked internal
memo described it as the "final solution" to cut costs.
HP plans to consolidate its five Australian call centres into two and
move PC and printer support work to India.
A former HP employee said the staff sent to train the new workers were
consumer technicians, and the Bangalore call centre would be supporting
commercial contracts.
"It's a commercial support centre, and they have sent consumer
technicians," the former worker said.
"We told them to get stuffed. We didn't want to go to India and train
them."
Angry former Compaq and HP employees have joined an internet message
board to keep in contact, posting messages with subjects including:
"Now why the hell is everything going to India, China and Third World
countries and not staying home?".
Digital GlobalSoft's first-quarter financials show its call centre more
than doubled its staff in three months, growing from 481 at March 31 to
991 at June 30.
The company claimed the facility had recorded "extremely high scores on
levels of customers satisfaction" in the 12 months it had been
operating.
Call-centre revenues increased to R80 million ($2.7 million), up 84 per
cent on the R43 million logged in the fourth quarter of the previous
financial year.
But the rapid ramp up of the call-centre business has hit the company's
overall earnings, with sequential quarter profits remaining stable,
primarily as a result of money the company has been pouring into
resourcing the centre.
A public-relations company hired by HP declined to comment.
This report appears on australianIT.com.au.
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2003/09/02/business/business/01712977142195da86256d9100773f92.txt
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
More manufacturers head to China
BY GABRIEL CABARROUY
Medill News Service
Local manufacturers feeling the heat of rising foreign competition,
primarily from China, are surviving by joining the enemy. They're
quietly purchasing parts and components from China.
Pro Mold & Die Inc., based in Roselle, Ill., has lost five major
customers recently that filed for bankruptcy because they couldn't
compete with prices from China, Pro Mold officials say.
According to Bill Cermak, a Pro Mold executive and founder of Save
American Manufacturing, a small-manufacturers lobbying group, more than
100 plastic molders in the Chicago area have gone out of business. The
molders -- tool and die makers -- sell to manufacturers of industrial
and consumer products, many of whom have moved manufacturing to China
and are now buying their molds from Chinese suppliers.
To avoid being next on line, Pro Mold & Die is buying about 20 percent
of its components from China, said Dave Long, one of the company's
owners. The company is saving 20 percent in costs, he stated.
"I have to do it in order to keep the employees I have," Long said.
Three years ago the company had 48 employees but now has only 30 after
sales slid by a third.
Long said he doesn't like his decision of buying from China but feels
he has to play by the rules of today's manufacturing.
"It's not a matter of making a profit," said Cermak. "It's matter of
being alive."
Cermak, whose SAM organization criticizes large manufacturers for
moving factories to China, admitted his company is contributing to a
basic U.S. economic problem: shrinking jobs in manufacturing.
The manufacturing industry has lost 2.7 million jobs in the last three
years, 95,000 of them in Illinois and another 95,000 in Indiana,
according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
In the same period the U.S. quarterly trade deficit with China grew to
$26 billion from $17.5 billion.
Bruce Baker, president of the Tooling and Manufacturing Association,
based in Chicago, said small and medium-sized companies can't set up
plants in China; instead, they look for ways to buy products from
Chinese manufacturers at a low cost.
Some companies are even forming consortiums with competitors so they
can procure from China, Baker said.
But not all such efforts have succeeded. Eric Anderberg, general
manager of Dial Machine Inc., based in Rockford, formed the United
States-China Business Association after he returned from a trip to
China last March, but the group couldn't reach an agreement with China,
"because they are Chinese," Anderberg said. He felt the Chinese weren't
really interested in trade but in stealing U.S. technology.
Baker said procurement in China is just part of an across-the-board
effort by small companies to cut costs as much as they can, but some
are also targeting new markets where customers are less likely to leave
the country.
Winzeler Gear Inc., based in Harwood Heights, recently switched from
manufacturing gears for small appliances to gears for automotive
systems such as electric seat and window controls.
"What made us an automation supplier today is that the other markets we
used to serve are no longer here," said John Winzeler, president of
Winzeler Gear.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11286
IT salaries in India and USA contrasted
Reduce your costs by outsaucing to India
By INQUIRER staff: Sunday 31 August 2003, 12:57
A WEB SITE has given a clear idea of just how much you can reduce costs
if you hire your IT staff in India rather than in the US of A.
While comparisons are no doubt odious, according to PBS, quoting
International Labour Organization and Paaras Group figures, a
programmer can earn $66,100 in the US, but only $10,000 in India.
If you're a mechanical engineer in the US, you can expect to get around
$55,600 but only $5,900 in the subcontinent.
And even beancounters are cheaper in India, earning $5,000 a year
rather than $41,000.
An IT manager only picks up $8,500 in India, while in the USA she or he
can expect to earn around $55,000.
The same site estimates, ussing Forrester Research figures, that by
2015 1,659,310 office jobs will go to India. By 2015, 348,028
businesses will move from the USA to India. And the number of computer
jobs moved by 2015 is estimated to be 427,632.
What about journalists? No figure for those, but the independent press
in India is vibrant and hard hitting and every hack we've met out there
has excellent English.
Meanwhile, an article published in Silicon India last Friday claimed
that the British insurance India will have to employ thousands of
Indian people, including managers, because its costs are way too high.
Prudential has a call centre in Mumbai, Norwich Union will set up a
1,000 job Call Centre in December. 5
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/sep/02marks.htm
Marks & Spencer to source shoes from India
BS Corporate Bureau in Mumbai | September 02, 2003 | 10:28 IST
The UK-based retail chain major Marks & Spencer has made India its
source for a fourth of its shoe stocks.
This requirement of footwear is now being sourced through Graziella
Shoes, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata International and Pucci Dante
of Italy.
According to Tata International, Graziella's main customers are Clarks
and Marks & Spencer. Nearly 25 per cent of the global purchase of men's
shoes of Marks & Spencer is now sourced from Graziella.
Its manufacturing unit located in the Chennai export processing zone
caters mainly to the UK market.
Graziella registered a net profit of Rs 82 lakh (8.2 million) on a
turnover of Rs 70.39 crore (Rs 703.9 million) in 2002-03.
Last year the joint venture reported a turnover of Rs 67.29 crore (Rs
672.9 million). The leather division of Tata International achieved a
turnover of Rs 391 crore (Rs 3.91 billion) in 2002-03, lower than the
previous year's turnover of Rs 421 crore (Rs 4.21 billion).
With an annual turnover of Rs 2,770 crore (Rs 27.70 billion), Tata
International is the international business arm of the Rs 45,000 crore
(Rs 450 billion) Tata group.
The company has been exporting high-quality and fashionable leather
products across the world for the last 25 years.
Tata International in recent years entered the domestic footwear market
under the brand name Stryde.
In the Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) per year shoe market (60 pairs
are sold every year), branded shoes have just 20 per cent of the market
share while the remaining 80 per cent are catered to by the non-branded
segment.
There are half a dozen players competing in the 20 per cent branded
shoes segment, including Bata, Lee Cooper, Red Tape among others.
Tata International, the closely held company of the Tatas, has several
divisions such as engineering, steel, minerals, bulk commodities and
chemicals.
It has set its sight on becoming a global trading giant with a target
of increasing its turnover to $1 billion by April 2004, company
officials had told Business Standard.
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