Question

Please write an analysis reflection on the movie “Outsourced” (2006). In what aspects have you learned the most in the movie? (at least 1,000 words)

Answer 1

The movie outsourced is an American movie which covered lot of the recent issues the country and the employees were facing. The movie was partly shot in India and showed the cultural differences between both the nations and how the employees have to adapt in such cases. The movie revolves around the concept of business outsourcing and how the concept gets overused by certain businesses in search of smaller profits leaving many employees struggling in the daily life.

The movie is focused on the life of Todd Anderson who is compelled to travel to India when the entire department in which he was working was outsourced to India. Upon arriving in India, he faces lot of struggle with regards to the changes in culture and approach to work life balance. Right from daily interactions to the way in which people communicate and share opinions, Todd finds lot of things very different from his previous firm. He takes lot of time to adjust in the new region and the movie revolves around his life and how he managed to change his outlook and perception towards the Indian community. The movie also highlighted the importance of maintaining diplomacy and tact while communicating. Each action done by Todd is highly relatable by an employee who is working in a cross cultural team in a new region.

From the movie, we can learn lot of major and critical aspects which highlight the cross cultural differences which should be kept in mind while doing business. The first aspect is society`s outlook and the changes in how the actions are perceived. If we observe the movie closely, we can see that Indian employees have a indirect method of communication which is more diplomatic in nature rather than speak out everything on their mind. This is evident from the fact that Todd speaks out assertively every though on his mind whenever he thinks or wants to do something. The movie also highlights the importance of maintaining relationship with co-workers rather than just focusing on the task at hand. Todd becomes a person who reaches office, completes the work and leaves rather than spend time with others understanding and sharing experiences.

There are few other aspects too that critical to understanding the mindset of an employee who has just been transferred to a new region. Todd tries to ensure the entire department uses a n ascent which is similar to America accent rather than letting the staff use their own chose of words and style. He considers the Indian communication approach to be not as good as American and therefore wants to ensure all staff follows the American way of communicating. When Todd first reached India, he was judgmental with lot of preconceived notions about the community and Indians. He considered Indians to be dirty, over populated and without any clear direction or approach. This perception changes over time and this gives a valuable life lesson that no preconception or such thoughts should be encouraged and developed. Todd also considered the entire community to accept him as he is and not change as per the region. While doing business in a separate region, it is vital that there is sufficient customization of the product so that customers can have better experience. If a person goes to a different region, he or she is supposed to change themselves as per the region rather than trying to force their lifestyle on others. Todd learnt this late and tried to mend his ways.

If we look closely, the entire move is focused on showing differences in culture in the two lands and the struggles that a person when he is given the opportunity to move to a new region. The movie educates us that all cultures are different and unique, and there should be sufficient respect and admiration towards all the staff. If one finds themselves in such a state, then he should not try to force the values on others. No culture will ever be the same, so they focused on doing business without any judgmental bias or preconceived notions and this should be how all the businesses should work in a global scenario.

The other important areas which I learnt and observed was the poor management by Todd`s parent firm. The outsourcing decision was not done in a proper manner. The manager was not informed about the decision till the entire department was outsourced. Also Todd was chosen without having any experience to work in a complex business nature. There was no training given and Todd was asked to move on a very short notice. All this correspond to a poor management and leadership. An ideal leader should not act in this manner. They should give enough time for someone to prepare to move to a new place. The decision to outsource the business to China also shows poor long term planning. These actions indicate that the leadership is very short sighted and focuses only on meeting the targets but is not concerned about the long term growth and sustainability.

To summarize, the entire movie shows positives and negatives on lot of aspects which are faced by employees working in new regions and in cross cultural teams. For one to succeed in a scenario, one should have empathy for new region and other cultures and take time and efforts to understand the other region and new team members. It would be highly inappropriate when a person has lot of preconceived notions joins a team which is very different in a lot of ways. The person should ideally be given enough training and time to prepare for such a role. Only then they should be allowed to take up such roles and responsibilities.