An American-Based Study Examining the Relationship Between Participants’ Demographic Profiles and Attitudes Regarding Business Outsourcing Techniques and Strategies

Abstract

The world is a global marketplace, however much inquiry has been created regarding American-based companies relocating departmental operations offshore to foreign territories. Keating (2012) indicated that popular areas for companies to reposition operations include customer service, information technology, and sales services. The main reason for moving offshore is to cut costs and to maximize on cheaper labor pools in the host country. There are cultural and language barriers that complicate matters, as well as, the media, as reported by Dobbs (2004) in the United States (U.S.) brings supposition by broadcasting the jobs lost by U.S. employees, as well as, home country power diminishing by stronger global players rising and thriving, such as, Brazil, The Philippines, and Mexico. This study quantifiably examined the relationship between participants’ demographic profiles and attitudes regarding business outsourcing techniques and strategies utilizing the Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact tests, to gain a greater understanding of what these American-based beliefs truly are, in relation to, the sample confined within this study. Areas of concern examined attitudes towards managers, as well as, the U.S. government, regarding engaging in business outsourcing endeavors, enforcing policies to keep jobs in America, operating with a global mindset, helping people in both the home and host countries, competence factors associated with the capabilities to head outsourcing efforts based upon gender, and the training needed to successfully move operations offshore, for example. Significant differences were found in all of the demographic variables of ethnicity, gender, number of children (e.g. family size), age, education level, marital status, and annual household income.