按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
generator business for the scanners out of France。
〃I ran into him on an airplane recently；〃 said Paul； 〃and he told me he had moved
to India to head up GE's high…energy research there。〃
I told Vivek that I love hearing an Indian who used to head up GE's CT business in
Milwaukee but now runs Wipro's consulting business in Silicon Valley tell me about
his former French colleague who has moved to Bangalore to work for GE。 That is a flat
world。
Every time I think I have found the last； most obscure job that could be outsourced
to Bangalore； I discover a new one。 My friend Vivek Kulkarni used to head the
government office in Bangalore responsible
31
for attracting high technology global investment。 After stepping down from that post
in 2003； he started a company called B2K； with a division called Brickwork； which
offers busy global executives their own personal assistant in India。 Say you are
running a company and you have been asked to give a speech and a PowerPoint
presentation in two days。 Your 〃remote executive assistant〃 in India； provided by
Brickwork； will do all the research for you； create the PowerPoint presentation； and
e…mail the whole thing to you overnight so that it is on your desk the day you have
to deliver it。
〃You can give your personal remote executive assistant their assignment when you are
leaving work at the end of the day in New York City； and it will be ready for you
the next morning；〃 explained Kulkarni。 〃Because of the time difference with India；
they can work on it while you sleep and have it back in your morning。〃 Kulkarni
suggested I hire a remote assistant in India to do all the research for this book。
〃He or she could also help you keep pace with what you want to read。 When you wake
up； you will find the completed summary in your in…box。〃 （I told him no one could
be better than my longtime assistant； Maya Gorman； who sits ten feet away！）
Having your own personal remote executive assistant costs around 1；500 to 2；000
a month； and given the pool of Indian college grads from which Brickwork can recruit；
the brainpower you can hire dollar…for…dollar is substantial。 As Brickwork's
promotional material says； 〃India's talent pool provides companies access to a broad
spectrum of highly qualified people。 In addition to fresh graduates； which are around
2。5 million per year； many qualified homemakers are entering the job market。〃 India's
business schools； it adds； produce around eighty…nine thousand MBAs per year。
〃We've had a wonderful response；〃 said Kulkarni； with clients coming from two main
areas。 One is American health…care consultants； who often need lots of numbers
crunched and PowerPoint presentations drawn up。 The other； he said； are American
investment banks and financial services companies； which often need to prepare glossy
pamphlets with graphs to illustrate the benefits of an IPO or a proposed merger。 In
the case of a merger； Brickwork will prepare those sections of the report dealing
with
32
general market conditions and trends； where most of the research can be gleaned off
the Web and summarized in a standard format。 〃The judgment of how to price the deal
will come from the investment bankers themselves；〃 said Kulkarni。 〃We will do the
lower…end work； and they will do the things that require critical judgment and
experience； close to the market。〃 The more projects his team of remote executive
assistants engages in； the more knowledge they build up。 They are full of ambition
to do their higher problem solving as well； said Kulkarni。 〃The idea is to constantly
learn。 You are always taking an examination。 There is no end to learning 。 。 。 There
is no real end to what can be done by whom。〃
Unlike Columbus； I didn't stop with India。 After I got home； I decided to keep
exploring the East for more signs that the world was flat。 So after India； I was soon
off to Tokyo； where I had a chance to interview Kenichi Ohmae； the legendary former
McKinsey & Company consultant in Japan。 Ohmae has left McKinsey and struck out on
his own in business； Ohmae & Associates。 And what do they do？ Not consulting anymore；
explained Ohmae。 He is now spearheading a drive to outsource low…end Japanese jobs
to Japanese…speaking call centers and service providers in China。 〃Say what？〃 I asked。
〃To China？ Didn't the Japanese once colonize China； leaving a very bad taste in the
mouths of the Chinese？〃
Well； yes； said Ohmae； but he explained that the Japanese also left behind a large
number of Japanese speakers who have maintained a slice of Japanese culture； from
sushi to karaoke； in northeastern China； particularly around the northeastern port
city of Dalian。 Dalian has become for Japan what Bangalore has become for America
and the other English…speaking countries： outsourcing central。 The Chinese may never
forgive Japan for what it did to China in the last century； but the Chinese are so
focused on leading the world in the next century that they are ready to brush up on
their Japanese and take all the work Japan can outsource。
〃The recruiting is quite easy；〃 said Ohmae in early 2004。 〃About one3？
third of the people in this region ＇around Dalian＇ have taken Japanese as a second
language in high school。 So all of these Japanese companies are coming in。〃 Ohmae's
company is doing primarily data…entry work in China； where Chinese workers take
handwritten Japanese documents； which are scanned； faxed； or e…mailed over from Japan
to Dalian； and then type them into a digital database in Japanese characters。 Ohmae's
company has developed a software program that takes the data to be entered and breaks
it down into packets。 These packets can then be sent around China or Japan for typing；
depending on the specialty required； and then reassembled at the company's database
in its Tokyo headquarters。 〃We have the ability to allocate the job to the person
who knows the area best。〃 Ohmae's company even has contracts with more than seventy
thousand housewives； some of them specialists in medical or legal terminologies； to
do data…entry work at home。 The firm has recently expanded into computer…aided designs
for a Japanese housing company。 〃When you negotiate with the customer in Japan for
building a house；〃 he explained； 〃you would sketch out a floor plan…most of these
companies don't use computers。〃 So the hand…drawn plans are sent electronically to
China； where they are converted into digital designs； which then are e…mailed back
to the Japanese building firm； which turns them into manufacturing blueprints。 〃We
took the best…performing Chinese data operators；〃 said Ohmae； 〃and now they are
processing seventy houses a day。〃 Chinese doing computer drawings for Japanese homes；
nearly seventy years after a rapacious Japanese army occupied China； razing many homes
in the process。 Maybe there is hope for this flat world 。 。 。
I needed to see Dalian； this Bangalore of China； firsthand； so I kept moving around
the East。 Dalian is impressive not just for a Chinese city。
With its wide boulevards； beautiful green spaces； and nexus of universities；
technical colleges； and massive software park； Dalian would stand out in Silicon
Valley。 I had been here in 1998； but there had been so much new building since then
that I did not recognize the place。 Dalian； which is located about an hour's flight
northeast of Beijing； sym34
bolizes how rapidly China's most modern cities…and there are still plentyof miserable；
backward ones…are grabbing business as knowledge centers； not just as manufacturing
hubs。 The signs on the buildings tell the whole story： GE； Microsoft； Dell； SAP； HP；
Sony； and Accenture… to name but a few…all are having backroom work done here to
support their Asian operations； as well as new software research and development。
Because of its proximity to Japan and Korea； each only about an hour away by air；
its large number of Japanese speakers； its abundance of Internet bandwidth； and many
parks and a world…class golf course （all of which appeal to knowledge workers）； Dalian
has become an attractive locus for Japanese outsourcing。 Japanese firms can hire three
Chinese software engineers for the price of one in Japan and still have change to
pay a roomful of call center operators （90 a month starting salary）。 No wonder some
twenty…eight hundred Japanese companies have set up operations here or teamed up with
Chinese partners。
〃I've taken a lot of American people to Dalian； and they are amazed at how fast the
China economy is growing in this high…tech area；〃 said Win Liu； director of U。S。/EU
projects for DHC； one ofDalian's biggest homegrown software firms； which has expanded
from thirty to twelve hundred employees in six years。 〃Americans don't realize the
challenge to the extent that they should。〃
Dalian's dynamic mayor； Xia Deren； forty…nine； is a former college president。 （For
a Communist authoritarian system； China does a pretty good job of promoting people
on merit。 The Mandarin meritocratic culture here still runs very deep。） Over a
traditional ten…course Chinese dinner at a local hotel； the mayor told me