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Dell Expands In India
s31523 writes "NEW DELHI - Computer maker Dell Inc. said Monday it planned to add 5,000 jobs in India over the next two years, bringing its work force in the country to 15,000. Dell is also looking to set up a manufacturing center in India, a move that could help boost the sale of Dell computers here, President and CEO Kevin Rollins told reporters after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "
So the are trying to get a bigger foothold in the india market for computer sales, so the board members can make an extra buck or two. Dont see how this is going to help John Q Public unless you want to buy some stocks (DELL: 29.52 +0.25 / +0.85%). But the charts on their stock dont look that good.
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I thought Dell's market share was slipping in the U.S. following their outsourcing of tech support and the frustration/language barrier it created. When are they going to be adding more jobs back in the U.S. to satisfy their customers here?
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
It'd be a good idea for them to use local labor to build for local markets. That way you help foster a labor pool that is capable of buying your products. It's part of the reason that Japanese car companies are investing a lot of money into building manufacturing plants in the US, especially in the South.
Dell is also looking to set up a manufacturing center in India
Now that's the first smart thing I've seen anyone do with Indian outsourcing.
Outsourcing manufacturing is a tried and true method of cost saving. Since the work that needs to be done is mostly repetitive, it lends itself well to operating with minimal communication from the headquarters.
Computer Programming, OTOH, is inherently about collecting new requirements and developing new processes. When you have an office with an orthagonal time zone, working with completely separate operations from the one's they are trying to reduce to code, you're significantly reducing your ability to produce the results you need.
Managers need to get this through their heads: Coding is not a blue collar job. It inherently requires direct interaction with other professionals, and is core to making a business work. Bringing highly trained workers from other countries can work (putting aside cultural and language issues that sometimes cause problems), but you just can't be moving your core operations away from your headquarters unless you also move your headquarters. It's a recipe for disaster every time.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
But Rollins said his company's expansion plans were not limited to tapping the talent, but also benefit from the growing demand for desktop computers and notebooks.
A free market economy is not a one way street. You can't treat a country with a population of 1 billion solely as a market to sell goods to. Most people opposed to this idea of "outsourcing" would rather have companies (McDonald's, Coke, or their IT counterparts) profit from selling their goods to other countries, but not have them benefit through creation of local jobs or improvements in economy.
I was speaking with Bob and Roy over in Bangalore regarding my brand new Dell machine just the other day and I have to say that while very curteous and well spoken they were completely clueless about resolving my issue - worse than that, no one could actually locate the machine that I returned for replacement.
This move does little more than increase the capacity for cluelessness, more seats in India is not going to help if they don't have the resources necessary to help the customer. Dell should refine their systems and processes before adding human capacity.
FWIW
Homer: Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true!
Eventually, as they become more developed, India will become one hell of a market. Now, how many people can actually afford a computer - even a Dell? And, you don't need to move to a country to sell there. There's something called the internet that gives anyone an automatic world presence.
It's getting harder and harder to find anything these days that are "American Made". Even the stuff assembled here in the US have many (usually the majority) parts that are made overseas. Some, such as power tools, are manufactured and assembled overseas. They're American in name only. Some of those overseas companies will actally manufacter items for a firms competition. The world of off-shoring - got to love it!
Most people opposed to this idea of "outsourcing" would rather have companies (McDonald's, Coke, or their IT counterparts) profit from selling their goods to other countries, but not have them benefit through creation of local jobs or improvements in economy.
Actually, I'm against offshoreing- and I'm against American companies turning traitor against the consumers that made them big and seeking markets elsewhere. Free trade indeed SHOULD be a two way street- and this playing of one country against another due to differences in labor laws ain't it. When we have one world labor standard, fine, but until then, trade should be limited by national borders. Want to trade with the United States? BECOME A STATE!
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Here in Central North Carolina Dell was offered about 300 million dollars in tax rebates to locate a plant here. But the local conservatives and small business groups are up in arms that tax dollars should be spent at all, even if it is for jobs. Now the number of jobs is questionable so the criticism may be valid but on the whole, in the US we prefer the Walmart model which is to move in to a local economy, destroy it, and then hire back some of the people to work in the local hypermart. Most local governments would rather have one Walmart with 1500 part time jobs than one software developer with 300 high paying jobs. So if its going to be 1500 wage slave jobs then there's no need to fork over tax dollars to entice them when there's a bunch of hypermarts lining up to do it for 'free'.
Let Dell hire 100,000 people in India. Americans don't care as long as you don't spend tax money.
Most people opposed to this idea of "outsourcing" would rather have companies (McDonald's, Coke, or their IT counterparts) profit from selling their goods to other countries, but not have them benefit through creation of local jobs or improvements in economy.
The best way to explain this would be to ask how many burgers McDonald's would sell in other countries if they all had to be made in the US and delivered overseas.
This is completely different from "outsourcing" where jobs that were done in the US are moved somewhere else. This is expanding into new markets and creating local facilities to serve them.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
The best way to explain this would be to ask how many burgers McDonald's would sell in other countries if they all had to be made in the US and delivered overseas.
As long as they're made of beef, McDonalds isn't going to sell many burgers in India, regardless of where they're made.
they sell alternate items there: http://mcdonalds.net.in/mcd/corp/OurFood/index.php
I just love not being able to understand the person on the other end of the phone when I need to get a hard drive replaced.
Saturday I was at someone's house and the hard drive was dying. It got a failure code via Dell's built in utility and was going bad. "Steve" was a total PITA and having to try to figure out what the hell he was saying only made things worse. If I had to hear him repeat that dam script one more time I was going to lose it. I then got to fight with his supervisor "Shawn" who finally relented.
This client while a small fish has bought 6 Dells within the past 1.5 years. So far 2 of the POS Maxtor SATA drives Dell uses have failed. Next time a drive starts going South I told my client we won't be calling Dell anymore. We will just go out and buy a drive and skip the whole fight with the person in India bit. It will end up costing much less.
Oh and he probably won't be buying Dell's anymore, not as long as Dell keeps putting calls to India or anywhere else you have to strain to understand the tech on the other end. FU Dell for making people have to deal with this kind of crap.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
You get what you pay for.
Dell learned a while ago that there was backlash from outsourcing Customer Service. They responded wisely (IMHO) with a tiered support system. If you buy the $399 "as seen on TV" special - you get the joy of waiting on hold for Roy in Bangalore when you call. If you buy one of the business line machines - you get better service. Buy the high-end XPS systems, you get even better service. Everyone also has the option of upgrading to "Gold" service - with minimal wait times and knowledgeable, easily understood professionals.
If you are in IT, you can pay a little more and get yourself qualified as a Dell-certified technician & channel partner. If you go this far,you can get paid from Dell for doing your own warrantee repairs. (Not really a profitable proposition - but it can help your bottom line in a larger shop.) You also get automatic online approval on all parts replacement requests, overnight shipping, and online access to most tech manuals.
I build & repair my own; but at work, and for my less-patient friends & customers, I recommend buying a better service level. I have heard nothing but praise from anyone who has bought and used the gold-level service.
Most of the whining comes from folks who don't want to pay a few extra dollars for the service.
On the business side - India is a growing market with a lot of potential. If you have one - check where your retirement fund is making most of its money today. International Stock funds are booming. It makes business sense to move to a growing market early. Brand recognition, community involvement, etc. EX: I doubt that Coca-Cola's US customer satisfaction has significantly changed since they opened production plants in China. But the stockholders are thrilled with all the extra income, and the Chinese workers are doing well and spending money in their communities.
I hope you don't think India will be a 3rd-world country forever. They have the same potential as any other country to become a consumer society.
Besides, maybe if they build 'em there, Bob & Roy might understand the service end better than just reading the script.
Here in Central North Carolina Dell was offered about 300 million dollars in tax rebates to locate a plant here.
Not good enough. India offerred to change the name of their capitol to "New Dell".
Doesn't sound so attractive now, does it.
You could do without importing oil, or without having imported it for the past century?
Ok, so when all USAians' salaries are dropped to the same levels as they are in India, who will be able to afford the price of a computer?
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