Leading and motivating global teams : integrating offshore centers and the head office

186 Pages·2017·7.395 MB·English

by  Khanna, Vimal Kumar

Leading and
Motivating
Global Teams
Integrating Offshore Centers
and the Head Office

Leading and
Motivating
Global Teams
Integrating Offshore Centers
and the Head Office
Vimal Kumar Khanna
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
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Contents
Contents v
Acknowledgments ix
About the Author xi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
A Note on Terminology 8
Chapter 2 Be “Truly Global” in Outlook and Character 11
2.1 Offshore Centers Are Not the Same as Outsourcing
Vendors 12
2.2 Offshore Center Teams Are Not Treated at Par with
the Head Office Teams 15
2.3 Concerns of Head Office Management 16
Chapter 3 Authority and Freedom to Offshore Center
Management 19
3.1 Offshore Center Projects Are Extensions to Head
Office Projects 21
3.2 Overall Project Control Resides with the Head Office
Management 22
3.3 Head Office Project Head Exercises Direct Authority
over Offshore Center Teams 24
3.4 Match Offshore Center Management Authority with
Their Responsibilities 25
v
vi Leading and Motivating Global Teams
3.5 Capitalize on Location Strengths 26
3.6 Head Office Project Head’s Key Result Areas Not
Aligned to the Company’s Offshoring Objectives 27
3.7 Additional Responsibilities of Head Office Management
to Address Their Insecurities 31
3.7.1 Additional Head Office Projects 31
3.7.2 Project Coordinator for Independent Offshore
Center Projects 31
3.7.3 Align His or Her Key Result Areas to the
Company’s Offshoring Objectives 33
Chapter 4 Integrate Offshore Center with Head Office
but Retain Local Work Culture 41
4.1 Avoid Imposing Head Office Norms on the
Offshore Center 42
4.2 Retain Offshore Center Career Growth Norms
and Designations 44
4.3 Downsize with Consideration to Local Sensitivities 47
4.4 Share the Pain 50
4.5 Local Management Committee to Decide Offshore
Center Norms 52
Chapter 5 Career Growth for Offshore Center Employees
to Global Top Positions 55
5.1 Need for Deserving Offshore Center Employees to
Reach Global Top Positions 56
5.2 Constraints to Global Career Growth of Offshore
Center Employees 57
5.3 Grooming Offshore Center Employees for Global
Top Positions 59
5.4 Fair Selection Process 60
5.5 Avoid a Common Pitfall 61
Chapter 6 Fair Representation of Offshore Center
Management in Global Committees 69
6.1 Global Management Committees 70
6.2 Need for Offshore Center Representation in Committees 71
Chapter 7 Look Beyond Offshoring Only Peripheral Projects 81
7.1 Concerns of Head Office Management 82
Contents vii
7.2 Problems in Offshoring Only Peripheral Projects 83
7.3 Eliminating the Myths of Head Office Management 85
7.4 Benefits from Offshoring a Balanced Mix of Projects 87
Chapter 8 Avoid Over-Insistence on the Cost-Reduction
Purpose of the Offshore Center 91
8.1 Weakening the Offshore Center’s Delivery Capabilities
by Over-Insistence on Cost Reduction 92
8.2 Invest in Strengthening Offshore Center Capabilities
for Long-Term Cost Savings 94
Chapter 9 Unified Awards across the Offshore Center and
the Head Office 101
9.1 Limitations of Local Awards within the Offshore Center 103
9.2 Benefits of Instituting Global Awards 104
9.3 Global Awards in Companies with Multiple Product
Divisions 108
9.4 Fair Evaluation Criteria for Global Awards 110
9.5 Proposed Actions if Offshore Center Employees Fail
to Win Global Awards 112
9.6 Avoid Quotas in Global Awards 114
Chapter 10 Roles and Responsibilities of the Offshore
Center Head 117
10.1 Factors Determining the Role of the Offshore
Center Head 118
10.1.1 Offshore Center Size and Growth Plans 118
10.1.2 Visibility of the Company in the Country of the
Offshore Center 119
10.1.3 Head Office Senior Management’s Knowledge
of Running a Company in the Country of the
Offshore Center 119
10.1.4 Nature of the Projects to Be Offshored 120
10.2 Functions Performed by the Offshore Center Head 122
10.2.1 Setting up the Offshore Center 123
10.2.2 Representing the Offshore Center to the Head
Office Senior Management 123
10.2.3 Managing Offshore Center Engineering Teams 124
10.2.4 Building the Image of the Offshore Center in
Its Country 130
viii Leading and Motivating Global Teams
10.2.5 Attracting Talent to Grow the Offshore
Center’s Size 131
10.2.6 Training and Skill Building of Offshore
Center Teams 134
10.2.7 Building the Offshore Center’s Local
Work Culture 135
10.2.8 Representing the Interests of the Offshore
Center in Global Committees 136
10.2.9 Expediting Offshore Center Decision Making 137
10.2.10 Overall Responsibility of the Offshore Center
Support Functions 137
10.3 Evaluating the Performance of the Offshore Center Head 137
Chapter 11 Being an Expatriate Manager from the Head Office
to the Offshore Center 141
11.1 Roles and Responsibilities of an Expatriate Manager 142
11.1.1 Transferring Knowledge of a Head Office
Overall Project to the Offshore Center 142
11.1.2 Establishing a Division in the Offshore Center 144
11.1.3 Setting Up and Operating the Offshore Center 145
11.2 Preparation Required for the Expatriate Manager Role 146
11.3 Possible Additional Roles Post-Expatriate Assignment 149
11.4 Avoiding Some Possible Mistakes in Planning Expatriate
Assignments 150
Chapter 12 Using the Offshore Center to Make Strategic
Contributions to the Company 157
12.1 Need to Involve the Offshore Center in Strategic
Decision Making 158
12.2 Conceiving New Products to Be Developed 160
12.3 Entering New Services Domains 163
12.4 Inorganic Growth through Strategic Acquisitions 164
Appendix: Abbreviations and Acronyms 167
Index 169
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the book’s editor, John Wyzalek, and all of the people at
Taylor & Francis Group who worked tirelessly to ensure timely publication of
this book. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of John Wyzalek in giving neces-
sary guidance and support, providing valuable inputs, and taking timely actions
throughout the process of publication, to ensure release of a high-quality book.
I would like to thank reviewer Ginger Levin for providing excellent review
comments that helped significantly improve the content of the book and bring
it to its current form.
I would also like to acknowledge the support of the people who helped me
start the journey of publishing this book with Taylor & Francis Group.
• The journey started with the well-reputed management book author and
speaker Alfonso Bucero suggesting Taylor & Francis Group as being a
suitable publisher for the topic of my book. I would like to thank him
for sharing many valuable inputs with me, based on his prior experience
publishing with Taylor & Francis Group.
• I would like to thank my first contact in the Taylor & Francis Group,
Kristine Mednansky, for her help and support in initiating the publish-
ing process, which culminated in John Wyzalek becoming the editor of
the book.
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