Maria Korolov » Archive
Surviving the Tech Manager’s Global Squeeze
It’s the new reality of IT: working as part of a global team, with coworker and outsourcers all over the world, coordinated by a project manager at headquarters. But that reality can be ugly, as managers are stretched across time zones, with no such thing as being off the clock. Work quality, commitment, and communications vary considerably, putting the burden on the manager caught in the middle to make it all work — from thousands of miles away. Read full story in PCWorld. (Reprinted from InfoWorld.) … Read more »
Creative Recruiting
Originally published in Computerworld. Four years ago, CEO John Cestar took a novel approach to increasing the skill levels at Freeborders, a small outsourcing provider that operates in China. He took a road trip around the U.S., looking for Chinese engineers working in U.S. companies who were interested in returning to China or would soon be compelled to do so because their work visas were about to expire. He recruited a pool of 20 people who spoke both Chinese and English and had U.S.-style management skills. Read full article. … Read more »
Language Barriers
Originally published in Computerworld. Among the various sourcing peculiarities and problems specific to China is regionalism, says Pieter Tsiknas, director of SearchBank’s Beijing office. Read full article. … Read more »
Saving face in China
Originally published in Computerworld. In the West, companies want to put on a good face for customers, even if it means having to admit mistakes. Righting wrongs is a big part of a good public image, and a good internal image as well. In the East, particularly at traditional companies, saving face is important. Saving face means that you don’t admit your own mistakes and you don’t publicly humiliate co-workers by exposing their mistakes. Read full article. … Read more »