NRI teaches ABC of outsourcing
NEW YORK: Growing interest among US students in business process outsourcing (BPO) has encouraged an Indian-American professor in the University of Arizona to introduce a course on the subject.
"I was in the office of former dean Lester Thurow at MIT Sloan School about 18 months ago. He received a call from (TV programme) '60 Minutes' on outsourcing. I told him that I had received a similar call. We discussed and decided to work together in the area of outsourcing," Amar Gupta, professor of entrepreneurship, Eller College of Management at the university, said.
In spring 2005, a week into the semester, several students had enquired about a course in outsourcing.
"He (Thurow) said that MIT (Mbuttachusetts Insbreastute of Technology) should start a course on the subject and that we could begin one a year later. I said the students were looking for something shorter to which he suggested that we teach the course in the coming fall," Gupta said.
"Finally, he agreed to my idea to teach the course in the spring term itself. It was an unprecedented gamble -to launch a new course more than a week after the beginning of the semester with no syllabus at all."
Gupta's course on outsourcing touches strategic, organisational, technical and economic issues.
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About half his students have a business background. The rest are from computer science, economics and medicine streams. Gupta received six enquiries from other US universities over the past year for a syllabus on outsourcing.
"I am aware that some have started new courses on the subject. The one at New York University has some similarities to mine, for example in terms of heavy emphasis on course paper," said Gupta, who is also the senior director for research and business development at the university.
Gupta holds a bachelor's in electrical engineering and is a PhD (computer science) from the Indian Insbreastute of Technology (IIT).
He also completed a degree in management from MIT.
Asked if he faced any hostility given the opposition to outsourcing in the US, Gupta said: "I got a hate mail at MIT. I invited each of the individuals who gave their names and contact information to send their bio so that we could consider inviting them to address our students. Not one responded. The same occurred here (at Eller) this spring."
"The students raise insightful questions covering technical, business, economic and political aspects of outsourcing."
On whether the curriculum factors in the cultural aspects of outsourcing in a country like India, where the BPO industry employs thousands, Gupta said: "We have had several guest speakers of Indian origin. At MIT, I also taught a parallel course on business in India."
"The students were required to spend 10 days in India and we arranged meetings at all levels, including with Indian President (A.P.J.) Abdul Kalam. I expect to teach the latter course again during the spring of 2006."