Outsourced

You asked for it, so here it is! More movie reviews!

After going out last night, we took it easy tonight, made some popcorn and popped in a movie (and by popped in, I really mean streamed one via Netflix). The movie of choice tonight: Outsourced. For anyone who has watched much TV this year, the new NBC show is not an original, but based on a movie from 2006. As much as I'm enjoying the TV show, the movie is better. While not as funny and lacking the glitz and glamor of a big studio production, the movie does a better job exploring the impact that off-shoring has on both countries and dives deeper into cultural differences and similarities. The TV show is really just another comedy and hasn't done much to explore outsourcing. Sure it's early, but I get the feeling that it won't change a whole lot.

Talking about outsourcing brings up another interesting subject: the difference between outsourcing and off-shoring. So here's a lecture from Professor Kaufman. Outsourcing just implies that a company is hiring a third party to perform some task for it. Often times the third party is local. For example, Advil Liqui-Gel Capsules are sold by Wyeth, but made by a different company at a facility in Florida. Off-shoring is the act of sending jobs from one country to another (think call centers in India). Outsourcing isn't always detrimental to a country's economy, off-shoring often can be.

Getting off of my soap box now, I give Outsourcing a thumbs up. Good flick, worth the investment.