the.world.is.flat-第5章
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be no outsourcing for me…even if some of my readers wish my column could be shipped
off to North Korea。 At least that's what I thought。 Then I heard about the Reuters
operation in India。 I didn't have time to visit the Reuters office in Bangalore； but
I was able to get hold of Tom Glocer； the CEO of Reuters； to hear what he was doing。
Glocer is a pioneer in the outsourcing of elements of the news supply chain。
With 2；300 journalists around the world； in 197 bureaus； serving a
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market including investment bankers； derivatives traders； stockbrokers； newspapers；
radio； television； and Internet outlets； Reuters has always had a very complex
audience to satisfy。 After the dot…com bust； though； when many of its customers became
very cost…conscious； Reuters started asking itself； for reasons of both cost and
efficiency： Where do we actually need our people to be located to feed our global
news supply chain？ And can we actually disaggregate the work of a journalist and keep
part in London and New York and shift part to India？
Glocer started by looking at the most basic bread…and…butter function Reuters
provides； which is breaking news about company earnings and related business
developments； every second of every day。 〃Exxon comes out with its earnings and we
need to get that as fast possible up on screens around the world： 'Exxon earned
thirty…nine cents this quarter as opposed to thirty…six cents last quarter。' The core
competency there is speed and accuracy；〃 explained Glocer。 〃You don't need a lot of
analysis。 We just need to get the basic news up as fast as possible。 The flash should
be out in seconds after the company releases； and the table ＇showing the recent history
of quarterly earnings＇ a few seconds later。〃
Those sorts of earnings flashes are to the news business what vanilla is to the ice
cream business…a basic commodity that actually can be made anywhere in the flat world。
The real value…added knowledge work happens in the next five minutes。 That is when
you need a real journalist who knows how to get a comment from the company； a comment
from the top two analysts in the field； and even some word from competitors to put
the earnings report in perspective。 〃That needs a higher journalistic skill
set…someone in the market with contacts； who knows who the best industry analysts
are and has taken the right people to lunch；〃 said Glocer。
The dot…com bust and the flattening of the world forced Glocer to rethink how Reuters
delivered news…whether it could disaggregate the functions of a journalist and ship
the low…value…added functions to India。 His primary goal was to reduce the overlap
Reuters payroll； while preserving as many good journalism jobs as possible。 〃So the
first thing we did；〃 said Glocer； 〃was hire six reporters in Bangalore as an
experiment。
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We said； 'Let's let them just do the flash headlines and the tables and whatever else
we can get them to do in Bangalore。'〃
These new Indian hires had accounting backgrounds and were trained by Reuters； but
they were paid standard local wages and vacation and health benefits。 〃India is an
unbelievably rich place for recruiting people； not only with technical skills but
also financial skills；〃 said Glocer。 When a company puts out its earnings； one of
the first things it does is hand it to the wires…Reuters； Dow Jones； and Bloomberg…for
distribution。 〃We will get that raw data；〃 he said； 〃and then it's a race to see how
fast we can turn it around。 Bangalore is one of the most wired places in the world；
and although there's a slight delay…one second or less…in getting the information
over there； it turns out you can just as easily sit in Bangalore and get the electronic
version of a press release and turn it into a story as you can in London or New York。〃
The difference； however； is that wages and rents in Bangalore are less than one…fifth
what they are in those Western capitals。
While economics and the flattening of the world have pushed Reuters down this path；
Glocer has tried to make a virtue of necessity。 〃We think we can off…load commoditized
reporting and get that done efficiently somewhere else in the world；〃 he said； and
then give the conventional Reuters journalists； whom the company is able to retain；
a chance to focus on doing much higher…value…added and personally fulfilling
journalism and analysis。 〃Let's say you were a Reuters journalist in New York。 Do
you reach your life's fulfillment by turning press releases into boxes on the screen；
or by doing the analysis？〃 asked Glocer。 Obviously； it is the latter。 Outsourcing
news bulletins to India also allows Reuters to extend the breadth of its reporting
to more small…cap companies； companies itwas not cost…efficient for Reuters to follow
before with higher…paid journalists in New York。 But with lower…wage Indian reporters；
who can be hired in large numbers for the cost of one reporter in New York； it can
now do that from Bangalore。 By the summer of 2004； Reuters had grown its Bangalore
content operation to three hundred staff； aiming eventually for a total of fifteen
hundred。 Some of those are Reuters veterans sent out to train the Indian teams； some
are reporters filing earnings flashes； but most are journalists doing
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slightly more specialized data analysis…number crunching…for securities offerings。
〃A lot of our clients are doing the same thing；〃 said Glocer。 〃Investment research
has had to have huge amounts of cost ripped out of it； so a lot of firms are using
shift work in Bangalore to do bread…and…butter company analysis。〃 Until recently the
big Wall Street firms had conducted investment research by spending millions of
dollars on star analysts and then charging part of their salaries to their
stockbrokerage departments； which shared the analysis with their best customers； and
part to their investment banking business； which sometimes used glowing analyses of
a company to lure its banking business。 In the wake of New York State Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer's investigations into Wall Street practices； following several
scandals； investment banking and stockbrokerage have had to be distinctly
separated…so that analysts will stop hyping companies in order to get their investment
banking。 But as a result； the big Wall Street investment firms have had to sharply
reduce the cost of their market research； all of which has to be paid for now by their
brokerage departments alone。 And this created a great incentive for them to outsource
some of this analytical work to places like Bangalore。 In addition to being able to
pay an analyst in Bangalore about 15；000 in total compensation； as opposed to 80；000
in New York or London； Reuters has found that its India employees tend to be
financially literate and highly motivated as well。 Reuters also recently opened a
software development center in Bangkok because it turned out to be a good place to
recruit developers who had been overlooked by all the Western companies vying for
talent in Bangalore。
I find myself torn by this trend。 Having started my career as a wire service reporter
with United Press International； I have enormous sympathy with wire service reporters
and the pressures； both professional and financial； under which they toil。 But UPI
might still be thriving today as a wire service； which it is not； if it had been able
to outsource some of its lower…end business when I started as a reporter in London
twenty…five years ago。
〃It is delicate with the staff；〃 said Glocer； who has cut the entire Reuters staff
by roughly a quarter； without deep cuts among the reporters。 The Reuters staff； he
said； understand that this is being done so
that the company can survive and then thrive again。 At the same time； said Glocer；
〃these are sophisticated people out reporting。 They see that our clients are doing
the exact same things。 They get the plot of the story 。 。 。 What is vital is to be
honest with people about what we are doing and why and not sugarcoat the message。
I firmly believe in the lesson of classical economists about moving work to where
it can be d
