CASE STUDY 9.1: A WORLD MARKETPLACE FOR JOBS IN A PROJECT-BASED WORK ENVIRONMENT (GLOBAL)

CASE STUDY 9.1: A WORLD MARKETPLACE FOR JOBS IN A
PROJECT-BASED WORK ENVIRONMENT (GLOBAL)

It used to be necessary to bring workers to where the work
was. But with the advent of the World Wide Web, the Internet, and mobile phones
and video conferencing technologies such as Zoom, Cisco Webex Meetings,
Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, and the global communication they make
possible, it is now possible to send work to wherever workers are by putting
together multinational project teams, by using the Internet to recruit
employees on a global scale, or by using open-source software to accommodate
global collaboration. These new styles of work and employment are arising
particularly in response to the capabilities of virtual collaboration and
communication technologies, improved cyber technologies, artificial
intelligence, real time analytics, cloud storage, and powerful computers, and
to the chronic needs for IT and analytical skills in growing numbers of
industries. Phrases like gig work, fluid work, remote work, virtual work,
hybrid workplace, and activity-based work are becoming a norm.

For example, one firm from Bern, Switzerland, recruited from
the web a group of doctorates in discrete mathematics and graph theory from as
far away as Belarus, India, Israel, and Ireland, for a semiconductor design
project. Team members never left their home countries, and the team leader
never left his home office. And the task group beat its deadline. 

In industry after industry, as customers expect quicker
service and competition forces shrink product life cycles, employers are being
driven to apply a “Hollywood model” to their tasks. They assemble the best
talent available at the moment from anywhere in the world (which is the way
teams are put together to film a movie). When the project is complete, the team
breaks up and the members move on to new projects. The end result is a new and
highly efficient global labor market unlike any seen before.

Even for small businesses, their new talent pool is the
world. A new generation of online services is providing small businesses with
opportunities to find specialized expertise and affordable labor. Main Street
businesses can shop a virtual international bazaar of freelancers to recruit
computer programmers in Russia, graphic designers in Italy, or data analysts in
India. A small business of one can look to the world like a very large company
and have access to all kinds of services. Technical advances have made remote
work and virtual teams more feas-ible. And, increasingly, freelancers, gig
workers, and fluid workers are taking on assignments like customer service,
data entry, writing, accounting, human resources, marketing, and payroll –
virtually any “knowledge process” that can be performed remotely – even setting
up and managing business profiles on social networking sites like Facebook and
Twitter.

In some cases, the cost savings can be substantial: for
example, the hourly rates of programmers in Russia, India, or Pakistan are a
fraction of those in North America or Europe. And these freelance marketplaces
also allow small businesses to assemble teams quickly, find specialized
expertise, begin new initiatives, and then be able to drop everything when it’s
no longer needed.

When John Wilde, Chief Executive of Tailor Made Products, a
small manufacturing firm in a small town in Wisconsin, US, wanted to build a
website for a new line of children’s kitchen gadgets called the Curious Chef,
he turned to oDesk and hired a firm in India. He paid about $20,000, which he
estimates was roughly half what he would have paid in the US.

Case study questions

Where are the best places in the world to live (and work)?

Where do you want to live and work? In
Human Resources Anywhere in the US

Do you want to work from home? Yes

Are you interested in working on global teams? Yes

What skills and competencies will enable someone to live and
work wherever he or she wants?

Are you interested in creating or working on a
micro-multinational?

What are the human resource implications of these new ways
of working?

Note: Answering the questions at the end of the
case is not sufficient.

Before you submit your completed case analysis, think how
you would answer the following questions about the quality of your work:

• Have you identified the critical issues/problems in
  the case and analyzed the key facts related to the issues/problems?
• Have you discussed a tentative solution that
  addresses the issues/problems and how you would implement your solution?
• Is information from the textbook and other sources
  integrated into your analysis appropriately? For all sources, you must
  provide complete citations.
• Is the paper professionally presented? Remember your
  audience. It is important to present your information as clearly and
  succinctly as possible. (Do not sacrifice thoroughness for mere brevity.)
  Please proofread carefully for grammar and spelling errors.