Evaluating An Offshore Provider's Cultural Compatibility

Economic and competitive pressures are compelling many continental European firms to send work offshore — but this increased interest is not converting to growth in offshore yet. Why? Despite offshore suppliers building local presence to compliment their offshore scale, there is still a cultural gap between continental European clients and Indian providers. Rather than focusing on country-to-country cultural differences, which is often cited as the problem, the real issue is the cultural mismatch between individual firms. To succeed in their offshoring efforts, sourcing professionals will need to include cultural alignment as a key selection criterion.