Ethical Implications of Outsourcing Shawn Schneider University of Phoenix Michael Osby MGT216 May 18, 2009
Ethical Implications of Outsourcing For several years, many companies have turned to outsourcing income tax preparation and income tax return filing to companies in other countries to improve performance. The act of outsourcing a company’s tax preparation is reasonable if the company is confident with the servicing company which is contracted; by outsourcing one part of the business they can use resources in other areas (Mintz, 2004). What happens when a tax preparation company outsources customer tax preparation and tax return filing to other countries? When an individual takes
…show more content…
If the company reacts in an ethically correct manner the presumption is that they possess high ethical standards (Sivaswany, 2005).
Benefits
Lower costs are the reason U.S.-based companies turn to outsourcing beyond their own borders. The cost of living and standard of living in India is less than in the U.S. which lowers the wage cost to the tax preparation and return preparation companies. The lower cost of the tax preparation and tax return means a lower cost to the consumer. To hire an American based CPA firm to do tax preparation and tax return is substantially higher than that of a company which outsources to India. When a company outsources to firms in India the prices are set; the individuals pay by the “number of source documents provided (Brody, Miller, & Rolleri, 2004). Do the lower costs outweigh the possibility of lost confidentiality?
Information Processes The process of sharing information between the outsourcing company and the India based Accounting Firm is that of electronic data transfer. One might question the confidentiality of this type of information transmittal. The claims of companies is that the security of the electronic transmittal over a secure internet connection is much more safe than the average CPA Firm an individual might take income taxes to for preparation and filing (Brody, Miller, & Rolleri,
Because many businesses in the US have more often began outsourcing different business products instead of doing them in-house, it is important to understand why outsourcing may be the best option. Although many tie outsourcing to foreign markets, outsourcing can include both foreign and domestic markets. By entering into a contractual agreement, outsourcing allows organizations to pay for services they need. This gives the option for a business to get professionals to perform services for them that the business may not have the staff for. Outsourcing provides a cost saving-strategy that is usually more affordable. Ultimately,
In order for the directors and executives in any company to know that their employees are acting in an ethical manner, they need a defined
Despite that an excessively excellent image of outsourcing was provided to individuals one or two of years back, the truth check they were confronted with shattered the dream badly. Recent statistics reveal that over four-hundredth corporations are concerned either in experimenting or are already engaged in shifting their services overseas in search of low-cost labor and services that are being provided by countries like China and Bharat. Such efforts have left native market labor at extreme disadvantage wherever they're finding it vastly tedious to create each ends meet, leave behind the back-breaking burden of taxes they're being obligatory to. With over four-hundredth major company executives registering their opinion by discouraging the method of outsourcing the controversy that was antecedently being won by the
The U.S. economy has seen many hardships within the last decade. The economy has suffered from a recession that is still threatening to cripple some Americans and unemployment has been at an all time high. People have lost homes and jobs and many businesses have gone bankrupt simply trying to survive. However, in the midst of this economic crisis some companies have managed to survive. Many companies, approximately 36% of them, have found a way to avoid economic collapse by cutting costs (Job Outsourcing Statistics, 2014). One of the most popular cost reducing strategies of our time is called outsourcing.
Outsourcing of American jobs overseas is displacing American's in the United States. American blue-collar workers and the Middle Class American will soon be a word of the past if the US government continues outsourcing the low-skill jobs overseas.
Outsourcing has become an integral part of many organizations today. Outsourcing has its advantages and disadvantages that organizations will have to weigh to decide whether or not outsourcing is the best possible solution to their current problems and business operations. Outsourcing refers to the process of hiring external provider to operate on a business or organization function (Venture Outsource, 2012). In this case, two organizations or businesses enter a contract where there will be an exchange of services and payments. This paper will discuss the possible risks an organization may encounter in outsourcing in relation to the use of an external service
In today’s society, outsourcing has become a very critical and controversial issue to companies and other countries. Outsourcing is known as offshoring as an organization’s use of an outside organization for a broad set of services. As technology continues to grow and advance more, outsourcing becomes more popular. Many American white collar jobs are being taken over by foreign countries around the world. Almost every occupation or career in the United States has some effect of the outsourcing. As a result, many Americans become unemployed and financially challenged; being that outsourcing can increase the United States unemployment rate. Employees who live in the US rather keep jobs in the country to create more opportunities. On the other hand, few stakeholders
In the workplace as well as one’s personal life is essential for ethics to be maintained; often taking the right action is not always the most popular choice. It is important for maintaining an upstanding ethical code of conduct to be a productive individual as well as function as an employee in the workplace.
Another cost savings of outsourcing is avoiding penalties and fees from the IRS and state if a tax filing or payment is submitted late or incorrectly. In the event that an error does occur most payroll service companies will pay the penalties and interest that are accrued.
In the past decade, a pattern has emerged of large corporations choosing to contract their labour to foreign countries in order to remain competitive. However, companies tend to relocate production to the poorest nations where labour is cheap and output is chief. As a result, outsourcing labour has made multinational companies subject to criticism for their immoral practices. This has created the classic ethical debate as to whether it is possible for multinationals to engage in developing nations in both an ethical and lucrative manner. For businesses, the difficulty is if one of these values should be favoured over the other.
Also the inferior cost of operation and labour in India makes it an eye-catching location for companies to outsource to. According to (Kathleen et.al 2014 p.6) “outsourcing is not always the answer” companies and organizations should approach outsourcing claims with significant care and attention. Some disadvantages can be problems with quality if the outsourcing provider is untested or doesn’t have accurate processes. There is also a problem of loss of management control, when you have organizations in more than one country, Human Resource must focus on treating resources as global and not country specific, with economic expansion in India this company needs to make sure it has the organizational capability to operate in India (Banfield & Kay 2012 p.201). Whilst outsourcing, top management should demonstrate leadership in the arrangement of commitment, guarantee and participation in the process. Communication also plays a vital role in the management process whilst outsourcing, it’s important to keep employees up to date of your aims and intentions in a precise and suitable fashion. This gives employees a greater sense of trust and reliability in their manager. Managers should also make an effort to involve their employees and ask for their opinions on outsourcing, with more involvement in the development employees are more likely to consent
“Today, Indian outsourcing is one of the best ways for CIOs to cut application development and maintenance costs, and deal effectively with the peaks and valleys of software demands.” (Yeo). Outsourcing to India is still focused primarily on highly technological aspects, but is not limited there. They are known for creative development in the pharmaceutical field, and have recently developed an unsurpassed medication for adult ADHD. Their superior IT assistance is not limited to companies, they offer many websites for individuals seeking help with programming. In mid 2007, U.S. outsourcing to India reached $4.9 billion. Although technologically advanced, they still lag in economic prosperity and therefore still don’t expect the type of compensation that Americans do. “They
ethical approach can be taken in the best interests of the company. Again, to maintain a strong
In the past decade the topic of outsourcing has become a heavily debated subject on if it is ethically correct to outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. Outsourcing has become more and more an option for many companies and not just an economic fad. The decision to outsource is a difficult one for any company to make because there are many advantages and disadvantages to consider. The decision to outsource affects many people, communities, and industries so if a corporation decides to outsource they must consider how it will affect human dignity, the common good of the economy, and subsidiary.
Working with offshore partners requires a clear layout of legal considerations since the legal systems vary from one country to the other (Aron, Clemons & Reddi, 2005). Loopholes in cyber security emanate from such instances. Even if offered similar legal provisions, the client would have to incur high price regarding time and money for a transnational lawsuit. Therefore, before a firm decides to use offshore outsourcing, it needs to consider legitimate issues in the outsourcing contract arrangements (Aron, Clemons & Reddi, 2005). For example, the United States-based companies outsourcing services from say India must be aware of the corresponding data privacy and intellectual property protection in India.