Japanese Outsourced To India

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]EFYTimes: Japanese Language Call Centre Launched In India
Espire Infolabs and MasterPiece Group and Success TRC have launched India's first Japanese language call centre in New Delhi, the companies announced. Japanese operators are working in this call centre for inbound and outbound processes using Japanese language. The companies have set up a joint venture company in Japan by the name of Masterpiece Espire India Co. Ltd having its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan...Amit Rai, chief executive, Espire Infolabs, said, "It's a proud moment for Espire and India. In a way we have come a full circle, from initially offshoring and sending people abroad to having foreign nationals live and work in India". In Masterpiece India Co. Ltd, the executives would be a mixture of both Indians and Japanese nationals with Indians having the Japanese skill set...Large number of Japanese people will come to India to work for one year and, at the same time, learn English, Hindi and Yoga in India while working at the call centre in New Delhi...more...

[Buraku]

Language is a difficult thing to outsource, especially when it comes to keeping fussy Japanese happy with some good customer relations. I've also never known an Indian who could speak Japanese very well. J-nationals national who go to India usually only stay for a few weeks or so, and why would they want to make a career working in a sweaty cramped office where back in Tokyo they'd be getting 10 times the pay and real homegrown Nippon food.
The over-hyped Bangalore is filled with bumber to bumber traffic (sometimes blocked up by cows), power blackouts, and roads that are falling apart.
Listen up FGs
my stock-market tip is that I predict this 'Infolabs/masterpiece' company will go belly up in about a year.

Most of the Spanish, French that tried out outsourcing call centers to India were a complete failure, firstly India was a former 'engu-risu' colony and their language is different and has very few linguistic connections to the French, who are kinda nationalistic and get really p*ssed off when you don't speak French correctly.
The Japanese language is kinda like that of the French, the population are fussy about mannerisms and formal speech
and when doing big business you've got to learn the subtleties, nuances and be a real specialist at the Japanese lingo otherwise you will lose money.

J-companies outsourcing to Taiwan, China, Burma, Korea, Mongolia, Singapore have a huge higher chance of success simply because the native populations have a much better linguistic feel for the language.

If this company is losing money but doesn't want to outsource to the chicoms, then I suggest rather than going to Banglore they go back to using machine recordings do deal with Japanese customer complaints.

[Mulboyne]

I have to agree that India doesn't seem like a great venue for a Japanese language call centre. Perhaps they got a big tax break or some government incentive as part of a Japan-India business initiative.

[Takechanpoo]

"mamaaaaaaaa, calling from weird gaijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinn, scarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry"

[jim katta]

All I know is the last two times I called my U.S. bank I was patched into India and "both" times I had to ask for a supervisor because I couldn't understand the phone rep's English. And I'm from New York, born and raised listening to hundreds of different accents. This outsourcing sh-t is getting out of control. They are taking advantage of those people in India with low wages and taking advantage of bank consumers.

[Samurai_Jerk]

This outsourcing sh-t is getting out of control. They are taking advantage of those people in India with low wages and taking advantage of bank consumers.

Actually, the people in call centers in India make pretty good money by local standards.

I don't mind the idea of outsourcing but it drives me nuts if the person on the other end doesn't know shit that they should. One time in the US I called an airline to get a ticket. I got some dude in India and when he asked me which city I was departing from and I said Seattle. Then he asked me how to spell it. If you don't know how to spell Seattle and you're working for a US based airline's "domestic" call center there is something wrong.

[Blah Pete]

All always like to fuck with them and ask them how the weather is in Bangalore because some of them have company rules that forbid them divulging their location.

[Charles]

I don't mind the idea of outsourcing but it drives me nuts if the person on the other end doesn't know shit that they should. One time in the US I called an airline to get a ticket. I got some dude in India and when he asked me which city I was departing from and I said Seattle. Then he asked me how to spell it. If you don't know how to spell Seattle and you're working for a US based airline's "domestic" call center there is something wrong.

Ah, well, some airlines still do it right. I remember the last time I was in Japan, I phoned American Airlines local call center to confirm my return flight. As soon as I got a human on the line, I politely asked "sumimasen, eigo ga dekimasu ka?" The guy shot right back, "well of course, this is American Airlines." He sounded like he was a native Californian.

But I can see it from the other side. When I finished 4th year Japanese, the students were aggressively recruited to do Japanese phone support at a call center here in the US. They were especially determined to hire me, but I told them they were nuts, I wasn't fluent enough to do the job. That didn't deter them a bit. That's when I knew I didn't want to work for a company that would hire someone like me, who was completely unfit for the job.

[Danny Rooboy]

There are Japanese Language Call Centres where I am from in Australia. The pay is just over 2000Yen an hour and its pretty easy work. Its good for students, Japanese wives and working holiday people coming over here.

[Buraku]

Japan pushes for stronger partnership with India

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/23/business/23rupee.php

[Mulboyne]

[L S]

Economist: Indian computer-services companies await Japanese customers

I agree with the point that there aren't enough SW engineers in Japan, but I am still doubtful India can cost effectively meet the needs of Japan and other nations for SW development.
I am sure there are stories of relative success, and yes it is generally educated cheap labor, but from my own experince and those I have heard from collegues in the tech world, the work done by Indian SW companies often has to be reworked by their collegues in other countries (US, Japan, etc.). I have been told this is partly due to management style/culture in India which is top down and not to be questioned. But others may have more expertise on this than me...

I will say China is similar. For chip design, I know in my previous company the US teams always had to rework 30-50% of what the China teams did. The level of sophistication and concept of quality just isn't there yet.

This all points to the erroneous thinking that it is always cheaper to outsource to China or India.

[Charles]

...For chip design, I know in my previous company the US teams always had to rework 30-50% of what the China teams did. The level of sophistication and concept of quality just isn't there yet.

This all points to the erroneous thinking that it is always cheaper to outsource to China or India.

There's an old saying, "There's never enough time or money to do it right the first time, but always enough to fix it afterwards."
Or something like that.

[Buraku]

India is now regarded as the most attractive business base by Japanese manufacturers from a long-term perspective, exceeding China for the first time, a Japan Bank for International Cooperation survey showed Friday. According to the JBIC annual survey, 70% of surveyed Japanese manufacturers viewed India as an attractive country to do business in over the next 10 years or so, while 67% picked China. Russia came third with 37%.
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/422318

[samin]

That's nice to hear.

[Dragonette]

All I know is the last two times I called my U.S. bank I was patched into India and "both" times I had to ask for a supervisor because I couldn't understand the phone rep's English. And I'm from New York, born and raised listening to hundreds of different accents. This outsourcing sh-t is getting out of control. They are taking advantage of those people in India with low wages and taking advantage of bank consumers.

I'm in NY too, and I have the same problem with Indian support. On top of me not understanding them, they don't seem to understand what I'm saying either unless I'm VERY careful to speak standard non-idiomatic English but beyond that, I get the feeling that they're reading from a script. E.G., nobody seems to inform them when there's a server down or an internet outage, so they waste hours of my time insisting that I restart, reinstall software, reset prefs, etc.

Of course, they always introduce themselves as "Chuck Jackson" or "Mary Jones". Sending genuine Japanese nationals to India makes no sense to me, so I guess that in this case the Indian reps will be calling themselves Akira Tanaka (or Noriko Fukunaga?)

I'd love to overhear some of the international conversations that are sure to happen when this gets started...

[ttjereth]

Of course, they always introduce themselves as "Chuck Jackson" or "Mary Jones". Sending genuine Japanese nationals to India makes no sense to me, so I guess that in this case the Indian reps will be calling themselves Akira Tanaka (or Noriko Fukunaga?)

I'd love to overhear some of the international conversations that are sure to happen when this gets started...

Veering off-topic here, but my wife's job (here in Tokyo) make's her use her maiden name "for fear the customers won't understand" my katakana last name, so i can only imagine the trauma having to try and understand katakana indian names would cause Japanese customers

Dell already uses Indian tech and sales support in both the U.S. and Japan. I just do everything through email when I have to contact them, and it actually turns out quicker than trying to go through things on the phone...

[unkosando]

This is the worst possible combination ever.

Japan only cares about the details and... India doesn't give a shit about the details.

[Jack]

The call centre business in India is in decline. customer service is terrible and people can't understand the accent. In a addition, often you have to spell the names of cities and towns that most people in the local coutry take for granted. Basically outsourcing call centres was a stupid idea and everyone recognizes it now.

[Buraku]

[Buraku]

Even after a decade, the India-Japan free trade deal has not worked. Why?
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/sm ... 008357.cms

Street Shitter
https://www.urbandictionary.com/

Indians. The term is still being used to mock people from India or of Indian descent, because their country fails to convincing their people to use toilets.
I saw 40 street shitters in Kochi, when will they start to use toilets?

Not all are Lower Caste Hindu Street Shitters and Gypsy culture, but the elite can also have issues, they have banned teaching Darwin and the Periodic Table is Blasphemy ... they will return to Voodoo supernatural or teaching Classic Elements from earth, water, air, fire, and Mystic Chi aether

Remember the predictions that China would collapse in 1998 no 1999 no it will collapse in 2000, 2001, maybe 2002, ok 2003 ....and on and on and India will be the Earth's number one Super POO'er by 2020?

It was even going to become a Hyper-Power and pass out the USA??

India cuts periodic table and evolution from school textbooks — experts are baffled
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01770-y

NCERT drops periodic table, Pythagorean theorem, and evolution from textbooks
https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/nce ... 933315.ece