Quality trumps cost. Whatever next?

Maybe it's the fact that I'm at work on Columbus Day, but the McKinsey Quarterly just gave me a reason to laugh. No, really. In the abstract of an article about increased competition in the IT offshoring industry, the Quarterly points out that rising stars in the field are "redefining many traditional management practices" by "focusing on the quality of services delivered rather than the usual benchmarks of costs per offshore hire."

Focusing on providing quality is a revolution in management thinking, eh? Anyone else smell a back-handed indictment of the profession? More importantly, what could have caused such a shift in the paradigm? Part of the reason seems to be that first and second-tier outsourcing firms "can no longer win bids solely by differentiating on price, since almost all suppliers are now cost competitive." So there you have it: when all else is equal, people choose the best quality product they can find. The times truly are a-changin'. (Click here to read the article (subscription required for full access).

--Posted by Phil Stott, Vault Staff Writer