bized magazine outsourcing curric

8/9/2019 BizEd Magazine Outsourcing Curric

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42 BizEd november/december 2009

Tw psss tu th ipt fl“outsu” it a tl t tah stutsth itiais laship, listig, ass-ultual ustaig.

W hen business proessors Aneil and Karen Mishrasaw the 2007 flm comedy “Outsourced” last year,they thought they were just indulging in their loveo independent flms. But they quickly realized

that the flm had tremendous potential as a teaching tool in thebusiness classroom.

The movie’s depiction o the outsourcing phenomenon, as

seen through one manager’seyes, covers many o thethemes important to busi-ness, say the husband-and- wie pair. The story tacklesthe eects o globalization,the importance o appropri-ate cross-cultural communi-cation, and the real human consequences o decision making, with a sense o humor that they thought would be especially accessible and relevant to business students.

The Mishras contacted the flm’s producer, Tom Gorai, anddirector, John Jecoat, who also saw the educational poten-tial. Gorai and Jecoat already were looking or a proessorto create a business curriculum around the flm, so they weremore than willing to work with the Mishras on the project.

by Tricia Bisoux

‘Outsourcing’the Curriculum



4

Movie stills courtesy of “Outsourced: The Movie”

BizEd november/december 2009




“We wanted to make this flm because the script was unny and thoughtul,” says Gorai. “But we got a surprising responserom educators and HR directors who told us that the flmreally gives viewers a sense o empathy and awareness. It helpsthem understand what motivates other people and how toeectively work together toward a common goal.”

The Mishras also saw how cross-cultural connections cameinto play in the flm’s storyline. “We knew it would resonate with students,” says Karen Mishra, an assistant proessor inthe department o advertising, public relations, and retail-ing at Michigan State University in Lansing. Ater viewingand discussing “Outsourced,” she says, students understand

more deeply how business decisions can have ripple eectson both sides o the ocean.

Springboard for DiscussionThe Mishras were especially impressed with “Outsourced”as a tool or learning because it strikes an essential balance: As a fctional comedy, it allows students to critique anddiscuss its content reely, but its realistic, documentary-like portrayal provides students with a rich window into aglobal environment.

The movie’s plot centers around the character Todd, amiddle manager at a novelty catalog company, who fndsout that his department is being outsourced to an Indian call

center. Even worse, he must travel to India to train his ownreplacement. During his time in India, Todd evolves roman American outsider puzzled and sometimes alarmed by thestark dierences between India and America, to a true stu-dent o Indian culture. He soon realizes he has to work with-in India’s cultural ramework to train the new manager, work with Indian employees, and improve the call center’s peror-mance. Ultimately, he changes how he views the country.

“Some o our students talk about scenes rom the movieand say, ‘That couldn’t happen,’” says Aneil Mishra, proes-sor and associate director o the Human Resources ExecutiveEducation Center at Michigan State. “But an Indian student

in the class will say, ‘That did happen—to me .’” Those kindso exchanges don’t just promote urther discussion, says Aneil. They inspire students to think more about the ten-sions between cultures and the cause-and-eect relationshipsin business.

The flm-based curriculum includes an introduction tothe flm, an explanation o India’s culture and business envi-ronment, a discussion o the negative and positive impactso outsourcing, and suggestions or additional reading. Aterthey view the flm, students then work through 14 sets o questions. Each set correlates to a moment in the flm and

addresses subjects presented in the flm rom three disciplin-ary perspectives: leadership and change management, cross-cultural communication, and sales and marketing.

The questions are designed to spark discussion amongstudents. Could Todd’s boss have shown greater compas-sion when he told Todd that the department would beoutsourced? How could Todd have prepared himsel moreeectively or his immersion into Indian culture? What doesTodd learn as he begins to integrate Indian cultural normsinto his own management style?

One aspect o the flm is particularly enlightening or stu-dents, says Aneil. In the story, Todd stays at a comortableresidence hall, much like a bed-and-breakast. However, justover its high garden wall is an incredibly poor community.Todd requently sees residence hall sta pass trays with meal

letovers across the wall to the unseen people just beyond.In one scene, Todd passes the remainder o his meal over as well. It’s a metaphorical moment that generates debate notonly about the interactions between Indian and Americancultures, says Aneil, but also about the barriers between richand poor.

Learning to Listen and LeadThe course eatures modules that serve as extensions o thelessons the movie teaches. For instance, students can play across-cultural role-playing game, created by Roy Lewicki, that



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is oten part o organizational behavior curricula. The game,called Krunchian Role Play, breaks students into two groups:the Krunchians, who are members o a emale-dominatedculture, and consultants, who have come to teach the Krun-chians to build airplanes. The student-consultants must navi-gate a cultural minefeld, because the Krunchians do not speak English, do not trust men with responsibility, and punish any violation o their laws and customs with banishment.

To up the stakes, the student-consultants aren’t told atthe outset that Krunchia is a matriarchal society. “The menoten come in with typical Western attitudes and try to takecharge, but the Krunchians don’t want to talk to the men

and start banishing them,” says Karen. “The exercise canbecome quite comical as it plays out.” As the game progresses, however, students are aced with

the central difculty Todd must overcome in “Outsourced”—how to work within a culture without orcing on it the valueso another. “Students really start to listen to each other andcommunicate with each other,” Karen says. “They start toask, ‘What is your culture like? How can we help you?’”

The Mishras continue that lesson with a module on eec-tive listening. Students are placed in small groups to play oneo three roles: speaker, listener, or observer. Over fve min-utes, the speaker shares a concern or problem, while the lis-tener practices active listening skills such as maintaining eye

contact, avoiding unnecessary interruptions, paraphrasingthe speaker’s concern, and asking pertinent questions. At theend o fve minutes, the observer provides eedback to thespeaker and listener. Then, the students trade roles.

Such role-playing games reinorce the flm’s depictiono communication and leadership—themes that are at theheart o research the Mishras have been working on or thelast 20 years. Both proessors have developed case studiesabout what happens at companies when they must downsizeor displace their workorce. This research is the basis o theirrecent book, Trust Is Everything: Become the Leader Others Will Follow.

Too oten, they say, the message or business is to “stay objective” and ocus solely on the bottom line. But objectiv-ity doesn’t always yield the most positive results, says Karen.For example, a company places its own uture at risk i itlays o employees without also showing compassion—by helping laid-o employees fnd other work and reassuringthe employees who remain that the company will try to savetheir jobs. Without that kind o reassurance, a company’s bestpeople are likely to seek more secure positions elsewhere.

For leaders, compassion begins with the ability to listenand respond well to employee concerns, says Karen. “In

our research, we ound that companies that downsize mosteectively are those that treat their employees with respectand compassion. They’re the ones that build trust, preservemorale, and energize their remaining employees,” she says.“Even though they must downsize, these companies actually make their organizations better.”

The Human ComponentMany business concepts have a technical, data-driven compo-nent, but students are more likely to remember the humanstories that arise when these concepts are put to the test.That’s why “Outsourced” can be a powerul tool in the class-

room, says Karen. “It’s so easy or people to say that, whencompanies need to cut costs, they can simply eliminate jobs without thinking about it. But when we interview managers,they oten say that these are the decisions that haunt themmost,” she stresses. “These decisions aren’t just on a spread-sheet. They can be devastating to actual human beings.”

The course is now being used in schools such as BostonCollege, Southern Methodist University, Tulane University,and Louisiana State University. The Mishras hope that it willtake hold not only in MBA courses, but also in executiveeducation.

For Gorai, the flm has taken on new meaning since it wasfrst released. He points to a scene where Asha, the emale

lead, jokingly tells Todd that i it doesn’t work out or herin India, “I’ll come to America and take your job.” That joke resonates dierently today than it did just two years ago,Gorai says.

“People relate dierently to that line now, because they realize how true it is— how closely tied together all theeconomies o the world really are,” Gorai says. “People havetold me that, ater viewing the flm, they’re a little less aggra- vated by customer service calls. They realize there’s anotherhuman being on the other end o the line.”

The Mishras hope that students will come to similarrealizations. Their goal is that aculty will use the flm as

an accessible and humorous gateway to a number o vital-ly important business topics, including the cross-culturaldimensions o business.

Ater all, many o today’s students won’t just pursue mul-tiple careers in their lietimes—they’ll pursue these careersin multiple countries, the Mishras emphasize. The “Out-sourced” course introduces them to a dialogue that they willlikely engage in or decades to come. ■z

For more inormation about using the flm “Outsourced” in the business

curriculum, visit www.outsourcedthemovie.com.

It’s easy or people to say that, when companies needto cut costs, they can eliminate jobs without thinking

about it. But these are the decisions that hauntmanagers the most. —Karen Mishra



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