Johnson and Johnson: Fully Engaged in Latin America
July 6th, 2011Julia Santos, Head of Worldwide Strategic Outsourcing, has a lot to say about staying ‘close’ to Latin America and getting a grip on what’s really going on – especially in education.
A popular session at the recent Nearshore Nexus conference addressed one of the hottest and most enduring topics that faces the global outsourcing industry today: Just how much does ‘culture’ matter in nearshoring/ offshoring?
Our panelists (names are listed on page two of this post) had a lot to say. The debate turned controversial when the topic of procurement was brought up. Run the video
More Calls for Latin America to Increase the Volume
May 2nd, 2011
“The Latin America story hasn’t been told,” says John McCormick of Information Management Magazine.
Nearshore Nexus takeaway: Will countries capitalize on a golden marketing moment?
By Dennis Barker
You might’ve heard this before. Enrique Cortes of Dell Services said it here just a few months ago. And if you were at the Nearshore Nexus conference last week, you definitely heard it: Most Latin American countries are not doing a good job of getting the word out about the region’s technical capabilities.
This was hammered home during several Nexus talks and panel discussions, like a recurring theme. During his morning keynote speech, Capgemini’s Steve Rudderham, VP of client engagement for the Americas, urged trade promotion associations and governments to step up efforts to market IT capabilities and tout the region’s other advantages. They should also be doing more to combat negative perceptions of Latin America. “They’ve got to do a better job of communicating within the U.S., through the U.S. media,” he said.
Let Data Drive Decisions Not Wrong Perceptions, Says J&J Sourcing Chief
October 12th, 2010
Santos: "I believe that most false perceptions are due to lack of awareness or exposure"
Q/A With Julia Santos, Director, Worldwide Strategic Outsourcing Johnson & Johnson
There is a reason why Fortune 50 companies like Johnson and Johnson have embraced nearshoring – it serves a larger strategic purpose. Julia Santos, who is global strategy chief of outsourcing at the company, is passionate about the important role Latin America plays in supporting the company’s offshore R&D services and has become one of the better known and respected customers of nearshore services over the last several years. We caught up with her last week:
In your role at J&J, how has your understanding and awareness of Latin America culture and particularly the business environment evolved?
Julia: Johnson & Johnson has been in Latin America for decades. We started operations in Brazil in 1933 and now have one of the largest J&J plants in the world. Our products are sold in practically ever Latin American country. We have seen the Latin American consumer in a better place financially today than a decade ago. Economic growth is a certainty for the region and with growth comes a better way of life.
‘Brazil is Ready’ Declares Brasscom President
June 22nd, 2010Brazil is qualified, competitive and ready to conquer the international sourcing market – this was the message from the president of Brasscom, Antonio Gil, for executives from different countries gathered in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, earlier this month for the Brasscom Global IT Forum. ”Brazil is ready: it has skilled labor, political and economic stability, proximity of time zone, besides differences such as experience and capacity to innovate,” said Gil.
In the presence of executives from major global organizations, journalists, market analysts and government officials, Gil and guest lecturers highlighted the intangible attributes found here. ”Brazilians have passion, creativity and brilliance – if you can apply this to your products, this will be a win-win relationship,” said the head of worldwide outsourcing strategies of Johnson & Johnson, Julia Santos. For the director of Dell Brazil, Jairo Avritchir, a small dose of insubordination also favors local professionals: “If you’re just an …
How to Stop Culture from Killing Your Offshore Deals
October 20th, 2009Steve Rudderham, VP, Client Engagement, Capgemini: “Problems culminate when customers and providers don’t spend enough time with each other”
Julia Santos, Director, Worldwide Strategic Outsourcing, Johnson & Johnson: “My way of communication and dealing with providers in India and LatAm is different. Because of the culture in Asia – it’s hard to just say no.”
Maurizio Velasquez, Commercial and BDVP Teledatos S.A., based in Colombia: “From a Latin perspective –we like to have the human approach.”
When people talk about “culture” in offshoring, what are they really getting at? It’s a question I’ve been thinking a lot about lately as I listen to people talk about culture as a fundamentally critical issue that has to be managed, watched over and in the most direct way – overcome.
Culture can, let’s face it, really screw up an offshoring deal. When I lived in Japan several years ago, I had my own taste of cultural “adjustment” learning quickly that if you’re out on the street and lost – people would rather give you bad directions than deliver the embarrassing news that the place you were trying to get to is far, far away.
Take that example, enlarge it and install it into a business environment, where both providers and customers may rely on increasingly sophisticated processes and modern technology tools to conduct business, but the sum result of that collaboration is intended to be something the client values and the provider understands thoroughly.
How Widespread are Cultural Breakdowns?
Research released recently by Boston-based Vantage Partners shows that culture is an issue that has to be reckoned with head on. The expanding gap between client expectation and provider service delivery – often referred to as “scope creep” – is at the heart of many deals that go bad.
