Year : 2012, Volume : 2, Issue : 1
First page : ( 30) Last page : ( 49)
Print ISSN : 2277-7938. Online ISSN : 2277-7946. Published online : 2012 April 1.
Article DOI : 10.5958/j.2277-7938.2.1.002

Knowledge Work and the Need for Trust: The Case of India's Publishing Services Industry

Sarma Anirban^1,*

¹National Programme Officer (Communication and Information), UNESCO, B-5/29, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, 110029, India;

*email: a.sarma@unesco.org

Abstract

The study explores the socio-cultural aspects of client–vendor engagement when outsourcing book publishing services from the UK to India. It focuses specifically on the academic and higher education publishing segment. Drawing on interviews with senior managers from four UK-based book publishers and senior managers and personnel from five Indian publishing services firms, the study investigates: (1) whether both parties have a shared understanding of the complexity or knowledge intensiveness of the work being outsourced and the supplier's capabilities; (2) whether their perceptions affect the level of trust governing the service relation; and (3) whether publishers’ willingness to trust and their perception of the outsourced functions are partly determined by prejudices about, or cultural incompatibilities with, the supplier or offshore destination. Publishers and suppliers were found to have considerably different perspectives about the nature of work outsourced. Suppliers’ often exaggerated belief in their capabilities could lead them to expect unrealistic levels of trust from publishers. Finally, it was found that both trust and perceptions of job complexity are indeed affected by some publishers’ prejudices about India or Indian workers. The study concludes that perceptions of knowledge work, ctrust and cultural (in)compatibility are firmly interlinked and must be considered in conjunction when assessing outsourcing arrangements.

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Keywords

Outsourcing, Book Publishing, Services, Knowledge Management, Trust, Globalisation.

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