Before you rush to build that next factory in China, make sure you know both the risks and rewards of going there.
      "Intellectual property rights are for the most part disregarded in China and India," Mert Livingstone, executive director of operations, transition and programming for Pfizer, told the audience at the IAMC Forum Workshop "Global Portfolio Management and Offshore Outsourcing."

Mert Livingstone

      "Financial firms must pay attention to data security and integrity when they offshore their operations to these countries," he added.
      Livingstone's colleague Sean Nugent, senior director at Pfizer Global R&D, said offshoring decisions need to seek a "balanced proposition," emphasizing the value of leveraged intellectual capital. Offshoring "pushes holistic career development" and "enhances innovation," he said.
      Another perspective on offshore outsourcing was offered by Doug Blausten, senior partner of Cyril Leonard, a commercial real estate company in London. "In Europe, offshoring is not a new concept," he said. "It is only a political issue in what Donald Rumsfeld called 'Old Europe.' In fact, the U.K. labor secretary says that outsourcing of labor is not a threat to the U.K. economy." Blausten cited the U.K. train manufacturing industry as an example of successful offshoring.
      Livingstone noted the complexity of offshoring decisions. "Transportation costs, for example, have become a greater component of overall cost of the product," he said. "It may make more sense to place operations here in the U.S. than to take them overseas.
      "China and India have the potential to fundamentally change global trade, and Korea will be the next big player in the global economy," he observed.
      Nugent urged attendees to learn more about the impact of offshore outsourcing. "As real estate professionals, we need to understand the whole picture," he said.