Japanese and Korean, well.
“Our first center in China was Dalian,” explains Tiger, “to serve Japan.” Genpact’s strategy for China is the same as for India. Currently, there are three operations in China. Again, Genpact is looking to expand to tier two and three locations.
The Philippines offer excellent English language skills with the added advantage that, culturally and in terms of language, many aspects are closer to the U.S.
“When work requires customer interaction, the Philippines have a great advantage over other Asian locations,” says Tiger. In Latin America the two main languages required are Spanish and Portuguese. Mexico and Guatemala serve Spanish, and Brazil is the best resource for Portuguese services.
When it comes to Europe, Eastern Europe is where shared services have typically established their regional operations. Although no other country offers a workforce as deep as that of India or China, says Tiger, when it comes to multiple languages some of the East European cities lead: Budapest, Hungary; Bucharest, Romania; and Wroclaw, Poland, are all good examples. Other regions are interesting for their monolingual skills.
“If you are looking for reliable French language skills, for example, the French side of Romaniais a good base,” explains Tiger. “Similarly, the parts of Poland or Romania nearest to Germany offer strong German language.”
“The provider market is continually looking for the ‘next’ hot location – following a proven strategy of, first, sourcing a country with excellent potential; and second, pursuing tier two and three cities after the first venture has proven a success. We believe it is likely, and are indeed researching this at present, that some of the mono-lingual skills