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general market conditions and trends; where most of the research can be gleaned off 
the Web and summarized in a standard format。 〃The judgment of how to price the deal 

will come from the investment bankers themselves;〃 said Kulkarni。 〃We will do the 
lower…end work; and they will do the things that require critical judgment and 
experience; close to the market。〃 The more projects his team of remote executive 
assistants engages in; the more knowledge they build up。 They are full of ambition 
to do their higher problem solving as well; said Kulkarni。 〃The idea is to constantly 
learn。 You are always taking an examination。 There is no end to learning 。 。 。 There 
is no real end to what can be done by whom。〃 
Unlike Columbus; I didn't stop with India。 After I got home; I decided to keep 
exploring the East for more signs that the world was flat。 So after India; I was soon 
off to Tokyo; where I had a chance to interview Kenichi Ohmae; the legendary former 
McKinsey & Company consultant in Japan。 Ohmae has left McKinsey and struck out on 
his own in business; Ohmae & Associates。 And what do they do? Not consulting anymore; 
explained Ohmae。 He is now spearheading a drive to outsource low…end Japanese jobs 
to Japanese…speaking call centers and service providers in China。 〃Say what?〃 I asked。 
〃To China? Didn't the Japanese once colonize China; leaving a very bad taste in the 
mouths of the Chinese?〃 
Well; yes; said Ohmae; but he explained that the Japanese also left behind a large 
number of Japanese speakers who have maintained a slice of Japanese culture; from 
sushi to karaoke; in northeastern China; particularly around the northeastern port 
city of Dalian。 Dalian has become for Japan what Bangalore has become for America 
and the other English…speaking countries: outsourcing central。 The Chinese may never 
forgive Japan for what it did to China in the last century; but the Chinese are so 
focused on leading the world in the next century that they are ready to brush up on 
their Japanese and take all the work Japan can outsource。 
〃The recruiting is quite easy;〃 said Ohmae in early 2004。 〃About one3? 
third of the people in this region 'around Dalian' have taken Japanese as a second 
language in high school。 So all of these Japanese companies are coming in。〃 Ohmae's 
company is doing primarily data…entry work in China; where Chinese workers take 
handwritten Japanese documents; which are scanned; faxed; or e…mailed over from Japan 
to Dalian; and then type them into a digital database in Japanese characters。 Ohmae's 
company has developed a software program that takes the data to be entered and breaks 
it down into packets。 These packets can then be sent around China or Japan for typing; 
depending on the specialty required; and then reassembled at the company's database 
in its Tokyo headquarters。 〃We have the ability to allocate the job to the person 
who knows the area best。〃 Ohmae's company even has contracts with more than seventy 
thousand housewives; some of them specialists in medical or legal terminologies; to 
do data…entry work at home。 The firm has recently expanded into computer…aided designs 
for a Japanese housing company。 〃When you negotiate with the customer in Japan for 
building a house;〃 he explained; 〃you would sketch out a floor plan…most of these 
companies don't use computers。〃 So the hand…drawn plans are sent electronically to 
China; where they are converted into digital designs; which then are e…mailed back 
to the Japanese building firm; which turns them into manufacturing blueprints。 〃We 
took the best…performing Chinese data operators;〃 said Ohmae; 〃and now they are 


processing seventy houses a day。〃 Chinese doing computer drawings for Japanese homes; 
nearly seventy years after a rapacious Japanese army occupied China; razing many homes 
in the process。 Maybe there is hope for this flat world 。 。 。 
I needed to see Dalian; this Bangalore of China; firsthand; so I kept moving around 
the East。 Dalian is impressive not just for a Chinese city。 
With its wide boulevards; beautiful green spaces; and nexus of universities; 
technical colleges; and massive software park; Dalian would stand out in Silicon 
Valley。 I had been here in 1998; but there had been so much new building since then 
that I did not recognize the place。 Dalian; which is located about an hour's flight 
northeast of Beijing; sym34 
bolizes how rapidly China's most modern cities…and there are still plentyof miserable; 
backward ones…are grabbing business as knowledge centers; not just as manufacturing 
hubs。 The signs on the buildings tell the whole story: GE; Microsoft; Dell; SAP; HP; 
Sony; and Accenture… to name but a few…all are having backroom work done here to 
support their Asian operations; as well as new software research and development。 
Because of its proximity to Japan and Korea; each only about an hour away by air; 
its large number of Japanese speakers; its abundance of Internet bandwidth; and many 
parks and a world…class golf course (all of which appeal to knowledge workers); Dalian 
has become an attractive locus for Japanese outsourcing。 Japanese firms can hire three 
Chinese software engineers for the price of one in Japan and still have change to 
pay a roomful of call center operators (90 a month starting salary)。 No wonder some 
twenty…eight hundred Japanese companies have set up operations here or teamed up with 
Chinese partners。 
〃I've taken a lot of American people to Dalian; and they are amazed at how fast the 
China economy is growing in this high…tech area;〃 said Win Liu; director of U。S。/EU 
projects for DHC; one ofDalian's biggest homegrown software firms; which has expanded 
from thirty to twelve hundred employees in six years。 〃Americans don't realize the 
challenge to the extent that they should。〃 
Dalian's dynamic mayor; Xia Deren; forty…nine; is a former college president。 (For 
a Communist authoritarian system; China does a pretty good job of promoting people 
on merit。 The Mandarin meritocratic culture here still runs very deep。) Over a 
traditional ten…course Chinese dinner at a local hotel; the mayor told me how far 
Dalian has come and just where he intends to take it。 〃We have twenty…two universities 
and colleges with over two hundred thousand students in Dalian;〃 he explained。 More 
than half those students graduate with engineering or science degrees; and even those 
who don't; those who study history or literature; are still being directed to spend 
a year studying Japanese or English; plus computer science; so that they will be 
employable。 The mayor estimated that more than half the residents of Dalian had access 
to the Internet at the office; home; or school。 
35 
〃The Japanese enterprises originally started some data processing industries here;〃 
the mayor added; 〃and with this as a base they have now moved to R & D and software 
development。。。 In the past one or two years; the software companies of the U。S。 are 


also making some attempts to move outsourcing of software from the U。S。 to our city 。 。 。 
We are approaching and we are catching up with the Indians。 Exports of software 
products 'from Dalian' have been increasing by 50 percent annually。 And China is now 
becoming the country that develops the largest number of university graduates。 Though 
in general our English is not as competent as that of the Indian people; we have a 
bigger population; 'so' we can pick out the most intelligent students who can speak 
the best English。〃 
Are Dalian residents bothered by working for the Japanese; whose government has still 
never formally apologized for what the wartime Japanese government did to China? 
〃We will never forget that a historical war occurred between the two nations;〃 he 
answered; 〃but when it comes to the field of economy; we only focus on the economic 
problems…especially if we talk about the software outsourcing business。 If the U。S。 
and Japanese companies make their products in our city; we consider that to be a good 
thing。 Our youngsters are trying to learn Japanese; to master this tool so they can 
compete with their Japanese counterparts to successfully land high…salary positions 
for themselves in the future。〃 
The mayor then added for good measure; 〃My personal feeling is that Chinese youngsters 
are more ambitious than Japanese or American youngsters in recent years; but I don't 
think they are ambitious enough; because they are not as ambitious as my generation。 
Because our generation; before they got into university and colleges; were sent to 
distant rural areas and factories and military teams; and went through a very hard 
time; so in terms of the spirit to overcome and face the hardships; 'our generation 
had to have more ambition' than youngsters nowadays。〃 
Mayor Xia had a charmingly direct way of describing the world; and although some of 
what he had to say gets lost in translation; he gets it…and Americans should too: 
〃The rule of the market economy;〃 this 

Communist official explained to me; 〃is that if somewhere has the richest human 
resources and the cheapest labor; of course the enterprises and the businesses will 
naturally go there。〃 In manufacturing; he pointed out; 〃Chinese people first were 
the employees and working for the big foreign manufacturers; and after several years; 
after we have learned all the processes and steps; we can start our own firms。 Software 
will go down the same road 。 。 。 First we will have our young people employed by the 
foreigners; and then we will start our own companies。 It is like building a building。 
Today; the U。S。; you are the designers; the architects; and the developing countries 
are the bricklayers for the buildings。 But one day I hope we will be the architects。〃 
I just kept exploring…east and west。 By the summer of 2004;1 was in Colorado on 
vacation。 I had heard about this new low…fare airline called JetBlue; which was 
launched in 1999。 I had no idea where they operated; but I needed to fly between 
Washington and Atlanta; and couldn't quite get the times I wanted; so I decided to 
call JetBlue and see where exactly they flew。 I confess I did have another motive。 
I had heard that JetBlue had outsourced its entire reservation system to housewives 
in Utah; and I wanted to check this out。 So I dialed JetBlue reservations and had 
the following conversation with the agent: 


〃Hello; this is Dolly。 Can I help you?〃 answered a grandmotherly voice。 
〃Yes; I would like to fly from Washington to Atlanta;〃 I said。 〃Do you fly that route?〃 
〃No; I'm sorry we don't。 We fly from Washington to Ft。 Lauderdale;〃 said Dolly。 
〃How about Washington to New York City?〃 I asked。 
〃I'm sorry; we don't fly that route。 We do fly from Washington to Oakland and Long 
Beach;〃 said Dolly。 
〃Say; can I ask you something? Are you really at home? I read that JetBlue agents 
just work at home。〃 
〃Yes; I am;〃 said Dolly in the most cheerful voice。 (I later confirmed with JetBlue 
that her full name is Dolly Baker。) 〃I am sitting in my office 
37 
upstairs in my house; looking out the window at a beautiful sunny day。 Just five 
minutes ago someone called and asked me th

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