Outsourcing has had a difficult year in North America. There are many explanations, some point to quality concerns, some to governance concerns, and some to a reduction in value caused by the combination of labor shortages and currency fluctuations. All of these represent a change in the risk-reward analysis that many are seeing with regard to outsourcing. The bad-news stories in the press continue to pump up the “risk side” of the outsourcing equation – particularly to Asia – while the currency fluctuations and tightening labor markets reduce the “reward side” of the same equation. The “plus side” of outsourcing is notably silent – there are simply no “good news” stories in either the press or the paid media.

Frankly, outsourced vendors have done a poor job of singing their own praises in the U.S. press. Of course, the trade journals are full of “so-and-so is ranked in the top 10 of all HRO outsourcing providers,” but these surveys are neither particularly credible nor widely read. Furthermore, customers’ desire to hide their outsourcing initiatives makes the success stories unknown – effectively ceding the field to the naysayers. In the public’s mind, there are no outsourcing successes – only failures – and any organization who outsources is simply trying to line their own pockets at the expense of their customers.

Maybe it is time for the likes of Wipro, Infosys and Tata, among others, to begin to invest in changing public opinion in the U.S. Many industries – including some generally seen as “pariahs” – spend a lot of money and energy garnering the good will of consumers – whether or not they sell consumer products. One can look to examples including BP’s recent “green” campaigns, BASF’s recent – “We don’t make the product, we make it better” series and Pharma’s Partnership for Prescription Assistance initiative, as campaigns that have taken relatively unpopular industries – big oil, big chemicals, and big pharmaceuticals – and put a positive spin on their efforts (and note that neither BP nor BASF are U.S.-based companies).

One could imagine a public television series on India, a museum traveling exhibition, full-page advertisements in large-circulation papers, and other fairly common public-relations techniques being employed by these companies. Maybe sponsor a clinic in a low-income area, create information and technology for schools or develop some cross-border media ties. Any of a number of things could raise both the profile and the public opinion of the industry. The key is to make the campaigns look less like long commercials and more like “giving back” to the communities that use their services.

This is, no doubt, new ground for outsourcing companies. But it is one that has been well-paved by Japanese, and now Korean, auto manufacturers, European chemical and pharmaceutical companies, global oil companies, etc. While opinions aren’t changed overnight, they can slowly be changed – and, at least, the shrill, one-sided criticism can be blunted a bit. While little can be done to affect certain disadvantages of offshore outsourcing, including time zone differences and currency fluctuations, something can be done to affect public opinion in their target markets.