2012 Volume 67 Issue 2 Pages 51-69
Since the late 1990s, ICT and many service businesses in Japan have moved to newly emerging nations where costs are lower due to the development of communication technologies and improved infrastructures. The purpose of this research is to clarify the meaning of the customer service center (CC) set up in Dalian city for Japan and how those companies have adapted themselves to the change of locational environment. The author chose Dalian city in China, known as the most popular city for Japanese companies to move to, as the research area. As a result, since Software Park was built and infrastructures were improved in 1998, it was found out that CCs for Japan have been built in Dalian city, especially between 2000 and 2005. A little before this time, many CCs were also begging to be built in provincial cities in Japan. CC service is for end-users, and it requires employees have 1. native-level Japanese skills, 2. high customer service skills, and 3. high knowledge of the company's products. Therefore, in fact, only a few companies have moved to Dalian. Most of these companies were global companies whose headquarters were located in U.S.A. or China. There were a limited number of Japanese companies, which were B.P.O. (business process outsourcing) venders. In addition, since 2006 prices and labor costs have risen in China and companies are facing difficulty in acquiring operators who are skilled enough to meet their requirements. It is said that only 20-30% of those Chinese who have studied at a Japanese university, are capable of working as CC operators. Therefore, some companies relocated their CCs or set up other CCs in provincial cities in Japan. However, most of these companies kept their offices in Dalian for other purposes. They shifted their offshoring works from CC services, which require high Japanese skills, to back office services for Japanese markets such as data entry and commissioned software development. Some companies changed their CCs for Japan into CCs or management offices for China. Offshoring work has become more and more common in recent years. It can be said that relocation of CCs from Dalian to provincial cities in Japan is due to not only rising prices and wage levels in Dalian but also cultural factors such as requirement for high Japanese skills and Japanese-style customer services. What we call "Glocalization" where globalization and localization move forward at the same time is in progress among offshore businesses in Dalian.
