International Finance & Accounting

The countries where workers have been getting the most outsourced jobs have recently been mainly India, Ireland, the Philippines and Malaysia, according to an article in Businessweek.com (Ferguson 2006). But that could change in the near future, Ferguson writes, because "Eastern Europe could soon become a favourite location for offshore outsourcing, with activity in the region estimated to triple between 2005 and 2008."

Even though only "one percent" of the total "business process outsourcing" (BPO) now goes to Eastern Europe, it is considered a favorite for three reasons, the article asserts. One, the low wages offered in Eastern Europe compare equally with India; two, the infrastructure for BPO is already in place in Eastern Europe; and three, being so close to Western Europe, there are fewer language barriers (German, English and French are spoken).

ARTICLE TWO: In the European markets the word was "up" at the close of the week of December 15; the German DAX Xetra 30 index closed up.06%, the French CAC-40 index also closed up.06%, and the UK FTSE 100 index closed up 0.5%. But the bigger picture in European markets was that investors looking ahead to 2007 were advised to take "a cautious tack," said Andrew Milligan, quoted in The Wall Street Journal (Turner, 2006). An upside in the European market Dec. 14: BAE defense systems rose 6.9% after UK prosecutors dropped a "long-term inquiry into defense contracts between BAE and Saudi Arabia." A downside: TUI fell 2.7% after the German tourism and shipping company announced it would cut 2,600 jobs in the UK.

ARTICLE THREE: Japan Tobacco, Inc. On Friday Dec. 15 announced the largest acquisition of a foreign company in Japan's history. Japan Tobacco will pay $14.8 billion to acquire Gallaher Group PLC of the UK. That means, according to The Wall Street Journal, that "Japan is back as a global buyer" (Morse, et al., 2006) after a financial slump of about ten years.

Works Cited

Ferguson, Tim. (2006, December 15). Eastern European Outsourcing to Triple. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 15 Dec. 2006 at http://www.businessweek.com.

Morse, Andrew, & Singer, Jason. (2006, December 16). Japan Returns To Global State As an Acquirer. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 Dec. 2006 at http://online.wsj.com.

Turner, Sarah. (2006, December 15). BAE Systems, France Telecom Boost Regional Indexes.

The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 Dec. 2006 at http://online.wsj.com.