Infosys, one of India’s top offshoring services companies, has launched the Global Talent Programme, which is aimed at providing training in India for college graduates from developed countries. The company is hoping these foreign employees will help enhance their relationship with companies from their countries of origin when they return. This effort should help Infosys catch up to its main rival, Tata Consultancy Services, whose foreign employees already account for eight percent of their workforce, compared to 3% for Infosys. It is also a response to the demand by Asian offshoring companies to improve their position in the value chain. Instead of simply redesigning an IT system or developing new software for their customers, they also want to offer the same type of consulting services as the major Western companies.

Companies working in the global market of delocalization are faced with the lack of professionals in Western markets. This will benefit Spain if its companies can offer local consulting services and delocalize lower value-added activities to countries with lower costs.

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Title: IBM Global CEO Study 2006. Expanding the Innovation Horizon.
Source: IBM
Date: April 25, 2006
Abstract: CEOs are increasingly focusing on innovating their business models, although innovation in products of services and in operations remains a key. One of the main driving forces for innovation and the search for new business models is globalization, which brings along new competition and knowledge of new business models.
The IBM report is based on a survey of more than 700 high-ranking executives from around the world, showing that they are resorting more and more to specialists outside the company for finding innovative ideas. For instance, 41% of the Spanish executives polled acknowledged that most of their new ideas are generated outside the confines of their company. Throughout the world, business partners and customers constitute the second and third source of innovation, following employees. In the chemical and petroleum industries, as well as telecommunications, external innovation surpasses that of the proprietary variety.
Nevertheless, although 75% of CEOs acknowledge the benefits associated with this practice—such as lower costs and higher customer satisfaction—in reality, only two of every four surveyed say they gain value from outside collaboration. CEOs accept the role as the innovative leaders for their organizations but they call for greater employee involvement in the process.
The study suggests that integrating business and technology more closely, while creating a true team culture that is able to recognize individual contributions, could help CEOs with their leadership duties in the area of innovation.

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Title: Las TIC en los hogares españoles, XI Oleada (Primer trimestre de 2006)
Source: Observatorio de las Telecomunicaciones y de la Sociedad de la Información (Red.es)
Date: October 2006
Abstract: The study by Red.es related to the first quarter of this year highlights the increased use of information technology services in Spanish homes. Growth continued in entertainment equipment, the percentage of households with at least four services rose and the average spending per household on ICT dropped in proportion to the addition of more services. 
Voice calls and SMS are the main uses of mobile phones, although there was a significant increase in the sporadic use of the device for other applications. Popular items include downloading ringtones and melodies, which attracted 19.2% of all users, sending MMS (multimedia messages), as did 18.1%, and digital cameras, which were used by 13.9%. Additionally, Spanish consumers are increasingly demanding when describing the features their mobile phones should have. Nearly one out of every two users want their next phone to have Bluetooth, 35.5% would like MP3 player functions and 31.4% want it to record video.
The other side of the coin is that of the pay TV market, which dropped off in the first three months of the year, and the population’s use of administration through the Internet, which stuck at 16.9% despite efforts by the public authorities to promote it.

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The Spanish Telecommunications Market Commission (CMT) feels that the prices of the national mobile phone companies, Movistar, Vodafone and Orange, are above the European average. The European Union shares this opinion and has authorized the CMT to implement the necessary measures for the entry of new competitors.
Yoigo, Happy Móvil, Carrefour Móvil and Euskaltel (the latter three are mobile virtual network operators) hope that their presence increases average usage per consumer by offering a significant rate discount.
With its slogan “the first low-cost mobile phone operator” Yoigo is banking on user simplicity and low-price policy (offering a flat rate of 12 cents per minute for all national calls) to attract 350,000 users in 2007. Carrefour Móvil, the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Spain, launched it service in November and in just one month has signed on 15,000 customers. Meanwhile, Happy Móvil, the MVNO run by The Phone House, is looking to win over new customers at the base of the pyramid. Particularly with immigrants, who will be offered extremely low rates on international calls.
Added to this competition in 2007 will be new MVNOs, including the Swedish Tele2 and another to be launched by El Corte Inglés. In the meantime, the three major operators established in the Spanish mobile phone market are preparing an appeal against the new legislation and warn of a possible drop in the quality of service and the danger of disinvestment. Other responses include expanding customer loyalty plans or, as Telefónica has already announced, penalizing their users when connecting through MVNO companies.

News in Expansión and La Gaceta de los Negocios (payment service)
Report in El País

The interactive advertising market continues to see tremendous growth. In fact, it is expected to eventually reach 20% of the overall advertising budget. Nevertheless, this progress could run into the pitfall of fraud in contextual advertising. Several American companies have taken legal action against Yahoo! as well as Google, which generates 97% of its revenues thanks to advertising. Some major advertisers have even considered withdrawing their investment in this channel if the industry is not more transparent in counting the number of clicks made by users. 
One of the problems in the way of squashing fraud is the difficulty of detecting it when is automated and uses networks of computers producing clicks from multiple locations.
At the moment no definitive solution has been discovered, although the pressure from lawsuits has led Yahoo! and Google to reach a deal to design new measurement standards and set up a system that is capable of reassuring advertisers. It is expected to be available by mid 2007.

Article in Wired News
News in The Economist (payment service)

By David Wright, Research Assistant of e-business center PwC&IESE
Growth in the online advertising market will continue in the coming years but its progress will slow down gradually. In order to continue growing, search engines will need to diversify their strategy by focusing especially on content, the major star of the digital era. 

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Thomas Malone, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, will be one of the speakers at the Focused Program entitled New Technology Playgrounds, which will be held from January 30 through February 2, 2007, at the IESE campus in Barcelona.
The objective of the program, which will offered entirely in English, is to help managers increase their critical ability in identifying the business opportunities presented by new technologies and improve the overall strategy of their organization.
Professors Sandra Sieber and Josep Valor will join professor Malone, who also participated last year in a continuous education session at the e-Business Center entitled "The Future of Work: How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life (PDF, 38 Kb) ".

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