Globalization, once a mere speck on the horizon but now as much a part of business life as the computer, has profoundly affected the professional lives of electronics engineers. No matter where they work and live-North America, Europe or Asia-their jobs and companies are inextricably intertwined.
The 2002 "Salary & Opinion Survey" reveals that 54 percent of U.S. readers responding to the poll now work with international teams and 85 percent said the experience has been good. Significantly, those figures are virtually unchanged from last year's, when 52 percent said they worked with engineers in other countries and 86 percent called the experience positive.
Of course, there always have been international partnerships. Multinational corporations were among the first to turn to overseas alliances several years ago as a way to harness the combined power of their research and development organizations to reach aggressive technology goals.
Dependence on overseas engineering resources continued to increase this year, especially in the area of design, according to our survey. This year 75 percent of readers said they received design input from foreign groups, while 54 percent said that foreign teams provide software work. Another 49 percent said teams overseas perform manufacturing support.
The percentages were slightly lower last year. In 2001, 70 percent of readers said overseas groups provided design expertise, 47 percent said they supplied software and 45 percent said they received manufacturing input.
Differences were evident among small, medium and large companies. Some 52 percent of EEs who work at companies with sales of $3 billion or more said their companies took advantage of overseas manufacturing resources.
Those in the components industry said their employers received the most international design contributions (81 percent), but the least software input (40.7 percent).
When it comes to forming international alliances, U.S. companies first turn to Western Europe, the most popular location for international design teams, according to 46 percent in the survey. Tied for second were the United Kingdom and India with 28 percent each. One-quarter of U.S. readers worked with engineers in Japan, 22 percent with those in Taiwan, 11 percent with EEs in Korea and another 11 percent with engineers in Eastern Europe. For China the number was 8 percent, Israel 4 percent, Singapore 3 percent, Canada 3 percent and Malaysia 2 percent.
American companies have increased their use of international teaming in all its forms and most engineers said the experience was positive. But the increased globalization of the electronics industry has American engineers nervous about the future of the U.S. industry and the loss of U.S. engineering jobs.
For example, one engineer on the East Coast said efforts must be made to develop and maintain U.S.-based technical competencies. "We are constantly expanding our global outlook and outsourcing design work overseas-are we giving away too much and becoming more and more dependent on foreign technological competency?" he asked.
A Tucson, Ariz., EE noted that "foreign competition for product R&D and engineering" is a top issue for the electronics industry. A military-aerospace engineer in San Jose, Calif., said it was the potential "loss of design and manufacturing to China, which is hard to compete with," while one in Santa Clara, Calif., said U.S. electronics companies need to reconsider "developing their technology outside the U.S."
Across the Atlantic, EEs in the U.K. reported slightly less international teamwork. According to responses to the 2002 EE Times U.K. Salary Survey, more than 62 percent were working in international teams vs. last year's 64 percent. Of that number, 80.9 percent thought that this had been a good experience, while the rest hadn't enjoyed it. Design accounted for 73.5 percent of the team input, manufacturing 57 percent and software 47.2 percent. The majority of teams came from the United States (58 percent) or Western Europe (56.2 percent). Other locations included Japan with 11.9 percent, India with 10.4 percent, Eastern Europe with 8.8 percent, Taiwan with 8.2 percent, China with 5.9 percent and Korea with 4.6 percent.
There were both similarities and differences among industry sectors between American and U.K. readers on the use of international teams. The highest number was in components, where approximately 64 percent of U.S. EEs said they had teamed with a group overseas, while in the U.K. the figure was 70 percent.
The fewest international alliances, 32 percent, were reported by those working in the U.S. military-aerospace industry; they also were last on the list of over-the-border manufacturing deals, with 38 percent. Those numbers should not be surprising, since much military work involves classified projects.
International consortiums are more common in the U.K., where engineers reported that 60.6 percent of military-aerospace companies were involved in international alliances and 90 percent of those alliances provided design input.
Since there's a longer history of international collaboration in Europe, EEs in the U.K. have a unique perspective on the challenges of working across national borders.
Respondents to the salary survey said the key issues facing design teams are undoubtedly language and cultural differences. Understanding work attitudes in the partner country and having some understanding of the historical and cultural background was considered key to design teams being able to work together. One respondent said, "Before international teams are set up, team members should be briefed thoroughly regarding the project they are embarking on and also the people they are working with. Team members have to accept that some countries have different outlooks and aims."
One respondent said, "Open discussion, the free flow of information and an agreement over realistic time scales are my key issues when working with foreign engineers."
Working across time zones can be a benefit if organized correctly. One respondent said, "My experience of working with Australians was that the process actually speeded up! A list of questions and problems sent at 6 p.m. were answered by first thing the next morning!"
In Asia outside Japan the challenges and benefits of international teams are less well-known because they are less common.
A survey by EE Times Asia reported that 32 percent of respondents in all of Asia said they worked with international teams. However, there were national differences.
The most international alliances were reported in South Asia, where 64 percent of respondents were involved in them, while that was the case for only 25 percent of those in China, which had the least. Working with overseas groups was almost equally common in Taiwan, with 31 percent, and South Korea, with 27 percent.
