J-Trading – Full Circle Outsourcing
1 Case Overview

J-Trading, the US based arm of a Japanese keiretsu (group of enterprises), is a large enterprise which specialize in commodity trading in East and North America. Originally called JICO, J-Trading has become successful through operations such as acquiring foreign raw materials, importing technology, associations with foreign banks and investors, and manufacturing. With a staff of 350 employees, half being Japanese rotational staff – J-Trading was able to maneuver past crisis situations such as the dot com crash and 9/11 but the company was never really the same since (staff cuts and cost awareness).
In addition, the enterprise has experienced problems with their information technology infrastructure and help desk services. The company, which specializes in commodity trading in East and North America, These issues have stemmed from IT employees lacking motivation to complete their tasks, resulting in quality and cost issues. The case revolves around J-Trading’s decision to outsource its infrastructure and help desk functions, from problems and challenges in the selection process, alignment issues, and overall governance.
Outsourcing in this form is a common occurrence and companies are realizing that in order to focus on their core operations they must outsource. Moreover, IT services are usually outsourced when functions are difficult to manage or out of control. Something that was very evident in this case. Other reasons include scarcity of resources and reducing overall risk.
The case gave us a good look of how outsourcing, as much as it may be a good idea, comes with it’s fair share of challenges and requires the utmost control from top management.
2 Problems and Challenges

2.1 Quality of in-house PC help desk service was poor

Despite being extremely qualified, members of the PC helpdesk team saw