Hagel worked in McKinsey's Silicon Valley office for many years before becoming an independent business consultant. The article focuses on some of the reasons beyond low-cost labor that would cause companies to want to offshore work. The focus is on distinctive skills and high performance levels offered by some of the offshoring vendors. One company that is profiled in the article is the Philippine firm eTelecare, which operates a state-of-the-art call center. Other examples include Taiwanese firms doing wireless chip design. One of the most interesting points of the article is about these companies taking advantage of the low cost of middle management salaries so as to increase the middle management ranks to a point where they can not only handle routine administration and management tasks but also spend time improving lower-level employee skills. Given that the applicant pools available to the offshoring companies tend to be larger and stronger, many of the best vendors spend more money on the hiring process - going through a lengthier and more rigorous screening process to get higher quality employees. Another feature of many of the better offshoring companies is to devote set-aside time of middle-level managers to identify and implement process improvements that enhance operational performance. The article also talks about ways that offshore vendors have helped companies move into new product markets such as Gateway into plasma televisions, Hewlett-Packard into digital cameras, and Dell into smart phones through the help of Asian original-design manufacturers.