| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Ethics, a case for opinions from other pros Thread poster: Walter Lockhart Ries (X)
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Walter Lockhart Ries (X) 
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | What happened next... | Sep 5, 2003 |
Anne Lee wrote:
Will you share with us what you did on day 13? I trust your relationship with the agency survived.
Well, I couldn't outsource part of project B, because the written agreement that (new) agency had just had me sign prohibits outsourcing.
I asked the project A agency to have the other translator do the final revision. The owner said that the other translator was no longer available and that she had no one else. I found her another translator specialized in the specific field, but she did not contact this translator and did the final revision herself although the target language is not her native language.
Since then, this agency only sends me work when no one else in my language pair is available.
I managed to finish project B on time. Wow! And I am now working on my second project (a medium-sized one) from that agency.
BTW, although not relevant to the ethical question that prompted the original post, I had been working for the project A agency at 20 percent less than my usual rate for reasons that have already been explained.
| | | | Marc P (X)
Local time: 19:31
German to English
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| Ethics of outsourcing | Sep 5, 2003 |
I was under the impression that outsourcing was not ethical unless authorized by the client.
It is legal unless the customer has prohibited it. Legal and ethical are two different things, of course.
There are two issues, quality and confidentiality. As far as quality is concerned, you must obviously be prepared to stand behind the work as if it were your own, as from your customer's perspective, it is. Assuming that to be the case, though, I would consider outsourcing to be ethical in that respect.
Confidentiality is more difficult. Even if confidentiality has not been regulated by contract or is not covered by national legislation, the respecting of client confidentiality is part of professional behaviour in any profession. Whether outsourcing is itself a breach of confidentiality and/or may potentially lead to a breach of confidentiality depends upon what assumption your customer is making, the nature of the material, and the attitude of the party to which you outsource.
My two cents!
Marc
| | | | | This is what you got for the pains taken by you | Sep 5, 2003 |
After going to a lot of trouble for the agency A that has not cared for your availability or otherwise, when it dumps the project on you much after the pre-agreed date, all you got out of it is the fact that this agency is putting you as a standby only! That too after your charging her 15% less than your normal rate. Take it as a lesson and stand by your rights. Do not agree to timeslots much ahead of their actual occurrence.
There is a novel written by Arthur Hailey and the title is "Hot... See more After going to a lot of trouble for the agency A that has not cared for your availability or otherwise, when it dumps the project on you much after the pre-agreed date, all you got out of it is the fact that this agency is putting you as a standby only! That too after your charging her 15% less than your normal rate. Take it as a lesson and stand by your rights. Do not agree to timeslots much ahead of their actual occurrence.
There is a novel written by Arthur Hailey and the title is "Hotel". When a patron in a group places an order for a dish and after sometime changes it, he is made to wait till all the others in his group are served and then only he gets his dish. There are two reasons. The one is the botheration in the kitchen due to the order being changed. The second and more important reason is a very practical one. If this fellow too is served promptly, there is a big risk of another person in the group changing his order and this will not do. Likewise, you should have made the agency A to wait its turn in the changed circumstances, unless they had paid you a retainer fee, which they do not seem to have done. And all this can be achieeved by being very polite and without any recriminations.
Walter Lockhart Ries wrote:
Since then, this agency only sends me work when no one else in my language pair is available.
BTW, although not relevant to the ethical question that prompted the original post, I had been working for the project A agency at 20 percent less than my usual rate for reasons that have already been explained. ▲ Collapse
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