It used to be that when an item is “made in Taiwan,” it’s a cheap knock-off that’s bound to break down after a few uses or a short period of time. Now, however, Taiwan is at the forefront of technological innovation, with development of customer-grade and high-end computer systems. For instance, did you know that majority of the laptop computers shipped worldwide were made in Taiwan by little-known—but very large—production companies that manufacture computers to specification by their American or European clients?

This only means one thing: in the business of offshoring, “cheaper” doesn’t always translate to “lower quality.” Companies have made their systems more efficient, capital, technology, and labor-wise that they can afford to do things at a lower price than, say, if these business processes were done in more expensive locations in the world. In this case, when efficiency means either lower cost or higher quality output, it’s likely to be both—high quality at a low cost.

Business process offshoring is basically an offshoot of the “comparative advantage” argument in international economics, where countries that can produce output at lower costs usually get the deal. And lately, this has been true for developing countries, where companies’ business processes—including customer contact centers, programming, bookkeeping, and data management—are usually outsourced. What’s great is that the cost of offshoring these business processes is definitely lower than what one would expect to pay in more developed countries, with higher costs of living and higher overheads.

Another concern of those against offshoring is the quality of work. Some would argue that workers in developing countries are good at performing skilled work, but not necessarily better at analytical tasks. However, it can be argued that in most cases, our counterparts in less affluent economies can be as skilled and knowledgeable as we are—and this includes instances where astute decision making and recommendations are needed.