Selling Remote Talent from Estonia to the Finnish Market

Abstract

This research is about selling remote talent from Estonia to Finland, for a target company con-ducting outsourcing activities in Finland, mostly from within the country. This report’s structure is such that first, an introduction to the research is gone through. Following that, a vast review into literature is presented to the reader. The goal of the research will then be reiterated based on the introduction and literature review. This will be followed by the methodology of the qualitative re-search, continuing into the discussion of the findings themselves, crescendoing in a conclusion of the thesis. In the end, references and appendices can be found for further reference. The specific kind of outsourcing was resourcing of individual IT consultants to customers who oversee their own software development activities. The topic brings an international business dimension to the target company’s operations. Key considerations were to find out if this busi-ness practice is feasible at all, what factors affect decision making for customers and how to sell such talent most effectively in Finland. Suggestions for the company on how to develop their business practices were to be identified. The research included extensive review of B2B sales and outsourcing activities. The main re-search activity was conducted via qualitative research and semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using inductive reasoning. The interviewed companies were all similar regarding their business models, and the interviewees all had similar job roles within these companies. The main findings were that yes, this kind of business is feasible to be conducted in Finland. The main decision-making factors are price, skills and availability of the talent, both general availability and timeliness of this availability relative to the customer need. These can be used as selling arguments for customers, while it is important to also find customers willing to outsource some of their activities to a foreign country, which is not always the case. The research was relevant to the company, it was conducted thoroughly and ethically. Further research should consider outsourcing of other business processes and roles than those related to IT and studying a variety of different kinds of customers and markets.