The culture of the company is the key to the successful nearshoring of IT services

The acquisition of a Lithuanian technology company may seem a plain, well-calculated move in the context of the IT workforce shortage in Scandinavia. However, this was more of the natural, work-culture-based conclusion after ten years of IT services nearshoring. Jesper Br?ndum, Boozt Co-founder & CTO, shares his thoughts on the considerable role of internal culture in the case of successful nearshoring. He also partly gives credits for Boozt long-term success to IT professionals from Lithuania.?

Originally established as a visionary e-commerce boosting company over 13 years ago, Boozt faced quite of the challenges along the way. At the end of the 2010’s, when e-commerce shifted from an additional sales channel to a must-have or even primary channel to many businesses, Boozt lost its significant amount of clients, who decided to develop their e-commerce by themselves instead of outsourcing it from an e-commerce partner. “We were close to closing Boozt down”, - says Jesper Br?ndum. Luckily, they had an idea. “To go from outsourcing e-commerce services to building and owning e-commerce platform ourselves,” says Br?ndum. Now, they needed someone to put the idea into life.

Offshoring to nearshoring

“We’ve tried offshoring IT services from India and Vietnam before shifting the business model. But it didn’t work well in terms of responsibility and understanding of our customers’ needs. It was difficult to work when they were asleep and the other way round”, Br?ndum shares. However, an accidental meeting with a young, highly skilled Lithuanian developer ten years ago opened a new chapter, leading to a long-term IT nearshoring from a Lithuanian company, which now has become part of Boozt under the name of Boozt Technology Baltics. “It turned out Scandinavians and Lithuanians share a similar mindset – we focus on achieving goals, having ownership and responsibility for what we do. We trusted them to be responsible for some of our main functions from the first day ”, Br?ndum notices.?

Today Lithuanians are the 3rd biggest nationality after Swedes and Danes in “Boozt” among 1000 employees of 35 nationalities over 5 locations in 4 countries. However, this kind of cultural mix, according to Br?ndum, brings none of the obstacles to being a perfectly organized team. It is so primarily because of the unique internal culture at Boozt.?

“This cooperation has worked so well because both sides have benefited from it. We matched each other well in terms of culture and ambitions, and that is probably the secret behind a good sourcing partnership. It was a perfect date!”, says Jesper Br?ndum.?

The role of internal culture in the organization

?Central to our culture is the ‘care-why’ mindset. It is not only about knowing but also caring. Being curious about why things are the way they are, choosing to act, and going the extra mile for the customer, the company, and each other. This culture is supported by our three company values: Trust, Freedom and Responsibility“ Br?ndum tells.?

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It’s a well-designed internal culture, which empowers employees to take accountability for organizational performance. Yet, it creates enough space to embrace the individuality of each person, despite the physical distance, cultural background, or other differences.?

“I don’t believe in micromanagement. We trust our employees, which secures a positive environment for personal and professional growth. We give our employees freedom, which creates a culture encouraging initiative and new ways of thinking. With freedom comes responsibility, which gives our employees the drive to achieve the greatest results”, Br?ndum explains.?

Please find the full article published at www.it-retail.se (in Swedish) here.