The recent report about steroid use in professional baseball reminds me again of the similarity I see between steroid use and outsourcing in the business world.

I think relating the two may give a new understanding of both topics.

As a professional athlete, if you are in a sport where no system exists to check for steroid use, then you have a problem. Sports competitions are won by people who are bigger, stronger, faster and smarter. Three of the four winning characteristics revolve around the physical. Your opponents who use steroids have a competitive advantage over you that you can't control. Your choice is to either use steroids to be competitive physically (although that carries with it attendant risks of side effects) or not use steroids and be at a competitive disadvantage that will cause you to lose. Losing consistently will cause you to be fired.

Unless rules exist banning steroids and a system put in place to check for rule breaking, this is the dilemma all players face.

As a business, if you are in an industry where there are no rules to prohibit overseas outsourcing of jobs or manufacturing of component parts, then you have a problem, too. Business competitions are won by businesses who provide a product of equal or better quality for a lower price. Your competitors who use overseas outsourcing of jobs or manufacturing of component parts have a competitive advantage you can't control. You may wish to keep your jobs and operations in your local community or in the United States as a whole, but if you do so then you will not be competitive in the marketplace and you will eventually be driven out of business.

In sports, the need for a random checking system of athletes for steroids is the obvious solution.

In business, the banning of outsourcing may not the solution in a global economy. Nevertheless, the comparison of the two gives a clearer picture of what the issues are to be considered.