Reconsidering outsourcing solutions

European Management Journal, 2003

The authors report the results of a study on the motives of corporate headquarters in large European manufacturing firms for engaging in outsourcing and the risks they perceive to be associated with strategic outsourcing operations. Four main issues can be highlighted: preoccupations about core businesses and reduction of cost of capital are linked; access to external expertise and quality improvements are specific expectations for outsourcing firms; operational cost savings, still a predominant concern, must be balanced with the cost of monitoring suppliers; the 'increased flexibility' objective emerges as a distinct issue. 

Econometrics: Econometric & Statistical Methods - Special Topics eJournal, 2017

This study investigates how researchers use theory for decision-making on outsourcing through a longitudinal systematic literature review covering four five-year intervals spanning 1965–2011. Each of the 249 retrieved papers has been categorized based on theory used, nature of literature review, research method, type of industry investigated, organisational functions, performance criteria and level of decision making. Notwithstanding a surge in academic writings on outsourcing, our analysis of the four periods shows that few papers contribute to theory or provide further insight into outsourcing. The focus of most papers tends to be on the practitioner’s perspective with decision making shifting from mainly financial–economic and operational considerations to strategic, long-term and multidimensional criteria that are not necessarily linked to a particular theoretical stance. The findings also imply that a full account of theories, their application as well as systematic testing in ...

2006

Outsourcing has recently spurred broad discussions due to the relatively high failure rate of outsourced activities. To analyze how organizations can increase their success rate of outsourcing activities, the authors take a two-prong approach to the outsourcing decision and execution process, covering the "why" and "how to" outsource.

Academy of Management Perspectives, 2000

Outsourcing, in the face of globalisation, becomes one of the most important tools to deal with the competitive nature of the market. This is the reason that the outsourcing phenomenon has been increasingly receiving attention both from academic and business organisations. The term outsourcing is referred to the use of outside resources to perform in-house activities of the firm which were previously done by the firm itself. Behind this practice, there are some basic necessary propositions which are based on so some theoretical ground. Therefore, in this piece of paper it has been tried to focus on the theories which is related to the concept of outsourcing. Moreover, an attempt has been made to throw some light on the motives behind the outsourcing practices of the business organisations.

International Journal of Management Reviews, 2006

The phenomenon of outsourcing is becoming increasingly widespread among organizations and is now one of the strategic decisions that attract the greatest interest from professionals and organizational scholars. The primary purpose of the paper is to contribute with a review of the principal works that address outsourcing from the resource-based view of the firm (RBV). The paper begins by setting out the main premises of outsourcing and then presents the different concepts of outsourcing and proposes a concept that is more in line with the theoretical framework used. This is followed by an analysis of the principal differences and similarities of the treatments of outsourcing from the traditional perspective of the transaction costs economics theory (TCE) and from the more strategic and up-to-date RBV. The next section contains a review of the most significant theoretical and empirical works on outsourcing that address outsourcing from the RBV. The contributions are classified into two categories, depending on the objectives: works that study the propensity to outsource and works that study the relationship between the outsourcing decision and organizational performance. Finally, a framework is proposed that is based on the resource and capability view with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of outsourcing and facilitating future empirical works from the RBV that are complementary and examine issues of greater interest that have been less developed in the literature to date. Author/s (year) Variables under consideration Type of study Key findings Table 3 (continued)

Journal of General Management, 2002

Outsourcing is not a quick fix. It needs a management culture that encourages and values collaboration. One the of key issues to emerge for many organizations has been the increasing importance of outsourcing. The potential for outsourcing has moved on from those activities that are normally regarded as of peripheral concern to the organization, such as cleaning, catering and security, to include critical areas of activity such as design, manufacture, marketing, distribution and information systems with almost the entire value chain open to the use of outside supply [1]. Outsourcing is now recognised as an area of strategic importance for o~ganizations and one that can contribute to the achievement of competitive advantage. The outsourcing decision can often be a major determinant of profitability making a significant contribution to the financial health ofthe company [2]. Quinn and Hilmer [3] argue that outsourcing has a number of advantages including access to economies of scale, flexibility, the ability to focus on the remaining specialised aCtivities, reduction in overhead costs and a flatter and more responsive organization. During the late 1980s •and 1990s, some vertically integrated companies have found vertical integration to be competitively inflexible in a rapidly changing business environment. For this reason, companies have become interested in 'quasi-integration' strategies such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, technology licenses, asset ownership, franchising and long term preferred supplier relationships (Schmitz et al., 1995). Large Western manufacturers have been attempting to bridge the gap between the traditional make versus buy decision by combining the strengths of vertical integration and outsourcing in order to achieve vertical integration without financial ownership.

International Journal of Innovation Management, 2011

This article gives a general decision framework for companies outsourcing strategic decisions. The authors argue that a consistent outsourcing strategy, strategic evaluation and searching of external sources, and effective implementation processes are three essential steps toward successful innovation outsourcing. The article points out that outsourcing strategy is embedded in a company's overall technology strategy, and analyzes the decision context of the sourcing strategy. The new theoretical idea is the portfolio view of outsourcing strategy. The soul of innovation outsourcing should be a mix of different external sources and different levels of integration and a match with the proper organizational structure. Examples of generic portfolios are given at the end of the article.

The Journal of Social Sciences Research

This study explained various theories by comparing their phases for modeling of outsourcing theories. This research is based on extensive literature reviews, which direct to the classification of different outsourcing theories for its modeling. All these models, theories with respect to its outsourcing phases have their own advantages and disadvantages, thus a critical analysis is required in order to achieve useful conclusions for the organizations who intend to implement such theories. The review of the Outsourcing theories is based on preparation, vendor(s) selection, transition, management of relationship, and reconsideration phases.

Despite outsourcing has been at the core of managerial practice and literature for a long time, still authors do not agree on a clear understanding of the overall outsourcing process. This article answers two main questions, relevant to researchers and practitioners: 1.What are the main findings so far in outsourcing literature? 2. What do we still need to learn? Through a comprehensive review of the literature, we offer systematization of the existent body of knowledge on outsourcing, its implications on firms' boundaries, and the theoretical challenges. In conclusion, implications for managers are drawn.