International Outsourcing and Incomplete Contracts

International outsourcing to lower cost countries such as China and India can best be understood through the enrichment of trade models to include concepts from industrial organization and contract theory that explain the vertical organization of production. The combination of trade with the choice of organizational form represents an important new area for both theoretical and empirical research. This survey paper provides a perspective on this new literature so as to gain insights into the forces driving international outsourcing. The paper focuses on relationship-specific investment, incomplete contracts, and also search and matching, as fundamental concepts that explain outsourcing decisions.

Supply Portfolio Concentration in Outsourced Knowledge-Based Services

In the extant vertical integration literature, the question of how the firm's portfolio of outsourced work is managed across suppliers has been relatively understudied. We seek to advance this area of research by examining factors that influence how concentrated the firm's outsourcing is among its set of suppliers. Using data on the outsourcing of patent legal services, we find empirical evidence that outsourced knowledge-based service work is concentrated in the hands of fewer suppliers when: (1) it requires greater firm-specific knowledge; (2) there is a higher level of interrelatedness across outsourced projects; (3) the firm's reliance on outsourcing is high; (4) its outsourced projects are focused on a narrower (capability) domain; and (5) the technological dynamism of this domain is low. Our study suggests that examining portfolio-level phenomena in outsourcing is a useful complement to the predominant focus on transaction-level outcomes in prior research because it provides insights into how firms manage tradeoffs across their entire set of outsourced projects.

Cataloging​ ​Redesigned:​ ​Is​ ​outsourcing​ ​still​ ​a​ ​dirty​ ​word?

With today’s financial constraints, librarians can never get too far away from the challenge of reorganizing, redesigning or reimagining their workflows, staffing or departments. Does the term outsourcing still scare you? How have libraries adapted to the threat or reality of outsourcing in their organizations? This presentation is a look back at outsourcing from case studies that were published in 1997. While investigating this provocative topic I discovered the book “Outsourcing Library Technical Services Operations: Practices in Academic, Public, and Special Libraries” , edited by Karen Wilson and Mary Lou Colver. This is a book of case studies describing libraries and outsourcing and what was happening in the early to mid 1990’s. I started looking back at the history of outsourcing cataloging operations in libraries from this book and then took a look at what is happening today. In the 20 years since this book’s publication, what are these libraries doing NOW in terms of outsourcing? During my own investigation into this topic, I asked other librarians, With all of the reorganization going on in libraries, do you even have catalogers on staff? Furthermore, I asked them to share insights on outsourcing. Combining their responses with insights from professional literature from the 1990s regarding outsourcing, the audience will learn about how libraries coped with and worked with outsourcing from the early 1990’s to how librarians are managing today. As with most difficult and worrisome issues; gaining knowledge about outsourcing makes us less fearful. We no longer need to be nervous when the idea of “outsourcing” is discussed in our libraries. Looking back to 1997 and then taking a look into the future, the audience will come away armed with some ideas on how to manage successful outsourcing projects in their own libraries

Perspectives on IT Outsourcing Success: Covariance Structure Modelling of a Survey of Outsourcing in Australia

Australia has been at the forefront of the adoption of outsourcing as a means for delivering IT services, but the success of IT outsourcing in Australia has been mixed. With two hundred and forty one responses from the top 1000 IT users in the country, the survey reported in this paper is one of the largest and most representative IT outsourcing studies in the world. Covariance structure modelling and confirmatory factor analysis has shed new light on the concept of outsourcing success, highlighting its complex, multidimensional nature. It has also confirmed many insights gained to date from qualitative research. Analysis also emphasises the importance to the outsourcing relationship of the management processes adopted by the client organization. L'Australie a été un pionnier dans l'adoption de l'impartition pour les services informatiques. Toutefois, les résultats ont été mitigés. Avec plus de deux cent répondants, provenant des 1000 plus grandes entreprises australiennes, cette étude et une des plus larges et représentatives faites jusqu'à0501ntenant. Une analyse des structure de co-variance, de même qu'une anlayse factorielle confirmatoire jettent un regard neuf sur la notion de succès de l'impartition. L'étude met en lumière le caractère complexe et multi-dimensionel de ce succès.Outsourcing, Australia, survey research, success, information systems, Impartition, Australie, enquête, succès, services informatiques

Outsourcing in Sandy Springs and Other US Cities: Insights for Other Countries

This paper analyses the partnership-based outsourcing model of service transformation in USA local government, focusing on the city of Sandy Springs which became widely known for its large-scale ‘turnkey’ outsourcing of provision of its services in the mid-2000s. This city has been referred to in the literature as a special case not applicable to other countries, such as the UK, because of their very different contexts. However, there is now a public sector austerity context within which to reassess Sandy Springs’ use of turnkey outsourcing to achieve significant cost savings and improve services. The paper reports empirical research which it uses to derive insights for municipalities considering outsourcing. Those insights can help improve both policy and professional practice by outlining key issues for consideration when trying to ‘do more with less’ money

The Impacts of Outsourcing on Business Process Automation Implementation : A Comprehensive Analysis

This master thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted impacts of outsourcing on different phases of Business Process Automation (BPA) implementation. Through interviews with specialists involved in BPA outsourcing, valuable insights were obtained regarding the experiences, perspectives, and challenges faced by organizations during various stages of BPA implementation. The study identified key findings in each phase, highlighting the importance of involving external vendors from the start, establishing effective communication channels, and addressing regulatory hurdles. Additionally, concerns related to knowledge loss and dependency on external vendors were explored, emphasizing the significance of documentation and knowledge transfer practices. The findings align with existing literature on outsourcing and BPA, while also providing unique contributions by emphasizing the establishment of a specific vocabulary, linking outsourcing to regulatory challenges, and offering practical insights for managing outsourcing risks. The implications for theory suggest the need for careful management and coordination throughout the outsourcing process, as well as the significance of early vendor engagement. Practically, the study offers recommendations for organizations, including the involvement of external vendors from the beginning, proactive planning for potential challenges, and the adoption of specific strategies to enhance vendor relationships and project monitoring. The study acknowledges limitations and suggests future research directions, such as exploring different industries and regions, incorporating quantitative data, examining decision-making processes, and investigating the long-term sustainability of outsourcing arrangements. Overall, this master thesis provides a nuanced understanding of the impacts of outsourcing on BPA implementation, offering practical recommendations for organizations seeking successful outcomes in their automation journey

Does a higher minimum wage accelerate labour division in agricultural production? Evidence from the main riceplanting area in China

Agricultural production outsourcing, a new means of agricultural production, can optimise the allocation of resources, reduce agricultural production costs, and improve agricultural productivity. However, farmers’ outsourcing behaviours are strongly interfered with by many factors such as economics, technology and institutions. Using a farmer-level data set from 2014 to 2018 in China, we examine the effects of the minimum wage increase on rice farmers’ production outsourcing behaviours. Our study relies on a Logit regression framework and uses the control function (C.F.) approach to address potential endogeneity concerns. Results show that the minimum wage increase significantly reduces the probability of farmers conducting production outsourcing. We also examine the heterogeneous effects of the minimum wage increase, and find that compared with other outsourcing services, the adverse effects on harvesting outsourcing are the strongest; the negative effects on production outsourcing are stronger for rice farmers with higher education. Our results provide new insights into understanding how labour regulation affects labour division in agricultural production

Evaluating The Strategic Implications Of Japanese IT Offshore Outsourcing In China And India

Many studies have been done on the market, managerial and technological factors that impact IT outsourcing decisions. However, few of these studies have looked at institutional and cultural factors influencing various approaches to outsourcing. Developments in Japanese IT software outsourcing make it an excellent sector for studying the impact of such institutional and cultural factors. This qualitative study looks at the contrasting motivations behind IT outsourcing to India and China in order to gain insights into what the Japanese firms consider the key success factors for IT software offshore outsourcing. Preliminary indications are that old business relations, trust, language requirements, cultural similarity and the ability to capture certain idiosyncratic business practices and routines are essential factors driving Japanese IT outsourcing decisions

Exploring the Vendor’s Process Model in Information Technology Outsourcing

Recently, the role of outsourcing vendors in outsourcing projects has been attracting increasing attention. This would imply that the studies on outsourcing truly require an understanding of both parties, i.e., the vendor and the customer, to realize the expected benefits. Although such benefits are mainly determined by how the outsourcing process is defined and managed, limited research has been done on the outsourcing process from the vendor’s perspective. The objective of this study is to provide guidance to organizations that plan to outsource or have already outsourced their IT functions in order for them to reap greater outsourcing benefits by understanding the vendor’s outsourcing process model. It also aims to assist vendors by exploring what key steps and concerns throughout the outsourcing process exist. To do so, this study develops a vendor’s outsourcing process model containing the type of vendor and structure of the vendor organization which comes strictly from the viewpoint of vendors. This is based on the author’s working experience and in-depth interviews with outsourcing practitioners in 15 IT companies. Such a model can provide valuable insights into the interconnection of vendor’s and customer’s outsourcing processes. Moreover, it can help customers and vendors expand their understanding of the outsourcing process from beginning to end