103 research outputs found
Business Mereology: Imaginative Definitions of Insourcing and Outsourcing Transformations
Outsourcing, the passing on of tasks by organizations to other organizations,
often including the personnel and means to perform these tasks, has become an
important IT-business strategy over the past decades.
We investigate imaginative definitions for outsourcing relations and
outsourcing transformations. Abstract models of an extreme and unrealistic
simplicity are considered in order to investigate possible definitions of
outsourcing. Rather than covering all relevant practical cases an imaginative
definition of a concept provides obvious cases of its instantiation from which
more refined or liberal definitions may be derived.
A definition of outsourcing induces to a complementary definition of
insourcing. Outsourcing and insourcing have more complex variations in which
multiple parties are involved. All of these terms both refer to state
transformations and to state descriptions pertaining to the state obtained
after such transformations. We make an attempt to disambiguate the terminology
in that respect and we make an attempt to characterize the general concept of
sourcing which captures some representative cases.
Because mereology is the most general theory of parthood relations we coin
business mereology as the general theory in business studies which concerns the
full variety of sourcing relations and transformations
Maintenance management practices at Sabah State Library Headquarters
The deterioration of assets or facilities far beyond their expected life are because lack of
maintenance being carried out after completed built up or during the period in which the
assets or facilities operating. Therefore, this study is aim to explore the effectiveness of
maintenance management practices in the building. All the process of this study is carried out
at Sabah State Library (SSL) Headquarters. The research instrument is applied in this study
that is the questionnaire form to collect data from the respondents. A total of 83 respondents
involved in this questionnaire, of which 53 respondents were from the employees of SSL
Headquarters while another 30 respondents were the visitors of SSL Headquarters. Besides,
semi-structured interview also has been adopted in this study with two officers of SSL
Headquarters. In doing so, it is to gain an in-depth understanding into maintenance
management practices at SSL Headquarters. The findings shows a very encouraging results on
the effectiveness of maintenance management practices at SSL Headquarters. Due to there are
only minor defect factors existed instead of major defect factors. But, there are still a room of
improvement to avoid major defect factors occur. As a result, recommendations are provided
for continuous improvement. In short, it can be concluded that the research objectives have
been achieved in this study. (Abstract by author
Does R&D offshoring lead to SME growth? Different governance modes and the mediating role of innovation
In this article, we address the role of R&D offshoring strategies in the sales growth of small - and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We propose that different governance modes of R&D offshoring - insourcing versus outsourcing - may lead to growth, but that they differ in their effects. In turn, we argue that innovation mediates the relation between international R&D sourcing strategies and sales growth. Based on a large database of SME manufacturing enterprises in Spain, we find that offshore outsourcing positively affects sales growth both directly and indirectly, while offshore insourcing only affects sales growth indirectly via innovation results. The analysis reveals different contributions of each governance mode to sales growth and the mediating role of innovation in the relation between R&D offshoring and firm growth
Using communication to mitigate the challenges of outsourced projects
Abstract: The multi-organisational mode of outsourcing projects increases the significance and complexity of project communication. Communication is essential for any organisation, offering the necessary structures within which people may successfully work together, make decisions and act to accomplish organisational goals. If project necessities are not communicated accurately, negative outcomes are frequently the result, proving detrimental to the organisation and the outsourced project. Literature review revealed ten common challenges to the outsourcing of projects, with mitigation strategies identified to minimise the impacts of such challenges. This study makes use of the case study research method and semi-structured interviews as the primary means of data collection. The method of analysis chosen for the study was the qualitative approach of thematic analysis. A cross-case analysis was done, similarities and variations were grouped together, and themes were identified based on participants’ responses. These were compared to the literature findings. It was found that six of the ten challenges were experienced in all three case studies. Four were unique to particular projects. The findings indicate that challenges affected project teams’ ability to communicate effectively, and that the identified mitigation strategies all included the component of communication, whether synchronous or asynchronous. With the achievement of the research objective, this study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge within the project management fraternity and within academia. Knowledge gained may be used by project management professionals and will, it is hoped, enhance the way projects are outsourced and managed in the engineering sector.M.Phil. (Engineering Management
Understanding Managerial Decisions about Global Sourcing: Offshoring and Reshoring of Production
As international commerce continues to emerge due to telecommunication and transportation breakthroughs, the eagerness of companies to send particular business functions offshore increases. Offshoring is the removal of a company function (particularly, manufacturing) from a domestic location to a remote destination. Since many developing economies contain low labor wages, companies in the United States and Europe are able to leverage cost savings by paying low compensation to foreign production employees. The low cost concept, though, does not always offer significant financial reward. For companies with particular product types, business models, or limited experience, offshoring proves to be an expensive mistake that is difficult to reverse. Even so, some U.S. enterprises are reshoring their production function to combat the issues faced in the foreign manufacturing sector. This study aims to investigate the problems of offshoring and proposes a “systems-view” decision framework for global sourcing
The Usefulness of the Recommendations Regarding the Information System Development Method Selection during the Era of Digitalization
The business criticality of information systems (IS) and their development (ISD) appear to have increased recently. Backsourcing, cosourcing and multisourcing of ISD are some of the consequences. They, in turn, extend the need for understanding how to select information systems development methods (ISDM). In this research, we first condensed the knowledge base of ISDM selection research into nine recommendations. We then interviewed 28 ISDM experts and asked them to evaluate how useful the extant ISDM selection recommendations of prior research are to IS user organizations. We discovered that most recommendations were perceived outdated and only limitedly useful. We finally contemplated that paying more attention to how ISDMs are used in business development contexts is a means to increase the usefulness of ISDM selection recommendations
Information Systems Outsourcing: Linking Transaction Cost and Institutional Theories
In this article, we apply transaction cost theory (TCT) and institutional theory to the realm of IS outsourcing. TCT posits that firm\u27s outsourcing governance is influenced by transaction cost factors, namely, bounded rationality, opportunism, and risk. Institutional theory, on the other hand, has been advocated to explain non-choice behavior of organizations in the context of competitors, norms, and professional associations. Although TCT has been used extensively in the extant literature to study outsourcing arrangements, we argue that as IS outsourcing practices propagate in organizational fields, TCT explanations will take a back seat to institutional explanations. We appropriate the transaction cost framework to the IS outsourcing setting and consider when and how firm\u27s decision to adopt outsourcing and corresponding ex-ante screening and ex-post monitoring of the vendor will be influenced by mimetic, normative, and coercive institutional pressures. More specifically, we argue that greater the density and rate of adoption in outsourcing during innovation diffusion and stability stages, the greater the possibility that transaction cost factors will be replaced by institutional factors in explaining firms\u27 governance structures (decision to adopt outsourcing, and corresponding screening and monitoring). Conversely, we posit that when the institutional pressures are relatively weak, TCT better explains the intricacies of IS outsourcing arrangements. In conclusion, future research directions and managerial implications of the institutional environment on IS outsourcing governance are discussed
- …