An exploratory study of factors influencing make-or-buy of sales activities

Purpose This paper aims to explore how sales managers make resourcing decisions with particular focus on their perceptions of outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on in-depth interviews with 29 senior sales managers from a variety of industry sectors based in the UK. All had more than five years’ experience of making resourcing decisions. Findings The findings are that resourcing decisions are prompted by cost pressure, the need to access skills or to improve flexibility. Outsourcing preferences are strongly moderated by perceived reputational risk. Availability of suitable suppliers and the ability to manage outsourcing are also practical moderators. Research limitations/implications The sample was purposeful in identifying and accessing senior respondents in substantial companies with extensive experience, but it was not random. Practical implications Respondents reported a lack of information available when making resourcing decisions; the model proposed provides a framework by which sales managers can identify the factors which should be taken into account and the information they need to make objective evaluations of resourcing options. Originality/value It has been acknowledged in prior literature that there is relatively little outsourcing of sales activities. This is the first exploratory study of the perceptions of sales managers about resourcing options and the first conceptualisation of how sales resourcing decisions are made

Building dynamic capability through insourcing : a case of the University of KwaZulul-Natal (UKZN)

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Dynamic capabilities are distinctive unique processes and activities that enable an organisation to produce an outcome. These practices are unique to each company/organisation and rooted in its history. These capabilities are captured not just in routines but in business models that go back decades and that are difficult to imitate. The study aims to examine the possible benefits to insourcing major activities and functions at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The main objective in this study is to analysis how dynamic capacity can be built through insourcing university activities and functions to improve overall performance, achieve operational excellence and improve service level. The study further analysis how internal integration and reconfiguration of in house function would develop a lean process and improve service level at UKZN. In South African universities, there has been consistence trends of protest insourcing and outsourcing of certain functions and activities. In UKZN, no study has been done on evaluating how performing activities and functions in-house strategy can achieve dynamic capability, operational excellence and improved service level. In ensuring that the goals of this study are achieved the qualitative research approach has been used which has been implemented using the exploratory research designs. Various data collection tools and methods have been used including conducting in-depth interviews, documentary and report analysis which have provided important data used for the study. In analysing the data collected the thematic analysis technique was employed which categorised the data into different themes, categories and codes. Information for qualitative research is being gathered from operational managers of every school (19 schools), supporting services (16 managers) and facilities (5 facilities) at all the four campuses at UKZN. The total number of sample size for interview ranges to 17 respondents. The main finding highlighted the long-term success of the insourcing in UKZN can be achieved by looking at the following recommendations which is; continuous investment on training and development; transparency, benchmarking and the use of data; process improvement simplification and standardisation and analysing procurement as a strategic asset.To achieve the key objective of the study this requires the institution to investigate and implement efficient initiatives that should be embedded within wider institutional strategies for ensuring the effectiveness and quality of higher education

Outsourcing or insourcing: a case study of regional hospitals in public health within eThekwini District.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Outsourcing has been adopted by public health to improve the efficiency and quality of health care services. Essentially, outsourcing of services such as catering, believed to be a non-core function, has become vital element to afford management time to focus on improving performance on the clinical function. Traditionally, non-core services have been rendered in-house and thus the role of government as the employer and service provider has been altered. Many countries in the world, including South Africa, have come under pressure resulting from scarce financial resources, increased patient demands, high unemployment, and increased health care costs. Thus, the need to control expenditure and provision of high quality service has led hospitals to sought relief from financial pressure by outsourcing non-clinical functions. This study has cross-examined two regional hospitals including Addington and R K Khan situated in EThekwini District to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing and insourcing as well as the impact thereof on cost saving, human resource and efficiency in service delivery, specifically in catering services. The study is qualitative in nature and a case study research design is employed to explore whether a relationship existed between outsourcing and insourcing and efficiency. Semi structured interviews were used to collect data. A total number of 14 government officials including managers and employees directly involved with catering in the hospital were interviewed. On one hand, findings from the study show that outsourcing unit displayed added advantage of offering catering services with stable monthly expenditure, improved performance, and quality of service. On the other hand, insourcing unit proved to have an advantage of being the preferred by the employer. The recommendations stemming from the study concludes that if insourcing is to be adopted as a strategy that is efficient and effective, skilled employees should be employed, and a training fund should be allocated for the existing employees and does away with single source supplier of food to allow for better negotiations. For outsourcing, improved conditions of employment should be implemented through clearly stated contract terms and stricter monitoring tools should be implemented. In its final analysis, the study concludes that public health could benefit by marrying the two strategies

Outsourcing the Human Resource Function: Environmental and Organizational Characteristics that Affect HR Performance

A theoretical model is presented that identifies environmental and organizational characteristics that affect human resource (HR) performance in an organization. Specifically, we address the issue of when and under what circumstances does HR outsourcing contribute value to the firm by attempting to identify environmental and organizational characteristics that affect HR department performance and how HR outsourcing mediates that relationship. We propose that supplier competition in the HR provider market has a direct effect on the amount of HR outsourcing which in turn has a direct effect on HR performance. Environmental uncertainty (primary, competitive, and supplier) is proposed to moderate the relationship between amount of HR outsourcing and HR performance while asset specificity is proposed to moderate the relationship between supplier competition and amount of HR outsourcing. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Southwest Academy of Management meeting in Houston, Texas, March, 2003, and received the 2003 Irwin/McGraw-Hill Distinguished Paper Awar

A phenomenological study of the impact of knowledge intensity and environmental velocity on in source or hosted contact centres.

Contact centres exist in order to focus the final step of the intra organisational value chain which then delivers optimalcustomer satisfaction. In this paper we analyse a centre with a view to investigating the impact of outsourcing or the inhouselocus of provision. Such centres exhibit agency/principal characteristics, bringing knowledge management into sharp focus, aspects of information intensity which impact on the organisational dynamics, and the learning of the employees. A phenomenological approach to determine the essence of the activities was deployed rather than a methodological initiative based post positivistic strategic analysis. The characteristics of contact centres investigated coalesce into two distinct categories; a framework to depict this is presented

Human Resource Management Outsourcing in Spanish firms: Evolution over time and implication for devolution

Purpose: The paper aim to explore the evolution in the use of HRO in Spanish firms, and determine the differences in the degree of implementation of HRO since 1999 until 2014, and also analyze the relationship between HR outsourcing and devolution of HR responsibilities to line managers in Spanish organizations. Design/methodology: This paper combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Namely the article is based on international Cranet HRM survey data collected from private and public organizations and also interviews with HR external providers. Findings: The analysis of developments, based on the Cranet surveys and interviews with HR external providers shows that during the past few years there has been an increasing use of HRO in parallel with the tendency to devolve more HR responsibility to line managers. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this research is the limitation of data about reasons for devolution that the CRANET questionnaire provides. However, the interviews carried out enrich the survey data with qualitative results. Practical implications: The findings can be used to guide management teams in outsourcing and devolution decisions to maximize benefits to their organizations. Originality/value: This paper is about the evolution of HRO in Spain as a European Union country where published research on HRO and also its implications is relatively limited. The originality of this paper is mainly the involvement of line manager in the outsourcing process which have been poorly analyzed until now.Peer Reviewe

Strategies in Outsourcing R&D Processes to Maintain Market Competitiveness

In the 21st century, managing outsourced research and development (R&D) processes is critical to an organization\u27s success. Guided by the logistic outsourcing theory developed by de Boer, Gaytan, and Arroyo, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies and processes organizational leaders used to manage outsourced R&D to maintain market competitiveness. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 purposefully selected business leaders who were responsible for outsourcing R&D in a single Fortune 500 corporation in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Company records were also gathered as data. Yin\u27s 5-step process for a case study and key words in context analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings included 3 main themes: (a) the outsourcing decision-making process with internal and external constraints, (b) the effectiveness of managing outsourcing services and processes, and (c) the influence of outsourcing on business effectiveness and new products. Findings also indicated no practical system to measure effectiveness of outsourced R&D services on market competitiveness. The lack of measurement effectiveness was due to a lack of processes in place to measure R&D performance and no practical approach to measure impact of R&D on market competitiveness. Findings offered insight into strategies used by business leaders to manage outsourced R&D processes. Findings may also have implications for positive social change such as impacting communities through employment, generating government revenues through taxes, and creating a positive impact on job creation in the industries that promote R&D outsourcing

Strategies in Outsourcing R&D Processes to Maintain Market Competitiveness

In the 21st century, managing outsourced research and development (R&D) processes is critical to an organization\u27s success. Guided by the logistic outsourcing theory developed by de Boer, Gaytan, and Arroyo, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies and processes organizational leaders used to manage outsourced R&D to maintain market competitiveness. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 purposefully selected business leaders who were responsible for outsourcing R&D in a single Fortune 500 corporation in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Company records were also gathered as data. Yin\u27s 5-step process for a case study and key words in context analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings included 3 main themes: (a) the outsourcing decision-making process with internal and external constraints, (b) the effectiveness of managing outsourcing services and processes, and (c) the influence of outsourcing on business effectiveness and new products. Findings also indicated no practical system to measure effectiveness of outsourced R&D services on market competitiveness. The lack of measurement effectiveness was due to a lack of processes in place to measure R&D performance and no practical approach to measure impact of R&D on market competitiveness. Findings offered insight into strategies used by business leaders to manage outsourced R&D processes. Findings may also have implications for positive social change such as impacting communities through employment, generating government revenues through taxes, and creating a positive impact on job creation in the industries that promote R&D outsourcing