Global sourcing of business processes: history, effects, and future trends

We review key drivers, trends and consequences of global sourcing of business processes – the sourcing of administrative and more knowledge-intensive processes from globally dispersed locations. We argue that global sourcing, which is also associated with ‘offshoring’ and ‘offshore outsourcing’, has co-evolved over the past three decades with the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), a growing pool of low-cost, yet often qualified labor and expertise in developing countries, and increasing client-side global sourcing experience. We show how this dynamic has led firms to develop new global capabilities, governance and business models, changed the geographic distribution of work and expertise, and promoted the emergence of new geographic knowledge services clusters. We further introduce three new trends – the emergence of global delivery models, ICT- enabled service automation, and impact sourcing – and discuss future directions for research

E-Procurement – Process Based Conceptual Model

This paper aims to contribute to the development of a process based conceptual model of electronic procurement. Model is based on three basic eprocurement processes – strategic, tactical and operational eprocurement. Processes are divided into phases which are supported by applications (i.e. software programmes). Apart from applications supporting basic procurement activities there is a currently fast growing group of ADM (Analytical - Decision support - Management) applications, which brings business benefits especially in complex procurement environments. The basic view is that of ICT’s (Information and Communication Technologies - namely Internet, Internet technologies, Internet standards, Internet applications) support of procurement activities. Paper presents integrated e-procurement applications and also various integration requirements of e-procurement applications. Model may perhaps help enterprises, which are new to e-procurement, e.g. SMEs, to gain basic understanding of which applications may be used for implementation of eprocurement processes

The “New Spirit of Academic Capitalism”: Can Scientists Create Generative Critique From Within?

The 21st-century university is a contested site of neoliberal transformation. Its role is moving away from that of a hub of culture, knowledge and critique to that of a provider of skills and employability for the market. The move towards a lean business model in the management of knowledge production is not an isolated phenomenon, but integral to the shifting economic, political and moral landscapes of global capitalism and the knowledge society. The literature discussing the changes in higher education, which could be collectively termed "critical studies of academia", remains fragmented and is yet to yield tangible resistance or envision viable alternative models of academic governance. This article discusses the possibility of generating constructive critique of "the new spirit of academic capitalism" from within. French Convention Theory is employed as a conceptual toolbox for unpacking the worlds of worth, conventions and justifications which operate beneath the surface of the marketisation, acceleration and casualisation of scientific labour - and suggested as a potential tool for building a generative sociology of critique

Global delivery models: the role of talent, speed and time zones in the global outsourcing industry

Global delivery models (GDMs) are transforming the global IT and business process outsourcing industry. GDMs are a new form of client-specific investment promoting service integration with clients by combining client proximity with time-zone spread for 24/7 service operations. We investigate antecedents and contingencies of setting up GDM structures. Based on comprehensive data we show that providers are likely to establish GDM location configurations when clients value access to globally distributed talent and speed of service delivery, in particular when services are highly commoditized. Findings imply that coordination across time zones increasingly affects international operations in business-to-business and born-global industries

Information and communications technologies,coordination and control, and the distribution of income

We consider the links between information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the distribution of income, as mediated by problems of coordination and control within organizations. In the large corporations of the mid-twentieth century, a highly developed division of labor was coordinated and controlled with the aid of relatively underdeveloped ICTs. This created a situation in which the options of top manage- ment were constrained while the individual and collective power of lower paid workers was enhanced. Only in the late twentieth century, when the microprocessor and re- lated technologies transformed the information systems of organizations, did improve- ments in the tools of coordination and control race ahead of the growing demands of coordination and control. These technological changes have reduced the power of lower-paid employees, increased that for higher-paid employees, and led to an increase in income inequality. Thus, the more important aspects of new technology relate to the "power-bias", rather than the "skill-bias", of technological change. JEL Categories: J31, O33communications technology, power-biased technical change, inequality, work intensity, efficiency wage.

Barriers to innovation in SMEs: Can the internationalization of R&D mitigate their effects?

Technological advancements, especially in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have enhanced greatly the competition spurred by the globalization of the world economies. Even small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are no more immune to the challenges that the globalization brings about. It is a remarkable, and in certain instances worrisome, situation since SMEs play a key-role in most economies, in that they constitute the largest business block and provide the bulk of employment. However, opportunities presented by the globalization and the entwined, simultaneous pressure to innovate opens for SMEs new arenas to engage in what we may call are global innovation activities so as to gain, retain, and further strengthen the competitive position. This pressure to go for global innovation is enhanced by given socio-demographic factors, e.g. shortage of skilled labour, in many industrialized countries. This paper presents the findings of a survey by the authors carried out in the Metropolitan Region of Hamburg in Germany to identify barriers to innovation in selected industries and to work out solutions. The project RIS-Hamburg was initiated by the State Ministry of Economic and Labour Affairs in Hamburg and co-financed by the European Union (EU). The findings of this survey are here matched against perceived opportunities and challenges presented by global innovation. --Innovation Management,Barriers to Innovation,Globalization of Innovation,Research and Development,SME, Globalization,Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME),Internationalization of R&D,Research &Development

A Growth Model for the Quadruple Helix Innovation Theory

We propose a theoretical growth model with which to frame analytically the Quadruple Helix Innovation Theory (QHIT). The aim is to emphasise the investment in innovation transmission mechanisms in terms of economic growth and productivity gains, in one-high-technology sector, by stressing the role played by the helices of the Quadruple Helix Innovation Model: Academia and Technological Infrastructures, Firms of Innovation, Government and Civil Society. In the existing literature, the relationship between the helices and respective impacts on economic growth does not appear clear. Results are fragile due to data weakness and the inexistence of a theoretical framework to specify the relationship between the helices. Hence our motivation for providing the QHIT with a theoretical growth model. Our intent is to model the importance of emerging, dynamically adaptive, and transdisciplinary knowledge and innovation ecosystems to economic growth. We find that higher economic growth rate is obtained as a result of an increase in synergies and complementarities between different productive units, or an increase in productive government expenditure.Economic Growth, Quadruple Helix Innovation Model, Innovation Ecosystems

Innovation via global route: Proposing a reference model for chances and challenges of global innovation processes

Innovations have acquired a key-role in the growth and competition strategies of firms today. They are regarded as an essential tool to stimulate growth and enable firms to master the competition brought about by the forces of globalization. In developed countries they are thought to provide a vital buffer against challenges from low-cost producers from emerging countries. At the same time, innovations in today's globalized world are hardly feasible in isolation. World-wide economic reforms and far-reaching technological advancements have brought to fore new economic powerhouses, such as China and India, which possess strong scientific capabilities. Products are marketed internationally which often necessitates adaptation to specific needs of targeted markets. All these developments are leading to the globalization of innovation. Based on recent empirical studies conducted by the authors in Germany, this paper presents results from research-in-progress and proposes a reference model for chances and challenges of global innovation activities. --Research and Development,R&D,Internationalization,Globalization,Innovation