While off-shore business process outsourcing (off-shoring) is fast becoming a mega-trend, little is known about the strategic implications of such efforts. In this research we build and test a conceptual model of strategic off-shoring. The model draws from the contingency theory and dynamic capabilities streams of research and posits strategic intent and absorptive capacities as antecedents of competitive advantage derived from business process off-shoring arrangements. The model is currently being tested with the help of interview data collected from a number of providers of business process outsourcing in India