برون سپاری : تفکر وسیع تر

Outsourcing refers to the practice of a firm entrusting to an external entity the performance of an activity that was performed erstwhile in-house. Although off-shoring and offshore outsourcing to suppliers have dominated much of the recent discussion and debate on outsourcing in scholarly journals and the business press, the nature and scope of outsourcing that does not transcend national boundaries, and outsourcing to entities other than to suppliers is quite substantial. Against this backdrop, a five sources outsourcing framework delineating a broad array of outsourcing avenues available to firms is proposed. For the most part, lowering costs as a motive underlying off-shoring and offshore outsourcing have dominated recent discussion. Furthermore, in the aftermath of the rapid growth in offshore outsourcing in the services sector, the technological forces underlying these developments have been extensively written about. Against this backdrop, the relevance of considerations other than cost in the outsourcing decisions of firms, and the role of technology in automating and thereby either making redundant an erstwhile outsourced activity or performing the activity in-house are discussed.

Outsourcing refers to the practice of a firm entrusting to an external entity the performance of an activity that was erstwhile performed in-house. The outsourced activity could either be the manufacturing of a good or the performance of a service. Outsourcing to third party firms based in other countries is commonly referred to as offshore outsourcing, and sourcing from a firm's subsidiaries located in other countries as off-shoring. Regardless, both offshore outsourcing and off-shoring essentially constitute international trade in goods and services. Notwithstanding the current high level of interest in offshore outsourcing and off-shoring, it should be noted that they are only a slice of a much larger pie that also encompasses outsourcing that does not transcend national boundaries, and outsourcing to entities other than to a firm's suppliers. Against this backdrop, this article presents a five sources outsourcing framework delineating the vast and expansive scope of outsourcing. The decision by firms to outsource is often driven by as well as drives (i.e., is influenced by and facilitates) the emergence of specialist organizations in various fields and the associated scale driven cost efficiencies. While much of the discussion relating to outsourcing is focused on the cost of performing an activity within the boundaries of the firm versus entrusting to a third party, situations in which cost may not be the principal consideration in a firm's outsourcing decisions also merit careful consideration. This constitutes the second building block of the “think more expansively” position advanced in the paper.

The question of whether to perform specific activities within the boundaries of the firm or outside of the boundaries is an issue of ongoing concern to firms. Against this backdrop, the key takeaways from this article are as follows. First, in today's intensely competitive business environment, managers should think more expansively about who to outsource to. As delineated in the proposed five sources outsourcing framework, they include a firm's overseas subsidiaries, suppliers, customers, competitors, and strategic alliance partners. Furthermore, numerous more specific potential avenues (e.g., co-outsourcing, micro-outsourcing, quasi-outsourcing, and reciprocal outsourcing) exist within each of the above. Second, managers should also think more expansively in regard to the question of whether to outsource, in the broader context of the comparative advantage, competitive imperative and competitive advantage underpinnings of outsourcing. Third, in regard to the potential impact of technology on outsourcing, managers need to sensitive to not only how technology can be leveraged to outsource an activity that is being currently performed in-house, but also how technology can be leveraged to perform in-house an activity that is currently outsourced, or automate and make redundant an outsourced activity.