Introduction
Outsourcing is a business trend that has greatly increased in recent years with more and more companies outsourcing part or whole of their functions/activities. Outsourcing can be defined as the transfer of a business function or activity previously produced in-house to an external supplier which then takes prime responsibility for fulfilling the task (Finn, 2007). Although companies may perceive outsourcing as an alternative to reduce costs as a result of access to economies of scale and improve performance as a result of unique expertise that a large outsourcing vendor can deliver (Roodhooft and Warlop 1999 cited by Jiang and Qureshi 2006), outsourcing has many hidden cost and risks that can lead to create various
…show more content…
A research examining the outsourcing practices of more than a 100 western companies, found that the primary rationale to outsource was to save on overheads through short-term costs savings (PriceWaterHouseCoopers, 1999 cited by Kakabadse and Kakabadse 2002). Furthermore in the IS/IT industry companies outsource primarily for financial reasons as stated by (Karyda et al, 2006) where companies are expecting to improve rate of return investments (ROI), reduce costs and achieve economies of scale that would not be achievable internally.
The cost reduction achieved by outsourcing providers is mainly due to specialisation and achievement of economies of scale, since providers are often servicing a large number of clients; they often achieve lower unit costs than any single company can, what is more outsourcing providers are more likely to be able to invest in new technologies and innovative practises than any company not specialising in that activity are (Alexander and Young, 1996 cited by Bryce and Useem, 1998).
Further factors contributing to the ability of outsourcing providers to offer cost reduction to its customers are globalisation and new technology which have allowed outsource providers to move business processes to areas where labour costs are substantially lower (Finn, 2007). Example By moving business processes to countries with lower costs such as China where labour costs for
Because many businesses in the US have more often began outsourcing different business products instead of doing them in-house, it is important to understand why outsourcing may be the best option. Although many tie outsourcing to foreign markets, outsourcing can include both foreign and domestic markets. By entering into a contractual agreement, outsourcing allows organizations to pay for services they need. This gives the option for a business to get professionals to perform services for them that the business may not have the staff for. Outsourcing provides a cost saving-strategy that is usually more affordable. Ultimately,
Outsourcing has become an integral part of many organizations today. Outsourcing has its advantages and disadvantages that organizations will have to weigh to decide whether or not outsourcing is the best possible solution to their current problems and business operations. Outsourcing refers to the process of hiring external provider to operate on a business or organization function (Venture Outsource, 2012). In this case, two organizations or businesses enter a contract where there will be an exchange of services and payments. This paper will discuss the possible risks an organization may encounter in outsourcing in relation to the use of an external service
(Pearlson,2001). Cost is the most important factor when the enterprise make a decision of insourcing or outsourcing. If the company produce the products or service on its own, there are costs more than producing, which can include investments of researching, training, and equipment.The investment of insourcing can be a lot more than the outsourcing because of economies of scale.Outsourcing providers can gain significant savings from economies of scale, which client companies usually can’t get on its own(Pearlson,2001). This benefit could be magnified in IT outsourcing.In the case of Project Harmony, as a food company, Campbell soup was a lack of sufficient scale within their own IS departments and IT technical expertise, so the saving between outsourcing and insourcing was significant.To conclude, cost reducing is the first of core benefits of outsourcing due to economies of
The vendors are investing in their employees by various training programs on different technologies. This gives a chance for the vendor to provide the outsourcing services to a company with the help of the well trained employees who are ready to work on the projects. Before outsourcing some of its products and services to a third part vendor, the company has to analyze all the factors that might result from the outsourcing decision, the advantages and disadvantages of the company both in short term and long term due to outsourcing. According to Aubuchon, outsourcing some of its products can be a good thing for a company and the judgment to outsource the services must not only based on the cost factor, but the company has to take all other significant factors into consideration (Aubuchon, 2014).
Outsourcing, especially offshore outsourcing, is not a new topic, but a continuing controversial global trends for the industry of manufacturing, and information technology. As Corbett said, outsourcing is the practice of transferring non-core competitiveness jobs to other suppliers rather than doing it self. Many experts are arguing that offshore outsourcing will harm the U.S. economy than it will benefit the American people in the long run, while advocates can also list a bunch of benefits over adverse. However, the practice of offshore outsourcing has been going on for decades, and it wasn’t resulting as opponents’ claimed. Instead,
The origins of many outsourcing endeavors begin as part of a strategic planning session during a period of lean years for a company or anticipation of a prolonged impending down-cycle. This is a time-period when the organization does not have a viable competitive product to offer in the market or the
Outsourcing is defined as "the process of purchasing goods and services from outside vendors rather than producing the same goods or providing the same services within the organization." Outsourcing does not come without risks, but it also has its benefits as well. Gaining services or products from outside sources can be very beneficial, considering the alternative that the firm will have to produce them themselves. However, on main risk that is incurred when outsourcing is that when a firm does outsource, they leave the supply of that product or service in the hands of someone of whom they cannot control, contrary to controlling their own supply. Ethical issues are at hand here, as well as trust issues. As you will see in this paper, many different opinions about outsourcing are present among different financial investors and financial officers. Management teams and management leaders are the head personnel that weigh the pro 's and con 's of outsourcing, and this paper will briefly summarize the various opinions, pro 's, con 's, large benefits, and ethical issues dealing with outsourcing.
Outsourcing is the contracting out of an internal business process to a third party organization. The term "outsourcing" became popular in the United States near the turn of the 21st century.(6) Outsourcing is big business today even for small businesses. Like every business decision we are faced with the advantages as well as the disadvantages of relocating part or all of a business. Outsourcing is one of the fastest growing trends in business as large-scale organizations have latched onto outsourcing due to the almost immediate savings and quality improvement. (1)
As companies look for ways to strategically perform better in their respective industries many chose to outsource job functions. Outsourcing allows companies to grow and expand their business around the world. Many have attributed outsourcing to lowering operating costs, a method to increase expertise and gain additional technology, and as a way to improve efficiency and services. These advantages can help a company gain a competitive advantage over industry participants. When a company strategically plans to outsource ethical consideration must be acknowledged; especially when outsourcing is offshore.
One of the most important forces of outsourcing is that organizations do not have gain the needed and required sources internally. And they have a difficulty in integrating and attracting expertise, where outsources own capabilities on a global level, modern technologies and other required resources. Also, by outsourcing the cost of keeping employees and consultants for short term is reduced. Furthermore, outsourcers are able to offer better career opportunities for business IT staff if they decide to transit to the outsourcer. As the manager of BP Company viewed the main reason of BP Company outsourcing is that "it has become increasingly apparent that service companies provide us with technical skills and ideas that we could no longer develop inside our own company" (Kremis, 2006).
Outsourcing can provide businesses with flexible, low cost solutions to staffing problems. However, it can also present challenges and complexities, which is why our expert practitioners advise clients seeking to pursue outsourcing arrangements. We have advised a number of companies on the outsourcing of key parts of their businesses, including the outsourcing of IT and other business functions.
Competition and sustainability in the third-party IT contracting industry in the United States are driven by economic factors such as outsourcing, globalization, mergers, and acquisitions (Rose-Anderssen, Baldwin, & Ridgway, 2011). In turn, these factors shape and transform third-party IT contracting companies (Jancikova & Brychta, 2009). IT outsourcing (ITO) is a business solution for reducing production costs (Desar & McGee, 2010). This approach is used frequently in the operation of call centers to provide customer service. For example, in Germany, a labor regulatory framework is used to reduce labor costs in the operation of registered companies (Weinkopf, 2009). Work is outsourced to less developed countries with less-costly
What is Outsourcing? It is a method in which companies subcontract labor and support to outside agencies (Klepper, 1997). How, why, and who companies outsource to are quickly becoming social topics of discussion in our society. Everyone seems to have an opinion on outsourcing. I bet that I can walk into a social gathering right now and hear discussions like “outsourcing is good for the American consumer” or outsourcing takes jobs away from all of the hard working Americans.” In either case, outsourcing has raised great concerns over its effects on the American economy. In this paper, I will discuss the types of outsourcing, pros and cons associated with outsourcing, management views of outsourcing, employee
Outsourcing is a technique for companies to reassign specific responsibilities to external entities. There are several motivations for outsourcing including organizational, improvement, cost, and revenue advantages (Ghodeswar & Vaidyanathan, 2008).
Outsourcing, and in particular offshore outsourcing, is absolutely necessary and helps our country 's economy. Outsourcing helps a company focus on those things it does best and hence increase its "top line" revenues while reducing costs. Outsourcing has provided organic growth to the United States corporations and enabled them to compete more effectively in global markets. This paper seeks to explore what outsourcing is, what the difference between outsourcing and offshoring is, what effects it has on individuals, firms, countries and the world as a whole, the controversy surrounding outsourcing, trends of outsourcing and the necessity for it.