Outsourcing Case Study

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Outsourcing has been utilized by companies in sundry industries for many decades as a key business strategy (Ghodeswar and Vaidyanathan, 2008). Harmancioglu (2009) argue that several successful companies depend on outsourcing to continue being responsive in coping with market changes as well as to expand their operations globally. He also stated that outsourcing was primarily perceived and employed to reduce costs, however recently it has become a prevalent and essential tool to gain competitive advantage. There are various reasons that lead companies to outsource some of their functions, these include: cost cutting, entrance to new markets, and to concentrate on main activities (Ghodeswar and Vaidyanathan, 2008). Wright (2004) mentions a number of functions that a company can outsource, these include: human resources, customer care service, and information technology functions.
Regardless of the growing concern in outsourcing relationship, there is also increasing indication of failure in its arrangement (Langfield-Smith and Smith 2003). Lee et al (2011) claim that due to the recent prominence on risk management in supply chain, companies are identifying the importance of including risk measures into outsourcing decisions. Outsourcing is exposed to high level of risks since it involves the discretion and relationship with third party (Auzair et al, 2013).
After consulting various articles about the subject, the author will give a brief definition of what outsourcing is and the types of activities that companies source outside of their company’s boundaries. Moreover, the author will mention the risks that both the client and the service provider face when outsourcing takes place, and will also talk about how control measures of...

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...s on outsourcing. According to Rothaermel et al., (2006) as cited in Broedner et al, (2009) firms that follow a carefully balanced strategy of simultaneously practising vertical integration and strategic outsourcing when managing for innovation enhances a company’s product portfolio and product success, and therefore adds to competitive advantage and overall firm performance (Rothaermel et al., 2006).

Risks in outsourcing relationships
There are high levels of risks in outsourcing since confidentiality and relationship with third parties is involved. (Auzair et al, 2013). Das Aundhe, and Mathew (2009) claim that when an outsourcing contract fail, both the client and the server provider are affected. They also state that outsourcing contracts are planned on the basis of certain rules and therefore hold intrinsic risks due to a limited understanding about the future.

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