Outsourcing Design, Process and Performance [Hardcover]

An analysis of how outsourcing design and the outsourcing process affect the performance of firms.Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance draws upon managerial, economic, sociological, historical and psychological perspectives to bring about an understanding of how outsourcing design and the outsourcing process feed into the performance of firms. It provides both a critical analysis of current outsourcing strategies and a discussion of future trends.Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance draws upon managerial, economic, sociological, historical and psychological perspectives to bring about an understanding of how outsourcing design and the outsourcing process feed into the performance of firms. It provides both a critical analysis of current outsourcing strategies and a discussion of future trends.Outsourcing has become one of the key restructuring tools for companies seeking to boost their growth and business performance. As the outsourcing phenomenon has mushroomed, so a range of academic studies have sought to define and describe a unifying theoretical model. Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance draws upon managerial, economic, sociological, historical and psychological perspectives to bring about an understanding of how outsourcing design and the outsourcing process feed into the performance of firms. Blending empirical insights from a range of international cases and large-scale statistical tests with existing theoretical perspectives, the author argues that a negative curvilinear relationship exists between outsourcing and firm performance. A critical analysis of current outsourcing strategies, together with a discussion of future trends, offers a new agenda for academic researchers and business managers alike.Figures; Tables; Acknowledgements; 1. Outsourcing; 2. What we know about outsourcing; 3. A new perspective; 4. The outsourcing process; 5. Shifting the curve; 6. Shifts of the curve; 7. Managing outsourcing; 8. Outsourcing research agel³'