Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another, or forming a separate legal entity that acts as a management service organization (MSO). The term outsourcing, which came from the phrase outside resourcing, originated no later than 1981 at a time when industrial jobs in the United States were being moved overseas, contributing to the economic and cultural collapse of small, industrial towns. In some contexts, the term smartsourcing is also used. The concept, which The Economist says has "made its presence felt since the time of the Second World War", often involves the contracting out of a business process (e.g., payroll processing, claims processing), operational, and/or non-core functions, such as manufacturing, facility management, call center/call center support. The practice of handing over control of public services to private enterprises (privatization), even if conducted on a limited, short-term basis, may also be described as outsourcing. Outsourcing includes both foreign and domestic contracting, and should not be confused with offshoring which refers to relocating a business process to another country and may or may not involve a third-party provider. In practice, the concepts can be intertwined, i.e. offshore outsourcing, and can be individually or jointly, partially or completely reversed, as described by terms such as reshoring, inshoring, and insourcing.
Motivation
Theoretical frameworks Global labor arbitrage can provide major financial savings from lower international labor rates, which could be a major motivation for offshoring. Cost savings from economies of scale and specialization can also motivate outsourcing, even if not offshoring. Since about 2015 indirect revenue benefits have increasingly become additional motivators. Another motivation is speed to market. To make this work, a new process was developed: "outsource the outsourcing process". Details of managing DuPont's chief information officer Cinda Hallman's $4 billion 10-year outsourcing contract with Computer Sciences Corporation and Accenture were outsourced, thus avoiding "inventing a process if we'd done it in-house". A term subsequently developed to describe this is midsourcing. Outsourcing can offer greater budget flexibility and control by allowing organizations to pay for the services and business functions they need, when they need them. It is often perceived to reduce hiring and training specialized staff, to make available specialized expertise, and to decrease capital, operating expenses, and risk. "Do what you do best and outsource the rest" has become an internationally recognized business tagline first "coined and developed" in the 1990s by management consultant Peter Drucker. The slogan was primarily used to advocate outsourcing as a viable business strategy. Drucker began explaining the concept of "outsourcing" as early as 1989 in his Wall Street Journal article entitled "Sell the Mailroom". From Drucker's perspective, a company should only seek to subcontract in those areas in which it demonstrated no special ability. The business strategy outlined by his slogan recommended that companies should take advantage of a specialist provider's knowledge and economies of scale to improve performance and achieve the service needed. In 2009, by way of recognition, Peter Drucker posthumously received a significant honor when he was inducted into the Outsourcing Hall of Fame for his outstanding work in the field. The biggest difference between outsourcing and in-house provision is with regards to the difference in ownership: outsourcing usually presupposes the integration of business processes under a different ownership, over which the client business has minimal or no control. This requires the use of outsourcing relationship management. Sometimes the effect of what looks like outsourcing from one side and insourcing from the other side can be unexpected; The New York Times reported in 2001 that "6.4 million Americans .. worked for foreign companies as of 2001, [but] more jobs are being outsourced than" [the reverse].
Reasons for outsourcing While U.S. companies do not outsource to reduce high top level executive or managerial costs, they primarily outsource to reduce peripheral and "non-core" business expenses. Common drivers include labor cost differences, tax considerations, access to the worlds' top talent, and compliance requirements. Mandated benefits like social security, Medicare, and safety protection (e.g. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations) are also motivators. By contrast, executive pay in the U.S. in 2007, which could exceed 400 times more than average workers—a gap 20 times bigger than it was in 1965, is not a factor. Other reasons include reducing and controlling operating costs, improving company focus, gaining access to world-class capabilities, tax credits, freeing internal resources for other purposes, streamlining or increasing efficiency for time-consuming functions, and maximizing use of external resources. For small businesses, contracting/subcontracting/"outsourcing" might be done to improve work-life balance.
Outsourcing agreements Two organizations may enter into a contractual agreement involving an exchange of services, expertise, and payments. Outsourcing is said to help firms to perform well in their core competencies, fuel innovation, and mitigate a shortage of skill or expertise in the areas where they want to outsource. Established good practices include covering exit arrangements within an outsourcing agreement, with an exit period and a mutual commitment to maintaining continuity until the exit phase is completed.
History
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