IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v126y2010i2p276-288.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Outsourcing, competitive capabilities and performance: an empirical study in service firms

Author

Listed:
  • Bustinza, O.F.
  • Arias-Aranda, D.
  • Gutierrez-Gutierrez, L.

Abstract

In analyzing the relationship between outsourcing and firm performance, different authors have studied the effects that outsourcing can have on the firm. Even if we establish an initial link between outsourcing and representative measurements of the results achieved through cost savings or the creation of greater market value, no author seems to have established a precise relationship between outsourcing and the most representative measures of company performance (organizational and business performance). After reviewing the literature on this issue, we believe that research has undervalued the impact that outsourcing decisions have on our competitive capabilities. After making an empirical study of service firms, this article finds that there is a relationship between outsourcing decisions and company performance which is articulated via the impact of outsourcing decisions on the firm's competitive capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Bustinza, O.F. & Arias-Aranda, D. & Gutierrez-Gutierrez, L., 2010. "Outsourcing, competitive capabilities and performance: an empirical study in service firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 276-288, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:126:y:2010:i:2:p:276-288
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925-5273(10)00119-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deborah R. Compeau & Christopher A. Higgins, 1995. "Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 6(2), pages 118-143, June.
    2. Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2004. "Does Outsourcing Increase Profitability?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 267-288.
    3. Nordin, Fredrik, 2008. "Linkages between service sourcing decisions and competitive advantage: A review, propositions, and illustrating cases," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 40-55, July.
    4. Bernd Görzig & Andreas Stephan, 2002. "Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 309, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    6. Antelo, Manel & Bru, Lluis, 2010. "Outsourcing or restructuring: The dynamic choice," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 1-7, January.
    7. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Lillis, Anne M., 1995. "The impact of manufacturing flexibility on management control system design," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 241-258, May.
    8. Pinjala, Srinivas Kumar & Pintelon, Liliane & Vereecke, Ann, 2006. "An empirical investigation on the relationship between business and maintenance strategies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 214-229, November.
    9. Tate, Wendy L. & Ellram, Lisa M. & Bals, Lydia & Hartmann, Evi, 2009. "Offshore outsourcing of services: An evolutionary perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 512-524, August.
    10. McCarthy, Ian & Anagnostou, Angela, 2004. "The impact of outsourcing on the transaction costs and boundaries of manufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 61-71, March.
    11. Margaret A. Peteraf & Jay B. Barney, 2003. "Unraveling the resource-based tangle," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 309-323.
    12. Binder, Mario & Clegg, Ben, 2007. "Enterprise management: A new frontier for organisations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 409-430, April.
    13. Jeffrey G. Miller & Aleda V. Roth, 1994. "A Taxonomy of Manufacturing Strategies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 285-304, March.
    14. Luis Araujo & Anna Dubois & Lars‐Erik Gadde, 2003. "The Multiple Boundaries of the Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1255-1277, July.
    15. Lee, Ik Sun & Sung, C.S., 2008. "Single machine scheduling with outsourcing allowed," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 623-634, February.
    16. Zhang, Cheng & Dhaliwal, Jasbir, 2009. "An investigation of resource-based and institutional theoretic factors in technology adoption for operations and supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 252-269, July.
    17. Jonathan P. Doh, 2005. "Offshore Outsourcing: Implications for International Business and Strategic Management Theory and Practice," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 695-704, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alina-Cristina BACEA & Anca BORZA, 2015. "Outsourcing: Why And Why Not?," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 13-20, November.
    2. Schoenherr, Tobias, 2012. "The role of environmental management in sustainable business development: A multi-country investigation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 116-128.
    3. Feng, Bo & Fan, Zhi-Ping & Li, Yanzhi, 2011. "A decision method for supplier selection in multi-service outsourcing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 240-250, August.
    4. Kenyon, G.N. & Meixell, M.J. & Westfall, P.H., 2016. "Production outsourcing and operational performance: An empirical study using secondary data," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P3), pages 336-349.
    5. Venugopal Gopalakrishna-Remani & Robert Paul Jones & Kerri M. Camp, 2019. "Levels of EMR Adoption in U.S. Hospitals: An Empirical Examination of Absorptive Capacity, Institutional Pressures, Top Management Beliefs, and Participation," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 1325-1344, December.
    6. Dermot Leahy & Catia Montagna, 2006. "'Make-or-Buy' in International Oligopoly and the Role of Competitive Pressure," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 197, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    7. Yi-Ju Lo & Tung Hung, 2015. "Structure offshoring and returns on offshoring," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 443-479, June.
    8. Lydia Bals & Jon F. Kirchoff & Kai Foerstl, 2016. "Exploring the reshoring and insourcing decision making process: toward an agenda for future research," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 102-116, December.
    9. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    10. Judith Cavazos-Arroyo & Rogelio Puente-Diaz, 2019. "The Influence of Marketing Capability in Mexican Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Laurence Capron & Will Mitchell, 2009. "Selection Capability: How Capability Gaps and Internal Social Frictions Affect Internal and External Strategic Renewal," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 294-312, April.
    12. Richard J. Arend & Moren Lévesque, 2010. "Is the Resource-Based View a Practical Organizational Theory?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 913-930, August.
    13. Phebo D. Wibbens, 2023. "A formal framework for the RBV: Resource dynamics as a Markov process," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1562-1586, June.
    14. Leahy, Dermot & Montagna, Catia, 2012. "Strategic investment and international outsourcing in unionised oligopoly," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 260-269.
    15. Valle, Sandra & García, Francisco & Avella, Lucía, 2015. "Offshoring Intermediate Manufacturing: Boost or Hindrance to Firm Innovation?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 117-134.
    16. Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg, 2012. "A passage to India: A dual case study of activities, processes and resources in offshore outsourcing of advanced services," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 311-326.
    17. Dachs, Bernhard & Kinkel, Steffen & Jäger, Angela, 2019. "Bringing it all back home? Backshoring of manufacturing activities and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    18. Camisón, César & Forés, Beatriz, 2011. "Knowledge creation and absorptive capacity: The effect of intra-district shared competences," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 66-86, March.
    19. Bashar Barakat & Marwan Milhem & Gehad Mohammed Ahmed Naji & Mohammed Alzoraiki & Habsah Binti Muda & Ali Ateeq & Zahida Abro, 2023. "Assessing the Impact of Green Training on Sustainable Business Advantage: Exploring the Mediating Role of Green Supply Chain Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-21, September.
    20. Dermot Leahy & Catia Montagna, 2011. "Economising, Strategising and the Decision to Outsource," Discussion Papers 11/17, University of Nottingham, GEP.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:126:y:2010:i:2:p:276-288. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.