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Effective strategies for internal outsourcing and offshoring of business services: An empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Masini

    (Department of Management Science and Operations - London Business School)

  • Zeinep Aksin Karaesman

    (College of Administrative Sciences and Economics - Koç University)

Abstract

The growing pressure to reduce costs and improve efficiency induces many organizations to undertake shared services initiatives. This consolidation and streamlining of common business functions is also known as insourcing, in-house services, business services, or staff services. While adoption of a shared service structure is viewed by many as an appropriate strategy to pursue, most companies still struggle to devise optimal strategies and to generate adequate returns on investments for their projects, because none of the approaches that are commonly adopted is recognized as universally effective. This paper builds upon the "structure-environment" perspective to uncover configurations of shared services organizations and to explain why and under what circumstances some of these configurations exhibit superior results. The conceptual model proposed challenges the notion of "best practice" and suggests that the effectiveness of a shared services project depends on the degree of complementarity between the "needs" arising from the environment in which a company operates and the specific capabilities developed to address these needs. The theoretical findings are validated empirically through the analysis of a large sample of European firms that recently undertook initiatives in this domain. Four dominant configurations of shared service organizations are uncovered, and their relationship to performance is explored.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Masini & Zeinep Aksin Karaesman, 2008. "Effective strategies for internal outsourcing and offshoring of business services: An empirical investigation," Post-Print hal-00516139, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00516139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jom.2007.02.003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pourya Pourhejazy & Alison Ashby, 2021. "Reshoring Decisions for Adjusting Supply Chains in a Changing World: A Case Study from the Apparel Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Fuster, Begoña & Lillo-Bañuls, Adelaida & Martínez-Mora, Carmen, 2019. "The effects of service offshoring on employment," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 529-538.
    3. Trinkūnienė Eva & Viškelienė Tatjana, 2023. "Divorce at the Notary: Protection of Creditors’ Interests," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 111-137, December.
    4. Thomas Gackstatter & Benedikt Müller-Stewens & Klaus Möller, 2019. "Effective accounting processes: the role of formal and informal controls," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 131-152, July.
    5. Richter, Philipp Clemens & Brühl, Rolf, 2017. "Shared service center research: A review of the past, present, and future," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 26-38.
    6. McIvor, Ronan & McCracken, Martin & McHugh, Marie, 2011. "Creating outsourced shared services arrangements: Lessons from the public sector," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 448-461.
    7. Begoña Fuster & Adelaida Lillo-Bañuls & Carmen Martínez-Mora, 2018. "Offshoring of services as a competitive strategy in the tourism industry," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(8), pages 963-979, December.
    8. Maggi, Bernardo, 2017. "A technology-based countries-interaction dynamic model for the study of European growth and stability: Were there the conditions for convergence?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 275-288.
    9. Richter, Philipp Clemens & Brühl, Rolf, 2020. "Ahead of the game: Antecedents for the success of shared service centers," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 477-488.
    10. Pla-Barber, José & Linares, Esmeralda & Ghauri, Pervez N., 2019. "The choice of offshoring operation mode: A behavioural perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 570-580.
    11. Angels Pelegrín & Catalina Bolancé, 2011. "Offshoring and company characteristics: some evidence from the analysis of Spanish firm data," Working Papers 2011/16, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    12. Yang, Huixiao & Ou, Jinwen & Chen, Xiaofeng, 2021. "Impact of tariffs and production cost on a multinational firm's incentive for backshoring under competition," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    13. Paagman, Arnaud & Tate, Mary & Furtmueller, Elfi & de Bloom, Jessica, 2015. "An integrative literature review and empirical validation of motives for introducing shared services in government organizations," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 110-123.
    14. Jhang, Shih-Sian (Sherwin) & Ogden, Joseph P. & Suresh, Nallan C., 2019. "Operational and financial configurations contingent on market power status," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 91-109.
    15. Damian Kedziora & Elzbieta Klamut & Timo Karri & Andrzej Kraslawski, 2017. "Higher Education Offshoring as an Innovative Response to Global Learning Challenges," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia, vol. 6(2), pages 239-260.
    16. Mustafa Akan & Bar{i}c{s} Ata & Martin A. Lariviere, 2011. "Asymmetric Information and Economies of Scale in Service Contracting," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(1), pages 58-72, September.

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