This study concerns the investigation of management issues within information technology outsourcing contracts. The information technology outsourcing life cycle is used as the flow structure for the investigation. The associated user expectations that occur in each of the phases of the information technology outsourcing life cycle are identified. Following the identification of the management and user expectation issues in each phase of the outsource life cycle, the “Coetzee solution framework” is introduced to ensure that the identified management problems are addressed in a structured approach. The solution framework is described in the context of each phase of the information technology outsourcing life cycle. As business process outsourcing is emerging as a long term business solution, the trends in business process outsourcing with the related factors that are contributing to the growth of business process outsourcing are investigated. The inhibitors that slow down the progress of acceptance for business process outsourcing are also investigated. The interdependence of information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing is also shortly reviewed. / Prof. N. Lessing

M.B.A. / Outsourcing is fast becoming a fixture in the organizational models of the 21st century. At first confined to nonstrategic business activities such as cleaning, security or legal services, outsourcing now encompasses functions that are closer to the core. As suppliers become more tightly integrated into the fabric of a company's basic business operations, the risks attending these failures escalate. In fact, as Booz Allen Hamilton (2001) state, the very viability ofthe company can be threatened. To many companies, logistics outsourcing has become an attractive option in order to take advantage of various opportunities, and to focus on the core activities of the company. It is perceived that South African businesses are adopting the same principles that many European countries, the United States of America and other mainly first world countries have, in embarking on outsourcing. The purpose of this dissertation therefore is to determine the status of outsourcing in South Africa. This research gives insight into the reasons why some companies have embarked on outsourcing. The research also attempts to present a theoretical framework for the outsourcing of logistics as a guideline. Another feature of this research is the identification of the criteria that companies apply in the selection of an outsource service provider. The methodology employed in this research was empirical research, which entailed a qualitative study. A process of non-probability sampling was applied. Questionnaires were distributed to the decision makers in industry with the focus on senior managers in order to obtain the data required for the analysis and interpretation. A thorough review of applicable literature was also undertaken...

The new world of work is marked by collaborations and partnering on both individual and interorganisational level. Companies are increasingly pursuing outsourcing as a means of obtaining access to resources and expert skills to perform specialised core and non-core functions on their behalf. This research was aimed at obtaining greater insight into the norms that become the driving and restraining forces within outsourced relationships, more specifically what drives outsourced service provider behaviours, expectations and perceptions. The role of power was evaluated in conjunction with these forces, as power is integral to all exchanges. Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis model was utilised to identify the driving and restraining forces. This enabled categorisation into contractual and psychological aspects respectively as well as the identification of the respective power bases primarily based on the seminal work of Raven and French (1959). The research showed that the outsourcer holds approximately two thirds of the power in the estimation of the service provider. The psychological elements of the relationship carry a substantially greater weighting with service providers than any of the legal or contractual requirements and the adequacy of processes and infrastructure as is the primary driving and restraining forces within the specific relationships. Reward power and legitimacy of position emerged as the primary sources of power. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The objective of the research was to explore the reasons why some coal mining companies in South Africa fail to get the benefits of outsourcing. The research aimed to achieve this by first establishing the critical success factors for outsourcing in coal mining and then discovering how well coal mines implement these factors.Managers from 55 coal mines were requested to rank on a Likert scale the importance of and their performance on these critical factors. The importance and performance on these factors were ranked based on the means and standard deviations of their responses. Findings include a list of the most critical success factors for outsourcing in coal mining. It was also discovered that the amount of effort going into these factors was disproportional to the level of importance of the factors. Only in 25% of the respondents was outsourcing a success. A framework was recommended to be used by coal mines to improve their outsourcing. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between outsourcing and development in Nairobi. The key research question for this study is what are the impacts of outsourcing practices conducted by organisations in Nairobi? Data were obtained from questionnaires distributed in December 2010. A total of 85 profit-making firms in Nairobi with a sample of 165 management employees were selected for this study. The empirical findings obtained relate to four outsourcing theories. Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) Theory focuses on the cost savings that result from outsourcing. Agency Outsourcing Theory centres on outsourcing firms hiring agents to achieve productivity. Hiring agents may result in permanent staff being retrenched and additional outsourcing personnel being contracted and job creation and/or job loss results. Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) emphasises the importance of an outsourcing provider conforming to quality management principles. Resource Based Theory (RBT) proposes that organisations need a collection of resources and capabilities to execute outsourcing successfully. Findings further suggested that outsourcing can yield positive and/or negative outcomes depending on risks encountered, the business environment, company policies, function/s to be outsourced, and the competence and commitment of an outsourcing vendor. To further enhance the positive impact of outsourcing three improvements need to be executed: formulation of standard policies, price regulations, and commitment of outsourcing firms in adhering to set contract deadlines. It is suggested that the following would allow organisations to gain more from outsourcing in the future: the adoption of international/offshore outsourcing practices, more commitment by outsourcing consultants, the standardisation of charges for outsourcing contracts, and the use of new technology that would improve how outsourcing is conducted. It is concluded that the positive impacts of outsourcing would foster development to some extent while the possible negative impact of outsourcing would impede development.

This research was undertaken to explore the potential application of Human Resource (HR) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as an appropriate service delivery mechanism. The investigation included the identification of the primary internal drivers and external factors affecting HR departments, to craft the framework within which to consider HR BPO. Then the processes that could be delivered by HR BPO were identified. The study concluded with the identification of the critical success factors for implementing HR BPO and the expected benefits. The research was conducted by means of 26 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior HR managers and HR professionals. The respondents represented various industries and sectors and included leading South African organisations and a range of global organisations. The resulting findings first introduce the bridge principle, to ensure that HR transformation is not at the expense of line management. Secondly a decision model, which incorporates benefit realisation principles, was developed to assess the applicability of HR BPO for processes. The findings conclude with a success factor condition table that highlights the critical success factors and their dependencies. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Over the past decade, outsourcing has emerged as an imperative for competitive success in modern organizations. Yet, the high failure rate of outsourcing initiatives suggests that despite the significant opportunities available through outsourcing, several organizations remain unprepared for the transformation that it brings. My dissertation, “Essays on the Organization and Value of Outsourcing Relationships,” identifies governance strategies that maximize the strategic value of outsourcing investments and estimates the size of governance effects by analyzing the contribution of efficient governance to an increase in shareholder value of the outsourcing firm. The first two essays, “An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Information Capabilities Design on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Performance” and “An Empirical Analysis of the Contractual and Information Structures of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Relationships,” focus on business process outsourcing (BPO), the fastest growing segment of the outsourcing market. In particular, the first essay emphasizes the information intensive nature of BPO to posit that performance heterogeneity across BPO relationships is a function of the fit between the information requirements and information capabilities of the relationship. The design of information capabilities extends contract design that addresses incentive conflicts to include design of the information structure comprising relational processes and technologies that address cognitive conflict between the participant firms. The second essay demonstrates complementarities between the contractual and information structures to emphasize that their joint assessment is necessary to enhance the explanatory power of extant theories of organization. These results have important implications for how BPO relationships must be designed and managed to realize strategic value. The third essay in my dissertation, “Outsourcing Discount or Paradox? A Comparative Analysis of the Long-Term Abnormal Stock Returns and Operational Performance Gains across Outsourcing Contracts,” estimates the extent of this strategic value by assessing the longterm abnormal stock returns to the hundred largest outsourcing initiatives implemented between 1996 and 2005. I find that transaction cost economizing outsourcing decisions yield significantly higher abnormal returns. The results imply the need to exercise caution in initiating outsourcing initiatives and emphasize that value chain scoping and management are important sources of comparative advantage in the modern firm. / text

In view of the competition many organizations seek to survive by producing more, with fewer resources, in a shorter period of time (Pintelon and Parodi- Herz, 2008:21). Outsourcing maintenance of production assets over the years has become a popular solution of making the business efficient (Pintelon and Parodi-Herz, 2008:25). Though simple in concept, maintenance outsourcing is difficult in execution, especially in a cost-sensitive environment. There are many cases of failed maintenance outsourcing due to different reasons (Partners in Performance, 2007:1). In such cases, most companies revert to maintenance insourcing to regain control of maintenance activities. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed August 4, 2008). Advisor: Elizabeth Holloway, Ph.D. "A dissertation submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May, 2007."--from the title page. Keywords: outsourcing, service provider, grounded theory, dimensional analysis, situational analysis, relationship formation Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-181).

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.