none

The shift in mindset of decision makers, from maintenance being a “necessary evil” and “cost centre” to a “profit contributor” in manufacturing companies has driven outsourced maintenance suppliers to employ value-centric approaches in order to design more effective maintenance programs. A value assessment for maintenance outsourcing must facilitate the trade-off between cost-centric and value-centric approaches to enable the maintenance service providers to design more effective maintenance organizations. This assessment should also help the customers in a well informed decision making in outsourcing their maintenance function in order to add value to their businesses. Therefore the aim of this research is to develop a decision making framework for maintenance outsourcing based on the assessed customer-value of outsourced maintenance services. Cont/d.

This thesis deals with problems of the outsourcing of printing services. The capital purpose is to create a comprehensive metodology which describes how and why to outsource the printing services. The contentual part of the thesis is divided into five chapters from which the first two are theoretical. The first chapter defines the term "Outsourcing" in general, the second chapter describes the particular methodology of the outsourcing of an ICT which is a part of the methodology of a MMDIS and divides the process of the outsourcing into eleven steps. The practical part begins with the vastest chapter of the thesis. There are described my experiences with the outsourcing of the printing services and marginally with a project management as well. Taking up the chapter where a confrontation between the theoretical and practical part is done. Based on the confrontation there is a following chapter where the recommended methodology for proceeding in the outsourcing of the printing services is done. The methodology includes basic rules and recommendations which can be helpful not only for the process of the outsourcing of the printing services itself but also for considering whether to displace this range to an external contractor.

This thesis is concerned with the outsourcing and providing of logistics services. It presents particular types of providers of logistics services and it analyzed development of the market of providers of complex logistics services. The practical part of the thesis attends to the providing of logistics services by the company C.S.CARGO a.s.. The solution of the concrete business case processed by the project team of the company C.S.CARGO a.s. is added with my own advice. In terms of comparing both solutions I have formulated some recommendations a suggestion of change, which could be applied to this case.

abstract: Services outsourcing is a prevalent yet problematic phenomenon. On the one hand, more and more firms are outsourcing services function. On the other hand, we are faced with many services outsourcing failures. This research attempts to uncover some of the omitted causes of services outsourcing failure. It extends a conceptual paper that used social network theory to examine the shifting of the triadic relationship structures among the service buyer, service supplier and the buyer's customers at different stages of the services outsourcing arrangements and its performance implications. This study empirically examines these performance implications. Specifically, this research defines the concept of bridge transfer, which denotes the weakening and dissolution of operational ties between the service buyer firms' and their end customers and the appearing and strengthening of operational ties between the service supplier firms and the end customers. It also empirically derives a measurement scale for this new construct. Further, the effects of bridge transfer on supplier's appropriation behavior, buyer's cost of quality and end customers' quality perception are examined in the context of customer facing services and are contrasted with those entail little or no customer interactions. In addition, the moderating roles of buyer-supplier relationship on the effects of bridge transfer are also examined. An Internet-based survey was administered to firms affiliated with CAPS Research and the Institute of Supply Management as the primary data source (n=137). Principal Component Analyses were used to derive a composite score for each of the model construct. Then linear regressions were used to detect the effects of bridge transfer on services outsourcing outcomes and to detect the moderating role of buyer-supplier relationships on these effects. The results show that bridge transfer is positively correlated to suppliers' appropriate behavior and negatively correlated to end customer's quality perception in the context of customer facing services. The effects of bridge transfer are not found for services that entail little or no interactions with the end customers. Instead, buyer-supplier relationship is found to be a key influencing factor to services outsourcing outcomes in this context. This study helps to pinpoint some of the omitted causes of services outsourcing failures and shed light on how to manage services outsourcing for success. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Business Administration 2011

An organization’s information technology (IT) infrastructure capability is increasinglyrealized as a critical part to business effectiveness and efficiency. IT infrastructure servicesare particularly important for organizations looking to deploy business processes indeveloping markets. There has also been an interest from many small and medium sizedorganizations whose core business is not in IT to outsource and manage these servicesthrough third party service providers. However there is a need to create an understanding forthese organizations to deploy the right infrastructure services in order to enable easierimplementation or reengineering of the business process. There has been little researchfocusing on the patterns of the IT infrastructure capabilities in the small and medium sizedorganizations in the developing markets.The research aims for a comprehensive coverage by analyzing the requirements in thedeveloping markets and proposing a selection model for the organizations to choose ITservice provider in case they decide to outsource the infrastructure services. The effect of theIT infrastructure services on the business process implementation is presented with anemphasis on the boundary crossing services. Using empirical case study, the research analysesa firm in developing markets and compares it against four strategically similar organizationsfrom different industries. Data collection was primarily qualitative and ably supported bysecondary data.The requirements in developing markets reflect the same as in mature markets. The pricing isseen to play a major role in the selection of the service providers with service security notvery much organization’s priority. The number of boundary crossing services effectivelyenables information sharing and control. These services are the drivers in simplifying thebusiness process implementation. The findings have implications for both business andtechnical managers in regard to planning the IT strategy in the long term and developingappropriate infrastructure according to the process needs. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik