Large multinationals must continually innovate to produce products and services that meet the needs of a global market. In order to distribute work across multiple sites, they use techniques such as offshoring and outsourcing. This requires them to address organizational and cultural aspects to coordinate distributed product development activities.  While these techniques have received great interest in business as well as research in recent years, as the latest trend is to send increasingly complex functions such as research, development and engineering (RD&E) overseas. When offshoring involves high value functions, the transitions occur rapidly, and the associated risks and costs of failing increase. In addition to the hidden costs of offshoring and outsourcing, there is a risk of losing core competences over time or spillovers of critical knowledge to competitors in the new market. Despite the criticality of succeeding with their offshoring efforts, little is known considering of how companies handle the process of distributing work globally, and the capabilities they develop to manage offshoring efficiently. The objective of this thesis is to explore the routines and capabilities that organizations´ need to develop to make offshoring an integral part of the management global RD&E.  Two in-depth case studies are used to develop firm specific theories which can inform both the theory and practice of managing offshoring. Case A provides insight into a client-supplier relationship between the Swedish site of a multinational and its Indian service provider. The current challenges identified through the case study are paired with a retrospective analysis of the evolution of the decade-long relationship, to show how the cross-cultural interface has influenced the evolution of the relationship. With the assistance of a literature review, the findings are explained through the theoretical lenses of national culture, organizational culture and contextual factors. Case B provides insight into offshoring management in terms of a product management transfer from a Swedish site to a research center in China of the same multinational. Besides the insights into the transfer of responsibility for a complex product overseas, the case provides the base of an organizational capabilities framework for managing all stages in the offshoring process (decision, transfer, operations and governance stage). Four key capabilities were found to support the management of offshoring, namely; technological skills, process & tools, relationship management and knowledge management. / Effective Outsourcing/Offshoring of Research, Development, and Engineering

This thesis examines the impact of governance process development on engagements between onshore and offshore subsidiaries of multinational IT services organisations. Offshoring is a significant global phenomenon. Over the last decade, there has been substantial growth in the number of organisations setting up ‘captive’ (wholly owned subsidiaries) centres in offshore locations. The desired benefits of greater coordination, leveraging and sharing of knowledge have, in many instances, failed to materialise for these IT services organisations. These failures arise from a variety of causes including a lack of intra-organisational processes to coordinate and manage work, weak alignment between the parent organisation’s strategic objectives and those of the subsidiary, and the inability to navigate cross-organisational and cultural barriers. This thesis comprises three interrelated projects. The first established that organisations develop offshore subsidiaries in order to obtain one or more of a number of complex and interrelated set of strategic objectives. The second project, through the use of grounded theory, demonstrates that within one IT services organisation, imposed governance processes do not facilitate communication and engagement between the onshore and offshore subsidiaries. Cross-cultural and organisational differences inhibited the engagement between the subsidiaries, thus contributing to the failure to achieve the desired benefits of offshoring. Organisations engaged in captive offshoring are faced with two apparently contradictory sets of issues: a set of highly desirable and interrelated strategic benefits and a variety of operational challenges that arise from the imposed nature of the governance processes. The third project, a case study of a similar IT services organisation, examines how these apparently contradictory issues were resolved. The results show that it is the co-development and implementation of governance processes based on the informal working practices of both the onshore and offshore teams that enable the operational challenges established in the second project to be resolved and thus provide reconciliation between these and the achievement of the strategic benefits that drive offshoring. This thesis concludes that co-developed and implemented governance processes are a key factor in the mitigation of the deleterious effects of cross-organizational and cultural working and adds the notion of co-development and implementation of governance processes to the academic literature on the governance of outsourcing.

Despite its name, Corporate Social Responsibility is not exclusively a concept for large corporations; however, previous studies have primarily focused on CSR within larger firms. As Small and Medium sized Enterprises both possess unique characteristics, and are important actors in the global economy, this is an area that deserves deeper research. As pressure from internal and external stakeholders are mounting, firms needs to ensure that they are following the current rules of the game. As such, firms put pressure on their suppliers, in order to protect their business. Consequently, a failure to cope with this pressure from the supplier’s part is a potential source for a conflict. Thus, the actual CSR standards used by a focal firm, has a direct link to a potential conflict within an offshoring relationship. Hence, this thesis aims to investigate how Swedish SMEs apply CSR policies and activities regarding social issues in their organisations, and how these policies and activities affect conflicts between Swedish SMEs, and their foreign suppliers. Three Swedish SMEs where interviewed, and their CSR activities, and conflict management were analysed. While all the three firms used CSR to a various degree, this research suggests that the nature and direction of the CSR activities are largely determined by the industry in which the firm operates. Furthermore, SMEs typically lack the power to enforce their CSR standards on their suppliers. However, SMEs can act in the roles of supervisors, in order to communicate that CSR is an important aspect within a relationship. The case companies also illustrated that clear goals of CSR activities within SMEs, connected to the actual business goals, aids in the establishment of CSR in small firms. Finally, none of the three case firms experienced any conflicts with their suppliers, based on social issues within CSR. Instead, this research suggests that SMEs avoid conflicts, by emphasising a careful selection of suppliers.

Firms outsource productive tasks to different locations in order to exploit factor price differentials and gain efficiencies from specialization. However, the benefits of outsourcing come with two risks. The first problem occurs when firms share their pre-existing intellectual property (IP) such as database and trade secrets with contractors. While IP is shared to facilitate the outsourcing project, the contractor may behave opportunistically and misappropriate the IP for its own benefit. Since firms derive significant value from their IP, this can lead to severe economic damages in terms of reduced market share and brand value. The second agency problem arises due to non-contractible effort exerted by the contractor. Depending on the outsourced task, shirking can lead to higher costs and poor quality product. In this dissertation, contractual solutions are developed to mitigate these agency problems associated with outsourcing. First, several IP misappropriation cases are enumerated in the context of outsourcing. The existing literature is reviewed and the limitations are addressed in the light of these actual cases. Second, theoretical models are developed by considering two forms of IP misappropriation, depending on whether a R&D contractor emerges as a direct competitor of the principal firm, or the contractor sells the principal?s IP to a competitor. Contracts are developed to implement a ?carrot and stick? strategy, whereby firms share limited IP with their contractor and also provide incentive payments to deter shirking problem. It is shown that complementary strategies like product differentiation, task modularization, and investment in technological solutions can be useful when legal enforcement is weak. It is also demonstrated that even under the possibility of IP misappropriation; firms may gain from outsourcing if in-house inefficiency is high. However, if legal enforcement is weak, outsourcing would entail higher transaction costs. Finally, an event study is conducted to examine the effect of trade secret misappropriation on the value of Lexar. While Lexar is still outsourcing, it is explored how Lexar survived the IP misappropriation problem through product differentiation and marketing strategies.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of St. Gallen, 2008.

VLČEK, Jiří. Model of shared service centre set up. Brno, 2013. Diploma thesis. Mendel university Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics. The subject of the diploma thesis is to propose model of shared service centre set up. Diploma thesis is using analysis, application and modification of management techniques and application of primary data, gathered from multinational companies from various sectors. Final model is composed from 5 phases, including economical point of view.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / Throughout its development, trade has been regarded as a vital component of economic growth and development. Both theoretical and empirical studies consider international trade to be a major determinant of the growth of any economy. International trade in services has been rising ever since trade in services was incorporated into international trade agreements after the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1994. This, coupled with the ever-improving state of technological innovation, has made services trade an important aspect of the development agenda of most countries. However, just like any other endeavour, offshoring of services has both opportunities as well as threats. The study examines two research questions relating to the growth-enhancing impact of South Africa’s exports and imports of services. Firstly, the study examines the contribution of services exports to economic growth in South Africa. Secondly, the study determines the impact that imported services has had on South Africa’s economic growth. In spite of the global rise of trade in services, South Africa’s export of services accounts for only 14 percent of total exports, while the import of services constitutes 20 percent of total imports. Using quarterly time series data for the period 1980 to 2012, the study adopts the ordinary least squares method to estimate the contribution of both exports and imports to output expansion within an aggregation production function setup. The empirical results show that the export of services influences influence South Africa’s economic growth significantly in both the long-run and the short-run. While the relationship is positive in the long-run, it is negative in the short-run. The results also indicate that the import of services significantly and positively affects real output growth in both the long-run and the short-run.

Yes / Using panel data of 1,080 multinational corporations (MNCs) from the United States, we examine the effects of environmental sustainability practices on the degree of firms’ offshoring activities. In addition, we disaggregate offshoring activities into their core components depending on whether or not the firm buys (inputs) or sells (outputs) and/or owns assets in a given country and examine the extent to which sustainability practices influence the different components of offshoring decisions. The results indicate that sustainability practices significantly affect offshoring activities of MNCs. In particular, we found that sustainable business practices matter when the firm sells goods or owns assets in the given host nation. Additionally, the results show that the sustainability–degree of the internationalization relationship is crucial for MNCs that have offshoring activities in advanced economies relative to those firms that have activities in emerging markets. Our results are robust to alternative explanations.

Idag används BIM, byggnadsinformationsmodellering, i fler och fler nybyggnadsprojekt och det finns mängder med information att inhämta om detta både i tryckta tidskrifter och på internet. En obesvarad fråga är dock hur arbetsgången ser ut när BIM ska användas i ombyggnadsprojekt. Informationen som går att finna om detta är begränsad trots att ombyggnadsprojekt utgör en betydande del av byggverksamheten, såväl i Sverige som internationellt. Målet med denna rapport är därför att undersöka hur ombyggnadsprojekt i dagsläget utförs med BIM som arbetssätt. Processen att arbeta med BIM har undersökts i detalj för att klargöra hur den ser ut idag och för att identifiera den problematik som just ombyggnationer medför. Denna undersökning har genomförts i två pågående projekt enligt en gemensam analysmodell för att klargöra skillnader och likheter. För att klargöra arbetsprocessen så har ett flertal intervjuer med inblandade i projekten genomförts. Genom ett enkätutskick till båda projekten så har ett jämförbart underlag även tagits fram. Projektens modeller har också undersökts för att klargöra deras detaljeringsnivå. Den stora problematik som identifierats med ombyggnadsprojekt är att eftersom arbetet sker mot befintliga byggnadsdelar måste dessa kontrolleras och hanteras. Av denna anledning behöver därför många gånger en inmätning av dessa göras för att kontrollera och komplettera det underlag som finns tillgängligt eller för att skapa ett helt nytt. Detta är en tidig del i processen och något som måste göras innan ett vidare arbete med att upprätta en modell kan utföras. Gemensamt för båda projekten har varit att använda sig av modellen för att samgranska olika discipliners material med syftet att upptäcka och på så sätt minimera antalet kollisioner i produktionen. Analysen har visat på ganska stora skillnader i arbetssätt beroende på projektens förutsättningar. Den största skillnaden är att det i ett av projekten finns ett intresse ifrån beställaren att en modell ska levereras, för att senare kunna användas i förvaltningen. Beställarens intresse har resulterat i att BIM har använts i större utsträckning i det projektet med bland annat kostnader kopplade till modellen. Något som har framkommit är också att arbetssättet BIM måste standardiseras, möjligtvis genom att företaget tar fram en BIM-manual som kan användas i alla projekt som ska använda sig av BIM. Erfarenhetsåterföring efter genomförda projekt måste även ske för att denna manual ska vara aktuell. / Currently BIM (Building Information Modeling) is used to a higher extent in new construction projects and there is a lot of information to gather about this both in magazines and online. An unanswered question is how the workflow looks like when BIM is used in reconstruction projects. The information that can be found about this is limited despite the fact that reconstruction projects represent a significant proportion of the construction business, both in Sweden and internationally. The aim of this report is to examine how reconstruction projects currently is carried out with BIM. The BIM process has been studied in detail to clarify the current situation and to identify the problems that reconstruction adds. The study was conducted on two ongoing projects in accordance to a common analytical model to clarify the similarities and differences between them. In order to clarify the work process several interviews has been conducted with the project personnel. Through a questionnaire, a survey of both projects has been performed. Project models have also been studied to clarify their level of detail. The major problem that has been identified with reconstruction projects is that the work is carried out on existing building elements that have to be verified. For this reason a detail survey often must be done to verify and add to existing drawing and documentations. The survey is an early part of the process and something that must be done before any further work to establish a model can be done. Common to both projects is the use of the model to coordinate the various disciplines content in order to minimize the number of collisions in the production. The analysis has shown quite significant differences in methods depending on project conditions. The main difference is that in one of the projects the client wants to use the model in the property management and therefore a model must be delivered. The client’s interest led to a wider use of BIM in the project, including costs connected to the objects in the model. Something that has become clear is that BIM as a work tool must be standardized, possibly through a BIM manual drafted by the company, which can be used in all projects that will make use of BIM. Feedback with lessons learned must be added to the manual for it to stay updated.

Att finna nya vägar för att reducera och effektivisera verksamheten blir allt vanligare bland dagens företag. Världen blir mindre och företag finner möjligheter att utveckla sin verksamhet med hjälp av andra företag. Detta innebär att de nationella gränserna alltmer börjar suddas ut, att söka internationella partners har därmed blivit allt vanligare för att integrera ny teknik och innovationer i verksamheten. Att välja att offshora delar av verksamheten till Indien innebär ofta nya utmaningar för företaget. I denna affärsrelation kommer företaget att möta kulturella, kommunikativa och organisatoriska skillnader. Dessa utmaningar kommer att innebära stora förändringar i den interna verksamheten där avsikten med förändring är att åstadkomma ett lyckat resultat. Att utveckla IT-funktioner och idéer tillsammans med en samarbetspartner som befinner sig i ett avlägset land där språk, synsätt, intressen skiljer sig åt kräver mycket engagemang, tid och tydlig kommunikation för att samordna verksamheterna. Vi har undersökt dessa fenomen för att få en förståelse över kommunikationen betydelse och vilka kommunikativa utmaningar SMF möter när de vänder sig till indiska IT-leverantörer för att utveckla verksamhetens IT-resurser.I den teoretiska delen lyfts det fram vad den tidigare forskningen säger om offshoring och offshore outsourcing. I vår empiriska del har undersökt på vilket sätt svenska och indiska företag vid IT-offshore hanterar processer, kulturella olikheter, relationen och ledarskap, och vilken betydelse den har kommunikativa förmågan i dessa sammanhang.I vår analys och slutsats har vi kommit fram till att offshoring och offshore outsourcing kräver mycket förberedelse där företaget noggrant går igenom processerna. Vid projektets integrering och precisering behöver kommunikationen vara tydlig och klar för att inga missförstånd ska uppstå. Med offshoring och offshore outsourcing finns det många möjligheter men också många utmaningar som kundföretaget måste hantera både internt och externt. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet