Bakgrund och Syfte: Tidigare forskning visar att kostnadsreducering och behov av extern kompetens varit framträdande motiv till varför företag outsourcar ekonomifunktionen. Däremot efterlyses mer forskning som fokuserar på SMF-företag och vad det är som motiverar dem att välja outsourcing. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att öka förståelsen för SMF-företagens motiv att outsourca ekonomifunktionen med avseende främst på kostnader och kompetens. Metod: Studien antar ett hermeneutiskt och socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Forskningsansatsen är abduktiv och i studien tillämpas en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod då den empiriska datainsamlingen sker med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den teoretiska referensramen bygger på tidigare forskning och den empiriska sammanställningen bygger på kategorier som framkommit under intervjuerna. Studien inspireras av grundad teori eftersom en ny empirisk synvinkel presenteras och analyseras tillsammans med övrig teori och empiri. Slutsats: Studien tyder på att SMF-företag inte reflekterar över kostnadsreducering som ett motiv till att outsourca ekonomifunktionen. För SMF-företag finns behov av extern kompetens och expertiskunskaper, vilket motiverar dem att välja outsourcing. Studien uppmärksammar också ett nytt främsta motiv till outsourcing av ekonomifunktionen; trygghet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Till vidare forskning finns ett behov av att undersöka mer grundligt trygghet som ett främsta motiv till outsourcing av ekonomifunktionen. Eftersom studien utgår från SMF-företag som anlitar en outsourcingpartner, föreslår vi till vidare forskning att undersöka outsourcing av ekonomifunktionen utifrån både företag som anlitar och som anlitas för att vidga synen på fenomenet. Studiens bidrag: Ur ett teoretiskt perspektiv bidrar denna studie med att belysa trygghet som ett främsta motiv till varför SMF-företag outsourcar ekonomifunktionen. Ur ett praktiskt perspektiv ges rådet till redovisningsbyråer att med fördel fokusera sin marknadsföring kring trygghet när de riktar sig till SMF-företag, främst små företag.

No description available.

Stegia AB har sedan ett antal år tillbaka använt sig av outsourcing i olika former. Initialt med ganska liten egen involvering för att sedan involveras allt mer på senare åt genom en egen fabrik först placerad i Taiwan och nu i Shanghai Kina. Verksamheter med global spridda enheter utsätts löpande för utmaningar och svårigheter internt vilka kan kopplas till språk, geografisk läge och kultur utöver de tekniska och organisatoriska utmaningar som finns inom verksamheten. Inom ramen för detta bedriver Stegia AB R&D och försäljning i Sverige samt produktion i Shanghai, Kina. Detta för med sig många svårigheter som detta examensarbete undersöker närmare. Genom en fallstudie har samtliga personer som utbyter information inom företagets enheter involveras i projektet där R&D och produktion i globalt spridda verksamheter undersökts hur det påverkar verksamheten genom olika svårigheter. För att genomföra detta har intervjuer skett såväl i Sverige och i Shanghai för att förstå den miljö som arbetet löpande sker i. Data har samlats in från företagets processer kopplade till produktion av egenutvecklade produkter där cykeltider, materialflöden, ledtider och studier i produktionen genomförts för att kartlägga olika faktorer som påverkar det dagliga arbetet. Det har visat sig att förtroende mellan de olika enheterna, tid som åtgår för att invänta återkoppling på olika uppgifter samt olika synsätt på arbetet är faktorer med stor inverkan på det dagliga arbetet. För att hantera dessa problem föreslås förflyttningar enheterna emellan för att skapa förståelse för respektive enhet internt såväl om externt. Vidare finns flertalet utmaningar kopplat till kvalitetssäkring och flöden som påverkas av kommunikationen internt i företaget där brist på data och i flera fall felaktig data ger följd fel inom organisationen. Sammantaget blir kommunikationsutmaningarna påtagliga inom dessa typer av verksamheter där många mindre problem snabbt påverkar verksamheten. / Stegia AB have during recent years been using outsourcing in different configurations. Initially with a small involvement in the supply chain, but today with a greater involvement though their fully owned off shore production unit; first located in Taiwan and now located in Shanghai, China. Organizations that are utilizing globally distributed units are facing a number of challenges on top of the daliy technical and organizational aspects. Those extra challenges could be cultural differences and language barriers, but the geographical positioning brings additional obstacles to the company. In this environment Stegia AB runs sales and R&D from Västerås with their production unit in Shanghai. This setup brings a lot of difficulties that this thesis will look deeper into. A case study have been conducted to investigate how the decision of a globally distributed organization brings difficulties. In this thesis, interviews have been conducted in Västerås and Shanghai. The aim is to involve all employees in R&D and the production units, as well as to gain understanding of their daily work. Data have been collected from the company’s manufacturing processes where cycle times, material flow, lead time and general production studies have been conducted in order to map and understand how different factors affect their organization. Through this study some factors have been found to critically affect the daily operation of the company, such as: trust, time to reply messages within the organization and employees’ opinions about the given tasks. In order to tackle those challenges, rotations between the units is suggested. This is to increase the employees' understanding of the units both internally and externally. On top of those challenges, quality control and logistics have been negatively affected by the lack of communication and insufficiency of relevant data within the organization. All together, the communication challenges very soon become crucial in globally distributed units; where small problems affect the daily operations.

This thesis develops a conceptual framework for relating Social Capital theory to large IT outsourcing projects. It uses this to explore how social factors that arise in outsourcing situations can influence organisations’ competence in IT innovation. It finds that social capital principles provide a valuable alternative perspective to established practices in managing IT outsourcing. Social capital can be applied both in the analysis of IT outsourcing results and in planning outsourcing transitions that lead to improved longer term knowledge creation and innovation capability. Research was carried out in two large and established users of IT outsourcing, a UK government agency and a major bank. Based on this, two detailed case studies were prepared and an interpretive methodology used to understand how the respective outsourcing projects had developed. A conceptual model of the interacting organisational factors that lead to IT competence is derived from existing literature and tested against the case study data. This model sets out the new concept of an ‘outsourcing enclave’ as a unique structure in which knowledge resources of outsourcing client and vendor are combined, supported by social capital that is distinct from that in either feeding organisation. The thesis uses the model to observes how, in the cases studied, effective management of social capital in outsourcing enclaves has created situations conducive to knowledge creation and innovation and the barriers to this that were encountered. This reveals that social capital management in these organisations called for time after outsourcing transition during which social capital can stabilise in the enclave, for learning from the achievement of short term objectives and for application of relational governance alongside the outsourcing contract. The main contributions of the thesis are the conceptual framework of the outsourcing enclave and the use of this to apply social capital theory to specific situations of IT outsourcing. It also demonstrates how theorised dimensions of social capital can be used to interpret outcomes in real outsourcing situations. The cases provide further empirical support for social capital theory and their interpretation a basis for further research in the specific area of outsourcing and IT outsourcing in particular.

[pt] A terceirização na manufatura e em serviços tem proporcionado às empresas vantagens estratégicas como menor custo devido a economias de escala (no fornecedor), maior competência técnica, rápida aquisição de novas competências, menor necessidade de investimento, maior foco em produtos e mercados entre outras. Nesse cenário, ganha importância o relacionamento colaborativo em que as empresas mudam a ênfase do benefício imediato em transações isoladas para estratégias que objetivam transações repetitivas com parceiras preferenciais em busca de eficiência e eficácia no longo prazo. Através de um estudo de caso, a presente pesquisa busca averiguar, na relação de uma empresa com algumas de suas importantes parceiras, até que ponto a eficiência das operações está associada aos elementos-chave da colaboração encontrados na literatura. A pesquisa foi realizada numa companhia telefônica durante um período de três meses, no qual, um questionário estruturado foi aplicado ao pessoal de gerência e supervisão. Os dados da pesquisa foram confrontados com indicadores de desempenho compilados periodicamente pela companhia para medir e monitorar a atuação das terceiras. Os resultados sugerem que há, de fato, uma correlação positiva entre os níveis dos fatores relacionados a práticas colaborativas mais significativas e o bom desempenho operacional da parceria. / [en] Outsourcing in manufacturing as well as in services has granted enterprises strategic advantages such as lower cost yielded by economies of scale (at the vendor), greater technical competence, fast acquisition of new competencies, less investment needs, and sharper focus on products and markets, among others. This scenario promotes the collaborative relationship whereby enterprises change their emphasis from the immediate gain in individual transactions to strategies that seek repetitive transactions with preferential partners for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in the long run. By means of a case study this research aims to verify, in the relationships of an enterprise and some of its important suppliers, to what degree the efficiency of operations is associated to the key elements of collaboration found in the literature. The research has been conducted in a telephone company along a three-month period when a structured questionnaire was filled out by the managerial and supervisory personnel. The data from the survey were confronted with the performance indicators regularly collected by the company for measuring and monitoring the outsourced services. The results suggest that there is, indeed, a positive correlation between the levels of the more important factors related to the collaborative practices and the good performance of the partnership.

The thesis is focused on questions about outsourcing possibilities of marketing activities in Bristolgroup Karlovy Vary. This company offers spa services and hotel accommodation in eight spa hotels in the city of Karlovy Vary. In the beginning of the thesis the author summarises scientific theoretical findings about the examined subject in order to apply those findings in the practical part of the thesis. For the actual analysis of current situation in the company, in its marketing department and the possibilities of outsourced marketing activities the author uses internet sources, interview with general manger and marketing manager, printed sources and personal observation during author?s employment in the company Bristolgroup Karlovy Vary between 2010 and 2011. The applied part of the thesis contains introduction (history, development and present) of the company and its marketing department, analysis of the companies offering outsourced marketing. It also compares advantages and disadvantages of the current internal marketing department and potential external marketing partner. From the acquired information results that the internal marketing department is not so effective and it is better to utilize the external partner for ensuring marketing in Bristolgroup. The biggest advantage is relevant costs for professional access to marketing. The final recommendation is to hire external marketing experts who can help to improve and develop the marketing activities in Bristolgroup.

In the 1990s the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) adopted the concept of outsourcing for the provision of certain services. With an increasing amount of services being outsourced to civilian companies, there is little research regarding which types of services are being outsourced by SAF, and how it´s motivated. One service being partially outsourced is the guarding of military bases throughout Sweden. With an on-going debate by researchers on the concept of military outsourcing in expeditionary forces, this study takes a domestic view of outsourcing. This thesis seeks to investigate the concept of military outsourcing, applied to the case of base guards in Sweden. The analysis proves that several reasons or justifications for outsourcing base guarding are presented by those responsible for security in Swedish military units. The analysis also concludes that guard services is viewed different between headquarter level and regimental level. Although considered not a core activity, due to high interdependence with core activities and the requirement for firm-specific competence regimental representatives show more reluctance towards outsourcing guard services.

Organisations worldwide are continuing to offshore more and more of their work tasks across national boundaries, to countries with lower labour costs. These offshored tasks, which were performed by local knowledge workers in the past, now also include activities like research, development, and innovation. In a time where growth industries are those with the highest degree of knowledge work, and the most profitable organisations are those with the most knowledge workers, the importance of retaining these valuable resources by ensuring a healthy employment relationship cannot be over emphasised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that knowledge task offshoring has on the employment relationship of knowledge workers. A quantitative research methodology was followed, and the responses of 85 individuals were examined through the theoretical lenses of the psychological contract, organisational commitment, turnover intention and job insecurity. The main findings of the research was that offshoring resulted in higher levels of perceived psychological contract breach and violation scores, while it did not have any negative impacts on the scores for job security, turnover intention, organisational commitment or perceived employer or employee obligations associated with the psychological contract. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Cílem diplomové práce je seznámit čtenáře s modelem ?software jako služba? (SaaS, Software as a Service) a popsat jeho vliv na dodavatelskou a uživatelskou stranu a na jejich produktivitu. Jelikož se na trhu objevuje stále více softwarových produktů a modelů jejich prodeje, měla by práce pomoci především uživatelům. Hlavním cílem je, aby čtenář po přečtení této práce získal jasnou představu o tom, co znamená termín ?software jako služba? a jaké služby v jakém množství jsou na trhu k dispozici. Práce je rozdělena do dvou částí. První poskytuje teoretický základ nutný pro pochopení poskytování aplikací formou SaaS, výběr vhodné metriky pro měření přínosů modelu a její použití v porovnání nákupu SW licence oproti outsourcingu SW. Autor se zde věnuje možnostem měření zvyšování produktivity organizace dosažené prostřednictvím IS/ICT, charakterizuje jednotlivé formy outsourcingu a popisuje souvislosti, které vedly ke vzniku ASP (Application Services Providing) a následně k SaaS. Hlavní přínos práce je v závěru první části, kde jsou popsány výhody a rizika spojená s modelem SaaS, která jsou doložena analýzou nákladů na aplikaci nasazenou formou outsourcingu a její porovnání s klasickým nákupem licence. Ve druhé části diplomové práce se autor zaměřil na popis jednotlivých aplikací, které jsou dostupné na trhu formou SaaS. Po důkladné analýze trhu vybral autor služby nabízené největším vyhledávačem Google a jedním z největších dodavatelů IS/ICT společností IBM. Právě velký význam těchto společností může mít značný vliv na další rozvoj modelu SaaS, v závislosti na úspěchu či neúspěchu jimi nabízených služeb a produktů.

Problematiku facility managementu a správy nemovitostí práce uceleně shrnuje a porovnává teoretické předpoklady a metodické postupy plynoucí z výuky facility managementu na VŠE v Praze s výkonem daných činností v praxi.