Many small businesses in the United States declare bankruptcy within the first 5 years of starting operations. Small business leaders may avoid bankruptcy if they would take advantage of the financial benefits associated with entering the business process outsourcing (BPO) market as service providers. BPO service providers in the United States have experienced significant revenue increases since entering this growing market. This multicase study was an exploration of the strategies small business leaders use to enter the BPO market as service providers to increase revenue and reduce the likelihood of bankruptcy in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area. The multicase population consisted of 4 small business leaders from 3 companies who successfully entered the BPO market as service providers and increased revenue. The conceptual framework for this study was the resource-based view theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, interview notes, and company records. Data were compiled and organized, disassembled into fragments, reassembled into sequence of groups, and interpreted for meaning. Methodological triangulation and member checking validated the trustworthiness of those interpretations. Three themes emerged from the data collected: using professional resources and personal skills to enter the BPO market; entering into trade contracts with BPO clients; and establishing and building on relationships with BPO clients. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase the success rate of small businesses, improve and revitalize the economic and social conditions of the local community by providing jobs.

<p> </p><p>Level:                                 Master thesis in business administration, 15 credits</p><p>Date of seminar:                2009-05-29</p><p>Title:                                  <em>Stick to your knitting</em> – Outsourcing of the economic function in some small private limited companies in Västerås</p><p>Authors:                             Johanna Eriksson 1982</p><p>johanna.erik@gmail.com</p><p>Sandra Hansson 1982</p><p>shn04005@gmail.com</p><p>Tutor:                                 Leif Carlsson</p><p>Purpose:                             From a company perspective describe why the chosen companies in Västerås decided to either outsource or to have their economic function internally, define how the outsourcing process looks like and examine how the companies that have chosen to outsource have experienced their outsourcing situation. Further, we wish to contribute with advice for companies that are considering the option of outsourcing their economic function.</p><p>Method:                             An intensive study of existing literature and a pre-study were conducted in order to create a framework for the thesis. The pre-study was conducted with one business counselor and two suppliers of economic services and resulted in local practical examples that supplemented the found literature. The main research consisted of semi-structured personal interviews among twelve companies in different sizes in Västerås. Six of these had chosen to outsource their economic functions while the remaining six had chosen not to.</p><p>Conclusion:                       The main arguments for outsourcing were the timesaving and being able to focus on the core business, cost savings and supplier’s higher competence in economics while the main arguments against outsourcing were the loss of control and internal knowledge, the costs and that the supplier does not possess the proper industry knowledge for the specific company. The outsourcing process is short. The choice for or against outsourcing is neither planned nor evaluated or analyzed and the choice of supplier is mostly made based on recommendations from someone they are acquainted with. The implementation consists of the handing over of documents and approximately one day’s work. All respondents are satisfied with their outsourcing situations, in those cases where dissatisfaction once occurred the supplier was exchanged.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p>Nivå:                                  Magisteruppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp</p><p>Seminariedatum:                2009-05-29</p><p>Titel:                                  <em>Stick to your knitting</em> – Outsourcing av ekonomihanteringen hos några små aktiebolag i Västerås</p><p>Författare:                          Johanna Eriksson 1982</p><p>johanna.erik@gmail.com</p><p>Sandra Hansson 1982</p><p>shn04005@gmail.com</p><p>Handledare:                       Leif Carlsson</p><p>Syfte:                                  Att ur ett företagarperspektiv beskriva varför ett antal utvalda företag i Västerås har valt att outsourca respektive sköta ekonomihanteringen internt, hur detta har gått till samt hur de som lägger ut ser på sin outsourcingsituation idag. Med hjälp av undersökningens resultat vill vi bidra med råd till företagare som överväger att lägga ut sin ekonomihantering.</p><p>Metod:                               En litteratursökning samt en förundersökning genomfördes för att skapa en referensram för uppsatsen. Förundersökningen gjordes bland en affärsrådgivare och två leverantörer av ekonomitjänster vilket genererade praktiska lokala exempel för att komplettera litteraturen. Huvudundersökningen utgjordes av semistrukturerade personliga intervjuer bland tolv aktiebolag i Västerås i olika storlekar. Av dessa hade sex valt att lägga ut ekonomihanteringen och övriga sex hade valt att behålla den internt.</p><p>Slutsats:                             De övervägande argumenten för outsourcing var tidsbesparingen och att de kan fokusera på kärnverksamheten, kostnadsbesparingen och att leverantören har högre kompetens avseende ekonomihantering medan argumenten mot outsourcing var förlust av kontroll och intern kunskap samt att leverantören saknar kunskap om uppdragsgivarens bransch. Outsourcingprocessen hos de undersökta företagen är relativt kort. Valet att outsourca eller sköta ekonomihanteringen internt har varken planerats, utvärderats eller analyserats. Leverantören har valts efter rekommendation från en bekant och implementeringen har endast krävt överlämning av dokument och ungefär en dags arbete. Samtliga är nöjda och i de fall där missnöje har uppstått har de valt att byta leverantör.</p><p> </p>

<p> </p><p>Nivå:                                  Magisteruppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp</p><p>Seminariedatum:                2009-05-29</p><p>Titel:                                  <em>Stick to your knitting</em> – Outsourcing av ekonomihanteringen hos några små aktiebolag i Västerås</p><p>Författare:                          Johanna Eriksson 1982</p><p>johanna.erik@gmail.com</p><p>Sandra Hansson 1982</p><p>shn04005@gmail.com</p><p>Handledare:                       Leif Carlsson</p><p>Syfte:                                  Att ur ett företagarperspektiv beskriva varför ett antal utvalda företag i Västerås har valt att outsourca respektive sköta ekonomihanteringen internt, hur detta har gått till samt hur de som lägger ut ser på sin outsourcingsituation idag. Med hjälp av undersökningens resultat vill vi bidra med råd till företagare som överväger att lägga ut sin ekonomihantering.</p><p>Metod:                               En litteratursökning samt en förundersökning genomfördes för att skapa en referensram för uppsatsen. Förundersökningen gjordes bland en affärsrådgivare och två leverantörer av ekonomitjänster vilket genererade praktiska lokala exempel för att komplettera litteraturen. Huvudundersökningen utgjordes av semistrukturerade personliga intervjuer bland tolv aktiebolag i Västerås i olika storlekar. Av dessa hade sex valt att lägga ut ekonomihanteringen och övriga sex hade valt att behålla den internt.</p><p>Slutsats:                             De övervägande argumenten för outsourcing var tidsbesparingen och att de kan fokusera på kärnverksamheten, kostnadsbesparingen och att leverantören har högre kompetens avseende ekonomihantering medan argumenten mot outsourcing var förlust av kontroll och intern kunskap samt att leverantören saknar kunskap om uppdragsgivarens bransch. Outsourcingprocessen hos de undersökta företagen är relativt kort. Valet att outsourca eller sköta ekonomihanteringen internt har varken planerats, utvärderats eller analyserats. Leverantören har valts efter rekommendation från en bekant och implementeringen har endast krävt överlämning av dokument och ungefär en dags arbete. Samtliga är nöjda och i de fall där missnöje har uppstått har de valt att byta leverantör.</p><p>Nyckelord:                       outsourcing, ekonomihantering, redovisning, lägga ut, BPO</p><p> </p>

<p>Nowadays, information technology outsourcing (ITO) represents an established business practice in which a considerable number of companies are involved. Since the success of ITO is highly dependent on the exposure to ITO risks, studying the very risks is of great importance. The aim of this thesis consists in revealing the occurrence of specific ITO risks: supplier lock-in, hidden costs and the loss of control over outsourced IT. Further aims of this work are the revelation of measures which can be taken in order to face these risks and of the influences these risks have on backsourcing considerations. The first part of this thesis constitutes the theoretical framework which is based on the review of relevant literature. Within this part of the work, transaction cost theory and resource-based theory are presented and applied for the discussion of the specific ITO risks under consideration. Furthermore, a multidimensional approach is utilized in order to illustrate the various dimensions of ITO. By this means, the identification of situations in which the ITO risks under consideration appear is enabled. The empirical part of this exploratory research is based on a multiple case study. The data necessary for this qualitative research was gathered from telephone interviews conducted with both ITO clients and IT suppliers. The results of this study indicate that the ITO risks under consideration all pose considerable threats to ITO operations and that there are both internal and external measures ITO companies can take in order to face these risks. Furthermore, the risks under discussion influence backsourcing considerations.</p>

<p>This thesis is mainly based on an extensive literature review and statistic analysis. The purpose is to find out the motives and effects of four different options in both literature and empirical study and then answer research questions. The four options are in house production, off-shoring, domestic outsourcing and international outsourcing.</p><p>After the explanation of four options’ definitions, literature review will discuss most common motives and effects of outsourcing from many articles. The theory basis, such as transaction cost, resource based view, industrial view and their influence on the outsourcing will be mentioned to help reader to understand outsourcing.</p><p>In empirical study, four options model and two questions (in house/outsourcing, domestic/off-shoring) from survey are used to classify Swedish companies into four groups which stand for four options. The statistics analysis results are from SPSS's ANOVA and Scheffe.</p><p>According to the results, important motives of Swedish companies are “cost reduction”, “investment reduction”, “fixed cost”, and “accessing to core competence”. They are a little different from the literature review. And most effects of four options are positive, only “lead time” and “delivery time” is significant between “in house production” and “off-shoring” options.</p>

<p><strong>Syfte: </strong>Syftet med detta examensarbete är att genom en jämförelse mellan det köpande och det säljande företaget belysa vilka faktorer som kan bidra till att outsourcing av redovisningsfunktionen blir framgångsrikt.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>I denna uppsats har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod och ett hermeneutisk synsätt. Detta eftersom vi har gjort några intervjuer och inga data har samlats in som kan göras mätbara. Vår intervjumetod var ostrukturerad då de intervjuade fick chansen att styra hur intervjuerna artade sig och en öppen dialog fördes. En undersökning kan ha olika avsikter, vi använde oss av de beskrivande och förstårliga. Då syftet med examensarbetet gick ut på att belysa vilka faktorer som kan bidra till att outsourcing av redovisningsfunktionen blir framgångsrik.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Resultat & Slutsats:</strong> Under uppsatsens gång har vi kommit fram till att vi anser att företag borde outsourca sin redovisningsfunktion, då företag ska göra det de är bäst på. Kunskapen hos de säljande företagen är vad som gör outsourcingen framgångsrik. Med andra ord ska man lägga ner all sin tid och kraft på sin kärnverksamhet. I och med detta blir man ett konkurrenskraftigare företag, vilket leder till att fler marknadsandelar tas på marknaden.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning:</strong> Våra rekommendationer för fortsatta studier är att det skulle vara intressant att göra en jämförelse mellan större och mindre företag. Att se vilka för- och nackdelar som då dyker upp. Vilka för- och nackdelar ser de större företagen med att outsourca fullständigt eller partiellt?</p><p> </p><p><strong>Uppsatsens bidrag:</strong> Denna uppsats ska ge en större förståelse för företags kärnverksamhet och dess betydelse för företaget. En förståelse ska uppnås för varför företag väljer att outsourca sin redovisningsfunktion.</p> / <p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim with this essay is to make a comparison between the buying company and the selling company. When we have done this, we will illustrate the factors that can contribute that outsourcing by the companies accounting will be successful.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Method:</strong> In this paper we have used a qualitative method of research with a hermeneutic approch. This because we have done interviews and no measurable data has been collected. Our method of interview was unstructured, this because the people that we interviewed should have a change to influence the interview. A research can have different purpose, we used the describing and the understandable methods.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Result & conclusions:</strong> We have found that companies should use outsourcing, because they shall do what they are suppose to do. It is the knowledge in the selling companies that make the outsourcing succesful. With other words, companies shall put all their energy and time in their core activity. In this way, companies will be very competitive and they will make more market shares.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong> Our suggestions for future research are to make a comparison between bigger and smaller companies. To see which advantages and disadvantages that will appear.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis:</strong> This essay will give a bigger understanding for the company’s core activity, and an understanding shall accomplish why companies choose to outsource their accounting.</p>

The externalisation of services and the adoption of service logic are topics that have received increasing attention recently, both among academics and practitioners. Whereas the adoption of service logic is associated with approaching the customer through various sorts of services and solutions, the externalisation essentially means leaving part of the customer interface to an external firm. However, empirical research focusing on such externalisation projects is lacking. This thesis addresses this gap by exploring problems encountered during the externalisation of basic product services at an industrial firm that is also adopting service logic. The thesis integrates several cross-sectional, retrospective, and longitudinal case studies. The studies were conducted at different point in time over more than three years at SysCo – the fictitious name of an industrial firm adopting service logic and externalising basic services, and also the employer of the author of this thesis at the time of the study and many years before. The thesis consists of five papers and an integrated synthesis, discussion and extension. One conclusion of the research is that unless the change approach and the problems encountered during the externalisation are taken seriously, the externalisation may be difficult to effectuate. A fundamental reason for this is that the simultaneous and complex adoption of service logic influences the externalisation and makes it more difficult to plan and carry out in a linear and top-down manner. The thesis contributes with knowledge about externalisation problems and their sources. Externalising services may be likened with walking a tightrope between industrial and service logics. The thesis contains advice that may guide managers responsible for such balancing acts. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2005

Allt fler företag har med tiden sett outsourcing som en lösning för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga. Företag kan välja att outsourca kärnverksamheten och därmed ställs höga krav på leverantörerna och samarbetet. De frågor som uppsatsen söker svar på är: Vilken betydelse har förtroende vid outsourcing av produktutveckling? Hur uppstår förtroendet? Undersökningen avser att analysera hur förtroendet för leverantören påverkar outsourcingen av produktutveckling. Genom att diskutera förhållandet mellan förtroende och transaktionskostnader kommer dessa faktorers betydelse för samarbetet mellan kund och leverantör att presenteras. Syftet med uppsatsen är att få en förståelse för hur ett företag arbetar med förtroende mot leverantörer då kärnverksamheten utkontrakteras. Studien har genomförts som en kvalitativ fallstudie. Fem personer intervjuades, dessa innehade roller som, inköpare, outsourcing managers, patentansvarig, samt kvalitetsansvarig. Intervjuerna var semistrukturerade med öppna, strukturerade, frågor. För att analysera svaren användes en modell som föreslagits för analys av förtroende mellan parter av Greenberg et al. (2008). Enligt denna modell beror förtroende mellan parter på tre faktorer integritet, välvilja och förmåga. Alla aktiviteter som uppstår vid outsourcingen kan ses som transaktionskostnader vilka har delats in i, kontaktkostnader, kontraktkostnader och kontrollkostnader. Resultatet visar på en tydlig koppling mellan förtroende och reducerade transaktionskostnader. Förtroendet uppkommer genom kontinuitet och god kommunikation. Resultatet visar också att förtroende till en del är formaliserat och till en del icke-formaliserat. Av dessa är det formaliserade förtroendet mest betydelsefullt. Detta formaliserade förtroende var beroende av kontroll för att kunna utvecklas. Praktiskt visar studien att förtroende är en viktig faktor inom outsourcing av produktutveckling och att förtroendet uppfattas som betydelsefullt av flera typer av experter som är inblandade i outsourcing. Att studera balansen mellan formaliserat och icke-formaliserat förtroende och inom outsourcing av komplexa kärnverksamheter och denna balans betydelse för transaktionskostnader kan vara ett intressant ämne för framtida forskning. / Over time more and more companies have started to look at outsourcing as an opportunity for improved competiveness. A company may choose to outsource its core business and this will be challenging for the suppliers and for the collaboration. This thesis is trying to answer the following questions: What is the importance of trust in outsourcing of product development? How is the trust formed? The investigation intends to analyze how trust in the supplier is affecting outsourcing of product development. The relationship between trust and transaction costs is discussed as well as the effect of these factors on the collaboration with the supplier. The objective is to reach an understanding of how a company uses trust in outsourcing of core business activities. The investigation was performed as a qualitative case study. Five respondents with roles as purchaser, outsourcing manager, patent attorney and quality assurance professional, were interviewed. The interviews were semi structured with open structured questions. A model, suggested by Greenberg et al. (2008), for analysis of trust between parties was used to analyze the responses. According to this model, trust can be related to three factors: integrity, benevolence and competence and different activities can be attributed to contact costs, contract costs and control costs. The result shows a clear relationship between trust and reduced transaction costs. The trust is developed through continuity and good communication. The result also shows that the trust is partly formalized and partly non-formalized and that the formalized trust is most important of the two. The development of formalized trust is dependent on control. Practical implication of the study is that trust is important in outsourcing of product development and the importance of trust is acknowledged by different experts involved in outsourcing. The balance between formalized and non-formalized trust in outsourcing of complex core business activities and the impact of this balance on transactions costs may be an interesting topic for future studies.

Outsourcing has been around for over twenty years and is still growing, while outsourcing of recruitment is a relatively new phenomenon. Organisations outsource primarily because of the cost benefit and time saving, since there are also several reasons to outsource, there are also several types of outsourcing. Business process outsourcing is when an organisation outsources a whole business process such as Human Resources, which Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a part of. Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a process used to increase organisation‟s efficiency through managerial time saving, moving the recruitment process to external recruiting agencies providing trust and the proper competitive expertise needed. The purpose of this study is to see how organisational culture is affected by Recruitment Process Outsourcing. This study examined how RPO affects organisational culture, more precisely three factors were examined, motivation, performance orientation and effective orientation. Five international banks in Sweden were investigated and the results showed that motivation was not affected at all by RPO, effective orientation was affected by the most of the companies studied and the performance orientation was affected by circum one third of the companies by RPO. Human Resource study field has a lack of research in RPO and this study is a contribution to that field, regarding the outsourcing of recruitment in the Swedish bank industry.

Nowadays, information technology outsourcing (ITO) represents an established business practice in which a considerable number of companies are involved. Since the success of ITO is highly dependent on the exposure to ITO risks, studying the very risks is of great importance. The aim of this thesis consists in revealing the occurrence of specific ITO risks: supplier lock-in, hidden costs and the loss of control over outsourced IT. Further aims of this work are the revelation of measures which can be taken in order to face these risks and of the influences these risks have on backsourcing considerations. The first part of this thesis constitutes the theoretical framework which is based on the review of relevant literature. Within this part of the work, transaction cost theory and resource-based theory are presented and applied for the discussion of the specific ITO risks under consideration. Furthermore, a multidimensional approach is utilized in order to illustrate the various dimensions of ITO. By this means, the identification of situations in which the ITO risks under consideration appear is enabled. The empirical part of this exploratory research is based on a multiple case study. The data necessary for this qualitative research was gathered from telephone interviews conducted with both ITO clients and IT suppliers. The results of this study indicate that the ITO risks under consideration all pose considerable threats to ITO operations and that there are both internal and external measures ITO companies can take in order to face these risks. Furthermore, the risks under discussion influence backsourcing considerations.