<p>Today outsourcing is a widely-used method for companies to face the problem of a more and</p><p>more competitive business world. Especially offshore outsourcing to a distant country, where</p><p>the labour costs are comparatively low, is quite popular in the media. Nevertheless, a lot of</p><p>companies fail in accomplishing the high gains they hoped for. One reason for this is the</p><p>miscalculation of the effects of outsourcing on the company which leads to a wrong</p><p>behaviour of the management during the outsourcing process. Hence, a better</p><p>understanding of the impact of outsourcing is crucial for the success of a company. To</p><p>improve this, one way is to analyse the planning environment and the resulting planning</p><p>method of a company before and after outsourcing.</p>

Today outsourcing is a widely-used method for companies to face the problem of a more and more competitive business world. Especially offshore outsourcing to a distant country, where the labour costs are comparatively low, is quite popular in the media. Nevertheless, a lot of companies fail in accomplishing the high gains they hoped for. One reason for this is the miscalculation of the effects of outsourcing on the company which leads to a wrong behaviour of the management during the outsourcing process. Hence, a better understanding of the impact of outsourcing is crucial for the success of a company. To improve this, one way is to analyse the planning environment and the resulting planning method of a company before and after outsourcing.